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Tony Stewart remains win-less so far in the 2008 Sprint Cup Series. So close, so many times, it seems inevitable that Smoke will break through soon.

Stewart has the best Driver Rating - 108.1 - for Daytona International Speedway for the last seven races run in NASCAR’s Loop data stats. In fact Smoke has led 32.2% of all the laps run in those seven events - 415 total . He’s a two time Daytona winner. Often stated and maybe, overrated is the fact that Stewart has a history of getting hot when the weather does. He had the best car and led the most laps last week at Loudon, until the rain screwed him - and most of the rest of the field - up. Maybe that was a sign. But 2008 doesn’t have the feel of a Stewart championship season. Maybe it’s karma. I’d pick him this week, but not with confidence.

It ain’t all Smoke though.

Many of the drivers who have been tough this year, score poorly in Daytona Loop data.

2008 race winners, Carl Edwards, Kasey Kahne and Denny Hamlin have Driver Ratings of 78.1, 78.4 and 72.2 respectively. Newly re-signed, Roush- Fenway pilot Greg Biffle is tied with Elliott Sadler at 78.8.

Ryan Newman is second best, no doubt helped by his Daytona 500 win in February, with a Driver Rating of 98.6, but no individual stats jump out.

Jimmy Johnson is a past winner and third in the Loop DR with a 95.5. Johnson has run the most laps in the top 15 with 985 for 76.5% and has a series best Ave Position of 9.8.

Johnson is followed by the Busch brother tandem - Kyle at 95.3 and last week’s winner Kurt with a DR of 93.00. Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon are next, also in the 90’s. Earnhardt Junior, the former king of the plate tracks is tenth with a 87.5 Driver Rating and a couple wins.

I have to go with Stewart, but as I said, I’m not real sold on it. Other than Smoke, I like Dale Earnhardt Jr. He was strong in February and has been the best of the Hendrick Motorsport drivers so far in 2008.

For a dark-horse - and sooner or later you won’t be able to call him that - Red Bull Racing’s Brian Vickers.

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media, Inc.

Mark Martin will rejoin his DEI teammate, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. at Hendrick Motor Sports.

After weeks of speculation it was made official today that Mark Martin, NASCAR’s annual retiree, will move from part time status at Dale Earnhardt Inc to a full time ride in the recently vacated #5 out of the Hendrick stable. Martin will run full time in 2009 and then again become a part timer in 2010 with a yet to be named co-driver.

The part time shared ride deal was “exactly what he needed” when he “retired” from Roush Racing a couple of years ago. The ability to pick what races he participated in was to be a great transition to retirement. Even though he had retired twice before moving to DEI.

What exactly does Martin bring to Hendrick Motor Sports? Is it a calming veteran presence? No, it can’t be. This isn’t a group of young guns needing a mentor. Hendricks other three drivers are as experienced as Martin and more successful. Jimmy Johnson and Jeff Gordon are both multiple champions. Junior hasn’t been the last guy introduced at the Waldorf Astoria yet, but he is a many time winner on the Cup circuit. Is Martin being brought in to shore up a sagging win total? Again, not likely–wins haven’t been a problem for the Chevy team historically.

Martin’s signing with Hendrick is a totally one sided endeavor. Rick Hendrick is throwing Martin a bone to try and win a championship, pure and simple. Martin was never able to seal the deal while driving the #6 at Roush. He went to DEI to win races and hasn’t been successful at that. Now he will latch on to the fourth car at Hendrick and try to make it into a team capable of winning a championship. Will his abilities, again driving on all types race tracks enable him to win the ellusive championship?

It isn’t bloody likely. The Kellogg’s/Carquest Chevy has been a pig over the last couple of years and adding Martin to the seat won’t turn it around enough to give him a shot at the championship he obviously still craves. A craving that Martin claimed was gone when he moved into the part time situation at DEI.

You have to wonder if Mark has signed a contract with Tony Stewart yet to drive for his race team in 2011 and 2012. Someday, Mark, your prince may come.

Photo Credit: Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

Does life ever get in the way of YOUR pastimes? Sometimes life gets in the way of mine. This blog is mostly a blast for me to write in. This week it has been a monster. Hence the title of this post - a reference to the old horror movies I grew up loving. Maybe next week’s version of the Loose in Turn 3 experiment will be attack of the two-headed Turn 3. Until then, check out my part in this serial, right here.

What will become of Dale Earnhardt Inc?

Charlie: If Martin Truex Jr and Mark Martin both leave the team - and their sponsors go too - DEI looks like a buy-out candidate to me. How about this scenario? Dale Junior wants to take his Nationwide Series team where the money is - Sprint Cup. Tony Stewart wants to own at least a share of a Chevy team. DEI has top thirty five owner’s on the #8 and the #1. Junior and Smoke partner up and buy Theresa Earnhardt out, with Tony driving one car, someone else - maybe Brad Kesolowski - in the other. Junior stays with Hendrick Motorsports, as his daddy did with RCR. There are holes in the argument, I know. But it would be one hell of a story.

Bruce: If Truex and Martin leave, DEI becomes a museum. Otherwise, I can’t punch too many holes your idea Charlie. Actually, I wouldn’t want to. Maybe once Tony and Jr. take DEI over, they can move the 8 back to Jr. in HMS. LOL.

TZ: The notion of Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr. co-owning DEI is a pipe-dream at best. Stewart will wind up in an ownership role once he’s done driving … Jr. will bring JR Motorsports to the Cup level within the next couple of years … and, DEI will continue to press forward in its same crummy state for the next few years before either someone else in the family that’s not named Dale takes over, or they just fold altogether.

That’s what we think. What do you think?

Check out Bruce’s NASCAR Bits for this slippage in the third turn…

Do you think Kurt Busch giving up his points to Sam Hornish hurt the team overall?

And TZ at Do You Nascar has this…

With the recent folding of Chip Ganassi’s #40 operation due to lack of sponsorship, is this a trend that we can continue to expect in NASCAR with other teams that have struggled with sponsorship…. teams like Yates Racing?

Coca Cola sent us this video promoting the Coke Zero 400 Challenge. It’s short and pretty funny. Check it out.

Welcome the newest member of the Pit Crew - Mindy Monday - to OnPitRow.com and the Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie blog.  Mindy’s video posts will be a regular feature of our new Bench Racing TV section.  Let us hear your comments and remember - Stay classy NASCAR!

Download Monday Morning Crew Chief #1

Tempers flared as drivers took their frustrations out on one another.

Points leader Kyle Busch and Juan Pablo Montoya were treating the 1mile-plus oval at New Hampshire more like the shorter Bristol or Martinsville. The Shrub and JPM got together late in the rain shortened Lenox 301. While both drivers didn’t seem to know what exactly happened to cause the two to get together, what was obvious was that Montoya purposly ran into Rowdy while the caution was out.

To make it even worse (for him) was he admitted to running into the points leader in retaliation.

And that leads us to this weeks BUZZ ON PIT ROW:

Will fans applaud Juan Pablo Montoya’s dust up with Kyle Busch or will public opinion favor The Shrub on this one?

Let us know what you think and we may use your response on this week’s ON PIT ROW. Listen to ON PIT ROW live from 5-7pm ET then check out INSIDE ARCA from 7 to 8:30pm at arcaracing.com.

Photo Credit: Icon Sports Media

  How good would a team of Smoke and the Rocket be?  Will Tony Stewartfans have to endure the trauma of - Oh no, not again - changing numbers, as Junior fans did this year?   Tony Stewart driving the #66 Office Depot Chevrolet?  According to those closest to the silly season contenders, those are some of the questions we may just get to answers to in the coming days. 

Semi-regular, ON PIT ROW contributor Lee Spencer of Fox Sports has a few of sponsor names to mix in with the driver speculation….

Stewart is currently 11th in the point standings — 500 points behind teammate and leader Kyle Busch and closer to the bubble than he and crew chief Greg Zipadelli care to be. J.D. Gibbs insisted last Sunday that nothing has changed with Stewart’s status at Joe Gibbs Racing although there are reports that Office Depot and Old Spice will join the driver in his next venture — and rumors that Burger King and Jack Daniels could also be coming aboard.

Tom Jensen at Speed has this …. 

One way or another, it is likely Stewart will be out at JGR, either next year or in 2010, and almost certainly with a Chevy team. If he goes to Haas-CNC, he’ll likely take another front-line driver with him, either Martin Truex Jr. or Ryan Newman.

I have a feeling that Tony’s next big press conference will be a good one.

Photo credit: BethAnne Heisler - ON PIT ROW

From the hills of California wine country to the highlands of New Hampshire is a bit over 3000 Mapquest miles.  NASCAR must own a travel agency or something.  How much sense does that make with diesel selling for $5 a gallon?

I wonder if there is any truth to the rumor that Brian France will announce a brand new program designed to save all of his minion’s teams even more money than the Car of Tomorrow - or CoT (or Cash outlay’s Till-we-get-it-right) has saved them?

The next rumored innovation is the - are you ready? - Hauler of Tomorrow!  That’s right - the HoT!

No details were available at posting time, but we can surmise some things from past experience.

1. Spoilers and splitters will be involved
2. Most everybody will think the HoT’s are ugly
3. Cash savings will be disguised as additional investment in R&D
4. They won’t handle worth spit
5. Only the big teams with the big sponsors will be able to afford them, but that won’t matter to NASCAR. Everybody saves!
6. Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards will be fast in them
7. Next year’s All Star week will feature a “jack-knifing” contest
8. NASCAR will buy Mapquest and doctor the figures

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media, Inc.

 

New Hampshire International Speedway always makes me nervous.   This year, maybe more so than ever.  The track has seen more than its share of carnage through its history.  Loudon may have been the track that most needed the soft-wall technology of the Safer barriers.   With long straights and sharp, relatively flat corners, the New Hampshire miler will be especially tough on drivers for teams that don’t have the New Car’s special handling requirements figured out.  Missing the set-up could hurt.

The Loose in Turn Three experiment continues this week with Do You NASCAR, Bruce’s NASCAR Bits and Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie each fielding a topic to chew on.  Here’s the Bench Racing hor dourve of the week….

After what we saw at Infineon Raceway, is there still a place for “road-course ringers” in the Cup Series?

Charlie:  If you run a top tier Cup team, your drivers better be able to at least hold their own on the road courses. Your best teams need drivers that can do it all. The ability of most of the regular Sprint Cup drivers to handle the road courses has improved so much that it would take the perfect storm of circumstances to have a non-regular win ANY Cup race.  Only if you have a team that is on the edge of top thirty five contention - or is out of the top thirty five all together - would trying to catch a specialist’s lightning in a bottle be worth disrupting your group’s chemistry.

Bruce:  No.  Only if you’re a 30th and worse team with driver proven to be inefficient on road courses would you even think about it.  Any time a team brings a ringer in, it’s a slap in the face to the regular driver, even if he appears on board, you’re killing his opportunity to accrue valuable driver points.  Everyone either has the talent, or can be taught the skills, if the team really wants to invest in their driver.
 
TZ: Of course any team that’s on the bubble for the top-35 in owner points should consider using specialists at courses like Infineon or Watkins Glen. But, to throw a wrench in your guys’ theory that it’s reserved ONLY for those teams, what about teams like the no. 8 DEI car? You’re already limiting his Cup experience to a measley 8 races this year, so there’s no real logic in making sure that he gets in there at the road courses. Then, there’s also occassions when that teams are well within the top-35, yet have no real loyalty in a multi-year sense to their driver … guys like a Dave Blaney. In this instance, lingering After what we saw at Infineon Raceway, is there still a place for “road
course ringers” in the Cup Series?

That’s what we think.  How ’bout you?  Leave your feedback in the comments section.  After doing that, head over to DoYouNASCAR.com for TZ’s topic for the week…..

After a lackluster 2007 season, can the no. 16 team keep it together long enough through the next 10 races to keep Greg Biffle in Chase contention?

Then check out Bruce’s Bits for this one…
 
Should NASCAR and Sunoco make a concerted effort to convert the sport over to a less fossil fuel centric sport?

Photo credit:  BethAnne Heisler - ON PIT ROW

California’s wine country applauds Kyle Busch after winning at Infineon Raceway.

Ever since the incident with Dale Earnhardt Jr., Shrub has been head of the most wanted list of many NASCAR fans. But in a weird twist, after his win at Infineon, hardly a boo was heard. Could the tide be turning in Rowdy’s popularity so soon? He didn’t even give his signature “brat bow” to the fans.

Overshadowing Shrub’s win could be the breaking news that Mark Martin could be leaving DEI to run for his “last” championship at Hendrick Motorsports. Or will he do a shared ride deal with Brad Keselowski? There are lots of rumors revolving around Martin’s future plans.

This weeks BUZZ ON PIT ROW asks:

What is the probability that Mark Martin will win a championship if indeed he moves full time to Hendrick Motorsports?

NASCAR journalist Dustin Long with the Roanoke Times will join The Pit Crew at 6pm to discuss all these topics.

Give us your opinions and we may use them on this weeks ON PIT ROW. OPR can be heard via live stream from 5-7pm ET, followed by Inside ARCA from 7-8:30 at www.onpitrow.com

photo credit: Icon Sports Media

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