NASCAR News With Attitude

TWENTY TRUIMPHS: Camry drivers combined for 20 NNS victories in 2008. Busch led the Toyota brigade with 10 triumphs, including Texas (April 5), Phoenix (April 11), Mexico City (April 20), Charlotte (Mar 24), Chicagoland (July 10), Indianapolis (July 26), California (Aug. 30), Dover (Sept. 20), Charlotte (Oct. 10), and Texas (Nov. 1). Stewart earned five wins at Daytona (Feb. 16), California (Feb. 25), Talladega (April 26), Darlington (May 9) and New Hampshire (June 28). Hamlin visited victory lane at Richmond (May 2), Dover (May 31), Daytona (July 4) and Kansas (Sept. 27). Logano’s victory at Kentucky (June 14) enabled him to become the youngest NNS race-winner (18 years and 21 days).

CONSISTENCY COUNTS: Mike Wallace, driver of the No. 7 Germain Racing Camry, completed 99.2 percent of all the laps in NNS competition during the season — finishing 6,366 of 6,415 total laps. He had eight top-10 finishes and was eighth in the final series points standings. Wallace made his 330th career NNS start at the 2008 season finale, moving him into eighth-place in the NNS all-time career starts record book. “We can take our hat off to our race team because we don’t break and I try not to tear the car up,” says Wallace. “Our cars don’t break, the Toyota motors don’t have any failure, all the preparation of the cars is excellent and the crew itself is doing better.”

POINTS POSITION: Four Camry drivers finished in the top-10 in the final 2008 NNS points standings. Busch (sixth) was the highest-ranking Toyota driver in the pooints standings. Reutimann (seventh), Wallace (eighth) and Jason Leffler (ninth) were also among the top-10 in the points standings. Other Camry drivers competing part-time in the series included Hamlin (19th), Logano (20th), Vickers (36th) and Stewart (39th). This year, 18 Camry drivers combined for 20 wins, 58 top-fine results and 102 top-10 finishes, as well as 14 poles positions and led 3,439 laps — more than half of the NNS laps.

Toyota 2008 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Statistics Races Starts (Drivers) Wins Top-5s Top-10s Poles Times Led Laps Led 25 266 (35) 13 62 116 11 110 1,929

BENSON TEST BEST: Toyota Tundra driver Johnny Benson captured his first NCTS driver’s championship with a thrilling finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway to edge Ron Hornaday Jr., in the final standings by just seven points. It marked Benson’s second-career NASCAR title — having won the Nationwide Series championship in 1995. In addition, Toyota earned its third consecutive NCTS manufacturer’s title in 2008.

WINNING WAYS: Benson won the NCTS title on the strength of five wins in the Bill Davis (BDR) No. 23 Tundra during the 25-race season. Benson won four of five races over the summer — at Milwaukee (June 20), Kentucky (July 19), Indianapolis (July 25) and Nashville (Aug. 9) — to establish himself as a championship contender A victory at Martinsville on Oct. 18, coupled with 18 top-10 finishes throughout the year, helped seal the title.

JOHNNY BE GOOD: “Even though it’s been a fair amount of years since my last championship, this one means a tremendous amount to me,” says Benson. “That’s our first championship for Bill Davis Racing. They have won many races throughout their organization. They’ve been close on the championship before, and now to make that happen for them is something that our whole team is extremely proud of. To be able to get that done and get the championship for Bill and Gail (Davis, team owners) is something that means a tremendous amount to me.”

TUNDRA’S MOVE FORWARD: Tundra drivers combined for 13 wins in 25 races in 2008. In addition to Benson’s five victories, 2006 NCTS champion Todd Bodine won three races — Daytona (Feb. 15), Talladega (Oct. 4) and the season finale at Homestead (Nov. 14) — as did Busch, who won at California (Feb. 23), Atlanta (March 7) and Bristol (Aug. 20). Rookie driver Scott Speed earned his first series win at Dover (May 30), while fellow BDR competitor Mike Skinner was victorious at Las Vegas (Spot. 20).

POINTS PACE: Five Toyota drivers finished in the top-10 in the points standings this past season. Benson’s first-place finish in the championship standings led the way for the Tundra contingent, followed by Bodine (third), Skinner (sixth), Jack Sprague (ninth) and Terry Cook (10th) in the final standings. In total, 35 Tundra drivers combined for 13 wins, 62 top-five results and 116 top-10 finishes throughout the 2008 campaign, leading 1.929 laps in NCTS competition.

TEAMS AND FANS APPRECIATED: “Toyota is not immune to the challenges currently being faced by the automobile industry,” said El Laukes, corporate manager of motorsports marketing at Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc. “The market this year has been more challenging than expected, and no automaker has been unaffected during these times. The current economic situation has impacted everyone, including our race teams, and we appreciate all their efforts that have led to race wins and championships, as well as all the NASCAR race fans that support the series.”

SpeedwayMedia.com

December 4, 2008

Toyota 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Statistics Starts Top-Top-Times Laps Races (Drivers) Wins 5s 10s Poles Led Let 36 353 (20) 10 44 72 5 218 3 472

10 FOR TOYOTA: Toyota Camry drivers earned 10 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) wins in 2008. Kyle Busch led the Camry contingent with eight victories in his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) Camry, Busch earned Toyota’s initial Cup triumph at Atlanta (March 9), followed by victories at Talladega (April 27), Darlington (May 10), California’s Infineon (June 22), Watkins Glen (Aug. 10), Dover (June 1), Daytona (July 5) and Chicagoland (July 12). Denny Hamlin visited victory lane at Virginia’s Martinsville Speedway (March 30) and Tony Stewart crossed the finish line first at Talladega (Oct. 5).

MEMORABLE MOMENT: Busch earned Toyota’s first-ever NSCS victory in the fourth race of the 2008 season at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The 23-year-old Las Vegas-native led  173 of 325 laps in the JGR No. 18 Snickers Camry en route to the checkered flag. Toyota’s inaugural NSCS victory came in the 40th race for the Camry since joining the series in 2007. Busch’s JGR teammate, Stewart, finished second to give Toyota a one-two sweep. “It was pretty special,” said Busch, after his Atlanta win. “We are fortunate to have Toyota on our side, giving us the help that we need. To win the first race for Toyota was fun. I’m sure they wanted it sooner, but I’m glad I was able to do it for them.”

UNBELIEVABLE BUSCH: Busch competed in a total of 81 NASCAR races across the three national series in 2008 - - NSCS, NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS). During the season he registered 21 wins, seven poles, 45 top-five finishes and 57 top-10 results. He now holds the NASCAR record for most wins by one driver in a single year across the top-three series. “It’s been a great year and it means a lot to have a year like this and win as many races as we have,” says Busch. “People discounted the Nationwide and the Truck wins because it’s a lesser series than what the Cup series is, but there are Cup guys that are running in those series. There are ex-Cup guys in the Truck series and Cup guys now in the Nationwide Series and upcoming guys that are supposed to be the best of what there is today.”

POKER PLAYING: Crew chief Steve Addington led the JGR No. 18 Camry team to its first ‘Chase’ appearance in 2008 after earning eight wins with Busch in the first 26 races of the season. The team entered the ‘Chase’ with on top of the standings, but bad luck early in the 10-race playoff ended any hopes of a title - -and the team finished 10th in the final NSCS point standings. “Don’t show your hand too early in the season and let these other guys go to work and get better than you,” says Addington. “The one thing that I learned is how to approach this stuff. We know we have a good package, so let’s try some different things and not show our hand. We’ve got a good enough race team to be in the ‘chase.’”

PLACES IN THE ‘CHASE’: in 2008, the three JGR Camrys of Busch, Hamlin and Stewart gave Toyota its first drivers in the ‘Chase’. Hamlin finished the year eighth in points as the highest Camry driver in the points standings. Stewart finished the season in ninth-place and Busch was 10th in the standings. Other Toyota drivers who finished in the top-35 in the 2008 NSCS points standings include Brian Vickers (19th), David Reutimann (22nd), Michael Waltrip (29th), and Dave Blaney (30th).

DENNY DELIVERS: Denny Hamlin recently visited Japan to participate in Toyota’s annual Motor Sports Day at Fuji Speedway. The event featured Toyota drivers from a variety of different racing series, including NASCAR and Formula One, as well as Toyota race cars that participate in various racing series. “This was my first time traveling overseas,” said Hamlin, who took a few demonstration laps in the JGR Camry. “It was an excellent experience. The Fuji Speedway was a good track and I was impressed with the Japanese fans and how excited they were to see a NASCAR race car. It was really enjoyable and I’m glad I was able to attend Toyota’s Motorsports Day.”

WALTRIP’S TEAM WORKING: Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) ended the season with Reutimann’s No. 44 Camry on the pole in the season-finale at Homestead. “MWR make huge strides in 2008,” says team owner Waltrip. “We led races, had chances to win and established ourselves as contenders this year. We went from missing races with no cars in the top-35. to having two cars in the top-30 and one right on the bubble. We know we must continue to improve, but, we also know we have our foundation built that will make us better than we were in 2008.”

Toyota 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series Statistics Races Starts (Drivers) Wins Top-5s Top-10s Poles Times Led Laps Led 35 214 (18) 20 58 102 14 147 3, 439

TOYOTA TAKES TITLE: Toyota earned its first Nationwide Series manufacturer’s championships in 2008. Toyota clinched the NNS manufacturer’s title in its second year of series competition when Hamlin’s JGR No. 18 Camry crossed the finish line first at Kansas (Sept. 27). “Toyota’s accomplishments are the result of hard work and achievement by all of our race teams working in conjunction with TRD, U.S.A. (Toyota Racing Development) and Triad,” says Lee White, TRD’s president and general manager. “All the tireless efforts during the off-season, pre-season testing and throughout the season, in combination with a talented driver line-up, have produced the exceptional results that yielded these championships.”

OWNER’S CHAMP: Joey Logano’s 10th-place finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway secured the NNS owner’s championship for JGR and the No. 20 Toyota Camry. In 2008, four drivers (Busch, Hamlin, Logano and Stewart) combined for nine wins, six poles, 16 top-five finishes and 25 top-10 results in the No. 20 entry. “It was special to have all those guys - Kyle, Denny, Tony and Joey - - get in that car and run it,” says J. D. Gibbs, president of JGR. “For the guys at the shop that have worked all year long, it would have been real frustrating to go the whole year and not have something to show for it. We’re real excited and I think for our team, it meant more than most championships mean to other teams. This was a big deal for us and for the guys that worked so hard, because in the Nationwide Series you have guys that do a little bit of everything- - they really work their tails off.”

RECORD RUNS: The Joe Gibbs Racing NNS Camrys — No. 20 and No. 18 — combined to win a series record 19 races in 2008. Busch’s win at Texas (Nov. 2) equaled Sam Ard’s 1983 record for the most wins (10) by one driver in the Nationwide Series in a single season. Busch (eight) and Hamlin (two) combined for the 10 triumphs by the No. 18 team - equaling another series record. In Indianapolis (July 26), Busch broke the previous record (13) for most victories by one NNS organization, and the additional wins by Busch and Hamlin further increased the mark.

EIGHT STRAIGHT: Camry drivers won eight consecutive NNS races from April to June — Texas through Dover — this season. The eight wins were achieved between two race teams (JGR and Braun Racing) and among three drivers (Busch, Stewart and Hamlin). The record for most consecutive NNS wins by one manufacturer is 11 established in 2000,

INSIDER RACING NEWS.COM                                                                                        December 4, 2008

By Doug Demmons

In no particular order, here are 10 things about NASCAR that make you scratch your head.

 1. Holding the end of the year banquet in New York. Other than the fact that a lot of sponsors are located there, there is no reason whatsoever to celebrate the season in a city where an attempt to build a track was corrupted by the Mafia. A Walmart parking lot in Charlotte would make more sense than the Waldorf Astoria and the discounts would be better.

 2. Tolerating start-and-park teams in the Nationwide Series. It does not improve the show for fans by letting a team start a race, run three laps and take it to the garage with some mysterious “vibration.”

 3. Empty seats during a truck race. The truck race is usually the best show of the weekend. Skipping the truck race is like leaving a baseball game in the seventh inning to avoid the traffic.

 4. Blaming Tony Eury Jr. Why do fans call radio shows and heap scorn and abuse on Tony Eury Jr. whenever Dale Earnhardt Jr. doesn’t run well? Isn’t it possible that by running up top all the time Junior might scrape the wall once too often or run over some trash that accumulates up there and cause his own problems? Apparently not. Some citizens of Junior Nation believe that if Junior only had Chad Knaus as his crew chief he’d be the champion.

 5. JImmie Johnson’s persona. By all accounts, Jimmie Johnson has a great, fun-loving personality. But stick a microphone in front of him and he transforms into a politically correct corporate robot. A Driver who just won his third straight title should be NASCAR’s most popular driver. He gets fans’ respect but not their love.

 6. Trying to save money. If you own a race team, that’s God’s way of saying you have too much money. You are supposed to make a huge fortune selling insurance or something else and then blow it all on racing. No matter how much NASCAR tries to save money for teams with new rules and such, teams will find other ways to spend it.

 7. The U.S. Navy. After announcing in April that it was forming a new Dale Earnhardt Jr. Division to lure recruits the Navy promptly dumped its sponsorship of Junior’s Nationwide team. This is the same Dale Jr. who accounts for nearly half of all NASCAR souvenir sales and racked up $417 million worth of TV exposure for his sponsors this year. Hopefully the idiots at the navy who made this decision aren’t in charge of anything important, like aircraft carriers.

 8. Carburetors. Shouldn’t a race car be at least as technologically advanced as the car in your garage? No, fuel injection is not the slippery slope to robotic cars that drive themselves.

 9. Allowing lapped cars to restart in the front. The idea is to give them a chance to get back on the lead lap. But that rarely happens unless one of them gets the lucky dog. All they do is manage to get in the way of the cars that are chasing the leader.

10. Single-file restarts. Make them all double-file except for the last 10 laps.

By The Associated Press  - - - - November 30, 2008

With the 2008 NASCAR season over, drivers from the three top professional series have headed home or set off on well-earned vacations.

None of them has traveled farther than Marcos Ambrose.

The Australian driver flew straight from the final weekend of racing in Homestead to his native land. Once he got there, the first place he visited was, you guessed it, was a racetrack.

Ambrose, a two-time Australian V8 Supercar champion, spent last weekend watching the V8 Supercars race at his home circuit, Symmons Plaines Raceway, just outside Launceston, Tasmania.

And, of course, everyone wanted to know about NASCAR.

“I feel like I had my butt handed to me this year in the U.S., ” Ambrose told the local media. “I finally got in some competitive equipment, got into that Cup racing game and realized that if I’m going to contend, I’ve really got to go to another level.”

In his third season racing in America, Ambrose drove full-time in the Nationwide Series, winning his first race at Watkins Glen and finishing 10th in the points. He also ran in 11 Sprint Cup races, taking a season-best third at Watkins Glen, with 18th place in Phoenix his best finish on an oval.

Next season, Ambrose will run the full Sprint Cup schedule in the No. 47 Toyota for JTG Daugherty Racing, which has entered into a technical alliance with Michael Waltrip Racing. Primary racing sponsorship will be shared among Little Debbie, Kingsford, Clorox and Bush’s Beans.

“The 11 races I’ve done at the Cup level have been an eye-opener for me,” Ambrose said. “I’ve realized that to last five hours out there is not an easy thing. The races are long, they’re aggressive. The drivers are as good and competitive as I’ve seen anywhere and the depth of talent is amazing.”

“I’m looking forward to that challenge. Everything is poised to be something special. All I’ve asked of myself and the people that have worked with me over there is to give me the opportunity to prove or disprove whether I’ve got it and whether I can do it.”

For now, Ambrose is just happy to have a little time off.

“Yeah, I really need a break now,” he said. “It’s been a long year. Someone said to me earlier that I’ve basically done three seasons of V8 Supercars in 10 months. And that’s really what it feels like.

“I feel tired, I feel worn out, I feel like I’ve had enough for a while. The double race formats have been difficult for me, the travel between the tracks. . . I call it the two-tenths rule. I’m two-tenths of a second a lap away from flying my own jet and, unfortunately, I’m flying around commercial, doing it the hard way.

“Hopefully, this break can give me the chance to really refocus and have a good think about what I need to to to be successful and be better.”

Let The Voting Begin! Voting has begun for the Chex Most Popular Driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 2008 Season.   Fans can log on to www.mostpopulardriver.com and cast their vote! Fans can vote once a day, every day, for more than 40 of their favorite NASCAR Sprint Cup stars. Voting continues throughout the season and will conclude on November 18^th at 12:59 am. EST. The winner will be announced at the NASCAR NMPA Myers Brothers Luncheon in New York City in December.  This award has been won by NASCAR greats such as Richard Petty, David Pearson, Bobby Allison, Dale Earnhardt, Bill Elliott, and others, since the inception of the award in 1953. This program award program is administered by the National Motorsports Press Association. Last season, fan favorite, Dale Earnhardt Jr. earned his fifth consecutive award. I’d like to challenge all Michael Waltrip Fans to get those votes in each and every day and see if we can “Crown a new King”! 

Victory Junction Gang Camp Expansion Plans VJGC co-founders Kyle and Pattie Petty have announced plans to try to expand with a camp in the Kansas City area. The Pettys, have met with business and civic leaders in the Kansas City area over the last few months studying the feasibility of building a second camp in the Midwest.  “We have been overwhelmed by the interest expressed by Kansas Speedway President Jeff Boerger and other civic and business leaders throughout the area,” Pattie Petty, CEO of the camp, said. “We would like to thank the Kansas City Area Development Council for all of their help and support throughout the process of determining the sustainability of expanding the Victory Junction Gang Camp to Kansas City. Their help has been invaluable.” While the new campus would be similar to the one in Level Cross, N.C.  it would also involve other major sports themes from the Midwest.  Let’s all get behind the Petty family and support this cause that hosts chronically ill children, allowing them to “Just be kids” for the duration of their stay.  My hat is off to the Pettys ! ! !  

Junior Nation Does anybody really know how many fans Dale Earnhardt Jr. has? As I was watching the Pre Race Festivities on Sunday, I just couldn’t help but notice the difference that I have seen come over Junior! He just seems so laid back and relaxed prior to the “Super Bowl of NASCAR”! I could even see it in his face.  While I am a BIG Michael Waltrip fan, I have to say that I like Junior’s “new look”. I must admit that I never thought I’d like anything other than the “Budweiser Red” I was pleasantly surprised, I think I’ll have to go “AMP” Myself!         

Congratulations to “Smoke” (#20) and “Dr. Spock” (#2)

. . . .for being the first two driver to report to the Oval Office in the 2008 NASCAR Season. Apparently in a meeting at 5 a.m. this morning, this dynamic duel was told to “stay away from each other”. But of course officials have not made a decision as to whether or not there will be penalties involved, especially in light of the fact that they are currently trying to come across as a much more friendly group in an attempt to draw back the fans from “the good old days” that they LOST, if there are penalties they will be announced Monday or Tuesday  ! ! ! (Standard Operating Procedures) NASCAR chairman Brian France said last month that the governing body wants to get back to the days when drivers were able to be themselves without the fear of a big fine. Yeah, right !!!

But even the Most Popular Driver in NASCAR doesn’t believe that one. Dale Earnhardt Jr. isn’t convinced that NASCAR really wants Sprint Cup drivers to “loosen up and show their personalities more”.  “I don’t believe them,” Earnhardt said during Media Day on Thursday. “I don’t think anybody does. What does that mean? Are we supposed to walk the line and see where we step over it and where are we going to get fined when we go too far? What are they saying?” That’s a good question Junior, I don’t even think that they know the answer to that one.  “I think honestly they’re playing to you guys, not talking to the drivers,” Earnhardt said to a crowd of reporters in a tent outside of Daytona International Speedway. “Basically, they’re trying to appear to be looser.”

“Their intentions have not been relayed to the driver as to what’s been changed. Just a press release went out to the press, ‘Hey, we’re going to do this. How about that? You guys like that, right?’ So what have they told us? I don’t know what that means.” Not to worry Junior, I don’t think they know what they mean either.

Then we have another “no brainer” from NASCAR.  Apparently there has been some discussions about changing the age limits on the Sprint Cup Series from 18 years of age to 21 years of age, but President Mike Helton said that this change for the Sprint Cup Series “is not imminent, but NASCAR officals still are considering 21 as the age rule for future entry into the series. I’m sorry but if it’s not imminent, don’t bother me with this gibberish. He also said that “If we do this, we will give plenty of advance notice,” and “we would have an adjustment period before it was implemented.”

Then he goes on to talk about Joey Logano, who will compete in the Nationwide Series when he turns 18 in May. I’m as confused as Junior is in that Mr. Helton was specifically talking about the SPRINT CUP SERIES, while Logano would be running in the Nationwide Series - - “In fact, whatever we do probably wouldn’t affect him until after Logano turns 21 years old - - am I missing something here??? Do the powers that be seem to be losing it or is it just me ???

ATTENTION SMOKERS

Smoking has been banned at Bristol Motor Speedway. This change is the result of a Tennessee law that took effect on October 1, 2007. The General Assembly approved the “Non-Smoker Protection Act” in May of last year.  I am no longer a smoker, but am I the only one that feels as though all of my rights are being violated. Is the government really going to run our lives from the state capitol???  I guess that topic of discussion is for another time and place.

NASCAR Media Day @ Daytona International Speedway

I can’t even imagine what it must have been like for our “Super Heroes of NASCAR”, as they had to literally sit through an entire day of questions such as, for Michael Waltrip, “Well, how do you feel about the start of this new 2008 season?” “Are you guys going to be as lousy as you were this time last season, with manifold gate and all ?” I mean, come on, how long does this BRAND NEW team from only last season have to be “beat over the head” with their lack of performance ??? I guess the media doesn’t get the fact that they know how bad they were and the fact that they didn’t realize exactly what they were up against, starting out as a BRAND NEW team. I don’t know about the rest of the NASCAR fans but I certainly can’t condemn them for trying to succeed, going after their dream. I thought that Mikey held his head pretty high considering what all he went through last season, in fact I accept his example for my own life, I want to be more like him as far as handling the heat of the media and the naysayers. You GO MIKEY ! ! !

Then there was “Smoke”, he was disgusted with the entire day-long event where he spent hours answering questions that had been asked of him since the end of last season. Stewart quipped. “Ask me something different.”  All the drivers want to do is run their cars and get used to this new “safer” car, they have a lot at stake during the season not to mention the pressure to perform.  Go Tony !!!

The only driver that didn’t find Media Day a pain was Jamie McMurray, who during his off-season was the only male juror on a 12-person jury, and was chosen foreman, while he was in the Restroom !!! LOL !!! He served on a jury last month in Statesville, N.C. and had to decide that fate of a man accused of sexually assulting a 10-year-old girl, the entire experience affected him so much he woke up thinking about the case Thursday morning.

That experience was certainly was more intense than Media Day !

Soap Opera Digest

With “Shrub” Busch going to Joe Gibbs Racing, I personally believe that this was the motivation for Coach Gibbs, resigning from the Redskins Football Team, to have more of a “hands on” control of JGR, not that his son, J.D. couldn’t handle any potential problems in driver personalities. Apparently he “flew in” this morning to deal with the Stewart/Busch incident. Then there was also the fact that he wanted to spend more time with his family and his Grandson which, of course, is understandable. It will certainly be an interesting season to say the least. I don’t think I’ll miss a moment of the events, who knows, I might get enough material to write a NASCAR novel ! ! !  LOL ! ! !

Then we have the Most Popular Driver moving to Hendrick Motorsports. I believe that this will be a “do or die” season for Dale Junior. He has to prove that he can still win a race, while on the other hand you have Jimmie Johnson feeling the pressure for a “Three-peat” (It will never happen) and Jeff Gordon pressured in his “drive for five championships”. I hate to say this race fans, but somethings going to have to give in this “Pressure Cooker” called Hendrick Motorsports. I just don’t see either Jimmie or Jeff  “rolling over and playing dead” or Dale Junior taking a backseat to any of his teammates. If you all remember, he made this move to win a championship.