Mike Wallace (No. 7 GEICO Toyota) has completed more laps this season than any other driver in series competition with 1,912 —failing to finish only six total laps thus far.
David Reutimann (No. 99 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota) is one of only two drivers among the top 10 to have not led a single lap this season.
Watch for two series-only regulars to run up front – Jason Leffler (No. 32 Great Clips Toyota) and Kenny Wallace (No. 28 U.S. Border Patrol Chevrolet). Leffler has finished in the top 10 in each of the last two Darlington races and has scored a Driver Rating of 104.8 and Average Running Position of 10.2 during that span. Kenny Wallace knows his way around Darlington as well. He’s scored a pole (1990) and eight top ten finishes in the Nationwide Series, with a career best runner-up finish in 2005.
Due to Morgan Shepherds "oh so excellent" and most popular 13th place finish at Talladega - and all of the support streaming in from within the NASCAR community and racing communities in general - TheHotLap.com has decided to start a "Sticker Tires For Faith" fund with the goal of donating a set of tires for Sat May 24th's NASCAR Nationwide CARQUEST Auto Parts 300 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
I arrived at the track just before qualifying was to begin at 3:30 p.m.,. Shopping is usually my first routine. I noticed that Mike Wallace was going to sign autographs at his souvenier trailer at 4:00. Around 3:30, the sounds of racing engines and the announcer called me in to watch qualifying.
Bobby went out fairly early and put it on the provisional pole. But now I had a dilemma. What if Bobby was going to sign autographs? I hadn't found his trailer. Should I continue watching qualifying or go find his trailer? My mind told me to go find that trailer.
I noticed Kenny Wallace had a tent set up and was going to be signing souveniers. This was St. Louis after all and the Wallaces are local royalty.
As it turned out Bobby didn't have a trailer. Neither was any of his merchandise for sale in what may have qualified as the "Busch" souvenier trailer. The souvenier trailers were dominated by merchandise for the Nextel Cup elite.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. stuff was going cheap though. There will be no use carrying that Bud 8 stuff over to next year. Nope, that won't sell. Best dump it now, the souvie trailer salesmen are thinking.
I went back in to finish watching the qualifying. Bobby's provisional pole didn't hold. But it was fun hoping it would stay in the top 10 and give him a good start. In the end, he just missed the top 10.
McDonald’s NASCAR Busch Series driver Bobby Hamilton, Jr. continued his march through the summer racing season on Saturday Night. The Gateway International Raceway was the site of race number 21 of the 2007 season. Known for its long, tight straightaways and flat turns, Gateway is a challenge for even the most experienced of drivers. On this night, Hamilton would start from the 11th position in the field of 43 cars.
It seemed from the start that Hamilton had a top 15 or top 20 car. He slipped back early. Then he got lapped.
However, he continued to fight valiantly and the pit crew made good adjustments and had good stops. Bobby was later awarded with a lucky dog. He went on to make the most of it.
Saturday night’s race found Hamilton contending for a top-ten finish at the end of the night. The McDonald’s Team worked long and hard to improve the handling on Hamilton’s car over the 200 lap race. In the end, Hamilton dashed under the checkered flag for a 13th place finish. Hamilton remained in 7th place in the point’s championship, just 88 points out of fourth, 74 out of fifth and 69 behind sixth.
“We wanted to finish better here tonight and gain a few more points on some of these guys,” Hamilton said. “We are really looking forward to next Saturday night in Indianapolis. We need to leave there with a top five or top ten finish and head into the two road course races with some momentum.”
Watching the race live Bobby just didn't seem to have top ten equipment. It was evident he was racing hard. It appeared he drove an excellent race. The pit crew was excellent. Therefore, I am led to conclude that the Team Rensi equipment just isn't up to standard.
Sterling Marlin may not be without a Nextel Cup ride for long. Late Tuesday a team source at Morgan-McClure Racing which currently fields the no. 4 Chevy with veteran Ward Burton said that officials there are in discussions with Marlin for a possible second team. Marlin scored six of his ten career wins at Morgan-McClure while driving the No. 4 from 1994-1997.
Sterling wants to keep driving some. He just likes driving. The money is good. But he doesn't need it.
More than one driver has stayed out there too long. Richard Petty did. Darrell Waltrip did. More recently, Kenny Schrader, Kenny Wallace, Ward Burton and Ricky Rudd are.
I have a lot more respect for people like Rusty Wallace, Mark Martin and Terry Labonte who know when to say when. Bill Elliott is in a class by himself. He has proven to have an uncanny ability to drive anyone's car and help them out. See his recent renaissance in the Wood Brothers/JTG Racing car.
If Sterling goes to MMM, I'll give him a chance to pull off a miracle this year before giving up on him.
I do not like the way things at Ginn went down. However, all you had to do was look at Ginn's business record to know that he might do something like what he did.
Given Ginn may merge with DEI, might MMM merge with Haas? Burton plus Marlin = two car team + Haas = four car team (franchise for 2009)?
Wouldn't it be sweet to see Sterling back in the 4 with Kodak on the side? Damn, I'm starting to dream again already.
And oh yeah, wasn't Ward going to pay Sterling back or something? How might this work out?
One more thought. 1997? Ten years have gone by already?
Furniture Row Racing has inquired about Sterling Marlin's services, with the idea of putting him in a second entry to bolster the performance of the team, which currently fields the No. 78 Chevrolet driven by Kenny Wallace.
"They've mentioned something about it" Marlin said. "I said, 'Well, if I don't run [a more permanent program] next year, I might run 15-18 races for you just to get more track time, more test time.'"
I believe Sterling screwed the pooch when he let it be publicly known that he was thinking about running a part time schedule next year. He did so without having any plans in place. I don't know, maybe he went to Bobby Ginn with it first and then let it be public knowledge to put some feelers out. But Ginn doesn't appear to be holding his breath.
Joe Nemechek and Sterling Marlin's contracts are both up at the end of this season. Jay Frye acknowledged Marlin wanted to go to a partial schedule next season, but said he would not be in the 01 car. Frye said plans included Regan Smith in one full-time Nextel Cup car, either the No. 13 or No. 14. He said Mark Martin's exact schedule, which includes 24 Nextel Cup points races this season, was yet to be determined, and ideally another young driver would be paired with him in the 01 car.
Jayski has reported a rumor that Marlin is going to Furniture Row.
I am hearing that Marlin will go to Furniture Row Motorsports and run a 2nd team part-time in 2008, Kenny Wallace is the full time driver in the #78 Chevy. Regan Smith would replace Marlin in the #14 Chevy at Ginn Racing.
O.K., I have blogged on about all sorts of various details for all of the guys who need to quit trying to qualify for these Cup races. If you haven't got the message yet you must be deaf. I haven't mentioned our newby this week, Brandon Ash. But Brandon Ash? What is he thinking?
The snakes will be picked up on Snake Hill in Phoenix this week by Brandon Ash, Michael Waltrip, Jon Andretti, A. J. Allmendinger, Jeremy Mayfield, Ward Burton, and David Reutimann.
Now it is also time to pay a lot more attention to something else. I have a new game. Jay Jay has posted similar posts. But this has more to do with who can possibly make it to the top 35 in points this year to set themselves up for next year. This is a big deal. The stakes are high. Real high.
I am calling it "You Can't Drive 35." Some of these guys are so anchored as go or go home cars that they really need to start thinking about what they are going to be doing next year. If they don't, Silly Season may come really fast whether they want it to or not.
So let's start taking a look at candidates this week that are really in trouble because while they may continue to make races this year on time, they probably can't get into the top 35 thus failing to anchor five starts for their teams to start the 08 season which will make it darned hard if not impossible to secure sponsorship next year.
The first " You Can't Drive 35" candidate is a familiar face. Yes Kenny Wallace is back. Kenny drives for Furniture Row Racing sponsored by itself, Furniture Row so Silly Season may not apply to him in the usual manner. But how long can these rich boys continue spending their own funds to do this? And why do they do it? Oh yeah, I forgot, the purse for starting a cup race is almost more than winning a Busch race. We have to fix that.
O.K. then, why does Kenny demean himself by driving their car? The money?
He can't need the money. Of course, a million dollars is a million dollars and if you would like to have another million dollars and you could get it by doing something you love. And if you might just luck out and eek out a real upset win on gas mileage or something one time provided you can stay on the lead lap, well, I guess then, that's it. A million dollars. "If I Had A Million Dollars...
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