Lead Lap's NASCAR News

Newman, Hamlin Identified As Fined Drivers

Michael J Smith — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:28:47 +0000

Sources told ESPN that the two drivers who were fined for making disparaging remarks about NASCAR were Ryan Newman and Denny Hamlin.

Earlier this week, the Associated Press reported that NASCAR secretly fined two drivers for making negative comments about the sport; prompting backlash from media and fans about the decision not to name the drivers.

With this news, hopefully this story can be put to rest.

Gateway Will Not Host Any NASCAR Races In 2011

Michael J Smith — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 04:24:37 +0000

Dover Motorsports Inc, owner of Gateway International Raceway, has informed NASCAR that it would not seek any 2011 races for the 1.25-mile track. Gateway currently has two Nationwide Series races on the schedule and one Camping World Truck Series race. This year’s remaining Nationwide race is not affected by this news.

Dover Motorsports owns two other tracks, Nashville Speedway and Dover International Speedway, but those tracks are not expected to pick up the extra dates. Nashville currently has two Nationwide races and two truck series races on the schedule, while Dover has two N’wide and one truck series race.

Labonte To Replace Ambrose At JTG Next Season

Michael J Smith — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 18:31:24 +0000

JTG Daughtery Racing announced that Bobby Labonte will drive the team’s No. 47 Sprint Cup Toyota next season, following the departure of Marcos Ambrose, who is expected to drive Richard Petty Motorsports’ No. 9 Ford, replacing Kasey Kahne, who is set to drive Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 5 in 2012. Kahne’s 2011 plans have yet to be announced.

Labonte said:

JTG Daugherty Racing is a solid race team that has come close to winning races with Marcos Ambrose and I’m looking forward to developing our new partnership in 2011. The team is thriving and their technical alliance with MWR (Michael Waltrip Racing) is intact. It’s great to have next year already set in stone so when this season ends we can begin focusing on next year right away. Everything is in place and we have all the right ingredients to win races together.

Brad Daugherty, one of the team’s owners, said:

We are really happy Bobby has decided to join our team because I have known him for a long time and I have always admired him as a professional driver and as an individual. He will do an outstanding job representing our products and team. He has gotten to a point in his career that he still has some things to accomplish. He is highly experienced with a championship on his resume’ and we know he is capable of winning.

Owner Jodi Geschickter added:

We know he is an amazing fit for our sponsors and racing organization. The Labonte name has a history of excellence. Bobby is a proven winner, a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion and his character is solid.

Labonte began the season driving for TRG Motorsports in their No. 71 Sprint Cup Chevy. He left the team in June, seeking a more competitive ride. Following his departure from TRG, he drove for Robby Gordon Motorsports and Phoenix Racing before agreeing to drive the No. 71 for four more races this season.

Gordon Gets New Spotter Starting This Weekend

Michael J Smith — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 16:41:01 +0000

Jeff Gordon has gotten a new spotter, according to reports on Twitter. Jeff Dickerson, formerly spotter for Kyle Busch, replaces Shannon McGlamery in the spotter’s stand beginning at this weekend’s Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway.

The reason for the change is said to be that the team thinks that part of Busch’s success has been his ability to deal with the double-file restarts, aggressive endings, and green-white-checkered finishes. They think that Dickerson has been a large part of that.

They were happy with McGlamery, but felt like Dickerson was too good to pass up. McGlamery will move to another role with the company.

Dickerson was slated to leave Joe Gibbs Racing at the end of this season. So JGR decided to make the change last weekend, with Eddie D’Hondt spotting for Busch on an interim basis.

Dickerson has been with Busch since 2005, when the young driver was at Hendrick Motorsports. Dickerson eventually became Busch’s agent and business manager until the position was moved to someone else before the start of this season.

Also, Hendrick Motorsports announced the promotion of Marshall Carlson to president and chief operating officer of the organization, a position held by Rick Hendrick’s late brother John that has remained vacant since his passing in 2004.

Roush Injured But Okay After Plane Crash

Michael J Smith — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 04:28:18 +0000

On Tuesday night, a plane carrying Roush Fenway Racing team owner Jack Roush and Brenda Strickland, a friend of Roush’s, crashed at Whitman Regional Airport in Wisconsin. Roush walked away from the incident, but was listed as being in stable, but serious condition. Strickland, too, walked away with non-life threatening injuries.

RFR President Geoff Smith told the Associated Press via a text message that Roush suffered facial lacerations that may require surgery.

Reports indicate that Roush was flying a Beechcraft Premeir 1A, registered to Roush Fenway Racing, LLC, from Detroit to Oshkosh, Wisc. to attend the Experimental Aircraft Association’s annual AirVenture. On landing, the plane made hard contact, cracking the fuselage.

According to NASCAR journalist Bob Margolis, who is penning a book about Roush’s life, Roush bumped his head during the crash and cut his face. He was evaluated at a local hospital and was okay.

A statment from the EEA confirmed that. The statement said:

Each exited the aircraft following the accident. Both were transported to local hospitals, with Roush in serious but stable condition and Strickland with non-life threatening injuries.

NASCAR Issues Penalties To JR Motorsports’ No. 88 Team

Michael J Smith — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 01:43:43 +0000

NASCAR issued penalties to JR Motorsports’ No. 88 Nationwide Series team for infractions found at O’Reilly Raceway Park. The team violated Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4-J (any determination by NASCAR officials that the race equipment used in the event does not conform to NASCAR rules); and 20A-12.3T (unapproved left front shock absorber) of the 2010 NASCAR Rule Book.

Crew cheif Tony Eury Sr was fined $10,000, while owner Dale Earnhardt Jr and driver Aric Almirola have been penalized with the loss of 25 championship owner and 25 championship driver points, respectively.

The violation was found during post-race inspection.

NASCAR Fines Red Bull Racing Crew Chief Elledge

Michael J Smith — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 01:32:34 +0000

NASCAR announced that it has penalized Jimmy Elledge, crew chief for Red Bull Racing’s No. 83 Toyota, for infractions that occurred at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Elledge was fined $25,000 for violating Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4-J (any determination by NASCAR officials that the race equipment does not conform to NASCAR rules); and 20-2.3A (improperly attached weight) of the 2010 NASCAR rule book. The violation was found during practice on Saturday.

Roush Shouldn’t Kick Himself For Letting McMurray Go

Michael J Smith — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 17:44:34 +0000

In the 2009 season, Jack Roush had a difficult decision to make. He had to trim his five-car team down to four cars to get under the NASCAR-mandated team limit. Initially, the thought was that one of the team’s drivers would move to Yates Racing, which has a technical alliance with Roush Fenway Racing.

But, in July of 2009, DeWalt announced it was leaving RFR and Matt Kenseth. A few days later, Jamie McMurray was given permission to talk to other teams about a ride for 2010, but RFR was still looking to keep him. The thought was that Crown Royal would move from McMurray’s car to Kenseth’s car, but if sponsorship could be found for McMurray, he would move to Yates.

About a month later, Irwin Industrial Tools announced it was leaving the team and McMurray, which only increased the likelihood that he would not stay with the team. Shortly thereafter, Yates merged with Richard Petty Motorsports, which brought that team to the four-car limit, eliminating any space for an RFR driver.

Without sponsorship for the car, and no place for one of the teams to move, it became inevitable that one team would be cut. Based on performance, McMurray and David Ragan were the logical choices. Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards, and Matt Kenseth were all considered “safe” because they were consistently top performers.

Ragan and McMurray, however, both struggled. McMurray did have two wins to his credit, but he also had 43 finishes of 30^th or worse in four years (144 races) with RFR. Ragan, meanwhile, had 28 finishes of 30^th or worse in three years (110 races) with RFR, which would translate to 37 finishes of 30^th or worse in 144 races, assuming Ragan kept up his pace.

Statistically, McMurray would have been the wiser choice to keep. He had better percentages of wins, top 5s, and top 10s. He won about one percent of the races he ran. He finished in the top 5 in 7.6% of races ran, and in the top 10 in 22.2% of races ran. Ragan, however, never won, and finished in the top 5 7.2% of the time and in the top 10 17.2% of the time.

But, Ragan had solid sponsorship from UPS and there was no indication that they were unhappy with Ragan. He was also under contract with RFR, while McMurray’s contract was expiring. So, he became the odd man out. He left the team and joined Earnhardt Ganassi Racing’s No. 1 team. McMurray and owner Chip Ganassi worked together from 2002-2005, and McMurray won his first race (in his second start) in a Ganassi car. For Ganassi, I’m sure the signing was a no-brainer.

Looking at McMurray’s recent success, it’s easy to say that Jack Roush made a mistake letting him go. With wins in two of the biggest races of the year, the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400, McMurray has not only solidified himself in the history books, but he’s shown the entire Sprint Cup garage that he’s a legitimate competitor week in and week out.

This season, McMurray has posted two wins, six top 5s, and seven top 10s. He was also very close to winning at Talladega, Darlington, and Charlotte, finishing second in each of those races.

In four years with RFR, he posted two wins, 11 top 5s, and 32 top 10s. In 20 races with EGR he has matched his win total at RFR, and is more than half way on his way to matching his total number of top 5s. Let that sink in.

If we were to assume that McMurray keeps up this pace over the next four years – which is highly unlikely, I know – that would mean he would post 14 wins, 43 tops 5s, and 50 top 10s in 144 races. RFR would certainly be happy with those numbers. So, it’s easy to assume Roush must be kicking himself for letting McMurray go.

But, I don’t think he is (or at least he shouldn’t be.)

McMurray had an expiring contract and no sponsor. Who’s to say McMurray would have re-signed with Roush without knowing if a seat was available? That scenario was more unlikely when EGR’s No. 1 became available, since I think McMurray wanted the chance to work with Ganassi again.

Statistically, and from a fan perspective, McMurray is a better driver than Ragan, but that doesn’t mean that sponsors agree. Ultimately UPS would have had to sign off on replacing Ragan with McMurray, and I’m not certain that they were prepared to do that.

Also, McMurray’s success with EGR and Kevin “Bono” Manion this season is the result of team chemistry – everything clicking. It’s highly unlikely that McMurray would have the same success with a different crew chief at RFR, which is current struggling as an organization.

We also can’t forget that Roush didn’t want to let McMurray go. He was looking for ways to keep him, but he couldn’t find a way.

In retrospect, letting McMurray go was a mistake. But, it isn’t one that Jack Roush should be kicking himself over.

Ambrose To Leave JTG Daugherty At End Of Season

Michael J Smith — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 17:26:24 +0000

JTG Daugherty Racing announced that Marcos Ambrose has decided to leave the No. 47 team at the end of the Sprint Cup season.

Ambrose began driving for the team in 2005 in what is now the Camping World Truck Series. After one season there, he moved to the Nationwide Series for one season before moving up to Cup three seasons ago.

Ambrose said:

After five years, I personally felt it was time for a change. I have no firm plans of what will come next for me and my career. I would like to continue in NASCAR and finish off what I started, but I have not discounted returning to Australia.

He also thanked JTG for the opportunity.

Update: According to SIRIUS Satellite Radio, Ambrose has been named driver of Richard Petty Motorsports’ No. 9 Ford in 2011, replacing Kasey Kahne, who is leaving to join Hendrick Motorsports, at Richard Petty Motorsports.

JTG said that it will make an announcement concerning its driver for the 2011 Sprint Cup season.

Update 2: SceneDaily.com is reporting that Bobby Labonte is the leading candidate to replace Ambrose in JTG’s No. 47 Toyota. Nothing has been confirmed or denied at this point.

Budweiser To Richard Childress Racing, Harvick?

Michael J Smith — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 13:39:50 +0000

According to Matt McLaughlin’s Thinking Out Loud column on Frontstretch.com, Budweiser moving to Richard Childress Racing and driver Kevin Harvick appears to be “in the cards.” But, no source is given to indicate how and why McLaughlin came to that conclusion.

AutoRacing1.com (subscription required) reported the same rumor in June, but nothing has been confirmed or denied at this point.