Hey Nascar fans!!! How is the week going? Well hope everyone has recovered and is primed and ready for the Christmas holiday, only 3 more weeks!! I have my tree up and it’s decorated with all my Nascar ornaments. I have helmets, elf crew members, cars, jackets, hats, and wheels. I am ready for my Nascar christmas! Let’s see what’s happening this week in the best sport ever!
Well, man of the hour, Jimmy Johnson, now has another title to add to his collection. The three time Nascar champ is being honored as the best sportsman of the year for 2008 by the March of Dimes Organization during Champions Week celebrations in New York. Car owner Rick Hendricks said that the work and dedication Johnson and Knaus show to their team is second to none and that he also said the accomplishments achieved by this team have been extroidinary. Knaus attributes much of that success to having an owner like Hendricks around. Chad stated that to win three championships in a row is a testament to the leadership skills that Hendricks brings to his entire organization.
You know what the they say about Texas, the bigger the better, so the Texas Motor Speedway has announced plans to commence on a 2 million dollar improvement project that will transform a portion of the backstretch, the upper half to be exact, to create an extravagant motor coach park that will be known as “Burnout Alley”. There will be 74 available sites for the ultimate fan that loves to entertain and celebrate the excitement from their motorhome. Each site will be 30′ by 60′ with all the hook-ups campers might require such as water, electric, and of course what site wouldnt be complete without live race feeds! How cool is that? Talk about swank, they will even have concierge service that will even provide grocery shopping as one of its services along with free internet and 24 hour bathroom access which is of course a must in any camping environment, I know because I have been camping before. Thats just to cool if you ask me. The sites will sell for 15, 000 dollars for a year and would be good for the two Nascar race weeks and the Indy car week. The project is slated for 75 days and should be ready by mid March of 2009. On the downside, the new area will eliminate over 21,000 seats from the backstretch area.
Okay, now let’s confirm a few of the driver changes that are a solid fact for next season. As I wrote before, Mark Martin will be joining Hendricks Motorsports next year as the driver for the #5 Carquest/Kellogg’s Chevrolet. Martin signed a multi year deal with Hendricks so he will be in place there for a while. I’m happy with that change. Casey Mears signed on with RCR Racing for the 2009 season. He will be piloting the #7 Jack Daniels Chevrolet. I believe this move by Mears was anticipated by many so nothing earth shattering there. Okay, Tony will be driving Chevrolet this coming season as he takes the helm as owner-driver of the #14 Old Spice/Office Depot Chevrolet. It has been said that Tony purchased 50 percent ownership in Haas CNC Racing. Greg Biffle has signed on with Roush Racing through 2011. He will continue to drive the #16 Ford and his sponsor 3M will stay with him as well. Joey Logano assumes the duties of Tony Stewart as he takes over the #20 Home Depot Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. Clint Bowyer is making the move back to RCR Racing and will drive the #33 General Mills Chevrolet. Ryan Newman will be joining new teammate Tony as he takes the helm of the #39 US Army Chevrolet. Their goal is to win sooner than later and Newman is part of that larger outlook for Haas Racing. Carl Edwards continues his run with Roush Racing changing his major sponsor to AFLAC and of course his number remains unchanged, #99 Aflac Ford. Paul Menard is leaving DEI to race with Yates this coming season. Scott Riggs and AJ Allmendinger are both still searching for a ride for next season. Aric Almirola will drive for DEI next season in the #8 Chevrolet and he will drive the entire season in that car.
Jamie McMurray and veteran crew chief Donnie Wingo will soon be making sweet music together again. The pair who spent three seasons together at Ganassi Racing will find themselves working together again, this time it’s for Roush Fenway Racing as driver and crew chief respectively of the #26 Ford. Wingo has more than 15 years experience working in Nascar. Jamie said he is thrilled and excited to have him come to Roush Fenway Racing this coming season and that he cant wait for the new season to begin.
By the way, anyone interested in watching this years awards banquet for the Nascar guys, it will be broadcast on ESPN Classic and will begin live coverage at 9pm Eastern Time Friday night, December 5th. Just thought I would throw that in for you. Well that’s about it for now everyone. Have a great rest of the week and I’ll see you back here Sunday. Until then race fans.
Nascar Dude says
There is a lot of driver changes for next year – very hard to keep up none of my drivers are changing so thats easy for me to keep up
Vinny says
Just came back from Times Square and took plenty of pictures of Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus holding the Nascar Trophy.
There were plenty of people there but I still managed to get some nice shots.
Lorri says
i know right? my drivers are all at hendrick already so i dont have to keep up with the changes for that reason either. but i was surprised there were so many changes for other drivers and scott riggs is still looking for a solid sponsor and ride for next season also. i thought for sure he would have secured a ride by now. good luck scott.
Lorri says
dude. im sooo jealous. i bet the place was like disney on opening day! slammed! hope you had fun.