Trouble in Turn2

I’m thinking of starting a new game. It’s called Where in the World is Slugger Labbe? Since 2004 crew chief Slugger Labbe has worked for 5 different teams. He’s been a part of two team contractions. It’s easy to lose track. Two weeks ago he was released by Bill Davis Racing when they shut down the struggling #27(formerly known as the struggling #36) car. He’s NASCAR’s answer to Chris Gatling, or Mike Morgan, the ultimate journeyman.

In other crew chief news, Michael Waltrip is switching Paul Andrews for Bobby Kennedy. You might be thinking, where have I heard Bobby Kennedy’s name before? Hint: The answer rhymes with pet gruel.

Denny Hamlin spoke to Dustin Long about his fuel pickup issues. By his count he’s lost three races in the last year due to a faulty pickup system. I also remember a 2004 race at Homestead where the same thing happened to Tony Stewart. I have no idea if it’s a similar situation, but it’s interesting. In any event, fuel pickup shouldn’t be a problem this weekend at the virtually flat Martinsville.

Former driver Ricky Craven went to Iraq and wrote about his experience. It’s a great read and gives a real picture of what the situation really looks like. NASCAR fans have always been patriotic and the military obviously has close ties to the sport, but it’s always nice to have a reminder of what’s really going on. It makes silly gripes about Toyota, the CoT or Goodyear tires look rather small.

A few newer blogs to check out: Bump Drafts, Blog of Tomorrow, Monte Dutton’s NASCAR This Week

From the It’s More Fun if it were True category, Jack Roush and Toyota can’t get along. The story was at least partially fabricated by ESPN (which is another obnoxious issue altogether.) It’s Spy vs Spy. Jack is claiming that Ninjas working on behalf of Toyota stole a proprietary Roush part. Of course after the whole oil lid fiasco, Toyota took shots at Roush too. My guess is they stole either Matt Kenseth’s cup holder or Carl Edwards iPod featuring all of his dawgs from Back 40 records.

If you haven’t already discovered my series of interviews with different bloggers, what better way to pass the weekend than to sidle up to the fireplace with the laptop for some good reading. It’s a chance to learn more about some of the best NASCAR bloggers in their own words. The only thing I’ve done is compiled them all in one place, so even if you think I’m a complete waste of bandwidth, you should check them out.