July 16, 2009
By Doug Demmons
DANICA IS ALREADY SAVING NASCAR:
If it wasn’t for Danica shopping her “brand” around North Carolina race shops Silly Season would be Snoozy Season. Other than Martin Truex Jr. abandoning the Earnhardt-Ganassi ship, the rumor mill has been having a hard time cranking out wild scenarios.
The hottest free agent at the moment is a driver running fulltime in the Nationwide Series -- Brad Keselowski.
Of course, that’ll all change in a heartbeat if the Sports Illustrated report about Kevin Harvick wanting out at Childress is true. What will be more intriguing is not whether Childress keeps Harvick but whether they keep sponsor Shell/Pennzoil.
In a forgettable year Childress might be inclined to release a driver who hasn’t won since the 2007 Daytona 500. Replacing the sponsorship would be a lot harder.
Unless, of course, Danica decides that Childress would be a great place to launch her NASCAR career. But that’s next week’s rumor.
THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN:
Where would we be without the Race for the Bottom of the Chase?
Seven drivers are within 117 points of each other for the last five spots in the Chase. From Kasey Kahne at 8th with 2,336 points to David Reutimann in 14th with 2,219 points it’s a shootout. All it takes is a blown tire or being in the wrong wreck at the wrong time to dash any hopes of making the Chase.
ON SECOND THOUGHT:
Jeff Burton isn’t the biggest fan of double-file restarts.
"Double-file restarts four weeks in a row and I have been in wrecks four weeks in a row,” he said after Saturday night’s race at Chicagoland Speedway. “I know it is exciting to watch and I am sure it is exciting to talk about but my perspective right now isn't really good. It has been four weeks that wrecks happened in front of us and we have been in four of them. I am about done with them."
Unfortunately for Burton, double-file restarts are more popular than a sale on Budweiser in the Talladega infield. OK, maybe not that popular, but real popular.
Bunching the leaders up front is the only thing that saved the race at Chicago from becoming a snoozefest.
IT’S ALL TONY EURY JR.’S FAULT:
Since swapping crew chiefs Dale Earnhardt Jr. hasn’t exactly set NASCAR on fire. At Chicago he finished 15th.
In the seven races since Eury was replaced Earnhardt’s average finish is 20.8. In the last seven races with Eury it was 22.1.
Eventually, Junior will get it figured out. Look for him to win one of the Chase races. Talladega on Halloween weekend would be just the ticket.
CHASE OR BUST, 2009 EDITION:
At the start of the 2008 season Juan Pablo Montoya and team owner Chip Ganassi proclaimed “Chase or Bust” for the former Formula One driver.
OK, so they missed it by a year.
Going into Indianapolis Montoya is ninth in points and has six top 10s in his last eight races. If consistency is the key -- and it is -- pencil Montoya into the Chase.
MARK MARTIN SHOULD BE SPONSORED BY SIX FLAGS:
Mark Martin’s season has been a roller coaster. From a horrendous start that say him in danger of falling out of the top 35 and being written off early, he zoomed to a string of wins and looked superhuman. Then he crashed out of the top 12 -- until Chicago when he won and zoomed back in.
If Six Flags doesn’t want to sponsor him maybe Dramamine should.
WHERE DID ALL THE NASCAR DRIVERS GO?
One reason why Barber Motorspports Park in Birmingham, Ala., chose to host the Grand Am series race in late July was because it was pointed out that the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is off this week and so Cup drivers might be inclined to go sports car racing.
Hasn’t happened. Cup drivers decided to take vacations instead of risking heat exhaustion. Imagine that.
Instead, it’s one of the hottest races of the season -- and not just because of the close racing action. So Barber is looking to ditch July next year -- hoping to move its Grand Am race to early April to pair with the Indy race its hoping to land.
Doug Demmons is a writer and editor for the Birmingham News ~ he writes daily and weekly auto racing columns ranging from NASCAR to open wheel to Formula One, local tracks and more... you can read Doug's columns online at Blog of Tommorow
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
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