Trouble in Turn2

What Happened

Bill Davis started the season with the only Toyota car inside the top 35. Unfortunately the combination of Toyota’s engine package and Dave Blaney’s misfortune, the #22 car quickly fell outside the top 35. Meanwhile teammate Jeremy Mayfield didn’t qualify until the fifth race of the season. It set a miserable tone for the entire season for the #36 car.

Things did improve for Blaney’s ride. He won his 2nd career pole, and Toyota’s first, at Loudon, and also managed four top tens in the second half of the year. Mayfield was ultimately let go to make way for former CART and Formula 1 driver Jacques Villeneuve.

What Went Well

Driving for the only established Cup team, Blaney adjusted best to the new Camry. The results began showing in the final 16 races of the season. In the first 19 races he scored 3 top 20’s compared to 7 in the final 16. Toyota’s progress was also seen in Blaney’s DNF distribution. He had 7 DNF’s in the first 19 races when he was running at the back of the pack where it’s easier to get caught up in other people’s messes. Once he began running better the DNF’s disappeared.

Maybe the biggest positive for Blaney and Bill Davis Racing was ending the season inside the top 35. The Toyota engine package will be much better in 2008, so Blaney can now start working towards improvement rather than survival. Blaney’s primary sponsor Caterpillar also returns for 2008.

What Went Wrong

Like every other Toyota team, the beginning of the year was a major flop. Blaney and Mayfield both struggled to stay on the lead lap. Through the first 18 races, they each had one lead lap finish. With a brand new team and sponsor, Mayfield’s season was completely derailed. That combination ultimately led to Mayfield’s departure.

Poor cars or not, Blaney’s 7 DNF’s to begin the season did not help. He was parked at Daytona for rough driving that incited an accident, and then three weeks later wrecked on lap 17 at Las Vegas. Blaney did an amazing job of avoiding trouble in an underfunded Dodge in 2006, so he is definitely capable of making the most out of bad cars.

For the second Cup car, Villeneuve will not only have to adjust to stock cars on the fly, but try and qualify for at least the first five races on speed. It’s also unknown where the sponsorship will come from. Villeneuve drove two races last year with charity Unicef on the hood, but no announcement has been made for 2008.

Past Team Reviews

• DEI
• Michael Waltrip Racing
• Penske Racing
• Haas-CNC
• Team Red Bull
• Joe Gibbs
• Evernham
• Wood Bros
• Hendrick Motorsports
• Robert Yates Racing
• Chip Ganassi Racing
• Petty Enterprises
• Roush-Fenway Racing

• Last chance to enter the Trouble in Turn 2 Giveaway! It’s a UPS truck.

  

  So how do you win it? Give me some feedback. I have created a short survey and value your opinions of this blog. Fill out the survey and I will draw a winner at the end of the month. Even if you think the prize is lame and don’t want to win, I would really appreciate your help to improve the site. Be honest, that’s the only way it will work, and no one besides me will see the answers. As always thanks for reading.

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What Happened

Roush-Fenway Racing combined to win the second most races and had two drivers make the Chase but still fell short of expectations. Greg Biffle and Jamie McMurray both spent the season fighting inconsistency. Matt Kenseth was never in danger of missing the Chase, but also never looked like a threat to win until it was too late. David Ragan was thrown in the deep end and had lots of struggles, but hints of his potential were also seen.

Roush drummed up a surplus of financial muscle when he merged with John Henry to form Roush-Fenway Racing, a deal that took nearly three years to finalize. The merger didn’t have immediate benefits, but the long term payoffs could be enormous.

What Went Well

Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards combined for five wins and both made the Chase. Kenseth finished the season on fire with five straight top fives and a dominating win at Homestead. Edwards rebounded from a disappointing 2006 to post three wins and the accompanying backflips. That was especially good news for his motorcoach driver Tom Giacchi.

Elsewhere, Jamie McMurray won his first race in almost five years at the Pepsi 400 in July. Greg Biffle’s win at Kansas was his fifth straight season with at least one win. Rookie David Ragan began the year with a 5th place at Daytona and later scored a 3rd place at Richmond.

What Went Wrong

The team really struggled with the CoT. Kenseth and McMurray’s averages were significantly worse in the CoT compared to the old car. The team admitted it didn’t test as much as other Cup teams and the initial results reflected that. By the summer, the organization had regained most of the ground they had lost, but with the CoT featuring exclusively in 2008, they cannot afford similar stumbles.

Biffle’s team was assembled in the hopes of competing for a championship. Things didn’t work and crew chief Pat Tryson left the team for Penske in the summer. Biffle didn’t score consecutive top tens until September, and only won the one race at Kansas. Maybe the most telling stat was his meager 78 laps led. He led over 900 laps in each of the previous seasons.

Meanwhile McMurray celebrated his first win at Roush with five straight finishes of 30th or worse. That quickly dashed any visions of the #26 car making the Chase. McMurray has the talent to win at almost every track, but still struggles to simply run in the top ten on most weekends.

Ragan assumed the seat of the #6 car that Mark Martin had made legendary. After a surprise top 5 a Daytona, Ragan’s season was filled with several tough days. He “led” the tour with 22 crashes, according to USA Today.

What Happened

After a lot of nice accomplishments in 2006, this past year was more about maintaining that progress for Petty Enterprises. After years of stagnancy, the team is finally making serious attempts to regain their past power. GM Robbie Loomis is the driving force behind the team’s growth.

Kyle Petty stepped out of the #45 car and into the broadcast booth for six races in the summer. It could mean the first phase of his transition to retirement, TV or a more active role in ownership. Meanwhile Bobby Labonte pressed on, running consistently with the occasional top ten.

Both teams faced plenty of struggles. Like every other team, PE was faced with building two separate fleets of cars, transitioning to unleaded fuel and trying to figure out how to run with the Hendricks and Gibbs of the sport.

Petty Enterprises also began looking to the future with eyes on not only survival, but improvement for the historic team. One big step was the announced plan to move from Level Cross North Carolina to a new shop closer to Charlotte. Being closer to NASCAR’s hub means the team can pull from a larger pool of employees.

A bigger, stickier step that’s on the table is a possible merger with another team. On one hand it would allow the team to tap into additional resources, technology and sponsorship dollars. The problem is that the Petty’s greatest asset is their history and name. A merge could dillute that rich history, something the Pettys won’t take lightly.

What Went Well

Petty lit up race fan’s faces in May with an improbable 3rd place finish in the Coca Cola 600. It was his highest finish in 10 years. The result was the only top ten of his season, but he had nice runs at Talladega, Atlanta and Bristol. The best news was that Petty managed to keep the car inside the top 35, granting him qualifying immunity for at least the first 5 races of 2008.

Labonte was again solid on short tracks and had several good runs. He also took to the CoT pretty well. His average CoT finish was 21.8. While his top 5’s and top 10’s declined from 2006, he managed to run more laps and finish more races. That was reflected in his 18th place points position.

During Petty’s time out of the car, the team might have found a young driver that could maybe replace Petty long term. Chad McCumbee was plucked from the Truck Series to race the car at Pocono and did a steady job finishing 25th. He ran another Cup race later in the season at Michigan where he finished 41st.

What Went Wrong

Petty’s car narrowly hung onto a top 35 spot for the second straight season. The Toyota teams will be stronger in 2008 with 6 teams looking to take Petty’s spot. Petty can’t afford too many poor finishes early in the season or he will struggle to regain his guaranteed starting spot.

While Petty had planned on missing some races, he hadn’t planned on missing so many. After a 43rd place finish at Watkins Glen Petty slammed his hand on his car and broke it. He missed the next two races as a result.

The biggest problem for the Petty cars is that they simply can’t run up front on a consistent basis. Labonte is still a capable driver, but without the tools and information that the larger teams have, his success is limited. There are two things that could probably help the Petty cars improve. One is if Petty were able to successfully transition out of the car and into the shop. The other is the rumored merger with Gillett-Evernham. While both could probably help the team’s performance, neither is a sure bet.

What Happened

Need a sign of how far Richard Childress Racing has come? The team placed all three cars in the Chase, won four races including the Daytona 500 and the All-Star race and yet, in some ways the year was disappointing. Three years ago that would have been considered a banner season for the fledging organization. In 2004 Richard Childress Racing went winless and no cars made the Chase. The turnaround has been impressive and things should get even better in 2008.

It wasn’t all positive for the company in 2007. In midseason the team merged their engine program with DEI. Between merging shops and tackling Chevy’s new R07 engine package, things didn’t go exactly as planned. After a fast start, Harvick went from championship contender to barely making the Chase.

What Went Well

RCR put the pedal to the floor to start the season. Kevin Harvick won a wild Daytona 500 with Jeff Burton finishing 5th. Meanwhile Clint Bowyer tried to one-up his teammates by sliding across the finish line on his roof and then escaping the car when it burst into flames. Harvick nearly won the next week at California if not for a late flat tire. Burton finished 4th and Bowyer 6th. Through the first 10 races the trio combined for two wins, 7 top 5’s and 15 top 10’s.

All three cars spent the year inside the top 12, easily ensuring that they were eligible for the Chase. Once there, Bowyer won the first Chase race at Loudon for his first career Cup win. That began a strong Chase effort that saw Bowyer finish third in the final point standings.

Burton’s season was bookended by two great runs. He scored a win at Texas, five top 5’s and 6 top 10’s in the first seven races and finished with 2 top 5’s and 6 top 10’s in the final 8 races.

What Went Wrong

Off the track RCR and Burton’s primary sponsor AT&T spent the season engaged in a lawsuit with Nextel and NASCAR. Although the team won two appeals to put AT&T logos on the #31 car, the suit did disrupt things. The case is still pending, which means it could be more wrangling with Nextel and by connection, wrangling with NASCAR.

Harvick’s season didn’t match his 2006 output. In 2006 he had a line of 5 wins, 15 top 5’s and 20 top 10’s. In 2007 that shrunk to 1, 4 and 15. He won the Daytona 500 but was inconsistent after that. His 86.4 driver rating was 14th best, a decent effort but far from a front runner. He made the Chase more from his ability to stay on the track (0 DNF’s) than from great runs.

Like Harvick all three drivers did a good job of avoiding trouble (Burton’s 2 engine failures were the only DNF’s), but too often they were also far from the front. Harvick’s laps led dropped by 70% compared to 2006, Burton’s by 82%. Bowyer’s total improved from 112 to 387, but none of the three placed in the top 10 in laps led. That has to be a point of emphasis in 2008, especially now that the CoT will feature full time.

Past Team Reviews

• DEI
• Michael Waltrip Racing
• Penske Racing
• Haas-CNC
• Team Red Bull
• Joe Gibbs
• Evernham
• Wood Bros
• Hendrick Motorsports
• Robert Yates Racing
• Chip Ganassi Racing

• Announcing the first ever Trouble in Turn 2 Giveaway. It’s a UPS truck.

  

  So how do you win it? Give me some feedback. I have created a short survey and value your opinions of this blog. Fill out the survey and I will draw a winner at the end of the month. Even if you think the prize is lame and don’t want to win, I would really appreciate your help to improve the site. Be honest, that’s the only way it will work, and no one besides me will see the answers. As always thanks for reading.

  Click Here to take survey

What Happened

For Chip Ganassi/Felix Sabates Racing 2007 was a pretty nice season. After years of running in the background, the team returned to the spotlight primarily because of a 31 year old “rookie” Juan Pablo Montoya. In the summer of 2006 Ganassi surprised not just the NASACAR world, but the racing world when he announced that Montoya was coming to Nextel Cup. The move assured the team would have plenty of attention whether they won races or not. Everyone wanted to see how an open wheel star would do in NASCAR. The answer was quickly answered with a “yes”.

Ganassi won their first Cup race since 2002 when Montoya took the checkers at Sonoma. It was hardly a surprise that Montoya, one of the best road racers in the world, won at a non-oval course. He won the Busch road race at Mexico City earlier in 2007. The win still ended a four year plus drought for the team.

Montoya’s success affirmed Ganassi’s belief in open wheel drivers and in the summer announced he had signed another open wheel star Dario Franchitti to drive in 2008. Franchitti comes off a splendid IRL season where he won the Indy 500 and the IRL title.

What Went Well

The road course wins were nice, but Montoya’s true progress was measured on oval tracks. That progress was seen in flashes throughout the season. In just his fifth Cup start, Montoya scored his first top five at Atlanta. He followed it up three races later with an 8th place at
Texas. In the fall Montoya also scored top tens at Dover and Martinsville, two of NASCAR’s toughest tracks for any driver let alone a stock car rookie.

The team’s brightest day came at Indy during the Brickyard 400. Reed Sorenson won the pole while Montoya started 2nd. Both cars spent the majority of the day in the top five and Montoya finished 2nd and Sorenson came home 5th.

Compared to his nightmare 2006, David Stremme enjoyed a better season. He scored his first career top ten at Texas and finished the year with 3 total. After struggling last season to sat inside the top 35, he began 2007 with 5 straight top 20’s to ensure that wouldn’t happen again. Comparing his average finish from 2006 (26.4) to 2007 (25.2) it doesn’t look like great improvement, but it’s not the case. Last year Stremme suffered lots of early race problems that rendered his day wasted. This year even in races that didn’t get the finish, he usually stayed in the hunt longer. Look at his 61.2 driver rating compared to 54.2 last season.

Sorenson had a few highlights in his sophomore season. He scored a season best 3rd at his
home track, Atlanta, in the fall. In five career races at Atlanta Sorenson has three top tens. In all he had three top 5’s and 6 top tens.

What Went Wrong

During the offseason the team focused on improving their speedway program and the results were seen in races with the “old car”. The problem came with the CoT. Sure, Montoya won a road race in the CoT, that speaks more to Ganassi’s traditionally strong road course program than than the CoT. Only four of the team’s combined 12 top 10’s came in the CoT. The team’s average finish in the old car was 22.75 compared to 25.77 in the CoT. Neither is a great number, but the team obviously lost ground in the car that will feature exclusively in 2008.

Sorenson had a rough second season. While fellow classmates Denny Hamlin, Clint Bowyer
and Martin Truex all won races and made the Chase, Sorenson was still searching for consistency. He had 7 DNF’s and an incredible 8 finishes of 40th or worse. The good news is that with two world class drivers for teammates, Sorenson should be able to take advantage of their knowledge, not to mention their clout when asking for organizational improvements.

Stremme showed improvement, but it wasn’t earth-shattering and in the end he lost his ride to Franchitti. Part of the reason was performance based, but sponsorship was also to blame. Coors Light ended their association with Ganassi and another sponsor couldn’t be found. It was reasoned that the Indy 500 winner Franchitti was more marketable (being married to actress Ashley Judd doesn’t hurt either) than Stremme.

Montoya’s success was tempered slightly by his fierce and stubborn driving style. He had incidents with several drivers including Ryan Newman, Tony Stewart and most famously with Kevin Harvick. The two tangled both in and out of their cars at Watkins Glen. After wrecking their cars, both drivers exchanged words and shoves, but presumably not insurance information. Montya deserves credit for not backing down as a rookie. At the same time he needs to find the balance between aggressive and antagonist. If he wants to run in the top 10 consistently he needs to respect the other top drivers.

Past Team Reviews

• DEI
• Michael Waltrip Racing
• Penske Racing
• Haas-CNC
• Team Red Bull
• Joe Gibbs
• Evernham
• Wood Bros
• Hendrick Motorsports
• Robert Yates Racing

• Announcing the first ever Trouble in Turn 2 Giveaway. It’s a UPS truck.

  

  So how do you win it? Give me some feedback. I have created a short survey and value your opinions of this blog. Fill out the survey and I will draw a winner at the end of the month. Even if you think the prize is lame and don’t want to win, I would really appreciate your help to improve the site. Be honest, that’s the only way it will work, and no one besides me will see the answers. As always thanks for reading.

  Click Here to take survey

What Happened

Robert Yates lured former driver Ricky Rudd out of retirement for one final Cup season and got extra sponsorship from Master Foods. On the track it was not pretty for the team that won a Cup race as recently as 2005.

David Gilliland’s first full Cup season was filled with more struggles than triumphs. He won a pole and scored two top tens, but the rest of the year was riddled with poor runs.

The season also marked the transition of the company from Robert Yates to son Doug. The elder Yates announced his retirement in December after 18 seasons as a Cup owner that featured 1 Cup championship and 57 wins. The team also handed the rights to the #88 to Hendrick Motorsports and Dale Earnhardt Jr and will resurrect the famous #28 in 2008 when Travis Kvapil replaces the retiring Rudd.

What Went Well

The first week of Speedweeks began on a high note. David Gilliland finished second in the Bud Shootout and then pulled a minor surprise by winning the pole for the Daytona 500. Even better Ricky Rudd was second fastest making a Yates clean sweep of the front row. Gilliland led 18 laps and finished 8th. Rudd also ran well before getting caught up in the big one late.

Yates has always been strong at restrictor plate tracks and Gilliland carried that banner. After Daytona he narrowly missed winning the pole at Talladega but did score his first career top five with a 4th place finish. He also mixed it up with Tony Stewart in the final laps with Stewart getting the worst of it. Gilliland also had a strong run at the Pepsi 400 in July, finishing 11th.

Rudd’s best finish came at the Coca-Cola 600 when he took 7th by parlaying great fuel mileage into his only top ten. He also had strong runs at Martinsville, Sonoma and led 10 laps at the fall Texas race.

Near the end of the season Yates formed a stronger alignment with Ford’s flagship team Roush-Fenway Racing. After years of providing top notch engines for the Roush cars, it’s time for Yates to reap the benefits of improved chassis and technical support.

What Went Wrong

There must have been times when Rudd asked, “I came back for this?” After Daytona qualifying things did not go well for Rudd and the #88 car. His first five finishes were all 26th or worse, causing the front wheels to dangle off the edge of the top 35. Rudd only scored 6 top 15’s in 31 races. That’s also the same number of DNF’s for the season. He also had 13 finishes of 30th or worse.

To make matters worse Rudd suffered a fractured shoulder blade from a hard crash at Fontana. Yates brought in Mike and Kenny Wallace to sub for Rudd for five races. The pair didn’t do anything spectacular but they managed to keep the car inside the top 35.

Gilliland made the most of RYR’s top notch restrictor plate program but didn’t show improvement in any other area. Despite a reasonable 5 DNF’s, he only had 9 lead lap finishes all season. His 54.5 season driver rating was 31st, which was actually worse than his average finish of 27.4. Without significant improvement in 2008, Gilliland’s Cup exit could come almost as quickly as the incredible ascent.

From the business side Yates also lost their only primary sponsor Masterfoods, maker of M&M’s and Snickers, to Joe Gibbs Racing for 2008. As bad as the cars ran in 2007, this poses an even greater challenge to Doug Yates. He will need to find someone to cover the costs of getting both Gilliland and Kvapil on the track each week before he can begin worrying about perfecting the team’s CoT program.

Past Team Reviews

• DEI
• Michael Waltrip Racing
• Penske Racing
• Haas-CNC
• Team Red Bull
• Joe Gibbs
• Evernham
• Wood Bros
• Hendrick Motorsports

• Announcing the first ever Trouble in Turn 2 Giveaway. It’s a UPS truck.

  

  So how do you win it? Give me some feedback. I have created a short survey and value your opinions of this blog. Fill out the survey and I will draw a winner at the end of the month. Even if you think the prize is lame and don’t want to win, I would really appreciate your help to improve the site. Be honest, that’s the only way it will work, and no one besides me will see the answers. As always thanks for reading.

  Click Here to take survey

What Happened

Hendrick Motorsports dominated the 2007 Nextel Cup sesaon, winning 18 races, scoring 57 top 5’s and 84 top 10’s. Three drivers made the Chase and Jimmie Johnson won his second straight championship.

Jeff Gordon’s season was one of the most spectacular seasons in recent history. He set a record with 30 top tens, passed Dale Earnhardt Sr for sixth all time, and also broke Earnhardt’s record for restrictor plate wins (12). The most amazing thing is that Gordon finished 2nd in the Chase.

Gordon finished second in the Chase because Jimmie Johnson won four straight races during the Chase. Johnson won 10 races during the season and utilized a perfect strategy to claim his second straight title. By pushing hard for wins during the Chase, Johnson overtook Gordon. It wasn’t like Johnson sandbagged it during the regular season either. His 110.3 driver rating was the best on the circuit and he had one less top five than Gordon.

The team also landed the biggest free agent prize in NASCAR history when Dale Earnhardt Jr announced in June that he would switch to HMS for 2008. Suddenly the team had three of the five most popular and profitable drivers in NASCAR.

What Went Well

The biggest reason for Hendrick’s dominance was how well they adapted to the Car of Tomorrow. Hendrick cars won the first five CoT races. Gordon had the best average finish (5.5) in all CoT events, followed closely by Johnson’s 6.9. Kyle Busch, who won the inagural CoT race at Bristol, also had an impressive 11.3. All four cars combined for a 10.8 average finish in the 18 CoT events, including nine wins.

Casey Mears finally scored his first Cup win in his fifth season. After a rough start to the season that saw him teeter on the edge of the top 35, Mears found his stride at Charlotte. Including his win he scored 4 top 5’s in the next 8 races. He finished the year 15th in the standings with career highs in top 5’s (5) and top 10’s (10).

What Went Wrong

In a completely charmed season, it’s hard to find too many things that went completely wrong. From Gordon’s perspective, not winning the championship might qualify. Gordon’s crew chief Steve Letarte had a plan to be conservative during the Chase and simply rack up top 5’s and top 10’s. In nearly any other year, the plan would have worked, but while Johnson was running well and going for wins, Gordon was caught flat-footed with a more conservative setup.

On the track Kyle Busch was a threat to win on a weekly basis, but things just didn’t firm up at the end of races. Off the track Busch continued to find the occasional trouble. After his lone win at Bristol he immediately trashed the CoT saying “it still sucks”. After wrecking at Texas Busch left the track while the crew continued repairing the car. That caused a firestorm because Dale Earnhardt Jr(who Busch wrecked under caution) stepped into the #5 car to run the final eight laps. Later in May Busch was let go to make way for Earnhardt Jr, unofficially in part to his dodgy attitude. This led to complaints about getting shunned by his teammates. Busch announced later in the season that he would drive for Joe Gibbs in 2008.

Past Team Reviews

• DEI
• Michael Waltrip Racing
• Penske Racing
• Haas-CNC
• Team Red Bull
• Joe Gibbs
• Evernham
• Wood Bros

• Announcing the first ever Trouble in Turn 2 Giveaway. It’s a UPS truck.

  

  So how do you win it? Give me some feedback. I have created a short survey and value your opinions of this blog. Fill out the survey and I will draw a winner at the end of the month. Even if you think the prize is lame and don’t want to win, I would really appreciate your help to improve the site. Be honest, that’s the only way it will work, and no one besides me will see the answers. As always thanks for reading.

  Click Here to take survey

What Happened

For the Wood Brothers, the original plan was to use 2007 as a season of transition to prepare for two cars in 2008 and the gradual introduction of Jon Wood as driver. That plan lasted four races. Primary driver Ken Schrader struggled right out of the gate, setting the table for a tough season. The first five finishes of the season went 35, 36, 29, 37, 28 enough to push the #21 outside the top 35. By race 12 Bill Elliott had replaced Schrader in the car as the team scrambled to qualify for races.

It has been several years since the Wood Brothers #21 was challenging for wins, but last year marked a new low for the team. For the first time since 1956 the Wood Brothers failed to score at least one top ten. 2007 has to be considered the worst season in team history.

What Went Well

Bill Elliott made every race he entered, resuscitating a team that was gasping for breath after 12 races. Elliott was hired in part for his past champion’s provisional, but Elliott managed to make a six time provisional last the entire season.He had four top 20’s with a best of 11th at Michigan.

Jon Wood made his historic Cup debut at Las Vegas. The grandson of Glen Wood, the founder and legendary driver of Wood Brothers Racing, Wood joined a shortlist of third generation drivers. On a day when cars lost control thanks to the combination of a green track and a hard tire compound, Wood avoided trouble for the majority of the race before finishing 29th.

Watkins Glen featured the fourth different driver in the #21 under unique circumstances. Rain washed out qualifying, but Elliott got the car in the race with a provisional. In a selfless act, Elliott volunteered to allow road course ace Boris Said to drive the car instead. Said obliged, bringing it home in 14th, one of the best finishes of the season for the team.

Marcos Ambrose had a successful season in the Busch series, giving the team long term hope. In his first season at the Busch level, Ambrose scored 1 top 5, 6 top 10’s and finished 8th overall. The plan in 2008 is to gradually introduce him to the Cup level (that sounds familiar). Abmrose already has proven a popular driver and quick study to American stock cars.

What Went Wrong

Dropped from the top 35 and couldn’t return by the end of the year. This puts the team at a major disadvantage entering 2008. Not only are they outside the top 35, but one car teams just can’t cut it in Nextel Cup anymore.

Wood fell ill and missed a large part of the Busch series and also missed out on potential Cup starts. Not only did Wood miss several Busch races, but his replacement Kelly Bires ran just as well as Wood.

Ken Schrader initially drove the car, but after the first five races Schrader had not finished better than 28th. Bill Elliott stepped in, returned the car to the top 35 and then Schrader returned for four races in the fall. He again failed to maintain a spot in the top 35 and was replaced a second time by Elliott for the final six races of the season.

Like most other Ford teams, the Wood Brothers didn’t take to the CoT very well. In CoT races the team averaged a 29.5 finish. With the circuit running every race in the CoT, it will be a mighty large challenge to regain their guaranteed status.

Past Team Reviews

DEI|Michael Waltrip Racing|Penske Racing|Haas-CNC|Team Red Bull|Joe Gibbs|Evernham

• Announcing the first ever Trouble in Turn 2 Giveaway. It’s a UPS truck.

  

  So how do you win it? Give me some feedback. I have created a short survey and value your opinions of this blog. Fill out the survey and I will draw a winner at the end of the month. Even if you think the prize is lame and don’t want to win, I would really appreciate your help to improve the site. Be honest, that’s the only way it will work, and no one besides me will see the answers. As always thanks for reading.

  Click Here to take survey

What Happened

After a breakthrough 2006, Evernham Motorsports tumbled out of the Chase, went winless and didn’t dust itself off until it was too late. Top driver Kasey Kahne didn’t win a race, scored his first top 5 in August and had only 8 top 10’s all season. He was usually fast on Fridays, but would sink like a mob-hit victim in concrete shoes on Sundays.

The season began on a good note. Kasey Kahne and Elliott Sadler both scored top 10’s at Daytona. After missing the 2006 Daytona 500 Scott Riggs, by virtue of his top 35 owner points position made the race and finished 37th. Restrictor plate races had been a hole in the team in past seasons, but the results marked progress. Surprisingly the problems began the following week on an intermediate track and perpetuated for the rest of the season.

Meanwhile Elliott Sadler avoided trouble but with poor handling cars on a weekly basis, he was merely turning laps. He hovered around the top 20 all year.

What Went Well

Evernham was able to at least solve some of the issues on the #9 car and by late summer Kahne was again running in the top ten. His best effort came at Bristol when he dominated. Winning the pole, leading 305 laps and finishing 2nd to Carl Edwards. Of his 8 top ten finishes, 6 came in the final 12 races, including four on intermediate tracks.

Since his rookie year, Kahne has also been one of the best qualifiers in Cup. That continued in 2007 when he scored two poles and had an average start of 14.3.

Following a recent trend in NASCAR Evernham brought George Gillett on as an investor. With the new capital, Evernham pledged to return to the racing aspects of the business. It’s a long term solution that one hand puts Evernham in a position where he is most effective-in the shop. On the other hand, Evernham’s entire business philosophy was to build the company so that it wouldn’t be so reliant on one or two individuals. Additional revenue is also on its way in the form of new sponsorship for 2008. Budweiser and Best Buy will cover Kahne and Sadler’s respective cars.

What Went Wrong

How much time do you have? The team went winless, no driver made the Chase, all three cars combined to lead a meager 336 laps, Scott Riggs struggled to qualify, all three teams were penalized for cheating at Daytona.

Kahne and Riggs began the year with resounding bangs. The problem was that the bangs came from crashes, blown engines and banging their heads on the wall in frustration. By race #5 Riggs had dropped from the safety zone of the top 35 and Kahne sat in 35th. Kahne eventually clawed his way back to respectability, but Riggs spent the rest of the season chasing the ground they had gained in 2006. The result was Riggs walking away from the team for a ride at Haas CNC, while Evernham hired open wheel driver Patrick Carpentier to fill the #10 car’s seat.

Elliott Sadler had a forgettable season as well. His 25th place finish and measly two top tens was his worst effort since 2000. He did have a great car at Bristol until a flat tire spoiled his fun. Team director Josh Browne was let go after the season, marking a fresh start for 2008.

Midway through the season Evernham admitted he allowed the team to go in the wrong direction for too long. He immediately regained more control of the daily racing operations and the results came quickly. He also conceded his relationship with development driver Erin Crocker may have stolen his attention from the Cup program.

Past Team Reviews

DEI|Michael Waltrip Racing|Penske Racing|Haas-CNC|Team Red Bull|Joe Gibbs

• Announcing the first ever Trouble in Turn 2 Giveaway. It’s a UPS truck.

  

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What Happened

Like most Cup teams in recent years, Joe Gibbs Racing experienced several changes in 2007. The biggest change was the announcement they were moving to Toyota in 2008. In the short term it took away resources during the Chase as the engine shop prepared for the move. In the long term it’s a great situation for Gibbs.

Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin both made the Chase and won a combined 4 races. Neither was a factor after Kansas in the Chase however. JJ Yeley scored his first top 5 but was still relegated to Gibb’s farm team, also known as Hall of Fame racing. Kyle Busch will replace him in the #18 car, while M&M’s also becomes the primary sponsor over long time Gibbs partner Interstate Batteries.

Hamlin had a gilded second sophomore season. The first part of the year was spent leading laps, dominating races and coming up just short at the finish line. The other side was Hamlin’s occasional frustrations that surfaced. He and Tony Stewart wrecked each other at Daytona in July and then exchanged words. Hamlin also had a similar run-in with Kyle Petty, one of NASCAR’s most respected patriarchs at Dover.

What went well

Stewart won the Brickyard for the second time in three years. It was sandwiched between wins at Chicago and Watkins Glen that marking a strong summer. He easily made the Chase and had another solid season with 3 wins, 11 top 5’s and 23 top 10’s.

Hamlin easily made the Chase and some considered him a dark horse to win it. Hamlin won in July at Loudon after close misses at Bristol, Phoenix, Richmond, Talladega, Darlington and Pocono. He led 711 laps and scored 7 top 5’s and 11to 10’s through the first Loudon race.

Yeley showed improvement in his second season. His first top 5 finish came at Lowe’s in the Coca Cola 600 where he played the fuel mileage game good enough to finish 2nd. The biggest thing for Yeley was reducing the number of DNF’s (from 7 to 4) while increasing his lead lap finishes(from 14 to 18). While his primary numbers (1 top 5, 3 top 10’s) are basically the same as 2006, he did improve 8 positions in the points.

On paper the major changes make sense for Gibbs. With Toyota they are the undisputed top team instead of fighting among Hendrick, RCR and DEI to be Chevy’s top dog. Not only that, but Toyota has far greater resources to throw at racing. That is a strong package for Gibbs, both in the short and especially long term. Busch is also an upgrade over Yeley as a driver, although it’s unclear how the non-driving aspects will work out for Busch.

What went wrong

Stewart had his standard outbursts. He took on NASCAR, the FCC, Juan Pablo-Montoya (who didn’t?), Kurt Busch and at one point even threatened retirement. At times it seemed like Hamlin was trying to outdo Stewart in the attitude category. With Kyle Busch joining the team for 2008, suddenly Gibbs’ classy reputation does not extend to his drivers.

Hamlin had early season pit problems that probably cost him a win or two. At Bristol both Stewart and Hamlin fell victim to a faulty fuel pump cable that erased 443 total laps led among the three Gibbs cars. It was one example of the kind of things that derailed Gibbs’ cars in 2007.

Despite similar resources JJ Yeley couldn’t break through. His pre-stock car resume is impressive, but unlike Stewart, Yeley’s skill hasn’t translated as well in stock cars. Perhaps the hint was dropped when he had to go to Phoenix Racing to race in the Busch Series.

Past Team Reviews

DEI|Michael Waltrip Racing|Penske Racing|Haas-CNC|Team Red Bull

• Announcing the first ever Trouble in Turn 2 Giveaway. It’s a UPS truck.

  

  So how do you win it? Give me some feedback. I have created a short survey and value your opinions of this blog. Fill out the survey and I will draw a winner at the end of the month. Even if you think the prize is lame and don’t want to win, I would really appreciate your help to improve the site. Be honest, that’s the only way it will work, and no one besides me will see the answers. As always thanks for reading.

  Click Here to take survey