Hello Nascar fans. Well the season is over and here we are the first week of the break. There is a lot of stuff going on. Friday it was announced that there would be a ban on testing at sanctioned tracks for all of next season. That means no testing whatsoever at tracks like Daytona. It was announced that testing would be suspended at all tracks hosting Nascar Sprint, Nationwide or Craftsman (Camping World) as of January 1, 2009. Nascar president Mike Helton said he anticipates the ban will last all season long. Earlier this year they considered open testing, doing away with all limits. However with the economy turning south the ban seemed to be the thing to do to save struggling teams money as it costs close to 100,000 dollars daily for a team to transport the necessary equipment to attend a testing session. Jeff Burton said he believes that we are in tough times and need to have tough actions and there are a lot of unknowns for him never having been part of a sport that instituted any kind of ban on testing before.
A USAC driver who drives for Carl Edwards was critically injured in a crash. The driver Cameron Dodson was a USAC Silver Crown series Rookie of the Year for 2007. A hospital spokesman said the 20 year old was in critical condition Wednesday night and would not release any details of his injuries. Apparantly he was thrown from his car when it left the county road he was traveling and went into a ditch. Dodson was not wearing his seatbelt at the time of his accident.
Congratulations to Regan Smith. He took the Rookie of the Year honors this year for Nascar Sprint Cup. Taking the trophies for Nationwide and Craftsman Trucks were Landon Cassill for the Nationwide title and Colin Braun for the truck series. They were honored Tuesday at Lowe’s with the annual Raybestos Rookie of the Year banquet.
Apparantly the new DEI/Ganassi merger will field four drivers and cars next season. Their roster includes Aric Almirola-#8 car, Juan Pablo Montoya-#42 car, and Martin Truex Jr.-#1. They will also field the number 41 car with a driver to be announced later. Montoya comes to the mix from Ganassi Racing. The rest are left from DEI. Details did not include the new shop location or the car manufacturer they will sign with. Some say they are leaning towards Chevrolet. Another question is what will happen with the 01 Rookie of the Year, Regan Smith as a result of the merger. He drove the 01 for DEI this season.
In the truck series, after 10 years as the series original sponsor, Craftsman is stepping down. The new sponsor is going to be Camping World starting with the 2009 season. The truck series first got its start way back in 1994 when four guys brought some crazy idea about racing trucks on paved tracks to Bill France Jr. He gave the project to Brian France who went out and sold the truck series to sponsors and arranged a mega deal for a total television package unlike any other to that point. Deals were signed and from there it was organizing teams and preparing the whole thing. On February 5, 1995 the very first truck race was held at Phoenix International Raceway. There were a total of 33 trucks that made the field for the Skoal Bandit Copper World Classic. When all was said and done, it was Mike Skinner passing Terry Labonte in the final turn to win the very first truck race. Fourteen seasons later, they are still going strong. Congratulations to the truck series drivers!!
In 1996 Joe Gibbs brought over a driver from the Indy Racing League. That was the beginning of their 12 year relationship. Ten of those with their famous sponsor, Home Depot. When the checkered flag fell as Carl Edwards won the last race of this season and the other cars came around for their final lap of the season, the Home Depot car was making it’s FINAL lap. There will be no number 20 Home Depot car next season. It was the final ride for their driver Tony Stewart with them as a sponsor. Next year Tony assumes both driver and owner duties as he pilots his own car as part owner of his new venture for Stewart-Haas Racing. Along with Tony, Ryan Newman will join him as his new team mate. Word is they will remain a two car team for now.
Well that’s about it for now. I’ll be back Sunday. If anyone knows of any other interesting information, let me know. I’ll definitely check it out. Have a great rest of the week.
