Happy Thursday. Countdown to Daytona 17 Bits and Pieces Danica Has Gone All Marilyn Monroe On Us By Greg Engle CupScene.com Editor, NASCAR Examiner
A day after she makes her stock car debut in an ARCA Series race at Daytona International Speedway, Danica Patrick will debut in a different role. The IndyCar Series driver and soon to be NASCAR part timer, will star in a series of TV ads for sponsor GoDaddy.com that will make their first appearance during the Super Bowl and feature Danica spoofing famous scenes from movies. The movies include "Weird Science", "Flashdance" and a reprise of movie icon Marilyn Monroe's famous scene from "The Seven Year Itch". "We thought we'd pay homage to some of these classic movie scenes with our iconic role model and add our traditional GoDaddy-esque touch," said Bob Parsons, the company's CEO and founder. GoDaddy.com has had several Super Bowl ads rejected by network censors in the past, but the latest three featuring Patrick have been approved.
"All of our new commercials are visually beautiful and very funny," Patrick who appeared in Sports Illustrated's 2008 and 2009 Swimsuit issues, said. "These ads are all top-notch."
The scene Patrick reprises from 'Seven Year Itch", when Marilyn Monroe's dress blows up as she stands over a subway grate, was filmed in Glendale Arizona and according to reports drew a large crowd.
While company officials would not say how much they spent for the ad time, several media companies have reported that 30-second spots were selling for between $2.5 million and $2.8 million.
Patrick has signed to drive for JR Motorsports in select NASCAR Nationwide Series events this season. McMurray and Montoya test at Disney: Jamie McMurray flew to Orlando, Fla., Tuesday morning for a two-day test at Walt Disney World Speedway with his new teammate, Juan Montoya. It was the first stock car test of the new year for both men and Montoya's first time in a Cup car since last fall's Homestead finale. From Orlando, the pair will head east to Daytona Beach, Fla., where on-track action for the Rolex 24 At Daytona Grand-Am Rolex Series season opener begins Thursday. McMurray, who last raced in the Rolex in 2005, when he was part of a Ganassi Racing team that finished fourth, is part of a four-man ensemble with Montoya, 2009 IndyCar Series champ Dario Franchitti and former IndyCar champ Scott Dixon.(NASCAR.com) Four more drivers added to Bristol Legends race: Bristol Motor Speedway officials announced the addition of four more drivers to the lineup for the March 20 running of the Scotts EZ Seed Showdown. Dave Marcis, a veteran of 883 Cup Series races, and Tommy Houston, a mainstay of the NASCAR Nationwide Series, will make their debuts in the exciting event which was a huge fan favorite a year ago. Jimmy Hensley, the Virginia Gentleman, also will make his first start in the race, while Phil Parsons returns after competing last season. The fans also will enjoy seeing Marcis' trademark wingtips once more. "I'll be wearing them," he said proudly. "I wore a pair when I ran my last cup race in Daytona in February 2002 and I'll have a pair on in Bristol." Cale Yarborough, Charlie Glotzbach, Jack Ingram and L.D. Ottinger were announced in August as the first 2010 Scotts EZ Seed Showdown competitors. The final four drivers will be announced at a later date.(Bristol PR) Rolex 24 hits the track Thursday: Champions from NASCAR, Grand-Am, IndyCar and international motorsports headline a star-studded lineup for the 48th running of the Rolex 24, set for this weekend at Daytona International Speedway. The event kicks off the 2010 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series -- and the international motorsports schedule -- when the green flag waves at 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday. Live SPEED coverage begins at 3 p.m. and runs through 10 p.m., and resumes from 7 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday. Practice for the Rolex 24 begins at 10 a.m. ET Thursday, with qualifying to set for 4:15 p.m. and night practice at 6:30 p.m. Complete coverage of the Rolex 24 will be available at www.grand-am.com. NASCAR drivers participating include: A.J. Allmendinger, Colin Braun, Jimmie Johnson, Bobby Labonte, Jamie McMurray, Paul Menard, Juan Montoya, Max Papis, and Boris Said.(Grand Am PR) Robby Gordon discusses 2010 plans: on Wednesday's Sirius Satellite NASCAR Radio show Sirius' Tradin' Paint with Rick Benjamin & Chocolate Myers, #7-Robby Gordon was interviewed and discussed some Sprint Cup plans for 2010, including:
* sponsorship from Monster Energy Drink for the Daytona 500, Las Vegas and a few other races.
* Gordon will probably drive some races for BAM Racing, including running a BAM Racing Toyota at Auto Club Speedway using the #7 [instead of the #49]
* BAM Racing / Robby Gordon Motorsports (RGM) plan to have at least one car at every 2010 Sprint Cup race in 2010, Gordon will drive some, David Gilliland in the 49 at Daytona, but Gilliland is scheduled to run most of the season, approx 30-32 races, in the #38 Front Row Motorsports Ford.
* RGM / BAM will not do start-and-parks, if they cannot run the full race, they will not enter. But Gordon expects to run at least one car at each race.
* Gordon expects to miss a few Sprint Cup races that will conflict with other interests which include a Monster truck, possibly running the Indy 500 and Extreme Sports as well as off road truck racing. Listen to the complete interview at RobbyGordon.com or PlanetRobby.com. ESPN2's NASCAR Now Returns Feb. 1: ESPN2's daily NASCAR news and information program NASCAR Now returns for its fourth season on Monday, Feb. 1, at 5 p.m. ET, to coincide with the beginning of the 2010 NASCAR season. The program includes highlights, opinion, debate, analysis and the latest news from drivers, crew chiefs and insiders. With hosts Nicole Briscoe, Mike Massaro and Allen Bestwick, NASCAR Now originates from ESPN's high definition studios in Bristol, Conn., with reporters and analysts checking in from locations around the country wherever NASCAR news is happening. In addition to reports from races, NASCAR Now reporters also visit race shops and special events. The program regularly airs at 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, with all weekday programs 30 minutes except for a one-hour Monday roundtable discussion edition with ESPN analysts and reporters. ESPN2 also airs an hour-long edition at 9 a.m. on the morning of each NASCAR Sprint Cup race, and a weekend wrap-up edition will begin in July. NASCAR Now will originate from Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla., site of the NASCAR season-opening Daytona 500, with special hour-long programs Feb. 8-14. Massaro will host the first week of episodes beginning Feb. 1, with Briscoe reporting from Daytona starting Feb. 4. The first two weeks of the program will include a focus on the top 10 teams in the sport, looking back at the 2009 season and looking ahead to 2010 with predictions from ESPN analysts. In addition, the first week of the program will feature drivers of the decades, starting on Feb. 1 with drivers from the 1960s. The NASCAR Now team also includes Terry Blount, Tim Brewer, Angelique Chengelis, D.J. Copp, Ricky Craven, and Brad Daugherty. Others are analyst Ray Evernham, Ed Hinton, Randy LaJoie, Ryan McGee, David Newton, and Marty Smith. Shannon Spake, will report for NASCAR Now this season and occasionally host while also reporting for SportsCenter and other ESPN platforms covering NASCAR. NASCAR Now viewers also will see analysis and reports from the NASCAR on ESPN race coverage team including analysts Dale Jarrett, Rusty Wallace and Andy Petree and pit reporters Dave Burns, Jamie Little, Dr. Jerry Punch and Vince Welch. Live NASCAR racing returns to the ESPN networks for the 2010 season when ESPN2 airs flag-to-flag coverage of the NASCAR Nationwide Series 300-mile from Daytona on Saturday, Feb. 13. NASCAR Countdown airs at noon ET, with the race's green flag at 1:34 p.m.(ESPN PR) Hershey's milk now a sponsor at Dover Spring race gets retooled name By MIKE FINNEY • The News Journal DOVER -- The winner of the Indianapolis 500 has traditionally chugged from a jug of milk during the historic tracks' victory lane celebration. With Hershey's milk now on board as a sponsor of the spring race, Dover is considering a similar tradition, track spokesman Gary Camp said. The spring NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Dover International Speedway already had a new date for 2010, moving up two weeks from its traditional spot on the schedule to May 16. Now it also has a new name -- the Autism Speaks 400 presented by Hershey's Milk & Milkshakes 400, track officials announced Wednesday. Fans attending the spring NASCAR weekend at Dover, which also includes the Camping World Truck and Nationwide Series, will be able to sample Hershey's milk and milkshakes in the Fan Zone. Dover International Speedway will again feature Autism Speaks' familiar puzzle piece logo on the track's walls, special signage and limited edition souvenir merchandise. Dover International Speedway is offering special three-day packages, all-inclusive hospitality packages, early buy discounts and a variety of payment plans. To purchase tickets or for more information, call (800) 441-RACE, or visit DoverSpeedway.com. Unheralded Jay Guy gets shot at the big time as crew chief for Penske Racing's Brad Keselowski By Bob Pockrass/scenedaily.com Conventional wisdom would suggest that Brad Keselowski, entering his first full-time season of Sprint Cup racing, should have a veteran crew chief, one who is used to working with new drivers and experienced in making pressure calls on pit road. But that's not the case for Keselowski, whose crew chief is well known in the garage but not necessarily outside of it. Jay Guy came to Penske Racing from Furniture Row Racing, where he had spent the last three seasons helping build the Cup program for an organization based in Denver, Colo., with drivers Joe Nemechek and Regan Smith. The 36-year-old Guy has had previous stints at MBV Motorsports, FitzBradshaw Racing, ST Motorsports, Wood Brothers Racing and JTG Racing. "He's not had the notoriety, but Brad really wanted him and we were fortunate to get him," team owner Roger Penske said. Keselowski likes Guy because he reminds him a little bit of Tony "Pops" Eury Sr., Keselowski's crew chief at JR Motorsports the last three years. "Before we even hired [Guy], we all sat down together looking at different crew chiefs and different options," Keselowski said. "The thing I liked about Jay right from the get-go was that Jay had the ability to look me right in the face and call my bluff and call me out and say, 'Hey, you need to do this better.' "And I wanted somebody that could do that, somebody that could keep me honest, for lack of a better term. And Jay has that ability, and I respect that. That's part of what I had with Pops when I had Pops. Pops was maybe the first one to tell me when I screwed something up. And Jay is not afraid to do that, either." Keselowski and Guy really don't know each other that well having not worked together before. But Guy said he watched Keselowski before the driver made his mark at JR Motorsports and was impressed with what the driver could do in low-budget equipment. Guy was further impressed when Keselowski captured six Nationwide wins at JR Motorsports as well as the Cup victory at Talladega with Phoenix Racing. "We have had a lot of conversations of what we're hoping to accomplish and what we expect out of each other," Guy said. "It's not like jumping on the desk and pointing fingers. It's growing as a group, a driver and a crew chief and trying to get this No. 12 car up front. "It's about being together and having each other's back." There is a lot of learning on the new job that will take place for Guy. One of the first things he's getting adjusted to is not working on the car as much as he has in the past. He has too many meetings with engineers and other crew chiefs, testing plans and other tasks that keep him away from the car. "It's exciting to have that much knowledge behind you," Guy said. "At Furniture Row, we did the best we could with what we had, but we only had one engineer and that guy had to wear a lot of different hats and everybody there had to wear a lot of different hats. "Here, everybody can focus on their job and trying to make these race cars go faster." Keselowski said Guy's mechanical knowledge will help make him a good crew chief. Guy has also not come in and changed everything. Virtually the entire No. 12 team remains in place from last year with the exception of Guy, Keselowski, team engineer Brian Campe (from JR Motorsports) and Keselowski's spotter, Joey Meier. "Jay is what I call a tape-measure crew chief, which means he carries around a tape measure in his pocket all day long, and he's not afraid to jump underneath the car and measure something and say, 'Hey, man, what's the deal on this?'" Keselowski said. Guy also will need to get used to having his pit calls scrutinized more so than in the past, especially if Keselowski challenges for top-10 finishes. "That's part of the game," Guy said. "I'm going to make some good calls this year, and I am going to probably make some bad ones, too. You just hope the good outweigh the bad. Until you sit on top of that box and make the decisions, it's hard for people to understand how quick you have to make those decisions. "You try to do what you think is best in your mind and you live with the consequences." The goal for the season will be consistency, Guy said. He wants Keselowski to think 15th is a bad day, but not finish fifth one week and 30th the next. They plan to learn together. "Jay is at that perfect age to where he's got good experience in Cup, but he doesn't have really any prejudices, just like me," Keselowski said. "He's got a lot of drive and passion to go with that. "I like the fact that both Jay and [Nationwide crew chief] Paul [Wolfe] have done more with less throughout the career. That means a lot to me, because that's very similar to where I've come from." For Guy, he hopes that drive and passion will pay off. "This opportunity came from about 20 years of hard work to get to this spot," Guy said. "I worked on a lot of small teams, a lot of underfunded teams, and with a lot of good people along the way. You work with enough people over 20-some years of doing this and you're going to get your shot. "Some people get it sooner. I'm fortunate that I finally have my shot." Hooked on NASCAR Monte Dutton/nascar.rbma.com So you think I go crazy in the offseason when there's no NASCAR to cover, huh? C'mon. Don't be ridiculous. I'm a cynical sportswriter. It's just a coincidence that I've now watched Stroker Ace, that 1983 classic that starred such Shakespeareans as Burt Reynolds, Jim Nabors, Loni Anderson and Bubba Smith, not once but twice in the last week. Or that I watched Le Mans, the Steve McQueen flick from 1971. Or that I watched a flag-to-flag replay of a 1983 race at Rockingham, won by Richard Petty, on ESPN Classic. Or that I recently entertained notions of building my first model car in about 15 years. Or that I watched HBO's Jimmie Johnson 24/7 before 6 a.m. this morning. Or that I wrote NASCAR officials an email asking what would happen if it rained on Feb. 6 (the Super Bowl is Feb 7). Or that The History Channel's Madhouse has me looking at a possible weekend to go watch Modifieds run Bowman Gray Stadium. Or that I recently daydreamed about a year in which I actually got along with NASCAR. (I probably shouldn't have mentioned that. My friends may have me committed.) Or that someone asked me recently to pick the winner of the Daytona 500, and I didn't say the first name that popped into my head. I told her I'd have to get down there and come up with a hunch on-site. No, don't be ridiculous. I'm not yearning for the beginning of another season. It's all just coincidence. Or a subconscious trick I'm playing on myself. Pretty soon I'll be taking up all my time at home paying bills, washing clothes and packing for the next road trip. It's almost time to become a gypsy again and run away with the circus. I've been doing it so long I may not be fit for anything else. Jimmie Johnson, Juan Pablo Montoya lead Sprint Cup contingent in 24-hour race at Daytona By Bob Pockrass/scenedaily.com Four-time Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson leads a contingent of nine current NASCAR drivers competing this weekend in the Rolex 24 At Daytona. Johnson is driving for defending Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series champion Bob Stallings Racing, the only Chevrolet team in the field, which as of Wednesday had 14 entries for the Daytona Prototype division and 30 for the Grand Touring division for the 24-hour race at Daytona International Speedway. The Daytona Prototype division features the fastest cars. This is Johnson's sixth start in the race and his third for the Bob Stallings team. His teammates will be defending series champions Jon Fogarty and Alex Gurney as well open-wheel veteran Jimmy Vasser. "I love sports-car racing," Johnson said. "I see a future in that down the road. I'd love to be a part of it and race the 24 Hours of LeMans and continue to compete in the Rolex 24 and other events they have. "Everybody is there. I want to go out and race against these guys. I want to rub elbows and be around and experience that major event. … I have this thing inside of me to where I want to be a good endurance racer as well. I wasn't before, and I'm trying to be now and there's that little chip on my shoulder I keep chasing. I've finished second in it twice, and hopefully we can win this year." Johnson's team will be considered one of the favorites, along with Chip Ganassi Racing, which won three consecutive Rolex 24 At Daytona races from 2006-2008. Ganassi's Sprint Cup drivers, Juan Pablo Montoya and Jamie McMurray, will team with his Indy Racing League drivers Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon in the No. 02 entry. Germain Racing's Max Papis will be part of the Ganassi No. 01 team, which will include Ganassi's full-time Grand-Am drivers Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas. The Ganassi stable is switching from Lexus to BMW engines this year. "It took me the whole first day [of testing] just to get used to the cockpit of the car," said McMurray, who competed in the 2005 event. "It's so much different. The steering wheel has what looked like 500 buttons on it, but it's only four or five. "And the way the tach works and everything, it took me a while to get used to all of that, and where all the switches are in the car, and just get used to the mirrors and everything that's different about that." Two other Sprint Cup drivers are in the Daytona Prototype division with Richard Petty Motorsports' AJ Allmendinger driving a Ford for Michael Shank Racing and RPM's Paul Menard driving a Porsche for Spirit of Daytona Racing. Roush Fenway Racing's Colin Braun will drive a Ford for Krohn Racing. "There's not a lot of similarities," Allmendinger said about driving a Cup car and a Grand-Am car. "The Cup car is kind of its own beast when it comes to running on a road course. They're big and heavy, and they have a lot of roll in the chassis. "And braking-wise, because the cars are so heavy and have so much horsepower, the brake zones are a lot longer. … That's something that every year just jumping back and forth into those cars and getting used to the Daytona Prototype again is something that probably the biggest thing I have to get used to is just how short the brake zones are and just how quick the cars are." Two Cup drivers are competing in the GT division. TRG Motorsports fields several Porsches, and its Sprint Cup driver, Bobby Labonte, will drive one of those. Part-time Cup driver Boris Said also is in the event, driving a BMW for Turner Motorsport. Another notable entry is actor Patrick Dempsey, a fixture in the series as a driver/owner. Qualifying is Thursday with the race beginning at 3:30 p.m. EST Saturday and ending at 3:30 p.m. Sunday. Expect these five Sprint Cup drivers to bounce back in 2010 By Jeff Owens/scenedaily.com Nine of NASCAR's biggest names either failed to win a race last season or missed the Chase For The Sprint Cup.
Collectively, Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Ryan Newman, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Clint Bowyer, Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr. have won 129 Cup races, four Daytona 500s and one championship.
Yet they are all coming off somewhat disappointing seasons. Biffle, Newman and Edwards made the Chase, but didn't win. The others missed the playoffs entirely.
Some of them will bounce back in a big way this season.
Here's a look at the top five comeback candidates:
1. Carl Edwards
Edwards made the Chase, but that's about all he's got to show for a disappointing 2009.
After finishing second in points in 2008, Edwards entered last season as the overwhelming favorite to unseat champion Jimmie Johnson.
Instead, he broke his foot and survived a horrifying flight into the catch fence at Talladega. He also failed to win a race after winning nine times in 2008.
All of Roush Fenway Racing struggled last year, and Edwards was its biggest victim, stumbling to 11th in the final standings.
Team owner Jack Roush has promised a renewed focus this season, and Edwards, who has 16 wins in five seasons, should be the biggest benefactor.
Roush and Edwards believe NASCAR's switch from a rear wing to a spoiler also will favor Edwards' wide-open driving style.
"I want to go out and have the kind of year I thought we were going to have last year," Edwards says. "We struggled, but I learned a lot about myself and the team and what we need."
2. Kyle Busch
A year after winning eight races and becoming NASCAR's most controversial star in 2008, Busch was humbled a bit in 2009.
Though he won his first NASCAR title by making a shambles out of the Nationwide Series, he slumped to just four Cup wins and missed the Chase. He wasn't happy about it, either, thus the departure of crew chief Steve Addington, who has been replaced by Dave Rogers, who worked with Busch in the Nationwide Series in 2008.
Busch, who just signed a contract extension with Joe Gibbs Racing, must temper his win-at-all-costs style and adopt a bit of teammate Denny Hamlin's more conservative approach. Getting him to back off the throttle at times will be Rogers' biggest challenge.
But Busch, 24, showed more patience and intelligence in winning the Nationwide title. Those lessons, and watching Hamlin's success in the Chase, should pay off.
"I see the organization is strong. Our stuff is there," he says. "It's all about having the right people in the right place. Hopefully, [crew chief] Dave [Rogers] is that guy, and he and I can really develop a great relationship like Denny and [crew chief] Mike Ford have."
3. Matt Kenseth
How much did Roush Fenway Racing struggle last year?
Kenseth, the 2003 champion, missed the Chase for the first time in his career. And that came after winning the first two races of the season.
Kenseth clearly missed long-time crew chief Robbie Reiser, who became Roush's general manager last year. He and new crew chief Drew Blickensderfer never developed the same kind of chemistry.
Another year together should help.
"I think he knows a lot more about what I like and don't like, probably more about what I don't like," Kenseth says of his crew chief.
The team has made some minor changes, including adding former crew chief Cully Barraclough as car chief. Kenseth is also happy that veteran crew chief Jimmy Fennig, who heads up the group's research and development program, is now helping all four teams.
But what Kenseth needs most are faster cars.
"I felt pretty good about my personnel, we've just got to get better cars," he said.
"We've got to have better results and get our team back into championship form."
4. Jeff Burton
Burton admits he was nervous heading into last season.
"Without testing over the winter, I just didn't know where we were," he said. Where he and his Richard Childress Racing team were was way off. After finishing sixth in points in 2008, Burton plummeted to 17th and missed the Chase for the first time in three years.
But he has reason for optimism in 2010. RCR began building better cars in the second half of last season and Burton finished strong with top-10 finishes in each of his final four races, including back-to-back runner-ups at Phoenix and Homestead.
Burton has tested extensively the past few months – including a couple of Goodyear tire tests – and sees a big difference in his cars.
"Every time I've been in the car for the last three months, my cars have driven really, really well," he says. "The testing we have been able to do has been very, very productive."
With better cars and new crew chief Todd Berrier, who has eight wins with Kevin Harvick, Burton should be back in Chase contention.
"We are in such a different place as far as being prepared," he says.
5. Clint Bowyer
RCR's struggles also dashed Bowyer's championship hopes. After finishing third and fifth in the Chase the two previous seasons, he missed the Chase and wound up 15th.
Part of Bowyer's struggles can be attributed to adjusting to a new crew chief and new crew after switching teams with Casey Mears prior to the 2009 season. But like Burton, Bowyer finished strong, scoring four top-10 finishes in his final six races.
With Burton in the twilight of his career and Harvick possibly leaving after this season, Bowyer is the future of RCR. He is determined to step up.
"The first thing is, no more excuses," he says. "You can't use a new team or anything like that. … Everybody just struggled. It was part of running bad, and everybody getting to chasing what they think is right, and you get to chasing your tail as a group.
"But I'm done looking behind. I think everybody has got a positive vibe at the shop, and I think everybody is set on go." Richard Childress riding momentum, past experience into 2010 By Pete Pistone/Special to CBSSports.com The 2009 season ended much differently for Richard Childress Racing than it started. After struggling mightily for much of last year's campaign, RCR righted the ship in a big way by finishing the campaign as one of the hottest teams in NASCAR. So you can understand why the winter went by slowly for team owner Childress. "The whole company feels good coming off the season," said owner Childress. "None of us wanted to end the season with the momentum we had going. That's the way it is when you get things going. It's equal for everybody starting over." Despite not having one of his cars in Victory Lane for the first time since 2004, Childress looks back at 2009 as a successful year if simply for being able to figure out what was wrong. The quartet of Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, Clint Bowyer and Casey Mears stumbled out of the gate and couldn't get righted with all four missing the Chase. But by midyear there were signs of competitive flash coming from the team, which Childress points to as a positive heading into 2010. "It took that long for it to start showing up," Childress said. "We didn't have a typical RCR year. We didn't have a car in the Chase or running up front. This year, I feel really good with the opportunity with the changes that we made." Those changes include the downsizing of the team from four to three cars with Mears losing a ride at RCR when financial woes forced sponsor Jack Daniels to the sidelines. But many feel the streamlined effort will be beneficial to RCR's continued success and help the team add on to the encouraging performance of last season's second half. "Nonetheless, a day late and a dollar short, but we were seeing light at the end of the tunnel at the end of the season," Bowyer said. "We were seeing those changes become a positive on the race track. With five races to go, you were seeing RCR cars running up front as a whole. It wasn't just one. It was all of them running good. That gives me a lot of optimism going into the season and thinking that we've got something for them this year." However, the RCR stable will have to guard against being overly confident and relying too much on the momentum it carried into the offseason. Veteran Burton has seen that happen to teams before and warns that in the current ultra-competitive world of NASCAR there can never be a letdown. "What we've got to do is protect against thinking it's going to be that easy, because it's not," said Burton. "We've got a lot of work ahead of us. I feel like we're so much more prepared going into this year, compared to where we were last year. A lot of things have happened at RCR that I feel really good about." And the best way to continue moving forward? "You keep at it," Bowyer said. "Don't let up on anything you do and stay focused and keep everybody else focused. I feel like you can stay on track that way. When you start losing focus and take your eye off the ball, you're going to swing and miss." There will be another challenge facing RCR this year with Harvick and his impending departure. The 2007 Daytona 500 winner expressed his interest in pursuing other opportunities last year and rumors swirled of an early exit from the No. 29 entry. Childress swiftly denied those reports citing Harvick's contract with the team, which runs through the 2010 season. But while Harvick is back for the coming campaign, where he lands in 2011 is still up in the air. Harvick has made it clear that remaining with Childress is most certainly an option and that he won't set any parameters on negotiating a potential contract extension. "I'm not going to push that side of it," Harvick said. "They'll all talk and do their things behind the scenes. I just want to be the driver. I don't want to get in a big political war with anybody." In fact his contract ending could be viewed as another positive for RCR as an increased performance behind the wheel in 2010 would raise Harvick's stock. That wouldn't be the first time it's played out that way. "I've been there before," Harvick said. "The best year we ever had was a contract year: 2006 was a contract year, and we won five or six races and had a chance to win the championship. We won the Nationwide championship. That was the last contract year, so that one went pretty good." Childress will hope history repeats itself and his team returns to its former glory. Jamie McMurray can defy doubters with success at EGR Jamie McMurray seemed genuinely excited during the Charlotte Motor Speedway media tour on Thursday about the prospect of having just one teammate in Juan Pablo Montoya at Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. Conventional thinking in NASCAR dictates that bigger is better, especially when it comes to the number of teams in your organization. For McMurray, that clearly wasn't the case at Roush Fenway Racing. He languished there, failing to meet lofty expectations while finishing no better than 16th in points in any of the past four seasons. Whether McMurray can enjoy the type of success he formerly had with Chip Ganassi – he was on the cusp of making what was then a 10-driver Chase between 2003-05 with points finishes of 13th, 11th and 12th, respectively – remains to be seen at Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. Being paired with Montoya, whom McMurray said dumped him at Bristol last year and triggered a brief spat between the two, could potentially be a benefit given the No. 42 team's success last season. But the Sprint Cup car's new spoiler – and how all teams adjust to it, not just those at EGR – could derail the progress made by Montoya last year. There won't be as much information to draw from, obviously, with a two-car outfit compared to what McMurray had at Roush Fenway Racing. He is more than OK with that, based on his words Thursday, and seemed happy to be moving away from the information overload that occasionally resulted from having so many different voices in play. At 33, this would appear to be McMurray's last best chance to realize the potential so many – including Jack Roush – saw in him back in 2006 when he was lured away from Ganassi. If he can do it with one teammate at EGR, it would strike a certain blow to the bigger-is-better philosophy. Seven NASCAR Drivers Make List of America's 100 Most Powerful Athletes By Greg Engle CupScene.com Editor, NASCAR Examiner
BusinessWeek has named seven NASCAR drivers to its list of America's 100 Most Powerful Athletes. According to the Bloomburg owned publication the rankings aren't necessarily based on the athletes performance in their respective sports, but on their power as endorsers of products and their worth to advertisers; hence the reason that Tiger Woods, despite his recent troubles was their number one athlete. Even embroiled in scandal, Woods could still make millions for advertisers and their brands far and above any other athlete. The publication noted that the ability of an advertiser to make the right choice of athlete could mean the difference between a million dollar bonanza in terms of sales or brand recognition or a 'metaphorical cleat in the face.' In addition to looking at an athlete's performance (on the field, the rink, the court or the track) stats for the last two years, the publication partnered with CSE, an integrated sports and entertainment company that connects brands with fans, and utilized a formula that used total endorsement income, public opinion polls to analyze and evaluate the athlete's awareness, trustworthiness, appeal, and influence to calculate power off the playing field. BusinessWeek then worked with CSE to weigh and measure the factors and combined them with the performance stats to come up with the final rankings. The seven drivers are:
Jimmie Johnson, ranked 21. The publication noted that while Johnson garnered $8 million in endorsements last year, the sports world can't figure out why the four time champion isn't receiving more from corporate America.
Mark Martin, ranked 41. Last year Martin racked up $7.3 million and endorsements and remains strong due to his universal popularity and ability to appeal to a broad range of advertisers.
Jeff Gordon, ranked 28. Gordon earned $21.5 million in endorsements and while he may not be winning like his days of old, his consistent ability to finish in the top-5 make his one of the most recognizable faces in sports.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., ranked 45. Earnhardt Jr., racked up $26 million from advertisers last year. He's NASCAR's most popular star and despite not winning a race in quite some time, he's still a dominant force in the business world.
Tony Stewart, ranked 48. In his first year as an owner/driver, Stewart earned $16.8 million in endorsements primarily, according to the report, because of Stewart's believability when he endorses a product. He doesn't say he loves the Whopper because he's paid to say it, he really loves the Whopper.
Carl Edwards, ranked 67. He may not have won a race in 2009, but advertisers still shelled out $10.6 million based on Edwards' signature winning back flip.
Kyle Busch, ranked 70. Busch didn't make the Chase but that's about the only thing he didn't accomplish in 2009. His endorsements were worth $10.2 million. Busch's ability to win races in all three of NASCAR's top touring series and his Nationwide Series championship gave him the star power advertisers' love.
Notable mention;
While she has yet to make an appearance in an actual NASCAR race, Danica Patrick proved she will bring her own style of marketing power. Patrick made the list ranked at number 88. She earned $10.8 million in endorsements last year. According to the report, 'as rare as successful female drivers are, even rarer is an attractive, marketable one.' It was also pointed out that her GoDaddy.com commercial that aired during last year's Super Bowl was the night's most viewed ad, according to TiVo. Last-chance Ambrose answers the bell By Terry Blount/ESPN.com CORNELIUS, N.C. -- Marcos Ambrose knew he had one shot to get it right. He was 32 when an opportunity to race full time in Sprint Cup finally came in 2009, three years after he arrived from Down Under. This was why the Tasmanian racer came to America. Running in the back was not an option. This was it. Now or never. A second chance wasn't coming. "It was go time," Ambrose said. "There's nowhere to hide. I knew the score. Get it done or get out. I knew that going in and I accepted it. If I had finished 35th in the standings, I'd be fishing right now." That 35th spot in the 2009 rankings wasn't close to where Ambrose finished. Try 18th, with seven top-10 finishes, not too shabby when you look at some of the guys who finished behind him. Kevin Harvick, Jamie McMurray, Martin Truex Jr. and Dale Earnhardt Jr. all ended the year further down the points list than Ambrose. "I needed to make an impression so I would have a job," Ambrose said. "The 2009 season was about looking good. This season is about converting that into success." Ambrose talked about his hopes for the 2010 season during the media tour stop last week at Michael Waltrip Racing. The No. 47 Toyota he drives for JTG/Daugherty Racing has a partnership with MWR. All the cars for Ambrose, David Reutimann and new MWR racer Truex are built in the MWR shop. "I think it's the most successful partnership with a team that we've seen," Ambrose said. "We have a great business model, and we're fully funded when a lot of teams around us are just hanging on or shrinking. I think we're in a great position." Good enough that Ambrose sees making the 2010 Chase as a realistic goal. "You have to have some luck on your side and you have to consistently perform," Ambrose said. "But I believe we can contend for the Chase, no doubt." Ambrose was the surprise of the season in 2009. He benefited from a dramatic upswing at MWR, but he also proved he has the driving skill to compete at the Cup level. "What we did really surprised me," said Brad Daugherty, co-owner of JTG/Daugherty Racing. "I thought if we got in the top 25 we could build on some things from there. "We all knew Marcos was talented, but this car showed it. If it had been the old downforce car, he might have had a tougher time. But this car is hard to drive, and some guys still are trying to figure it out. Marcos' talent came through. I really believe that. He got better every stage of the season last year." Ambrose raced two full seasons in the Nationwide Series when JTG was a stand-alone team trying to make ends meet. "We did the best we could with what we had," Ambrose said. "We were underfunded, on our own with old cars, but finished top 10 in the championship both years. "I guess some people noticed. And thankfully, Lee [White] saw it, because he gave me a shot.'' White is the president of Toyota Racing Development. He was aware of Ambrose's racing skills as a two-time champion in the Australian V8 Supercar Series. "I've been to Australia a few times and seen those Supercar races," White said. "I knew a guy that had the degree of success he had down there is a pretty special talent." But White didn't envision Ambrose as a top-20 competitor last season. "Honestly, I can't say I expected it to happen," White said. "We all knew he would tear it up on two road courses, but what really took everybody by surprise is how quickly he adapted to the variety of oval-track races." Daugherty said his confidence in Ambrose grew after he heard a positive report from a pretty good driver -- four-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson. "Jimmie competed in a Nationwide event soon after I joined the team [in 2008]," Daugherty said. "After that race, Jimmie walked up to me and said: 'That guy can drive.''' Truex, who left Earnhardt Ganassi Racing to join MWR this season, never doubted Ambrose could compete successfully in Cup. "Marcos was the best of the best where he came from," Truex said. "So there was no reason he couldn't come here and figure it out." While trying to figure it out, Ambrose has ruffled a few feathers along the way with his aggressive driving style, especially on road courses. Boris Said was angry with Ambrose in 2008 when Ambrose hit Said's car and caused Said to spin out in Mexico City. "Ambrose cheap-shotted me and took me out," Said declared after the race. "He either made a mistake or he's incredibly stupid." Kyle Busch wasn't happy last year when Ambrose made a dive-bomb move to get by him at Watkins Glen, a pass that won the Nationwide event for Ambrose. "I don't think it was a fair move," Busch said afterward. "I think we would have wrecked if one of the cars didn't give. I was the car that gave." Oh, well. You can't please everyone. Track incidents aside, Ambrose is an easy guy to like. He's a "good bloke," as his friends back home would say. His wife, Sonja, and their two young daughters, Tabitha and Adelaide, spent the offseason in Tasmania, where they want to return when his racing days are done. Clearly, that's a few years away, and Ambrose has no time to waste. Among the top 25 drivers last season, only two were older than Ambrose when they started racing full time in Cup (Reutimann at 36 and Greg Biffle at 33). "I hate that," Daugherty said. "It's always aggravated me that we have to go out and find these guys at 13 or 14 that look like Tom Cruise. But that's the business. It gives you a better chance for sponsorship if they get to Cup early." Ambrose had to do it the hard way, making his mark on another continent before traveling 9,000 miles from home to start over in NASCAR, hoping he could race his way to Cup. And he knew it was a one-shot deal. He made the most of it. "I'm only 33, so I'm not over the hill," Ambrose said. "But I'm definitely no spring chicken, either. NASCAR is a sport where the more you do it, the better you get. That's what I'm counting on." Headlines of tomorrow ... today! Ryan McGee/espn.com So, here we are. The week that marks the time between the preseason media tour and the start of the season at Daytona. We've gathered all the information there is to gather before we actually have cars on the racetrack. The teams are packing up to make the trip south on I-95. It's time to go racing. But still, we have to wait. This can only mean one thing -- its prediction time. I'm not quite ready to reveal my preseason top 12, that'll come in the next two weeks. Instead, I'll look into my crystal ball bearing and predict this year's NASCAR Sprint Cup headlines before they actually happen. Or don't. February 6: Danica Patrick wins her ARCA debut and celebrates in Victory Lane by ripping off her GoDaddy.com firesuit and giving the world a sneak preview of her "Weird Science" outfit from the next day's Super Bowl commercial. February 14: Tony Stewart finally wins the Daytona 500, a race that, thanks to the new "Have at it boys" rules resembles the commissary scene from Blazing Saddles. Thanks to the larger restrictor plates and fewer restrictions on bump drafting, NASCAR officials spend the evening dancing up and down Highway A1A because no one got out of their car and said this. February 15: The following morning, Stewart refuses to give up his winning car to be displayed at the Daytona 500 Experience. When the museum curators try to roll the car into place, Smoke sprays them in the eyes with Old Spice Swagger body spray. February 24: In a situation eerily reminiscent of the 1959 Daytona 500, it takes three days to determine the results of a photo finish at the end of the Auto Club 500 at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. Jimmie Johnson wins by .0004 seconds in a four-wide finish with teammates Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, and Dale Earnhardt Jr.. Unlike the inaugural Daytona event, the problem isn't finding enough photographic evidence to determine the winner. The problem is that there was no one there who actually witnessed it. March 9: Denny Hamlin takes advantage of the off weekend and has Toyota engineers flown in from Tokyo to repair the torn ACL in his left knee. They replace it with a cold fusion-powered titanium robot leg that they ripped off from Iron Man. March 21: Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins at Bristol, his second consecutive victory, which is two more than he had in the entire 2009 season. Roush Fenway Racing fails to win for the fifth straight week. Roush blames the television networks. April 25: The more relaxed bump drafting rules remain in place for the season's first trip to Talladega. David Ragan is declared the winner with 26 laps to go by "Demolition Derby" rules because his is the last car not hauled away by a wrecker. May 1: Denny Hamlin is spun out while leading at Richmond, his hometown track, by Brad Keselowski, who is still angry about being punted by Hamlin in the 2009 finale at Homestead. Hamlin tries to walk away, but his robotic leg won't let him, and he kicks Keselowski's butt. Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins. May 8: Junior wins at Darlington, his fourth victory of the year. May 16: Dover suffers its first non-sellout in memory because everyone forgets that the race is no longer being run the weekend after Memorial Day. May 30: Jimmie Johnson believes that he has won both the All-Star Race and the Coca-Cola 600, but when officials are reminded that the track is no longer the Lowe's Motor Speedway, he is stripped of the victories. They are given to Dale Earnhardt Jr. June 6: The Pocono 500 is won by Kyle Busch, who immediately points out that he is now only one Pocono win behind his big brother Kurt and just three behind Kurt's career win total of 20. June 13: Carl Edwards picks up his third career Michigan win, but his first post-Frisbee foot injury back-flip goes awry. Jack Roush blames the television networks. July 3: One year ago, Richard Petty drove a lap around Daytona in one of his actual number 43 STP Pontiacs to commemorate the 25th anniversary of his 200th win. It was such a hit with the fans organizers decide to let him do it again. This time The King drops the hammer and lays down a lap at 220 mph. The current Sprint Cup drivers immediately march into the garage, rip the restrictor plates off of their cars and throw them into Lake Lloyd. July 11: The day after Dale Earnhardt Jr. earns his eighth win of the season Jimmie and Chandra Johnson have their first child. Johnson announces his retirement. They name the child Five Pete Johnson. July 25: Dale Earnhardt Jr. picks up his first Brickyard 400 victory, his 10th win of the year. August 1: The Pocono 500 is won by Kurt Busch, who immediately points out that he is now two Pocono wins ahead of little brother Kyle and four ahead of Kyle's career win total of 17. August 8: Juan Montoya wins at Watkins Glen, sweeping the season's road course events. That night he goes home to Miami and invites Bob Griese out for dinner. August 21: Kevin Harvick becomes the first man to sweep the Truck, Nationwide and Cup events at Bristol. In Victory Lane he announces that he will leave Richard Childress Racing at season's end to drive a third car for Stewart-Haas Racing. September 5: Kasey Kahne wins at Atlanta. In Victory Lane he announces that he will leave Richard Petty Motorsports at season's end to drive a fourth car for Stewart-Haas Racing. September 11: Dale Earnhardt Jr. earns his 12th win of the season, but the victory is overshadowed by Jimmie Johnson's announcement that he is ending his retirement and coming back for The Chase. His points lead was so gigantic when he retired in July that he is still safely inside the top 12. September 19: Jimmie Johnson wins at New Hampshire. Meanwhile, back home in Charlotte, his two-month old child wins its first go-kart race. October 10: Mark Martin takes the checkered flag at the new, shorter 400-mile event at the Auto Club Speedway. However, the batteries have run out on the 51-year old's hearing aids and he doesn't hear his crew telling him that the race is over. He accidentally runs an extra 100 miles. October 24: As the Martinsville Speedway hosts its 124th Cup Series race, rumors continue to persist that the last track from NASCAR's original schedule will lose one of its dates to the Kansas Speedway. Virginia natives Elliott Sadler, Jeff Burton, Denny Hamlin and Marty Smith chain themselves to a tree outside the main gate and chant, "Hell no, we won't go." League officials shrug their shoulders and leave for Talladega. October 31: In keeping with the recent trend of out-of-nowhere winners at Talladega, Boris Said wins the AMP Energy 500 with a gutsy last lap pass around Dale Earnhardt Jr. In Victory Lane, Said decides to celebrate by shaving off his signature "Said Head" afro. But after maintenance crews destroy two bush hogs and a Jaws of Life trying to shear the locks, they give up. November 2: Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins his record 15th race of the season, a new Modern Era record, but loses the championship by 300 points to teammate Jimmie Johnson. Fans call for the head of crew chief Lance McGrew.
Well, that's all for today. Until the next time, I remain,
Your Nascar Momma Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, wine in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"
"Don't come here and grumble about going too fast. Get the hell out of the race car if you've got feathers on your legs or butt. Put a kerosene rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up there and eat that candy ass." -Dale Earnhardt - 1998 | 
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