Alright Kurt Busch, Will It Be The Don Johnson or Hot Rod?

Isn’t that the latest dance move? No, perhaps a new TV series airing on USA Network?

Neither!

Those are the choices Kurt Busch is deciding on calling his new victory lap. That’s right, The Don Johnson or maybe Hot Rod. I have heard some people say that Busch’s reverse victory lap was cool, or it was lame, or that they wish he’d just smack the wall. What ever you think of his victory lap, you have to admit……it’s different. Whatever it is has to be better than the stupid snow angel thing he did after winning Bristol a few years ago.

I’m assuming The Don Johnson is in reference to something on Miami Vice. I do not have a clue – I never watched Miami Vice. The Hot Rod name is a reference to the former driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge, Rusty Wallace. This one I am familiar with. Rusty Wallace almost always referred to his race car as a “hot rod”. So I guess by Kurt Busch naming his victory lap Hot Rod, it will be a tribute to Rusty Wallace.

Personally, I like Hot Rod the best. I am not really a Kurt Busch fan, and I never really pulled for Rusty Wallace, but I think naming the victory lap after Rusty is a cool thing to do.

So, what do you think? The Don Johnson, or Hot Rod?

Busch Brothers Earn Front Row At Home Track In Las Vegas

 

It was brotherly love, briefly, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch became the first brothers since 2000 to sweep the front row in qualifying for a NASCAR race, but Kyle Busch's blown motor will prevent the Las Vegas drivers from starting next to each other at their home track.

Kyle Busch blew a motor in his Toyota during Friday's practice session, changed the engine, then ran a pole-winning lap of 185.995 mph to knock his big brother off the pole. Kurt Busch ran a lap at 185.707 mph.

But under NASCAR rules, Kyle Busch will have to drop to the back of the field at the start of Sunday's race. Third-place qualifier Jimmie Johnson will slide onto the front row next to Kurt Busch during the warm-up laps.

Kyle Busch wasn't worried about having to drive to the front.

"Unfortunately for myself, I won't be in the cool photo next to my brother at the drop of the green flag," said Kyle Busch, who celebrated the pole-winning run by crashing a Victory Lane wedding ceremony between race fans and stepping in as the best man.

The 1-2 qualifying effort marked the first time brothers have swept the front row since Rusty and Kenny Wallace at Martinsville in 2000. Bobby and Terry Labonte also took the top two starts at the 1998 Daytona 500.

The motor change spoiled what would have undoubtedly been an intense fight to lead the first lap, so Kurt Busch wasn't bothered that Kyle will fall to the back of the field.

"It would have been great to go after it and see who would leave the first lap, but you can't get caught up in all that," Kurt Busch said.

David Reutimann and Marcos Ambrose qualified fourth and fifth, but also had to change their motors after their laps and will drop to the back of the field. Brian Vickers, who won the pole last week at California but had to forfeit it because of an engine change, and his teammate Scott Speed also switched motors Friday.

In all, five Toyota teams switched motors Friday.

"I don't have any idea," Busch said of the rash of motor problems. Kyle Busch's motor is built by Joe Gibbs Racing, but the others all came from Toyota's factory in Costa Mesa, Calif.

Ryan Newman qualified sixth and was followed by Kasey Kahne, Mark Martin, Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart.

A total of 51 drivers entered the race, meaning 16 drivers were vying for the eight available spots in the field. Among those to make the race AJ Allmendinger— a year after he missed the event for Red Bull Racing and was temporarily pulled from his ride the next week, Brad Keselowski and Regan Smith, last year's rookie of the year.

Missing the field was Jeremy Mayfield and Scott Riggs, who both raced their way into the Daytona 500 three weeks ago, as well as Travis Kvapil, Dave Blaney, Sterling Marlin and Tony Raines.

2009 Shelby 427 Starting Lineup

Start Pos	Car#	Driver	Car	Qual Speed	Qual Time
1	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	185.995	29.033
2	2	Kurt Busch	Dodge	185.707	29.078
3	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	185.688	29.081
4	00	David Reutimann	Toyota	185.624	29.091
5	47	Marcos Ambrose	Toyota	185.459	29.117
6	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	185.395	29.127
7	9	Kasey Kahne	Dodge	185.382	29.129
8	5	Mark Martin	Chevrolet	185.312	29.140
9	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	185.280	29.145
10	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	185.217	29.155
11	12	David Stremme	Dodge	185.077	29.177
12	77	Sam Hornish Jr.	Dodge	184.989	29.191
13	25	Brad Keselowski	Chevrolet	184.786	29.223
14	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	184.565	29.258
15	55	Michael Waltrip	Toyota	184.540	29.262
16	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	184.496	29.269
17	96	Bobby Labonte	Ford	184.433	29.279
18	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	184.433	29.279
19	44	A J Allmendinger	Dodge	184.395	29.285
20	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	184.388	29.286
21	83	Brian Vickers	Toyota	184.168	29.321
22	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	184.162	29.322
23	42	Juan Pablo Montoya	Chevrolet	184.118	29.329
24	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	184.005	29.347
25	1	Martin Truex Jr.	Chevy	183.999	29.348
26	13	Max Papis	Toyota	183.974	29.352
27	8	Aric Almirola	Chevrolet	183.936	29.358
28	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	183.799	29.380
29	34	John Andretti	Dodge	183.786	29.382
30	71	David Gilliland	Chevrolet	183.748	29.388
31	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	183.742	29.389
32	7	Robby Gordon	Toyota	183.486	29.430
33	19	Elliott Sadler	Dodge	183.461	29.434
34	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	183.293	29.461
35	6	David Ragan	Ford	183.144	29.485
36	98	Paul Menard	Ford	182.921	29.521
37	33	Clint Bowyer	Chevrolet	182.772	29.545
38	26	Jamie McMurray	Ford	182.574	29.577
39	43	Reed Sorenson	Dodge	182.469	29.594
40	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	182.143	29.647
41	07	Casey Mears	Chevrolet	181.928	29.682
42	82	Scott Speed	Toyota	181.257	29.792
43	64	Todd Bodine	Toyota	183.231	29.471
DNQ	28	Travis Kvapil	Ford	183.181	29.479
DNQ	66	Dave Blaney	Toyota	182.673	29.561
DNQ	73	Mike Garvey	Dodge	182.457	29.596
DNQ	41	Jeremy Mayfield	Toyota	182.389	29.607
DNQ	09	Sterling Marlin	Dodge	181.543	29.745
DNQ	36	Scott Riggs	Toyota	180.820	29.864
DNQ	37	Tony Raines	Dodge	180.331	29.945
DNQ	51	Dexter Bean	Dodge	174.154	31.007

Garage Insider

It’s Wednesday so it is time again for the Garage Insider. Garage Insider is just a short post, looking at some of the latest news around the NASCAR scene. Each headline is a link to an article about the subject. You can click each link for more details.

Kvapil Lands Sponsor For Daytona

Yates Racing has signed with Golden Corral as sponsor for Travis Kvapil in the 2009 Daytona 500. Golden Corral will debut on the No. 28 Ford Fusion during the season-opening practice on Saturday.

Joe Gibbs Racing Gets New Shoes

Joe Gibbs Racing signed a partnership with New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc. to supply the crew of all three Sprint Cup teams and two Nationwide Series teams with a shoe that is specifically designed to improve the performance of the pit crews going over the wall.

Mayfield Gets Much Needed Sponsor For New Team

Jeremy Mayfield acquired a new full-season sponsorship with All Sport for 2009. Mayfield has became the car owner/driver of the No. 41 Toyota Camry in recent weeks. The team is co-owned by Gary Smith, CEO of Big Red,Inc.

Bill Davis Merges With Penske, Points Go To 77

Penske South Racing has purchased the No. 22 team from Bill Davis Racing. Penske hasn’t decided what will happen to the number 22, but may keep it to align with the already present numbers 12 and 2.

For now, the 2008 owner points acquired by the 22 car will move to the 77 car. This will guarantee Sam Hornish a starting spot in the Daytona 500, since the 22 was in the top 35 in owner points.

 

That’s it for the biggest headlines thus far this week. Check back in next Wednesday for more news at Garage Insider.

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 2

Welcome to Day 2 of The Top 20 Drivers of 2009. This installment will cover who I think will finish 17th, 16th, and 15th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for 2009.These next three drivers should be interesting to watch during the upcoming season, so here we go!

#17 Brian Vickers

Brian Vickers was born on October 24, 1983 in Thomasville, NC. Vickers started racing go-karts at eight years-old and lived around racing the whole time growing up. Vickers’ father, Charlie, was an instrumental player in racing around the state of North Carolina.

Vickers had some impressive runs in 2008, considering how new the team was. Vickers had 36 starts, 1 pole, 0 wins, 3 Top 5s, 6 Top 10s, an average start of 22.0, and an average finish of 21.0, finishing 19th in points with 3,580.

Vickers will be back with Team Red Bull driving the #83 Red Bull Toyota Camry

#16 Kurt Busch

Kurt Busch was born on August 4, 1978 in Las Vegas, NV. Like many other drivers, Busch started racing go-karts at an early age. It was the Dwarf Car Series that got Busch recognized as a very talented racer. In 2000, Jack Roush hired him to drive a Craftsman Truck Ford, winning Rookie of the Year honors. Four years later, Busch clinched the 2004 Sprint Cup Championship.

In 2008, Busch had 36 starts, 0 poles, 1 win, 5 Top 5s, 10 Top 10s, an average start of 20.0, an average finish of 22.0, and finishing 18th in points with 3,635.

He will probably run a tad better in 2009. Just as in 2008, Busch will struggle on the intermediate tracks. Busch is able to shine the most on short tracks, road courses, and the superspeedways.

Busch will again be driving the “Blue Deuce” , the #2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger for Penske South Racing in 2009.

#15 Martin Truex, Jr.

Martin Truex, Jr. was born on June 29, 1980 in Mayetta, NJ. Truex also got his start in go-karts, but found great success in the Modified ranks, then winning the 2000 Rookie of the Year in the Busch North Series.The New Jersey native made his Sprint Cup debut in the 2004 Bass Pro Shops 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and also won the Busch Series Championship the same year.

Truex, Jr. had an up and down season in 2008 making 36 starts, 0 poles, 0 wins, 3 Top 5s, 11 Top 10s, an average start of 17.0, an average finish of 18.0, and ending 15th in points with 3,839.

Truex, Jr. will continue his ride with the #1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Impala for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing in 2009.

That is what I think will be the finishing order in points for #17 through #15 for the 2009 season. I will present #14 through #12 tomorrow.