NASCAR - Sports Rumors
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Tuesday, Apr 29, 2008 2:23 pm EDT
Patriots wide receiver Moss to start NASCAR truck team?
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SpeedTV reported over the weekend that New England Patriots wide receiver is on the threshold of starting his own NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team. The team could be turning competitive laps by the end of the season, just in time for football season.
Who will drive the truck? How much of a role will Moss play in the team? Will Bill Belichick become a crew chief? Who knows, but if this comes to fruition, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will become a lot more interesting.
After all, the Truck Series is good and everything. But, really, it needs a big shot in the buttocks to spur publicity. And who better to do that than one of the NFL's biggest publicity machines. Imagine the possibilities.
Source: Orlando Sentinel
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Saturday, Apr 26, 2008 8:43 am EDT
France defends NASCAR drug-testing policy
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NASCAR's chief executive on Friday vigorously defended his organization's drug testing policy in the wake of a recent revelation that a former driver injected heroin on race days. Speaking to sports editors from some of the nation's largest news organizations, Brian France said NASCAR currently tests with "probable cause" if it suspects a driver may be under the influence of drugs or alcohol. But he expressed reservations about random drug testing even though top NASCAR drivers have said they would be willing to have them to keep the confidence of fans and sponsors.
Random testing in other sports, France pointed out, is "not open ended. [But] in our situation we can test you every day if . . . we're concerned about something, with no limits. I don't know how you can beat that" in terms of being aggressive about a potential problem.
However, asked how often NASCAR had ordered tests in the last year, France cited concerns about privacy and would not provide an estimate.
"If there is an issue, we take that action and we make it public. We do not on a week-in week-out basis, every time we test a driver, make that public," he said.
Source: Los Angeles Times
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Friday, Apr 25, 2008 7:33 am EDT
Oddsmakers name Dale Jr. favorite at Talledega
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Dale Earnhardt Jr. may be the most popular driver competing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series but he hasn't been a winning bet for gamblers who've been looking for him to cross the finish line first in recent races according to the Los Angeles Times.
Although Earnhardt — listed as a 4-1 favorite to win Sunday's Aaron 499 at Talledega (Ala.) Superspeedway — has competed well this season, he's still looking for his first victory driving for Hendrick Motorsports. In eight starts, Earnhardt has three finishes in the top five but with no wins this season. In fact, Earnhardt has not won a NASCAR Cup race since May 2006.
But oddsmakers figure that this will be the week that Earnhardt will end his victory drought because of Hendrick's past success at Talledega and Earnhardt's winning history driving on the 2.66-mile tri-oval. Hendrick drivers have won six of the last eight events held at Talledega and Earnhardt won four consecutive races on the track from 2001 to 2003. Of Earnhardt's 17 career wins, five were at Talledega.
Source: Los Angeles Times
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Friday, Apr 25, 2008 7:30 am EDT
Is Smoke blowing smoke about leaving Gibbs?
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Two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart said Thursday he is exploring whether to eventually leave Joe Gibbs Racing for another team, perhaps before his contract expires at the end of 2009.
"We've got multiple offers on the table right now, and there's a couple in particular that really have caught our interest," Stewart said.
He declined to be specific but said "a couple offers" included ownership in a team other than Gibbs. Stewart, 36, also said "it doesn't mean it's over" at Gibbs, his only team since he joined the Cup series in 1999. "We're just going to look at everything that's out there," he said.
Gibbs President J.D. Gibbs issued a statement saying "Tony is currently here through 2009, and from a Joe Gibbs Racing standpoint, we hope he drives for us longer than that and retires here. "Right now, we are focused on winning races and winning the next two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championships under his current contract," said Gibbs, son of team owner and former Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs
Source: Los Angeles Times
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Wednesday, Apr 23, 2008 11:32 am EDT
Busch rethinking plans for Nationwide series?
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With three victories, two runner-up finishes and a third-place ranking in the standings, Kyle Busch is rethinking his plans to run a 24-race limited schedule in the Nationwide Series.
Asked by reporters if he might run for the championship after his victory at Mexico City on Sunday gave him three wins in a row, Busch said, "I'm not going to let anything out of the bag quite yet. ... We've still got some races to fill, but we'll make a decision here shortly."
Busch is off to some kind of start with Joe Gibbs Racing. He's also second in the Sprint Cup standings and first in the Craftsman Truck Series standings, although he'll lose the lead this weekend because he isn't running the truck race at Kansas.
Source: Palm Beach Post
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Wednesday, Apr 23, 2008 11:29 am EDT
NASCAR payouts don't always make sense
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In this year's Daytona 500, Jeff Gordon fell out with a broken suspension and finished 39th. Yet his $319,000 in prize money was $6,000 more than Greg Biffle earned for finishing 10th. It wasn't because NASCAR likes Gordon more. NASCAR's confounding payout system includes several bonuses that can make the distribution look illogical.
In almost every race, certain drivers earn more prize money than others who finish ahead of them. For instance, two weeks ago at Phoenix, Matt Kenseth collected $111,466 for finishing 38th, while Dale Earnhardt Jr. took home $99,125 for taking seventh. And at California in February, 12th-place Jeff Burton made $43,558 more than 11th-place Brian Vickers. Contingency awards are generally available only to drivers whose cars carry the decals of the sponsoring manufacturer, and sometimes only to teams that use the company's product. When a car doesn't carry a particular decal, eligibility for the corresponding bonus is forfeited.
Penske Racing's Dodges carry fewer manufacturer decals than some other teams, which explains why Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman often show lower prize money totals. But a team such as Penske might recoup that lost revenue with other sponsorship agreements.
Source: Palm Beach Post
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Friday, Apr 18, 2008 12:16 pm EDT
Marlin will donate winnings to charity from Nashville event
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Sterling Marlin has no plans to compete for a Music City Motorplex Late Model points championship this season. He will race for a cause according to The Tennessean. Marlin said he will split his winnings from his six Motorplex races between Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt University and the Nashville Rescue Mission. First place pays from $1,100 to $3,000, depending on the race.
"My grandson was in (the children's hospital) and they took really good care of him," said Marlin, a Columbia resident and two-time Daytona 500 champ. "I wanted to try and take care of some kids and some people that have had misfortune.
"We eat well at Thanksgiving and Christmas and I know some of those people at the mission may not know where their next meal is coming from. I figured I'd try and help them out a little bit."
Source: The Tennessean
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