Kyle Busch to remain at Joe Gibbs Racing

This comes as no surprise.  Kyle Busch will remain with Joe Gibbs Racing for the foreseeable future.  There were some rumors circulating late in 2012 that Busch may be open to testing the free agent waters, possibly joining Tony Stewart at Stewart-Haas Racing.  Those rumors were put to bed before the 2013 season officially began.

From ESPN:

"Kyle Busch signed a multiyear deal with Joe Gibbs Racing in December, multiple sources confirmed to ESPN on Friday.

USA Today first reported the deal during Friday's testing at Daytona International Speedway.
Busch, involved in a 12-car wreck during Friday afternoon's session, side-stepped questions when asked about the deal by USA Today."

Danica Patrick To Run 10 Races for Turner Motorsports

From ESPN:

Danica Patrick is expected to compete in at least 10 Nationwide Series races for Turner Motorsports.  Patrick is competing the full Sprint Cup schedule for Stewart Haas Racing.  Like SHR, Turner Motorsports uses Hendrick Motorsports engines. 

Earlier rumors had Patrick running some races for Richard Childress Racing in the Nationwide Series, so it is unclear as to if that supposed deal is off the table.

Roush takes on the Travis Pastrana Project

From Roush Fenway Racing:

"Travis Pastrana will make the move to full-time NASCAR racing in 2013, driving Roush Fenway's historic #60 Ford Mustang in all 33 events on the NASCAR Nationwide Series schedule."

Statement from Pastrana

"I am extremely excited about making the move into full-time NASCAR competition in 2013 and equally thrilled to have the opportunity to make that move with Jack Roush and the team at Roush Fenway Racing.  I am very serious about making this move, running competitively and ultimately winning races in NASCAR."

Chad Norris will work with Pastrana as crew chief.  Norris served as crwe chief for Carl Edwards for much of 2013.

Kasey Kahne, Brad Sweet take Great Clips to Junior Motorsports

From Foxsports:

"JR Motorsports will field cars for Kasey Kahne and Brad Sweet for the 2013 Nationwide Series season.

Great Clips, which signed on to sponsor three Sprint Cup races for Kahne’s No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in 2013, will move its sponsorship from Turner Motorsports to JRM to support the Nationwide Series effort.

 

Kahne ran 15 races for Turner Motorsports in the No. 38 Great Clips Chevrolet in 2012. His best finish was second at Bristol in March. In 191 NNS starts, the 32-year-old racer has posted seven victories. In 2012, Kahne finished fourth in the Sprint Cup standings in his first season with the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team."

Letter to Readers: Ready for 2013

Hello fellow NASCAR enthusiasts.  It has been quite awhile since I engaged the NASCAR audience with my professional and sometimes unprofessional viewpoints regarding the Great American sport.  There has been a lot going on around here, therefore, I look forward to my full-time return to blogging in 2013.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series begins a new era in 2013 with the new generation stock cars.  They are quite beautiful if I might say so myself, at least they are compared to those other things they have used since 2007. 

It will be interesting to say the least. 

Oh yeah, congratulations to Brad Keselowski, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, and James Buescher for their respective championships.  Also, shame on Jeff Gordon for his ridiculous and embarrassing payback attempt on Clint Bowyer.  That was, well, nevermind, it is old news.  Anyway, see you in 2013, unless something groundbreaking occurs before the end of this year.

Silly Season Predictions

With Roush Fenway announcing the departure of 2003 Winston Cup champion Matt Kenseth, it's crystal clear that we are in for a crazy, and unexpected silly season.  Here are my projections based on nothing but my own speculation.

Kenseth- Kenseth will take over the Home Depot #20 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, finally giving the home improvemen chain a driver that is close to the level of Jimmie Johnson (Lowe's spokesperson) and former driver Tony Stewart.

Joey Logano- Do not think that Logano is going to be left hanging during this silly season madness.  A month and a half ago, I was sure he was out.  Nevertheless, he has enjoyed a solid month, which includes a win at Pocono.  I believe that Logano will move to the fourth JGR team with a sponsorship package that includes Dollar General and Gamestop.  Possible numbers include #19, #25, #28, and #80.

Ryan Newman- Call me crazy, but I think Newman could return to Penske Racing.  Shell/Pennzoil is used to having a championship caliber driver after years with Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch.  Newman was a championship caliber driver from 2002 to 2005 under the Penske umbrella before the entire organization began a decline.  For Newman and Penske, this could the completion of a full circle that began in 2000 when Penske and Ford signed the young Newman. 

A.J. Allmendinger- Allmendinger was arguably the best driver available when Kurt Busch lost the #22 ride last fall.  However, with drivers such as Kenseth, Newman, and Kurt Busch available, he is under an immense amount of pressure.  His luck has been awful, but even without the bad luck, he has not been that impressive outside of his performances at Martinsville and Sonoma.  Look for Allmendinger to land with a lower tier team with potential, such as BK Racing or even a second Furniture Row Racing team. 

Kurt Busch-  This is difficult to project because Busch is difficult to project.  One week he is blowing up at reporters, the next he is in near tears following a third place finish, not to mention, his post-race interviews were actually pleasant to listen to.  However, it will be difficult for an owner to land a sponsor that is willing to risk another embarrassing outburst.  Fellow media-basher Tony Stewart could be his saving grace.  I believe Stewart and Gene Haas will pony up a little extra money to put another champion in the No. 39 (could be a different # without Newman) ride.  Look for Busch to driver the Haas Automation Chevrolet.

Brian Vickers- Vickers will not be able to completely move into the No. 55 Aaron's Dream Machine. anytime soon due to Mark Martin's continued desire to compete part-time.  However, he could land at JTG Daugherty Racing, another Toyota outfit that recently shared a shop with MWR.  JTG-Daugherty Racing could be a solid landing place for Vickers. 

Bobby Labonte-  As much as I admire Labonte, I believe that his days of contending for wins is long past.  He will likely move to a team that is in need of that champion's provisional.  He could land with FAS Lane Racing or Tommy Baldwin Racing.  Or perhaps, he could share the No. 55 ride with Martin and Waltrip.  Personally, I'd rather see Labonte run solid five or six times a year as opposed to painfully watching him mired back in the 20's and 30's for 36 races.  

David Reutimann- Reutimann has been a doormat his entire career, despite the fact he is a genuinely nice and talented driver.  He does not receive as much credit as he should for helping improve the performance MWR.  I think the guys at Phoenix Racing liked Reutimann, and he would be a solid replacement for Kurt Busch. 

Trevor Bayne- With Stenhouse moving to Kenseth's ride in 2013, I would assume that Jack Roush will place Bayne in Stenhouse's full-time Nationwide Series ride.  Bayne will continue his partial Cup schedule with the Wood Brothers.

Despite recent meltdown, Kurt Busch still top free agent

Kurt Busch's recent tantrum at Darlington a couple of weeks ago has been well documented.  Prior to the incident with Ryan Newman and the No. 39 crew, Busch appeared to be having some of that old school fun he was talking about during preseason despite the struggles of driving for a team on a shoestring budget. 

He did himself no favors the following week when he was snappy with reporters, and refused to display any sincere remorse.

However, despite all of that, Busch is still the top free agent in NASCAR.  This is obviously due to his outstanding resume behind the wheel, and the fact that he has given Phoenix Racing's unsponsored No. 51 Chevrolet some solid performances in 2012. 

I doubt Busch will be as coveted as Carl Edwards was a year ago, but a sponsor may find it worthwhile to have a loose cannon represent the company if he can win races and compete for championships. 

Home Depot has longed for a championship caliber driver to compete with Jimmie Johnson and Lowe's ever since Tony Stewart left following the 2008 season to partner with Gene Haas.  Joe Gibbs and the sponsor hoped that youngster Joey Logano would eventually emerge into recurrent frontrunner at the Sprint cup level.  After nearly three and a half years, Logano has shown little to no improvement from a performance standpoint. 

Gibbs has a history of dealing with hotheads ever since he introduced Tony Stewart to the  Cup world in 1999.  Kurt's kid brother Kyle has often found himself tangled in controversy.  Denny Hamlin has not been as much of a headache as Kye Busch and Stewart, but he has not always been on his best behavior either. 

Gibbs could be the one owner that could keep Kurt Busch in a top flight ride in NASCAR.  Let's face it, Rick Hendrick and Roger Penske are just too clean cut for Busch.  Richard Childress has a full house with Kevin Harvick, Paul Menard, Jeff Burton, and the Dillon brothers.  Jack Roush has a short string when it comes to trouble makers, as that was evident in 2005 when he canned Busch with two races remaining in the season after a run-in with a Maricopa County cop near Phoenix.

Michael Waltrip could be a good fit, but I do not see that operation opening a fourth car at the moment. 

Prior to the season, I projected that Busch would eventually land in the No. 20 Toyota, joining his brother at Joe Gibbs Racing.  I still believe that will happen, but of course, time will tell.

As far as the other free agents, Ryan Newman and Matt Kenseth will likely remain with their current teams.  Newman and Stewart Haas Racing are dealing with uncertainty when it comes to sponsors, but I believe that he has put a lot of effort into that No. 39 program, and SHR has invested a lot in Newman, they will make it work.  Kenseth will end his career at Roush Fenway Racing. 

Logano could still rebound and maintain his ride, but if he continues his run of mediocrity, he would be wise to follow Elliott Sadler's path and return to the Nationwide Series to regroup while he is still young enough to resurrect his career.  I bet Sadler wished he took this road five years ago when he began to struggle. 

NASCAR needs to regain credibility

It is no secret, NASCAR has had some credibility issues over the years.  Inconsistent calls from officials are almost expected.  On Saturday, NASCAR's credibility came into question once again. 

First, officials apparently gave Carl Edwards' spotter Jason Hedlesky inaccurate information when they supposedly told him that the No. 99 was the leader.  The No. 99 was also shown as the lead on the leaderboard. Therefore, Edwards took off like a rocket ship on the 317 restart while Stewart, the real leader, appeared to have spun his tires.  NASCAR black flagged Edwards, leaving the driver and his team utterly perplexed.  NASCAR stated that Stewart was indeed the leader and Edwards was in violation of jumping the restart.

While I see Edwards' frustration, it did appear that Edwards restarted earlier than he should have, even if he was the leader.  Nevertheless, NASCAR should at least acknowledge that they gave Edwards' spotter incorrect information.  To my knowledge they have not owned up to it.

With 14 laps to go, NASCAR threw a fifth caution flag, this time for debris.  Stewart was the leader and steadily sailing away from second place driver Kyle Busch.   While Stewart could have still won the race had his pit crew not flubbed the final pit stop, the victory was not in the bank as it was prior to the caution.  Busch's crew performed a swift pit stop, putting the No. 18 Toyota in the lead.  He easily won the race. 

Meanwhile, Stewart lost second place to Dale Earnhardt Jr.  Following the race, Stewart was seething, claiming the a water bottle sitting outside the racing groove was the reason for the caution. 

"(We) lost it on a plastic bottle on the backstretch," he said after the race.

While NASCAR officials stated that a piece of sheet metal was the debris, it was not confirmed by the ones who are the most important, and that is the fans. 

I have always said that if NASCAR feels the need to throw a debris caution, they need to alert the camera guys and put it on TV for all to see.  There are many times when the camera does focus on the debris, but all too often, we are left wondering, 'what's the real reason for the caution'?  I mean, how many fans really trust NASCAR's judgement? 

I understand that proof of debris will not fix all of NASCAR's credibility issues, but at least it will erase the notion that they manufacture cautions in order to bunch up the field.  As far as becoming credible with the fans, NASCAR has a steep hill to climb.

Rockingham is still not safe

Sure, the Rockingham Speedway is back on the NASCAR schedule, albeit the Camping World Truck Series schedule, after eight long years. Fans everywhere, including myself, were pulling hard for Andy Hillenburgh to bring NASCAR action back to the place known to many as 'The Rock'.

However, let us not be naive. This does not permanently etch Rockingham back on NASCAR's schedules. Let us not grow to comfortable and content with watching this race from our couch. Fans who truly want Rockingham to remain a fixture on the Truck schedule, and possibly emerge into a strong candidate to appear on the Nationwide Series shedule, by all means, get to the track, of course, if circumstance allow for it. Obviously, not everyone who wanted Rockingham back in NASCAR cannot attend the race. Nevertheless, I believe many of the local fans have the opportunity to show their support for the 1.017-mile track that was once a fixture in the Cup series.

Rockingham is not in close proximinty to a major media market, but it is in North Carolina, the hub of NASCAR, and home to thousands upon thousands of race fans. I hope that many of these fans in the Carolinas will support the Truck race in Rockingham, and continue the quest to save Rockingham from once again fading from the NASCAR schedule.

If the grandstands show a clear lack of support, it is likely that Rockingham and the Trucks will be a one and done deal. I know if my circumstances allowed, I would be there.

Ex-NASCAR driver Jeremy Mayfield making a comeback?

Last week, the thought of former NASCAR driver Jeremy Mayfield ever climbing behind the wheel of a race car seemed unfathomable. Mayfield's fall from grace has been well-documented over the past three years. From Chase for the Championship contender to rock bottom, we have witnessed the Mayfield soap opera.

Mayfield's lawsuit against NASCAR is verging on completely hopeless. He is facing up to nine felony charges that include stolen property and possession of methamphetamine. He has until April 30th to pay off nearly $3 million he owes towards his property, or it will be auctioned off. If your life sucks, take a look at Mayfield's and you will feel better.

However, there are reports that Mayfield is still planning on racing again. While he is suspended from NASCAR, he can race in any non-NASCAR sanctioned event upon approval.

Roger Carter, team owner in the ARCA series, has expressed interest in putting the troubled Mayfield in one of his race cars.

"I was there when he started his career. He's a heck of a good guy. He's made some mistakes, no question about it. I feel like he wants to redeem himself," said Carter.

Of course, Mayfield would have to pass drug tests administered by Carter's team, as well as ARCA. Additionally, ARCA officials would have approve Mayfield's entrance into the series.

Mayfield admitted that he is interested in the opportunity.

"There's a chance. Obviously, we want to get all this behind us, but if that opportunity came around, I'd definitely consider it," he said.

Mayfield's entrance into the ARCA series would generate much interest. Personally, I would love to see Mayfield back in a race car, ONLY if he passes the drug tests.