Stephen Leicht, who drives Robert Yates Racing’s entry in the NASCAR Busch Series, won his first series race last weekend and became the first non-Nextel Cup regular to win a series race this season. Ironically, the same scenario unfolded last season when then-Busch driver David Gilliland pulled off a surprise win at Kentucky and was followed by Paul Menard’s win at The Milwaukee Mile. Until Leicht’s victory, Cup drivers had won every series race since.
“It is starting to sink in. It sets in more when I am with my team," Leicht said. "I don’t think the smiles have left their faces since we left victory lane,” said Leicht, who will look for his second consecutive win in Saturday‘s A####mp;T 250 at The Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wisc. (8 p.m. Eastern, ESPN2). “It is hard to describe how excited everyone is. I had to replay the end of the race a few times just to see the actual win and make sure that it was real.”
So who will it be? Marcos Ambrose? Bobby Hamilton Jr.,? Leicht again?
I have been writing lately that NASCAR needs to consider offering franchises. My argument is largely that 43 teams a year should get a franchise and everyone else should go Busch racing. The franchised Cup teams drivers would not be allowed to go Busch Racing. That would be one way to end the Buschwacking. It also ends Cup teams having to go home.
I have argued give one year franchises to the top 35 in points from the previous season and fill the last eight slots through a qualifying school. My qualifying school would consist of Florida races leading up to Speedweeks. Races would be run at Homestead, Lakeland, the streets of St. Pete and at Daytona.
It is nice to see a serious writer has his own take on franchising.
Seven years ago, I was sitting in a hotel lobby in Richmond, Va., having breakfast when Ed Shull, who worked with Gatorade’s NASCAR sponsorship program, joined me. As usual, we launched into a broad discussion about the future of NASCAR. After that conversation, I wrote a column about how NASCAR might move toward franchising. Some of the ideas were Ed’s, some were mine and some were the product of our collective noodling over omelets and hash browns.
“One of the issues bubbling under the surface of stock-car racing ... is the question of franchises. Should NASCAR set a limit on the number of teams in the top circuits?
“There are those who dismiss the idea as being totally contrary to tradition, the idea that anybody who wants can try to make a race. But racing hasn't been like that for years. ... Without franchising, a team owner ... gets dimes to the dollar on something he has worked on for a lifetime. That's not right.”
Every word of that is still relevant today, and the basic framework of what we drew up would work even better now. Since I don’t know the ins and outs of the laws that govern such things, “franchise” might not even be the right word. But it’s one we can understand, at least in concept, so I will use it anyway.
NASCAR establishes 50 franchises for the Nextel Cup Series. That’s 50 seats at the stock-car racing grown-ups’ table. Companies – not individual owners like a car owner and his mother, uncle and lawyer – currently with more than one team competing full-time in the Cup Series each get two slots. Single-car teams get one franchise. By my count, that would fill 37 of the available slots – there are 15 full-time teams with two or more cars plus seven full-time single-car teams.
The remaining 13 slots would be sold by NASCAR via sealed bid. Rick Hendrick and Jack Roush could bid for two additional teams since the current maximum is four teams. Going forward, however, no company could own more than three franchises, and nobody now at three would be allowed to move up to four.
Each year for five years, owners pay a fee of $1 million for their first team, $2 million for a second team and $4 million for a third team. After five years, and a maximum payment of $35 million, the owner is fully vested and becomes the outright owner of his or her franchises.
The Coca-Cola 600 was only a 75 mile show for a dozen or so Nextel Cup drivers on Sunday. As the 43-car field rounded the 1.5-mile oval on Lap 52 of 400, the tire tread from Jimmie Johnson's car flew across the track. As the cars around him slowed to avoid the debris, a chain reaction occurred, causing a melee down the frontstretch.
“All I saw was the tire flying,” said Juan Pablo Montoya, who returned to the race after extensive repairs to his car. “I managed to slow down my car but I just get pushed from behind by Kasey Kahne and that was it.”
David Gilliland saw the same thing. “I just saw a piece of tire come up and everybody started wrecking,” he said. “On the restart everybody is kind of bunched up and everybody is just super-close and it’s too bad." Gilliland was struck from behind pushing the #38 into the car in front of him causing severe damage to both the front and rear of the M&M’S / Shrek the Third Ford.
"We just didn't have anywhere to go," said Sterling Marlin. "We were on the outside and our Pep Boys Chevy got shoved into the wall. There was nothing anyone could do."
Dale Earnhardt Jr. appears all but certain to be headed to one of three Chevrolet teams next season - Joe Gibbs Racing, Richard Childress Racing or Ginn Racing - according to comments made by his sister, Kelley Earnhardt Elledge, on XM Satellite Radio's "Dialed In" show. In an interview broadcast Wednesday evening with XM's host, Claire B. Lang, Elledge, who serves as president of Earnhardt Jr.'s JR Motorsports, said "anybody can read through the lines" to see there are three choices for Earnhardt Jr. "When we say we want to be with the top competitive Chevrolet organization anybody can read through the lines there and know there’s only three that really you can fit in that category, so if that’s our No. 1 directive, that’s what we want to do," Elledge said during the show broadcast live from JR Motorsports. Asked if she honestly felt there was no room at Hendrick Motorsports right now, Elledge replied: “Yeah, I mean, they have drivers and sponsors under contract until 2008 so I don’t see any situations that would work there.
"Although he’s spoken to Earnhardt Jr., car owner Rick Hendrick said Saturday 'there’s no room at the inn' for NASCAR’s most popular driver. 'We’re good friends and I’ve talked to him, because I really want him to make the best decision and do the best thing for himself,' Hendrick told The Associated Press. 'But right now, I’m full.' 'I’ve talked to him about doing motors and cars if he wants to do this himself,' Hendrick said. 'But that’s really all we’ve discussed.'"
O.K.,. Woo! What a statement! My thoughts you asked? Oh you didn't? But you told me not to just cut and paste so much. So read it and weep.
What is the current situation? It is looking real good for Bobby Ginn folks. Jr. can get Hendrick power that way with help from Mark Martin on setups. Not too bad. Ginn adds his fourth car and what a car. The Bud Chevrolet wheeled by Jr. WOW!
Childress is too much pressure because of the three and Richard just got in bed with Teresa who Jr. just climbed out of bed with. I don't see Jr. in a three or 33 folks. Sorry. I'm not feeling it.
Maybe the third generation Earnhardt, Kerry's boy, who is in the DEI development program gets to do that. But I do not see it in the cards for Jr. at this time. Maybe during the dusk of his career to bring it full circle. But not now. This is about to be Jr. on his own time. Jr. on his own with Bobby Ginn. Wow, that's way out on his own. Welcome a new major Chevrolet team in Ginn racing.
Gibbs? Nope. Can't drink beer you know. Can smoke cigarettes. Can kill people with lung cancer, emphyzema and heart disease. 200,000 a year in the USA alone. But can't have a beer. Nope teetotaler Gibbs must be.
Fire Jeff Purvis at the drop of a hat. But no beer for this Christian. Hypocrite.
And that brings us back to Ginn. Wow! What a coup.
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