Martin Will Sub For Gordon
If Jeff Gordon is forced to miss a race to attend the birth of his daughter, series veteran Mark Martin will man the No. 24 Chevrolet, multiple sources within the Hendrick Motorsports organization told ESPN.com Wednesday. Martin on Wednesday afternoon will be fitted for a racing seat in preparation for the substitute role, sources said, and plans to begin stand-by duty for Gordon at Infineon Raceway next month.

Hendrick Motorsports officials chose not to comment, saying rather that Gordon would address the matter Thursday at Lowe's Motor Speedway, site of this weekend's Coca-Cola 600. Sources said Gordon personally sought out Martin to stand in for him, and after clearing the idea with Ginn Racing officials, Martin gladly accepted. Gordon's wife, Ingrid Vandebosch, is due the week of the June 24 Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma.

Martin will fly to Sonoma, during a weekend when he is slated to be idle from racing. If Gordon doesn't require his services, Martin will remain on hand to coach Regan Smith in the No. 01. According to NASCAR officials, Martin could get in the No. 24 without practicing in the car, so long as Nextel Cup director John Darby gives his blessing. Given Martin's veteran experience, that would seem to be all but a foregone conclusion.

If baby Gordon arrives a week early, sources said Martin will turn the No. 01 Chevrolet over to Smith at Michigan Speedway and drive the No. 24 for Gordon. Likewise, in the event the baby is a week late, Martin would sub for Gordon at New Hampshire.(ESPN)

Ned Jarrett Returns
Ned Jarrett, one of the most popular motorsports announcers in history and a mainstay of ESPN’s NASCAR coverage for 15 years, will make a guest appearance alongside his son, Dale Jarrett, in the ESPN booth Saturday night during ESPN2’s live, prime-time coverage of the NASCAR Busch Series race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. The telecast will begin at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Father and son will work together as television analysts for the first time. The elder Jarrett was an auto racing analyst for ESPN from 1986 until the network ended its previous period of NASCAR coverage in 2000, at which point the two-time NASCAR Cup champion retired from television. Dale, still an active NASCAR NEXTEL Cup driver, is working as an analyst on 10 NASCAR Busch Series race telecasts this season. He made his ESPN debut in April.

"Ned Jarrett has a tremendous role in the history of ESPN and NASCAR,” said Norby Williamson, ESPN executive vice president, studio and remote production. “A legendary father joining his legendary son in the ESPN booth, having Ned back just for one race, is certainly special to all of us. This is Father's Day arriving early for Ned and Dale, and our viewers will be the lucky ones."

The Jarretts will work the ESPN booth with lead announcer Dr. Jerry Punch and analyst Andy Petree. All four are from tiny Newton, N.C., and Punch and Petree were part of Dale Jarrett’s first racing team in the late 1970s. Punch shared ownership with Ned. Dale was one of the founding drivers of the NASCAR Busch Series in 1982.

“I’m looking forward to Saturday night and working with my dad,” said Dale, who is filling in for ESPN’s lead auto racing analyst Rusty Wallace. “It should be a blast having him there in the booth with Jerry, Andy and me. He was a big part of my success and getting started in racing.”

Ned Jarrett’s last race as a driver was in 1966, and he became a radio broadcaster shortly after. He added TV work in the 1970s.

“I didn’t get to race against Dale because he was only 9 years old when I retired, but now to have the chance to work with him in the broadcast booth, my second career, is pretty neat,” he said.

One of the most memorable moments in NASCAR television history occurred in 1993, when Dale won the Daytona 500 with his excited father calling the final lap from the television booth. Ned also lists as personal career highlights: working the ESPN telecast of Dale’s first NASCAR Cup win in 1991 at Michigan International Speedway and interviewing Dale on pit road for ESPN when he clinched the 1999 championship. Ned helped along his son’s driving career at the beginning and has helped with advice on Dale’s foray into television.

“He asked my opinion before he agreed to do this,” Ned said. “I thought he was capable of doing it, and I felt he would be good for it and it would be good for ESPN.

“I feel that the best advice I can give anyone in TV is to listen to what’s being said and pay attention so that you’re not repeating what someone else has said. It helps to get into the rhythm and make a better contribution to the broadcast.”

Dale has worked five telecasts so far and Ned said he has watched them all.

“I’ve honestly been impressed,” he said. “I’m prejudiced but I also feel I’m realistic. He’s done a good job for the role he’s been in. I’ve had a lot of people tell me he puts it in ways they can understand it, and they appreciate that.

“I told him that broadcasting would be as big a challenge as driving,” Ned said. “I’m just as proud of what he’s done in the broadcast booth as I am of what he’s done in the race car.”

New Cars Full Time In 2008
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) announced on Wednesday that the Car of Tomorrow will be fully implemented for the 2008 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series season.

The move accelerates the integration of the new car into the series by one full year. In January 2006, NASCAR had announced a three-year roll-out schedule that would conclude with the new car running in every race by 2009.

As the new car began its initial phase-in program over the past several months, team owners expressed support of the new car and its full implementation by the 2008 season. Therefore, starting next year the new car will run the entire NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series schedule.

“We are proud of how the new car has performed at multiple tracks,” said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR’s Vice President of Competition. “NASCAR, with the support of team owners, agreed that the new car is ready to compete at all NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series events in 2008. Beginning next year the Car of Tomorrow is officially ”the car”, a Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford and Toyota,” said Pemberton.

The original transition program had the new car running 16 races in 2007; 26 races in 2008; and the entire schedule in 2009. So far this season, the new car has run five times – at Bristol, Martinsville, Phoenix, Richmond and Darlington – with the races featuring close competition on the track and the safety and durability features of the car well-demonstrated.

The average margin of victory through the first five Car of Tomorrow races has been a mere .505 seconds (compared to 1.286 seconds at these same races a year ago) and there have been six fewer DNFs through this same race sequence from 2006. Additionally, 13 teams have used the same chassis for three of the five races; four teams have run the same chassis in four of the five races; and one team – the No. 29 Chevrolet – has run the same chassis in all five Car of Tomorrow races.

NASCAR’s Car of Tomorrow is the culmination of a seven-year project undertaken at NASCAR’s Research and Development Center in Concord, N.C. The new car was built primarily with safety in mind, but during the development process, NASCAR also discovered ways in which the car could improve competition and enable teams to be more cost-efficient.

The Car of Tomorrow design has also enabled manufacturers to have an increased product and branding opportunity. The manufacturers’ 2007 Car of Tomorrow models – the Chevrolet Impala SS, Dodge Avenger, Ford Fusion and Toyota Camry – more closely resemble production cars than the former race car did.

Bowyer In Late Model Race
Nextel Cup Series driver Clint Bowyer plans to compete in the Goodyear Fastrak Challenge late model portion of the Eckerd Outlaw Showdown Friday night at The Dirt Track @ Lowe's Motor Speedway.

The winged World of Outlaws sprint cars headline the program with the Goodyear Fastrak Challenge late models serving as the support division. Bowyer, of Emporia, Kan., is entered in the No. 07 Jack Daniels late model and will be among those chasing a $2,000 first prize in the 25-lap late model finale. Before joining Richard Childress Racing, Bowyer honed his racing skills at several Midwestern dirt tracks including Lakeside Speedway where he won the 2002 track championship.

Also on the late model entry list for Friday's Eckerd Outlaw Showdown is Austin Dillon, the grandson of Bowyer's NASCAR NEXTEL Cup and Busch Series car owner Richard Childress. The Goodyear Fastrak Challenge series features late model stock cars powered by General Motors crate engines.

Twenty-time World of Outlaws champion Steve Kinser, defending series champion Donny Schatz and 2001 titlist Danny Lasoski are among those scheduled to compete in the sprint car portion of the Eckerd Outlaw Showdown. Spectator gates open at 5 p.m. with hot laps starting at 7:30. Opening ceremonies are slated for 8:15 p.m. with the first heat race scheduled for 8:25.

Benson’s Jack Man Injured
Johnny Benson’s jack man Ryan “Pickle” London was injured in a go-kart accident this past weekend and suffered injuries to his arm, head and chest. This weekend Ron “Porkchop” Pederson will fill in as the jack man for the 23 truck.

Lance Hooper Fined By NASCAR
NASCAR announced today that Lance Hooper, crew chief of the No. 13 Chevrolet, has been fined $1,000, suspended from NASCAR until June 6, 2007, and from the next two NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races. He also was placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31, 2007.