NASCAR Daily News Headlines * December 17, 2008

New Crew Chief For Kenseth

Blickenseder led Danny O’Quinn to the Raybestos Rookie of the Year Award in NASCAR’s No. 2 series in 2006 before moving to Kenseth’s part-time team in the series. Blickensderfer won three races in a a year-and-a-half with Kenseth. In 2008, Blickensderfer took over as Carl Edwards’ crew chief and led Edwards to seven victories in the last 19 races of the season. Now, Blickensderfer hopes to bring that same winning attitude to Kenseth’s veteran team.

“From being around him throughout last year and the year before and being fairly close to him, he wants to win races,” Blickensderfer said. “Of course, winning races means you get the most points and you’re headed for a better chance for a championship. I would say that our first goal is to try and win races. Then of course, your second goal is to get as many points as possible. I think turning the deal around would mean winning races and being in the Chase versus just being in the Chase.”

Blickensderfer has limited experience with the new Sprint Cup car but said he would lean on Bolin for knowledge about chassis setups and the use of bump stops on the shocks that help the car handle better. “I’ve never been on a bump stop,” Blickensderfer said. “I would be foolish to say right now, ‘Oh, I have a better Daytona setup than what Chip would have.’ I’ll lean on Chip a ton at the beginning and all year long. He’s a strong member of the engineering group here, he’s been on the box for the 17 for every race they’ve ever had. Obviously, I’ll lean on him a lot.”

Having Bolin remain as engineer helped convince Blickensderfer to take on the new role. Bolin had replaced Robbie Reiser as crew chief for the No. 17 team this year.(scenedaily.com)

Chevrolets For Earnhardt Ganassi Racing

The new organization resulted from a merger of Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Chip Ganassi Racing, which was announced in mid-November. Doug Randolph will serve as crew chief for Aric Almirola's No. 8 team, a spokesman said.

Dodge had a contract with Ganassi at least through 2009, but Dodge officials had indicated that they would let Ganassi out of its commitment if it was in the best interest of the team.(scenedaily.com)

GEM Cuts Back On Engine Deptartment

“We are a Sprint Cup team first and foremost, and winning in that series needs to be our primary focus,” Gillett Evernham Motorsports CEO Tom Reddin said in a statement. “The Nationwide Series is a fantastic series and we certainly look forward to racing a partial schedule in 2009, but we will not run the full season next year.

“We will remained focused on putting all of our effort behind the Cup program in 2009. GEM is very fortunate to have nearly all of our Cup sponsors returning in 2009 in addition to the new arrival of others.”

Reddin also said the team will restructure its engine department to align with a reduced number of engine leasing customers next season. GEM started 2008 with Petty Enterprises and Robby Gordon Motorsports leasing engines for three full-time Cup cars. With GEM now in merger talks with Petty and RGM going to Toyota, GEM likely will have two fewer Cup engine programs to lease as well as not have the need for as many Nationwide engines.(scenedaily.com)

Reutimann Raises $78,000 For Charity

In addition, Reutimann donated $3,000 to six schools in the Pasco County area of Florida. Reutimann’s fundraiser, which included a sports memorabilia auction, was held the weekend after Thanksgiving at Silverado Golf and Country Club in Zephyrhills, Fla.(scenedaily.com)

Help For Displaced Team Workers

Dillion To Run Seven Races For Childress

The son of RCR Vice President of Competition Mike Dillon plans to run the entire Camping World East slate once again in 2009 in addition to the seven Nationwide races, which will preserve his rookie status in the series for 2010, when he hopes to run a full schedule.

Dillon is uncertain which races he’ll run – he is still waiting on NASCAR approval to compete at the two superspeedways, Talladega and Daytona – but says Richmond and Iowa Speedway will likely be among them. Dillon competed at Iowa, which is set to host its inaugural Nationwide race in 2009, last year in Camping World East, where he finished second in the points standings and earned rookie-of-the-year honors.