Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie

Toyota's 2007 NASCAR ripples become a Tsunami

That rumble you here in the background of all the NASCAR comment and rhetoric is the the inevitable wave of the Toyota juggernaut rolling towards Sprint Cup Championships in the not distant future. 

With the official aknowlegement of the worst kept secret in the NASCAR garage, Joe Gibbs Racing has made the kind of move dynasties are made of.

The Gibbs crews go from one of four Chevrolet teams - and unarguably not the clear #1 - to being the spearhead of Toyota's effort to capture the Sprint Cup Championship.

Toyota not only gains a championship winning organization.  They now have in their stable of drivers, three who are consistent winners and Chase to the Cup qualifiers - and importantly, guaranteed starters in next February's Daytona 500.  Add Gibbs satellite, Hall of Fame Racing and it's new driver J J Yeley to the line up and the NASCAR landscape has changed in a big way.

I have heard many comments that this move by Joe Gibbs Racing at this time will ruin any chance that Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin have of winning the Cup in 2007.  The theory being that Chevrolet will now withhold any top secret -Nextel Cup winning - technology from the traitors at JGR.  Sorry, I don't buy it.  The Bow-tie boys would give Henry Ford help if Hank drove a Monte Carlo...or Impala.

And of course the backlash of NASCAR fans has begun, as this comment on the Daly Planet blog shows.

They talked about wanting to be on the cutting edge and being leaders, but going from 2nd best to being the best of the worst is a step backwards. This will turn off a lot of fans, including me. I think I'll start rooting for Tony's rival Jimmie Johnson now, to spite him.
Kevin in SoCal

I wonder if Kevin in SoCal knows that Tony Stewart Racing has been running Toyota powered sprints and midgets for some time now?  Doubt it.

And how long can it be before Jack Roush re-declares NASCAR War on Toyota?  Maybe The Cat in the Hat will be relieved to have one fewer Chevy team to deal with. 

Toyota has made steady progress in 2007.  The past weekend's results by the two Red Bull Toyotas is a small indicator.  Make no mistake though.  That rumbling roar in the background noise surrounding the Race to the Chase finale this week is the Toyota Tsunami, relentlessly building towards Cup Series championships.

Johnson and Edwards par-boil the field at Cali

SoCal native Jimmy Johnson hung on to beat a hard charging Carl Edwards to win at Fontana.

Once again the Nextel Cup action was dominated by one team.  Johnson was never truly tested in a race that started with temperatures well over 100 degrees and track temps in the 130 degree range.  Carl Edwards did make a run at Johnson beginning with about 15 laps to go but was unable to catch the 5 time winner.

In a week where the main topic was the heat and silly season speculation, the race seemed to be an after thought.  Dale Earnhardt Jr. ran a respectable fifth but did little to gain on the last Chase spot. 

Ricky Rudd was involved in a mid race accident that resulted in his suffering a separated shoulder.  Could this be the beginning of an early retirement for Rudd?  If Rudd can't continue to run the #88, the dominos could begin to fall early, with JJ Yeley or Kenny Wallace moving into the RYR ride.  Both drivers have been rumored to be in contention for it.  Yeley is also the top prospect for a seat at Richard Childress Racing in a 4th car.

After Richmond next week, expect to see a lot of 2008 start coming into focus.

The Buzz ON PIT ROW is:

Even with the record heat at Cali, no drivers had to be relieved from their cars during the race.  Is it because today's drivers are better athletes than those "from back in the day"?

The Fast Lap this week asks:

1) Will Joe Gibbs Racing switching to Toyotas for 2008 affect their results in the 2007 Chase?

2) If Goodyear sets a minimum tire pressure should NASCAR actively enforce its use?

3) Should there be any concern over the ownership of teams moving away from traditional racing roots?

4) Will the timing of the final Junior announcements vary whether he makes The Chase or not?

Let us know how you feel about these questions, or anything else that happened during the HOT week in SoCal.  If we like your comments, whether we agree or not, we may use them on the air during Tuesday's ON PIT ROW.  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:BethAnne Heisler - ON PIT ROW

The 6 questions I hope someone asks at the Kyle Busch press conference

Sometime today, the NASCAR world will come to a halt and Joe Gibbs Racing will officially announce the signing of Kyle Busch to a multi-year contract to drive Chevies or Toyotas and sell batteries for a living.

The Pit Crew from ON PIT ROW has not been invited.  Figures.  I just had a few questions.

• Kyle, who's tougher - you or Kurt?  I mean, can you take him?  Without, you know, using his ears?

• Kyle, do you think that you and Kurt, together, could take Tony?  I mean in a fight.  Not a fence climbing race.

• Kyle, do you ever get tired...of the driving.  Sometimes...I get very tired. ( Hey it's a line from one of my favorite scenes in the best racing movie of all time - Grand Prix - Yves Montand to James Garner - I always wanted to use it somewhere.)

• J D, how is it going to feel when J J Yeley kicks your team's tail next season while you're sorting out the Camry?

• Denny...? Hey, where's Denny?

• Tony...so what do you think of this b@## s%&$?

Maybe we'll get to go to the Dale Junior - Mountain Dew presser.

This week in NASCAR: a tale of 3 racers

Three Nextel Cup Series drivers dominate the buzz this week around NASCAR land.  Kyle the Younger Busch and J J Yeley - who are connected - and  Robby Gordon stories abound.

All three have been variously slammed at different times in 2007.

Kyle Busch has taken shots - of both the cheap and deserved kinds - because of his petulant and brattish behavior on and off track, all year long. 

Robby Gordon is only days removed from an embarrassing - and perhaps planned - meltdown and stand-off with NASCAR officials at Montreal during the Busch race there.  There were plenty of "There goes Robby, again" comments. 

Gordon and Busch are regularly slammed for attitude problems.  Maybe they just don't play well with others.  Few observers question their driving talent, though.  The Daly Planet caught this from ESPN's Brad Doherty on NASCAR Now.

Calling Robby Gordon "the most talented driver in the garage" and saying that "we will see a future championship out of Kyle Busch."  John has a great review of the whole show.

I have never seen or heard anything negative regarding J J Yeley's attitude.  It disturbs me when Yeley's impending replacement at Joe Gibbs Racing by Kyle Busch would generate this statement from Restrictor Plate This, and my friend The Diecast Dude.

"Certainly Kyle Busch is a better driver than Yeley."

Jerry goes on to give plenty of testimony supporting Busch the Younger's abundant driving skill.  It's all good, too.  Kyle has won stock car races in ARCA, the Busch Series and Nextel Cup, all while driving for Hendrick Motorsports.  But, in my feeble little mind, Busch has not done anything to rival this 2003 season, turned in by J J.

Yeley followed up his USAC Sprint Car championship with a USAC Silver Crown championship in 2002, but nothing would prepare him for one of the most impressive seasons in USAC history. In 2003, Yeley reeled off an amazing 24 USAC wins, breaking the single-season record set by racing legend A.J. Foyt who won 19 races during the 1961 season.

In addition, Yeley became only the second driver in USAC history to win the “Triple Crown” by capturing the Midget, Sprint and Silver Crown championships in a single season, joining JGR teammate Tony Stewart as the only other driver to accomplish that feat (1995).

The car control required to pull that off is phenomenal.  Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman and Kasey Kahne - all open wheel grads - could not duplicate the feat. 

Joe Gibbs Racing should continue to make changes to the #18 Interstate Batteries team.  There are more problems there than one supremely talented, young driver can fix alone.  Gibbs tried that when Yeley replaced 2000 Nextel Cup Champion Bobby Labonte.

Picture credit: AP

Kyle Busch has guts

It's good to be a blogger - to be unburdened with the obligations of verified sources and confirmed facts.  We leave the hard, dirty work to J-school grads and ESPN interns.

Late Monday reports say Kyle Busch is joining Joe Gibbs Racing as the new pilot of the #18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet.

Wait - other stories have it as Kyle driving the Interstate Batteries Toyota.

My, admittedly limited, journalistic efforts found no evidence of J J Yeley driving  a Joe Gibbs Racing Chevy, Toyota or hauler for 2008.

I will defer my firm support of these rumors until after I hear what Eric Kuselius.... Kluelippius....Kluelessass...you know, the big "A", uh "E", has to say on NASCAR Now. Tomorrow night.

If, however, these stories prove true, Kyle Busch deserves some street  cred.  He would be jumping from a most competitive situation, where he was, at best, third on the totem pole of Hendrick Motorsports studs.  He held his own there as, at first, a supremely talented  21 year old - too immature to withstand the spotlight that the Cup series draws.

He moves from HMS to JGR,  a team with brash, twice crowned champion super star Tony Stewart and heir apparent Denny Hamlin.  Busch would , presumably, have the task of resurrecting the greatness of the Interstate Batteries #18 - a race winning and championship winning car.  And he might have to do this driving a Toyota.

The kid is hard to like some times.  But you better have him in your pools next year.

Picture credit: Beth Anne Heisler - ON PIT ROW

Was this the battle for Joe Gibbs Racing ride?

How's this for a karma siting?  J J "Mr. Lucky" Yeley facing off against Kyle "the younger" Busch, head-to-head, one-on-one, mana a mano ..... you get it, on the track.  No holds barred.  Ten laps, winner takes all.

That's how it was Friday at Indy.  Racing equally prepared (I'm not sure that J J would believe that with his current Cup team experience as reference) radio controlled "Chevy Impalas", Kyle edged Yeley for the win. 

Busch is also the leading candidate in most scenarios, to replace the one time USAC Triple Crown winner as team-mate to Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin at JGR.

Yeley doesn't seem too stressed out about the whole deal.  Fox Sports has a nice piece on it.

"I've talked to a lot of different teams, I have a lot of backup plans in place right now and they're all good teams that want to build their programs around me," Yeley said. "As a driver, I can't ask any more than that. more...

It doesn't show in our picture, but Kyle was driving the green car.  Do you suppose it was powered by an Interstate Battery?

Picture credit: Beth Anne Heisler - ON PIT ROW