Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie

Jeff Gordon and Jimmy Johnson busted at Infineon

NASCAR took a stand with the biggest names in the sport, sending Hendrick Motorsports' defending Cup champ Johnson and current run-a-way point leader Gordon to the back of the grid for the start of the race in Sonoma.

Front fenders of both cars failed to pass initial technical inspection for Sunday's Toyota/Save Mart 350.

Further penalties will be determined later and could be similar to the 100 point 100 grand standard set by DEI's Dale Earnhardt Jr. and crew chief Tony Eury Jr. at an earlier CoT race at Darlington.

This may be the most consistent that NASCAR's rules police have ever been, for 30 consecutive days, in recent history.  Maybe the Car of Tomorrow will indeed begin a new era in NASCAR.  One we can predict.

Nah.

Picture credit: Beth Anne Heisler - ON PIT ROW

Sadly no Kangaroo Meat on the menu at Infineon

The Australian (actually Tasmanian) Turtle will be wall bait at the Milwaukee Mile rather than his first Nextel Cup race this weekend.

Marcos Ambrose, Australian V8 Super Car star and one of The Pit Crew's favorite interviews, will skip the first Cup road race of the season.  Ambrose is currently in eighth place in the Busch (soon to be something else for $30 mill) Series.  That puts him on the heals of the Busch-wackers and the Wood Bothers have decided that practice, car set-up  and qualifying for the Milwaukee race is more important right now than a one-off Cup event.

Disappointing to fans of the affable Ambrose, but understandable.  Maybe we'll get a few extra showings of those Busch Series commercials though. 

Go get 'em Kangaroo Meat.

With Michigan in the mirrors Robby Gordon and Juan Pablo are lookin' good

Struggling NASCAR teams may find gold in the California wine country's rolling hills as road course ace's expand the list of serious contenders for the coveted Nextel...uh, yeah, it's still Nextel Cup win.

This is the place where many feel Juan Pablo Montoya will break the ice and add a Cup Series win to his earlier Busch win in Mexico City.  Oh, and he had those Monaco Grand Prix and Indy 500 things too.

Among the veteran Cup regulars, Robby Gordon is a past winner here and always tough at the road courses.  That team has been coming on a bit lately too.

Mark Martin, Ricky Rudd and Tony Stewart are also past winners at Sears Point and lots of other places too.  How 'bout Boris Said. You just know he'll be in there.

And of course, NASCAR's newest papa Jeff Gordon (congratulations Gordon family, it just gets better) has pretty well owned this place with five wins in all. 

Watch the Toyotas.  Regular Camry driver, Dale Jarrett probably has a chip on his shoulder and can definitely get it around this place.  Significantly though, his team owner Michael Waltrip has replaced both himself and David Reutimann with Terry Labonte and P. J. Jones.  Hall of Fame Racing has Ron Fellows driving a Chevy, fresh off a 24 Hours of Lemans run in the Corvette.  Fellows and Labonte have successful road race resumes and Terry's champion's provisional guarantees a second straight start for the #55. Bill Davis Racing brings in Butch Leitzinger.

My dark horse pick is A. J. Allmendinger.  The Red Bull rider will be strong.

Picture credit: Allmendinger - red Bull Racing  Montoya - not sure, found unattributed

I know, I know. Pick me. Pick me.

The answer is: Dale Junior, in the drawing room with a Mountain Dew can.

After tonight's ON PIT ROW, I think that my pal Steve has it figured out.

See, Steve heard Darrell Waltrip being sucked, willingly, into his revelation that Earnhardt Jr. would not be sponsored by a shoe company after all.

D W now says the big spender will be (might be) something that you can drink but does not come in a red can.

Hmm.  Jerry's been all over the Nike theory, as have I, but now throws out Monster Energy Drink..  Marc seems to like them all.

I like Steve-o's thought.  I'll let him sell it.  But if you didn't hear the show tonight, the argument is compelling.

Columbo works the Junior case

DW is the prime witness

It's been a lot of fun trying to speculate about who Junior would race for in 2008.  Hendrick was the big winner there and Darrell Waltrip predicted it early on.  So, when Dave DeSpain on Speed's Wind tunnel asked DW about Junior's sponsorship for '08, DW being rather coy alluded to, "a drink that didn't come in a red can" as a good possibility.

Now lets see here--hmmm--DW, drink, not red, Hendrick Motorsports, Jeff Gordon, Junior--hmmmm.

Jeff Gordon is not part of the Coca-Cola Race Team--red can.  Hendrick and Gordon have a history with another soft drink company.  DW has a long history with sponsorship from a soft drink company.  Could DW and Junior have a sponsorship in common, other than the Bud brand?   

Hendrick ran Brian Vickers in a Mountain Dew Chevy in the Busch race at Michigan in August of last year.  Are you seeing a pattern yet? 

I think 2008 will see Junior in the #8 Mountain Dew Chevy.  It'll cost a bunch of Benjamins for Hendrick to buy the #8 from Teresa.   But that number is Junior's, in tribute to his grandaddy Ralph and Rick Hendrick will do whatever is necessary to secure it from DEI.  Don't be surprised if NASCAR doesn't get involved as well. 

One more thing while I'm at it--2008 will be the year that NASCAR sets a new precedent.  NASCAR will officially retire the #3. You heard it here.  Tell me I'm wrong after the 2008 Nextel Cup Banquet in Las Vegas.

Photo: hendrickmotorsports.com

Greg Biffle and the Duck

While wandering the garage area at MIS on Friday, The Pit Crew stumbled in to a press conference debuting the new sponsor arrangement between Roush Racing and the Aflac supplemental insurance group.

On the Nextel Cup side of the deal, Greg Biffle will drive an Aflac sponsored Fusion in a few select Cup races starting with Louden.  Matt Kenseth, Jamie McMurray and Carl Edwards will each have a turn driving with the Duck in a Busch Series race.

Jack Roush was asked if this partial sponsorship schedule was a prelude to the Aflac Duck replacing Biffle's current sponsor, Ameriquest. 

Roush said that of course, his teams are always looking for partners that can become full-season, featured sponsors, but also said that this may not be the way of the future.

"I think that the way that Aflac is coming in with a limited schedule, with some races in the Busch as well as the Cup side with multiple drivers I think is a prudent way to do it."

There is nothing earth shaking here.  But the trend to part-time sponsorship will make the branding of the combination of car number, sponsor and driver more difficult and less common. 

Those Duck commercials ought to be funny though.

Picture credit: Beth Anne Heisler - ON PIT ROW

Edwards wins--Giacchi to shave--Tony & Gilli tussle

Carl Edwards pulls off the win at Michigan and nobody could be happier than Carl's hauler driver.  After ending his 52 race win drought, Tom Giacchi has to be the happiest guy in the garage.  Not only had Giacchi's beard started to look a bit ZZ TOPish, it has become home to a tick at one point.  Unfortunately, he won't get to shave it off until next week at Infineon Raceway.  The proper TV fanfare is a must you know. Sponsorship for the shave?

The Buzz ON PIT ROW is:

Ford picked up their 2nd win of the season.  Can the Dodge teams find a way to win even one?

The Fast Lap this week asks:

1)  Where will Kyle "Rowdy" Busch end up?

2) Do you care?

3)  According to DW--"Junior's sponsor will be something to drink that doesn't come in a red can"--what do you think?

4)  Two falls out of three--Tony Stewart or David Gilliland?

Let us know how you feel about these questions or anything else that happened at Michigan.  If we like your comments we could use them on the air during Tuesday's show.  Leave us a comment on the blog or call the show--toll free at 1-877-502-8255 between 5-7pm edt on Tuesdays.

photo: race2win.net

Carl Edwards flips off the NASCAR Chevy posse

There probably are no empty victories in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series.  Carl Edwards win at Michigan International Speedway Sunday was a big lift to the Ford racing community and the Roush organization.

I wonder if Cousin Carl felt at all like the Lone Ranger out there.  After all the next six finishers and seven of the next eight in the race were a stampede of Chevrolets.  For most of the afternoon it looked likely to be another benefit for Martin Truex Jr. or the Hendrick tribe. The cavalry was represented by Jamie McMurray in eigth place.  I don't see how this is a resounding end to Hendrick or Chevy domination.  There's plenty of work left to do.

Many expected the Roush Fusions to be tough here, and they were half right.  But the Dodge Boys seemed to head for the hills after Ryan Newman's tire problem put him down.  Hey, how did that old nose experiment work out for Everingham's Chargers?

Picture credit: Beth Anne Heisler - ON PIT ROW

NASCAR's days of feelin' like a number may be ending

How much does it really matter anymore what number is on a particular Cup driver's car today?  There's plenty of buzz and opinion about Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s future number.  But how important could it be?

I was thinking about numbers while watching qualifying at MIS on Friday.  Mark Martin was an early qualifier, driving the #01 U.S.Army car, that already seems rightfully attached to Mark.

David Ragan's run in the #6 car was later.  I was standing above the exit from pit road to the garage area and Ragan took his car directly to the garage after his run.  As he drove below me, I realized that, mostly what I thought as I watched him was "there goes David Ragan".  Now I always considered the #6 as one of NASCAR's branded car/driver combos.  When it was announced that Mark Martin was leaving that team and the seat would be filled by this kid, David Whathisname, I felt the way many Dale Jr. fans must feel now -  that nobody will ever look right in that car but the guy who made it famous.

Michigan is home to the great Bob Seger.  Seger has a song, "Feel like a number".  As I watched the #6 drive back to the paddock I thought of that song.

                                                    I feel like a number
                                                    I"m not a number

Now it sure looks to me like either the #8 or the Kelloggs #5, a sponsor/car number brand built mostly by Terry Labonte, are in for similar change.  If we can feel comfortable with Mark Martin in the #01 car in less that half a season, how long will it take to embrace Dale Earnhardt Jr. in a #5, black, Nike liveried  ride that wins races?

Mark Martin drives the #01.  David Ragan drives the #6.  And it's OK.

Picture credit: Not sure. I found it unattributed, our own Dave Ragan pic having succumbed to the ON PIT ROW gremlins. Hate those guys.

NASCAR's Kasey Kahne opts for nose job

The #9 Dodge Charger of Everingham Motorsports'  Kasey Kahne will sport the nose from the car that Kahne drove to seven wins in 2006.

In an interview Friday, Steve asked Elliott Sadler about the team's plan to run the old nose at Michigan International Speedway this weekend.  According to Sadler, the team discussed trying the old nose after the race at Pocono, in an attempt to narrow down where, exactly, this year's car is coming up short.  Elliott volunteered to drive the old nose but it was decided that since Kasey had so much success with the Charger in 2006, he might have a better feel for the differences.  The plan is to find out if they are missing on the aero side of the equation, or somewhere else.

According to Marc at Full Throttle, a Dodge motorsports marketing exec, Mike Accivitti is predicting improved Dodge results, starting at MIS.  He seems to blame the nose.  Marc and I have doubts. The Everingham experiment may help clear things up.   

It seems that Accivitti is using the relative success by Penske of late as his sky hook.  I don't get it though. Aren't the Penske cars using the new nose?

Stevo got plenty of good stuff from Elliott.  You can hear the entire interview on Tueday's ON PIT ROW and rebroadcast next Thursday 7:00 pm EDT on RaceTalkRadio.com.

Picture credit: Beth Anne Heisler - ON PIT ROW