He Said, She Said: The Changes,
the Sport's Worth, and Who Will Fail to Impress in 2007
February 6, 2007
Everett
Mugg and Sharon Bundy - SCR
Bud Shootout:
He Said: Well it is that time again. The Bud Shootout is Saturday officially kicking off the start of the NASCAR
season. Although as discussed last time, the season never really ends for the drivers. Before the Shootout, make sure to tune
in at 4PM EST to SPEED TV for the ARCA 200. Bobby Gerhart will be trying to win
his 5th in a row at Daytona. He will be competing against Cup teams fielded by Woods Brothers, Richard Childress Racing, Roush
Racing, Evernham Motorsports, and Hendrick Motorsports. The Roush car will come equipped with rookie Cup driver David Reagan.
While normally opposed to Cup drivers in Cup cars running an ARCA, I think we can all agree that Reagan can use the seat time,
especially at a plate track. Newly signed JGR Busch driver, Brad Coleman, will be making his first start at Daytona as well,
in a Gerhart car. Gerhart, along with crew chief and brother, Bill Gerhart, build arguably the best ARCA plate cars. It is
a class move to build one and as it stands now, crew it, for such a talented young driver like Coleman. It will be interesting
to see how this new hot shoe handles plate racing.
Group No. 21957 PW: scr
"Duel for the Dale Jr." DVD Contest
Find six of the 10 daily keywords and pick the winners of the two duel
races at Daytona February 15, 2007 for your chance to win the two disc DVD set "Back in the Day with Dale Earnhardt
Jr." Read the Official Rules and use the provided Entry Form to enter today.
She said: I think that teams like Roush are doing the right thing by putting there younger drivers and/or development
drivers into the lower series. We all know that David Ragan has very little experience behind the wheel on the plate tracks.
I think it is good for him to race there in the lower series and get his feet wet. His Martinsville performance didn't win him any points with his fellow competitors
and going to a place like Daytona that could spell disaster for other drivers if this kid makes a small mistake. I think it
is a good way to go by putting these young drivers in the lower series. Gee, Bobby Gerhart winning at Daytona? That is really
going out on limb there. But I agree, Gerhart is tough to beat.
Daytona 500, Valuable?
He Said: Forbes Magazine disclosed that it ranks the Daytona 500 number 4 on its Most Valuable Sporting Event
Brands. The only motor sport event in the top ten The Daytona 500 ranks higher than the Rose Bowl (No. 5), the NCAA Men's
Final Four basketball tournament (No. 6), the winter Olympic Games (No. 7), the Kentucky Derby (No. 8), the MLB World Series
(No. 9) and the NBA Finals (No. 10). It was out ranked only by he NFL Super Bowl (No. 1), the summer Olympic Games (No. 2)
and the FIFA World Cup (No. 3). Wow, that is huge. I thought all the changes NASCAR made were supposed to be driving viewers
and fans off……………..
She said: Despite NASCAR's attempt to be Hollywood instead of Rockingham,
it still doesn't diminish the fact that the Daytona 500 is a very prestigious race and anyone with good business sense would
want to align themselves with NASCAR and the 500 in particular. After all, it is the Super Bowl of stock car racing. The fact
that the Daytona 500 is ranked No. 4 on Forbes list has nothing to do with changes NASCAR has made or makes in the future.
It's the feature race of the year, period.
You’re Fired!!!
He Said: Let the silly season start right now. Who is going to be the first driver to get the axe if for not performing?
Will it be Jamie McMurray? Not happy with any of the crew chiefs he had last year, a reportedly exasperated Jack Roush told
him to find his own. Clearly the implication being, if he does not perform well it is not because Roush did not do everything
he could. How about AJ Allmendinger? He has not exactly been burning up the track either at Daytona or Las
Vegas. In fact in Vegas he wrecked both cars they brought for him to test. A new team in a new manufacturer
with a driver with no Cup experience does not seem like a good fit. If he fails to qualify for the first few races will Team
Red Bull start waving stacks of money under Terry Labonte or Bill Elliott’s nose? No dig on Allmendinger, he just has
put himself in a really tough position. David Ragan also is in a pretty tough position filling Mark Martin’s shoes.
Although he never won a Cup Championship, Martin was without a doubt the cornerstone of Roush racing. JJ Yeley could also
find himself quickly in the hot seat. If Busch rookie Brad Coleman performs as well in the JGR Busch car as he has in every
other series and Yeley continues to flounder, Gibbs may decide to make a change.
She said: I have said all along that I didn’t think Jamie McMurray was good enough to be driving for Roush.
It is evident that is the case. I am not saying he doesn't have talent, but he isn't in the class of his teammates either.
I think that if he and Larry Carter cannot make some magic together, McMurray will be looking for a ride before the midway
point of the season. AJ Allmendinger is a work in progress, he doesn't have the experience in stock cars and he is going to
wreck lots more cars before he finds success. He reminds me of a hyper version of JJ Yeley. Poor JJ wrecked a lot of cars
in his first full season in the Nextel Cup series, but I think he is a diamond in the rough and he will show his talents the
more he goes along. AJ could be that way, but it is way too soon to tell. He has been brought into Cup too soon but Team Red
Bull wanted another young gun in their stable. David Ragan is in a tough spot. He isn't going to duplicate Mark Martin's success
right out of the box, but he has the talent and Roush seems to be willing to work with him to get him more confident and more
experience behind the wheel of a race car. In time we will see how good this kid really is.
Surprise…
He Said: So we have discussed potential releases, who is going to be the biggest surprise this year? I wish I
could say Ricky Rudd but I just do not see Yates being able to turn it around that quickly. Kurt Busch doing well will be
no surprise either. I am going to go way out on a limb and say that Ryan Newman will continue to be unable to drive and finish
a whole race on the lead lap without hard tires and great fuel mileage. He will still be one of the fast one lap driver and
win poles, but he will fail to make the chase and Penske will replace him at the end of the season "shocking" the racing world.
The only thing that will save him will be if Kurt surprises me by not making the top 12.
She said: I think Jeff Gordon will struggle. I think he will make the Chase, but I do not think he will be a threat
to win it all. I think he is so accustomed to calling the shots from the car and isn't allowing Steve Letarte to be the crew
chief and I think that is holding the No. 24 team back from contending for a fifth championship. I agree about Ryan Newman,
I think there is something a miss over at Penske and I think both Newman and Kurt Busch will struggle. I also think both will
have some success but not the kind they are looking for.
Provisional Change
NASCAR recently announced changes in the past champion provisional rule. Now a team can use no more than 6 in the season.
Not six from a driver, six total. He Said: For all the talk fans have had about NASCAR helping
Toyota
into the series, that rule is a kick in the teeth to them. None of the Toyota teams are locked into the top 35 obviously so
that rule is aimed directly at Michael Waltrip Racing. Go fast or go home Toyota boy. It was different when Dodge entered
the series. 35 cars were not locked into the field. NASCAR pulled an end around on Toyota
(after accepting their money) to try to woo fans who are already upset by the many recent changes, especially them allowing
a Japanese Company in. There was zero outcry when the Germans bought Chrysler to throw them out of the series as "foreigners".
Besides, I thought they changed that rule after Darrell Waltrip abused it so badly.
She said: Personally, I don't think there should be this kind of provisional at all. I think that each spot in
the Top35 should be earned. I don't like the idea of Bill Elliott coming in and taking a spot on the track just because he
won a championship nearly twenty years ago. He isn't racing full time and him coming in and basically taking away a spot from
a team who is trying desperately to race each and every week in Nextel Cup is unfair. I think having provisionals for past
champs is useless. I have never thought NASCAR was "helping" Toyota out. But I think Toyota
and Michael Waltrip lured Dale Jarrett away from Yates because of this rule, because if this rule did not exist, Toyota
could be totally locked out of the Daytona 500. I think DJ was a means to an end for them.
2006 StockCar Review.
