Surprises And Disappointments From The Auto Club 500

There were quite a bit of surprises and disappointments during the 2009 Auto Club 500. Here is a list of what I thought were the biggest surprises and disappointments from last Sunday’s race.

Surprise

Matt Kenseth winning the first two races of the year was a big surprise to me. I know Roush Fenway has been dominate at this event the last several years, but for Kenseth to pull off that win surprised and impressed me. If you would have told me that Kenseth was going to win the race with 30 laps to go, I would have fell out laughing.

Disappointment

As Matt Kenseth was starting a new streak of his own, Kevin Harvick ended one. Harvick’s DNF Sunday night was his first in 81 races. A streak that was only three races shy of the all-time races without a DNF streak.

Surprise

Jimmie Johnson fading off towards the end was definitely a surprise. Usually, the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet team is at its best when it comes to the waning laps of a race – not this week. Johnson was running in dominating form during the early and middles stages of the race. When it got down to the last 30 to 40 laps, he began struggling and finished an uncharacteristic ninth.

Disappointment

The only real racing was on pit road. It is a shame that out of 250 laps on the track, the most excitement was the race off pit road. No wonder the Auto Club Speedway has a hard time selling tickets.

Surprise

Tony Stewart finished eight in both races thus far, and is fourth in points – tied with Kurt Busch with 294 points. We all know Stewart is a great race car driver, but to be doing so well with his new team was a surprise to me. I figured some new team struggles would hamper Stewart in the beginning of the season.

Disappointment

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. being 35th in points is a huge disappointment. I am not a Junior fan, but I expected him to be doing much better than this out of the gate. His bad driving hurt him in Daytona, and now his bad luck at Fontana has put him in a big hole to climb out of. It might be a long season for Junior Nation if his fortunes do not reverse soon…. real soon.

Surprise

Seeing Michael Waltrip and Juan Pablo Montoya in the top-10 in points. Waltrip and Montoya have started the 2009 season with strong finishes the first two races. Waltrip has finishes of seventh at Daytona and 15th at Fontana. Montoya has finishes of 14th at Daytona and 11th at Fontana. If these two can keep this up, they could be be contenders for a Chase spot. I doubt it really, but you never know in this sport. As for Waltrip, nothing motivates quite like the threat of firing yourself, huh?

Disappointment

I have been disappointed in how Joey Logano has run so far in 2009. I know the 18-year old is a rookie and has never ran at these tracks, but he has struggled badly. Maybe I am expecting too much from him too early. Logano is currently 38th in owner points. So if he doesn’t get a move on by Martinsville, he will have to qualify to get in the race. That could become a nightmare for the No. 20 Home Depot team.

 

I am looking forward to seeing what kind of surprises and disappointments we find at Las Vegas this Sunday.

2009 Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year Prediction

The 2009 season will bring us just two candidates for Raybestos Rookie of the Year in the Sprint Cup Series. Those candidates are Joey Logano and Scott Speed.

Joey Logano

First up is Joey Logano. Logano is the most-hyped rookie in recent memory. You have probably heard more about Logano in the last six months than you have about any rookie since Dale Earnhardt,Jr.

 2009 Raybestos Rookie of the Year Candidate Joey Logano

Joey Logano was born May 24, 1990 in Middletown, Connecticut. He was nicknamed “Sliced Bread” by former Nationwide Champion, Randy LaJoie. LaJoie’s son, Corey, grew up racing with Logano.

Logano burst onto the NASCAR scene last season after he turned 18, NASCAR’s minimum age to compete in the top three series. He then won his first Nationwide Series race just 21 days later at Kentucky Speedway. With wins in quarter midgets, Bandoleros and Legends as a child to USAR Hooters Pro Cup, Camping World East and ARCA Series as a teenager, Logano has proven he is as good as the hype indicates.

Joey Logano will take over the Joe Gibbs Racing #20 Home Depot Toyota Camry from Tony Stewart in 2009.

 

Scott Speed

Scott Speed was born January 24, 1983 in Manteca, California. Speed worked his way up through the open wheel career ladder winning national championships in karting before moving on to US Barber Formula Dodge and US Star Mazda Series. Speed continued his climb overseas with 2004 championships in the Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup and German Formula Renault series.

2009 Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidate Scott Speed

Speed got a taste of the big time in 2005 when he started two Formula One races. He then ran the full season in 2006 and the first ten races of 2007 before disagreements with the team caused a separation.

In all, Speed started 28 Formula One races without scoring a point in the series. Overall Scott Speed performed well in Formula One considering the equipment he had.

Speed found his way back to the U.S. and landed in the ARCA series. In 2008, Scott scored four wins and ended the season third in points. At the same time he started 16 Truck Series events for Bill Davis Racing managing nine top tens and one win.

Speed ended last season with five NASCAR Sprint Cup starts in the Red Bull Racing #84. Speed struggled with his first four starts, not starting better than 33rd or finishing higher than 30th. However, in the season finale in Homestead, Speed started on the outside of the front row, ran near the front most of the day and ended the race with a respectable 16th place finish.

This is the same team that he will race full-time with in 2009. They have simply changed the car number to #82.

 

The Skinny

Scott Speed brings the most diversified racing resume and experience of the two drivers. He has proven he is a quick learner. Throughout his career he has reached his potential at a rapid pace. He could quickly become the #1 driver at Team Red Bull. And his last name is Speed, go figure.

Joey Logano has also shown to be a quick study. Logano has proven that he isn’t scared to rub fenders with the big boys. He will be the youngest driver to ever qualify for the Daytona 500 at 18 years old. Logano will need to mature quickly to overcome obstacles during his first full-time season in Sprint Cup.

 

My Prediction

One driver has great skill and experience but is with a second tier team. The other driver is very young, immensely talented, and has the support of a championship-winning crew chief with nearly unlimited resources.

My choice is the latter, Joey Logano, to win the 2009 Raybestos Rookie of the Year. With crew chief Greg Zipadelli’s tutelage, Logano will have a very good season. He should get at least one or two wins in 2009 and may even challenge for a Chase spot near the end of the season.

I hope that both drivers have a safe and competitive season in 2009. I believe they both will have great success in the Sprint Cup Series.

2009 Bud Shootout Entry List

Here is the official Entry List for the 2009 Bud Shootout. Remember, the Bud Shootout will be February 7th, at 8:00PM (EST) on Fox.

Car #	Driver	Owner	Crew Chief	Car Make	Sponsor
00	David Reutimann	Michael Waltrip	Rodney Childers	Toyota Camry	Aaron’s Dream Machine
2	Kurt Busch	Walter Czamecki	Patrick Tryson	Dodge Charger	Miller Lite
6	David Ragan	Mike Dee	Jimmy Fennig	Ford Fusion	UPS
7	Robby Gordon	Robby Gordon	Kirk Almquist	Dodge Charger	Jim Beam
07	Casey Mears	Richard Childress	Gil Martin	Chevrolet Impala	Jack Daniels
9	Kasey Kahne	George Gillett Jr	Kenny Francis	Dodge Charger	Budweiser
11	Denny Hamlin	J.D. Gibbs	Michael Ford	Toyota Camry	FedEx Express
12	David Stremme	Roger Penske	Leroy McCauley	Dodge Charger	Penske Dodge
14	Tony Stewart	Margaret Haas	Darian Grubb	Chevrolet Impala	Old Spice/Office Depot
16	Greg Biffle	Jack Roush	Greg Erwin	Ford Fusion	3M
17	Matt Kenseth	John Henry	Drew Blickensderfer	Ford Fusion	DeWalt
18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs	Steve Addington	Toyota Camry	M&Ms
19	Elliott Sadler	George Gillett Jr	Kevin Buskirk	Dodge Charger	Stanley Tools
20	Joey Logano	Joe Gibbs	Greg Zipadelli	Toyota Camry	Home Depot
24	Jeff Gordon	Rick Hendrick	Steve Letarte	Chevrolet Impala	DuPont
26	Jamie McMurray	Geoff Smith	Donnie Wingo	Ford Fusion	Crown Royal
29	Kevin Harvick	Richard Childress	Todd Berrier	Chevrolet Impala	Shell/Pennzoil
31	Jeff Burton	Richard Childress	Scott Miller	Chevrolet Impala	Caterpillar
43	Reed Sorenson	Richard Petty	Mike Shplett	Dodge Charger	McDonald’s
44	A.J. Allmendinger	George Gillett Jr	Sammy Johns	Dodge Charger	Valvoline
48	Jimmie Johnson	Jeff Gordon	Chad Knaus	Chevrolet Impala	Lowe’s
55	Michael Waltrip	Michael Waltrip	Bootie Barker	Toyota Camry	NAPA
82	Scott Speed	Dietrich Mateschitz	Jimmy Elledge	Toyota Camry	Red Bull
83	Brian Vickers	Dietrich Mateschitz	Ryan Pemberton	Toyota Camry	Red Bull
88	Dale Earnhardt Jr	Rick Hendrick	Tony Eury Jr	Chevrolet Impala	National Guard/AMP Energy
96	Bobby Labonte	Jeff Moorad	Brad Parrott	Ford Fusion	Ask.com
98	Paul Menard	Max Jones	Larry Carter	Ford Fusion	Menard’s
99	Carl Edwards	Jack Roush	Bob Osborne	Ford Fusion	AFLAC

 

The starting order is determined by a drawing for the Bud Shootout. It will be interesting to see which of these 28 drivers get the pole!

Thursday I will have a special post on the Bud Shootout called The Big Bud Shootout Shindig. This post will cover everything from the Bud Shootout history, famous events during previous Shootouts, former winners and much more!

Be sure you don’t miss it!

Follow The Chaos For The 2009 Season

As the 2009 season approaches, I felt like it would be a good time to list some of the new driver/crew chief/team changes. This Silly Season probably represents more changes than any other year I can remember.

So hang on and try to keep up as I list some of the biggest changes thus far for the 2009 Sprint Cup Series season.

 

• Mark Martin left a part time schedule, driving the #01 U.S. Army Chevrolet, to run full time again for Hendrick Motorsports. Martin will be steering the #5 Kellogg's/Car Quest Chevrolet with Alan Gustafson being the crew chief.
• Casey Mears left that Hendricks Motorsports #5 to drive for Richard Childress Racing. Mears will be driving the #07 Jack Daniels Chevrolet with Gil Martin serving as crew chief.
• Clint Bowyer, the previous driver of the #07 Jack Daniels Chevrolet, will move over to Richard Childress Racing's fourth team the #33 General Mills/BB&T Chevrolet with crew chief Shane Wilson.
• Ryan Newman left the #12 Alltel Dodge of Penske South Racing to drive the #39 U.S. Army Chevrolet of Stewart Haas Racing with crew chief Tony Gibson.
• Tony Stewart left Joe Gibbs Racing to become half owner of Stewart Haas Racing and pilot the #14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet with new crew chief Darian Grubb.
• David Stremme was hired by Penske South Racing to drive the #12 Alltel Dodge with crew chief Roy McCauley.
• Rookie Joey Logano was promoted to the Sprint Cup Series by Joe Gibbs Racing. He will steer the #20 Home Depot Toyota with crew chief Greg Zipadelli.
• John Andretti was hired to drive the #34 Window World Chevrolet for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. This team is from an alliance between Earnhardt Ganassi Racing and Front Row Motorsports. The crew chief will be Scott Eggleston.
• Rookie Scott Speed has moved into the #82 Red Bull Racing Toyota vacated by A.J. Allmendinger. The crew chief will be Jimmy Elledge.
• A.J. Allmendinger has signed to drive the new #44 Valvoline Dodge with Richard Petty Motorsports (now a part of Gillett Evernham Motorsports) for 2009. As of this post, Allmendinger is set for eight races this season, but the team is working on getting more races.
• Reed Sorenson will be piloting the #43 Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodge in 2009 with crew chief Mike Shiplett. Their will be five primary sponsors for the team in 2009, most notably the U.S. Air Force.
• Former Sprint Cup Champion Bobby Labonte will be driving the #96 Academy Sports and Outdoors Ford for Hall of Fame Racing with crew chief Todd Parrott.
• JTG Daugherty Racing will add a Sprint Cup Series car to their team in 2009. They have primarily fielded cars in the Nationwide Series. The new Sprint Cup car will be the #47 Little Debbie Snacks Toyota driven by rookie Marcos Ambrose. Frank Kerr will be the crew chief.
• Paul Menard has left DEI, after the merger with Ganassi, to join Yates Racing. Menard will drive the #98 Menard's Ford. The crew chief will be Larry Carter.

There have been some notable team mergers during the off season as well.

• Richard Petty Motorsports has merged with Gillett Evernham Motorsports. It will be referred to as Richard Petty Motorsports.
• Dale Earnhardt Inc. has merged with Ganassi Racing to form Earnhardt Ganassi Racing or EGR.
• Yates Racing has formed an alliance with Hall of Fame Racing. It will be called Yates Racing.

Boy! This stuff can get confusing. It is no wonder they call it the Silly Season. The team mergers can get real confusing, because different people call the new team a different name. It all depends on who you talk to.

It can get mind-boggling the first couple races trying to figure out which driver is driving what. Hopefully this list will help to clear it up a bit.

The Top 20 Drivers of 2009 Part 1

Today I will begin a pre-season look at how I think the points will end up for the upcoming year. The Top 20 Drivers of 2009 will showcase what I think will be the finishing order in points, starting at number 20 and finishing on February 7th with the 2009 Sprint Cup Champion. I will display three drivers each day until February 5th. On February 6th, I will have the second place driver, and on February 7th I will have who I think will be this year's champ. All just in time for the February 8th kickoff of the season - the Budweiser Shootout! It is just around the corner, so let's get started!

#20 Ryan Newman

Ryan Newman started off 2008 with a bang by capturing the 50th Annual Daytona 500. The rest of his year was somewhat disappointing, finishing 17th in the final points standings.

Newman was born December 8, 1977 in South Bend, Indiana. He received a degree in Vehicle Structure Engineering from Purdue University. He won the USAC Silver Crown National Championship in 1999. His Sprint Cup career began at Penske Racing South in 2000.

In 2008, Newman had 36 starts, 1 pole, 1 win, 2 Top 5s, 8 Top 10s, average start of 16, average finish of 20, and 3,735 points.

2009 looks to be a trickier ride for Newman, as he joins Tony Stewart at Stewart-Haas Racing. He will be driving the #39 Chevrolet Impala sponsored by the U.S. Army and Haas Automation.


#19 Joey Logano



Joey Logano will kick off his rookie season in 2009. Logano has shown much promise and has been the most talked-about newcomer all of 2008. Everyone has high expectations for the 18 year-old.

Logano was born May 24, 1990 in Middletown, Connecticut. Logano started racing at the age of six. He has won in everything from quarter-midgets to USAR Hooters Pro Cup to the Nationwide Series. Logano became the youngest driver to ever win a Nationwide Series race during the Meijer 300 at Kentucky Speedway. He was 18 years, 21 days old at the time.

Look to hear a lot about Logano during the 2009 season. He will have a bunch of good finishes and may even see Victory Lane this year, but he will also see some growing pains and rookie mishaps.

Logano will be taking over the #20 Home Depot Toyota Camry from Tony Stewart at Joe Gibbs Racing.

#18 Kasey Kahne



Kasey Kahne started the 2008 season in pretty decent shape, knocking off six Top 10s in the first ten races. Kahne even seemed like he was on track to challenge for a possible championship run towards the middle of the 2008 season. He posted wins for the NASCAR All-Star race at Charlotte, then winning the Cocoa-Cola 600, a win two weeks later at Pocono, and a second at Michigan the following week. After that Kahne's season fell apart, recording only six Top 10s in the next 21 races.

Kasey Kahne was born April 10, 1980 in Enumclaw, Washington. Kahne has driven everything from World of Outlaws to USAC Midgets. He started racing at the age if 14.

I expect Kahne's woes to continue in 2009. He will have the occasional spurt of good runs but most of his season will be as lackluster as 2008. Ray Evernham will not be as involved with the race teams in 2009, as he is pursuing other ventures. This will might have a negative impact on all the Gillett Evernham teams.

Kahne will continue to drive the #9 Budweiser Dodge Charger for Gillett Evernham Motorsports in 2009.


That is it for numbers 20 through 18 for The Top 20 Drivers of 2009. Check back tomorrow for numbers 17 through 15!