Several different names on entry lists for top three series
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Talladega races usually draw a few teams in each series to make driver changes. Michael Waltrip Racing tabs Kenny Wallace to drive the No. 00 Toyota in the Cup race, replacing rookie Michael McDowell. The team is only 29 points out of the Top 35 and Wallace has run for MWR in the Cup Series before.
Ken Schrader returns to the helm of the No. 96 Texas Instruments/DLP Toyota for Hall of Fame Racing. Schrader won at Talladega in 1988. |
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Terry Labonte and his Past Champion’s Provisional partner with the No. 45 Dodge and Petty Enterprises this weekend. Kyle Petty possibly ran his last race for the team that bears his family name last week at Kansas. He may run the coming Phoenix race, but nothing has been made official yet.
Mike Wallace and his restrictor plate prowess are in a fourth Richard Childress Racing Chevy, the No. 33, sporting Realtree colors. Wallace also will drive the No. 9 Germain Racing Toyota in the Truck Series.
Jon Wood drives his family’s No. 21 Ford this weekend, a ride usually driven by Bill Elliott, while Sterling Marlin completes his limited schedule in the No. 09 for Phoenix Racing. As mentioned before Mike Skinner drives the No. 84 Team Red Bull Toyota this weekend. Boris Said was scheduled to attempt the race in the No. 08 E&M Motorsports Dodge, but the team has withdrawn from the race.
Skinner and Speed replace Allmendinger in No. 84
A career-best finish of ninth at Kansas Speedway last week was not enough to keep A.J. Allmendinger in a ride for the rest of the season. Team Red Bull announced earlier this week that the second year Sprint Cup driver will not finish the 2008 season in the No. 84 Red Bull Toyota. Running the final seven races for the team will be a tandem of Mike Skinner and Scott Speed. Skinner pilots the car this weekend at Talladega.
Allmendinger found out last week that he would not be in the No. 84 next season. Apparently Red Bull only wanted to re-sign him for one year, while he wanted a multi-year deal. He has been rumored to be the next driver of the No. 41 at Chip Ganassi Racing, but no deal has been announced.
Skinner, who drove five races for the team earlier this season, will drive also drive the car at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, while Scott Speed will attempt to qualify a third Toyota, No. 82, for the team there. After that, Speed will run the remaining five races of the season in the No. 84. Speed, who leads the ARCA Series points, likely will run the No. 84 for the full 2009 Sprint Cup season.
Menard’s and Army exit DEI
The news cannot get much worse for Dale Earnhardt Inc. this season. On Tuesday, Paul Menard announced that he and his father John’s Menard’s sponsorship are leaving the No. 15 Chevy in favor of Yates Racing. On the same day, the U.S. Army confirmed with DEI officials that it would not return as a sponsor for the No. 8 that Aric Almirola will pilot full-time next season.
Neither announcement comes as a huge shock, because both sponsors and driver Menard had been in the rumor mill for months. However, the announcement does leave an already cash-strapped organization in search of funding. With now the Nos. 8, 15, and 01 in need of primary sponsorship next season, only one of the four current teams, the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops Chevy and Martin Truex Jr., has the funding to run next season.
Menard joins another sparsely-funded team in Yates that fields the No. 28 Ford for Travis Kvapil and the No. 38 for David Gilliland. Neither of those drivers has been signed for 2009 and Menard may replace one of them, if complete funding cannot be found for both teams. There is no word on whether Menard will replace either Kvapil or Gilliland and if so, in what car.
The Army has been rumored to be joining Ryan Newman’s team at Stewart Hass Racing next season, but officials have made no announcement regarding the sponsor’s future.
JTG Daugherty Racing forms alliance with MWR
JTG Daugherty Racing and Michael Waltrip Racing announced a partnership for the 2009 season on Monday. The partnership includes receiving major technical support from Toyota Racing Development and being housed at MWR. Though the alliance will be tight-knit, the No. 47 Toyota will be a separate team, not a fourth MWR car.
JTG is running its first full-time Sprint Cup campaign next season with rookie driver Marcos Ambrose. The Cup Series is filled with multi-car teams, so JTG’s single car effort was going to be a struggle without help from a bigger team. JTG originally held a partnership with the Wood Brothers, but dissolved it earlier this season.
MWR and JTG were rumored to be in merger talks last week, because JTG was using an MWR hauler to run the Kansas Cup race. One of the JTG haulers caught fire and sustained heavy damage earlier this season.
Logano no longer running in the No. 96
After two lackluster performances, Joe Gibbs Racing has decided not to place 18 year-old Joey Logano in the No. 96 Hall of Fame Racing Toyota anymore this season. The 2009 Rookie of the Year candidate, who will replace Tony Stewart in the No. 20 next year, is scheduled to run the No. 02 Home Depot Toyota at Atlanta Motor Speedway. JGR may schedule more races for Logano in that car for later in the season, but no announcement has been made.
To bolster his restrictor plate racing resume, Logano has been entered in the Craftsman Truck Series race in the No. 59 HT Motorsports Toyota that Ted Musgrave parted from two weeks ago. Logano will also race in the ARCA Talladega race in the No. 15 Venturini Motorsports Toyota.
Gordon and GEM not done in court yet
Robby Gordon is not done battling Gillett Evernham Motorsports. The driver and owner of Robby Gordon Motorsports claims that a million dollar investment fee he paid should be given back to him, because the investment company involved in handling the merger of RGM and GEM fraudulently handled the deal. There has been no comment from GEM on the new allegations.
In other Gordon news…
Jeff Gordon unveiled his new paint scheme for 2009 on the Today Show Thursday morning. The blue background in the current scheme will be replaced with black. The flames on the car will have brighter hues of orange and yellow, compared to the red flames in the foreground now. The current No. 24 Dupont paint scheme has been on the Hendrick Chevy since 2001. Gordon’s original paint scheme, a red-orange background with rainbow accents in the foreground and on the hood, was the first and longest paint scheme of his Sprint Cup career, which began at the end of 1992. Though no official reason has been given for the scheme change, it is believed that the teams changes its colors every time a new president is elected.
Mars acquires Wrigley…possibly more bad news for Ganassi
Mars Incorporated, the makers of M&Ms and many other candies and foods, has announced that is has acquired Wrigley Co. Wrigley makes the different chewing gums that have sponsored Juan Pablo Montoya’s No. 42 Dodge. With Texaco already announcing that it is leaving the team and Wrigley remaining as Chip Ganassi Racing’s second biggest sponsor (behind Target), this could prove to be another huge financial hit for an organization that has already shut down one of its teams this year. There is no word, however, on if the Wrigley brands will remain with the team.
Ragan leads Georgia driver effort at Kansas
A string of mediocre and bad luck was interrupted at Kansas for David Ragan and the No. 6 AAA Ford, as the driver and team ran well all day Sunday and finished eighth. The finish moves Ragan ahead of Kasey Kahne to 13th in the points. Ragan also ran third in the nationwide Series race, a career-best finish for him in the series. Ragan scored his second-best career Cup finish at Talladega, this week’s race, back in April.
Reed Sorenson had a typical finish for the No. 41 Target Dodge this season, ending up one lap down in 26th. He is 30th in the points. Bill Elliott in the No. 21 finished one spot ahead of him in 25th.
Tune-in to the Bellamy Strickland 120 with Captain Herb Emory and myself this Saturday, from 12-2 p.m., on News/Talk 750 WSB and online at wsbradio.com. Download podcasts of the show on CaptainHerb.net.
