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.
There have been three Sprint Cup races so far in 2008. These races have shown Ford Motor Company’s potential for success and disaster in NASCAR’s top series. Ford drivers have the potential to win any race. They showed that at the end of 2007 when Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle combined to capture four victories in the final 13 races. However, the problem with the three top Ford drivers is that there are only three of them. Ford has found itself in a position of being out gunned every time the green flag drops.
By Richard Allen
Roush Fenway Racing maintains five Sprint Cup teams, a number that will soon have to be reduced to four. Of those five teams only the three of Kenseth, Edwards and Biffle appear to have the ability to contend on a weekly basis. David Ragan has never seemed comfortable in the Sprint Cup series. Jamie McMurray has shown flashes of brilliance, like his win last July in Daytona, but has been far from a model of consistency.
Once powerful Yates Racing, which has brought Ford a championship and numerous victories, is currently campaigning two cars, one of which is partially sponsored and the other is not sponsored at all. The organization’s last win was in 2005 at Talladega when Dale Jarrett was ruled to be in the lead after a late race caution fell.
Another former powerhouse for the blue oval brand, Wood Brothers Racing, has brought itself to the brink of extinction by holding on to its glorious past for too long. The company remained in its Stuart, Virginia shop long after all other competitive teams had based themselves in the Charlotte area. Also, the Woods have stuck to the single car approach rather than go the multi car route with virtually everyone else.
The preliminary Nextel Cup entry list for Saturday's Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway includes 48 teams and marks the return of driver Sterling Marlin. Marlin, a popular veteran and Tennessee native, returns to the track this weekend as the driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet. He has not driven since Ginn Racing sold his team's points to Dale Earnhardt Inc. as part of a merger, leaving Marlin without a team.
WTVF-TV Nashville reported at 6:00pm/et newscast that Sterling Marlin will drive the #78 Chevy at Bristol, Martinsville, Richmond, Dover and possibly Talladega. Marlin is also negotiating to drive the #78 for about half the 2008 season.(WTVF-TV Nashville)(8-21-2007)
Furniture Row Racing has a seat ready for Sterling Marlin
Marlin will try to qualify the No. 78 Chevrolet for Saturday night's Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway as Furniture Row continues its search for a driver or two.
It's tough," Marlin said of qualifying. "I don't wish it on anybody to get in that position. One little slip and you go home. We'll go to Bristol, and the whole field will probably be within three-tenths of each other."
Marlin, who was in town last week to have a seat fitted, has been talking with FRR about possibly driving a second car next season if a sponsor can be found.
"They wanted me to run a second car for them, 15 to 18 races next year," Marlin said. "We talked about that. Then the deal came along with Kenny. They parted company."
Sterling Marlin again will be driving a Colorado-sponsored Cup car. Marlin drove the Coors Light Dodge for years, and he will try to qualify the No. 78 Chevrolet for Denver- based Furniture Row Racing this week at Bristol, Tenn. He recently spoke with Rocky NASCAR reporter Jim Benton.
- Biggest NASCAR achievement?
Probably winning the Daytona 500 (twice). That's what you want to win.
- If you change something about NASCAR today, what would it be?
NASCAR has some trouble with costs. It has just gotten so expensive for the teams. They've got to get it down to where more people can get in it. The COT might help, over time.
One of Sterling Marlin's favorite stories of survival to tell is from when he was a kid and tagging along with his father, former NASCAR driver Clifton "Coo Coo" Martin, to a race at Talladega. This was back in the day when drivers hauled their racecars behind them on open trailers.
"We were coming out of there one day. The road dead-ended and turned right. He was running about 85 [mph] after driving that racecar all day, and he's towing the racecar behind us," Marlin said. "I was sittin' in the middle of the cab in his truck and I was thinking, 'Man, he needs to be slowin' down.' He went to hit the brakes and I remember seeing the brake light come on. There wasn't no brakes.
"He hit the curb and flipped, and we slid across the highway on the roof. The racecar come loose and like to have run through some poor woman's house. It didn't hurt the truck. It knocked the mirrors off, but we flipped it back over, put some oil in it and the next day we drove it home. We had to weld the trailer back together a little bit, but that was about it."
Jaimie McMurray wanted to be my man. I know he doesn't have a clue who I am. It is a fantasy. It is called play. So pardon me if I offer him an imaginary five year contract if Sterling does not win a race this year.
Sterling Marlin had a chance tonight. He could have won. Who knows? He still has a shot at Talladega. It's too bad "it blew a tire" tonight.
Someone said my heart would tell me who my favorite was. I never knew how much I wanted to pull for Jaimie next year until that finish right there. I know some Sterling Marlin fans don't like Jaimie because of his picture of him in the 42 flipping Sterling off. But to me, Jaimie, who last won in Sterling's car when Sterling was hurt 186 races ago, is the perfect transition. It is a lineage of family. And after all, it took Sterling more than 200 starts to find his first win.
I also am becoming less of a Tennessean as I haven't lived there in 23 years and more of a Missourian having lived there 9 years since then. I am happy. I want to share that happiness with you guys. I would appreciate no bashing. But you guys will do what you will do.
It looks like my all time favorite drivers list will look like this; Richard Petty, Darrell Waltrip, Sterling Marlin and Jaimie McMurray. Right now Jaimie doesn't hardly belong in that list. But I believe he has it in him and that there will be many more wins to come.
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