Ben Maller's NASCAR rumors and notes
by FOXSports.com
Jimmie Johnson off NASCAR radar?
As for Jimmie Johnson, he and his Hendrick Motorsports team are much like a tropical wave coming off the African coast. They're not necessarily on the radar or utmost in everyone's consciousness right now but they will be soon enough. And over the course of the next 13 weeks leading to the season finale at Homestead, they will be reckoned with. Sure they've had some bad luck during the regular season but a roller coaster is fun because it goes down and up, and Johnson very well could find himself looking down from the dais of the contenders press conference come Championship Weekend. In fact, betting against him and his team would approach sheer lunacy. -- Florida Today
'Knight Rider' meets NASCAR for promo
"Knight Rider's" KITT car is heading to Bristol -- sort of. NBC has teamed up with Ford Motor Co. and Yates Racing, which operates two motorsports teams in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, on a promotion for the network's upcoming series. As part of the partnership, Travis Kvapil will drive the specially painted No. 28 "Knight Rider" Ford for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday. "The stealth look and feel of the car coupled with Travis Kvapil at the helm has us very excited about this race," said John Miller, chief marketing officer at NBC Universal Television Group and president of the NBC Agency. "This event exemplifies the adrenaline and action the 'Knight Rider' series will deliver." -- Hollywood Reporter
Busch-Edwards rivalry story of the NASCAR season
Carl Edwards already knew he had a shot at the Sprint Cup championship. Winning at Michigan is significant for obvious reasons, but it's more difficult to measure the intangible advantage Edwards will gain from beating NASCAR's most potent force, the Toyota driven by Kyle Busch. The Busch-Edwards rivalry is only at an early stage, but it's blossoming into the story of the season. They will almost certainly begin the Chase ranked 1-2 in the standings. Even though the format will change after the next three races, the two are 1-2 now, as well, and when each looks at the obstacles in the path to a championship, his eyes will focus on the other. In the third 1-2 finish involving Busch and Edwards this season, the Michigan victory was Edwards' first in a head-to-head confrontation. Earlier this year, Edwards finished second to Busch at Darlington and Daytona's summer race. -- Gaston Gazette
Jeff Gordon seeks patience from fans
After four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon finished 29th in the road course race at Watkins Glen, his fans were urging changes be made on the No. 24 team. Gordon urged his fans to be patient, told them that crew chief Steve Letarte was doing 'an awesome job' and reminded them to remember last season when he won six races and finished second in the point standings. However, he is probably going to be dealing with the same questions this week after he did not finish the race at Michigan International Speedway because of a cut tire that caused him to smack the wall. -- Rocky Mountain News
Edwards: we can win at any racetrack
For his part, Carl Edwards won't dismiss any of the above. "We're getting to the point, I feel personally, that we can win at any racetrack we go to," Edwards said. "And our pit crew has stepped up their game. That was our weakness for a long time, and the guys have repeatedly week after week have worked harder and become better, so, yeah, I feel very confident at all the race tracks we go to. All of the Chase tracks I feel we can compete to win at. So, I feel good." -- KC Star
Newman will be forced to qualify in '09?
Ryan Newman is a good qualifier and he'll have to be because the two cars for Haas CNC Racing this season are not in the top 35 of the owners points. If that's still the situation at the end of the season, both cars that Tony Stewart and Newman will drive need to qualify for the first five races of the 2009 season. Stewart has past champions provisionals to fall back up but Newman, who has won 43 poles in his career, would have to first be concerned about qualifying before he could concentrate on race setups. -- Rocky Mountain News
Ganassi May Keep Wheldon ?
The second seat at Chip Ganassi's IndyCar program continues to be the subject of conversation around the water buckets in the paddock. When Tony Kanaan was apparently offered the second seat, some began to postulate that Dan Wheldon's ride was in jeopardy. But that apparently isn't the case. Robin Miller mentioned on Speed Channel's Wind Tunnel program that IndyCar team owner Ganassi had told him NOT to say Wheldon was out, and that that situation was under review. -- Paddock Talk
Carl Edwards has high confidence level
What Carl Edwards did not improve upon over the weekend was his confidence. Didn't need to. "My psyche and mentality is pretty much fixed on I'm the greatest race-car driver that ever lived. Know what I'm saying?" Edwards said. "David Pearson told me, that if you don't believe that, you don't belong in a race car. What it helps with is points." -- KC Star
Benson hopes to make history at Bristol
Johnny Benson has been on a tear of late, capturing four of the last five NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series events. Coming into Wednesday night's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series O'Reilly 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway if he backs up last year's win, his name will be in the record books for doing something no other driver has ever done. Benson has won the last three Truck Series events. No driver in the history of the series has ever won four consecutive events. If Benson can win the O'Reilly 200, which he did a year ago, he'll have his own little piece of history. Four other drivers have won three straight events in the series but each one failed on their attempt at the fourth win. -- WBIR.com
Toyota boss understands but doesn't condone JGR actions
Toyota's top racing official says the manufacturer doesn't condone the actions by Joe Gibbs Racing employees who tried to manipulate NASCAR's horsepower test of Nationwide Series engines following Saturday's race at Michigan International Speedway. Joe Gibbs Racing officials have said that no Toyota engineers were involved in the incident. The team is bracing for major penalties Tuesday after NASCAR discovered its employees rigged the throttle with magnets and spacers to keep it from producing maximum horsepower. "I was pretty surprised to see what was happening and astonished and frankly incredulous," Toyota Racing Development President Lee White said about the situation Sunday. "I couldn't believe it was happening because it's clearly defined in the entry forms that you don't do this sort of thing. "But I'm sure that [team owner] Joe and J.D. [Gibbs, team president] will take care of that internally, and whatever fans think they're going to think, and we're going to just keep working on our stuff." -- Scene Daily
Fenway Sports Group opens West Coast office
Fenway Sports Group will open a West Coast office as part of its first-ever expansion, the agency announced today. Opening the office in San Diego, Calif. is a "natural progression" for the sales and marketing arm of New England Sports Ventures, said Mike Dee, FSG president. In February 2007, FSG bought a 50 percent stake in Roush Racing, creating Roush Fenway Racing. Later that year, the agency became the managing partner in a group to acquire Salem Avalanche, a minor league baseball franchise in December. -- Boston Herald
Report: Fontana to get Chase race
Auto Club Speedway president Gillian Zucker has not been shy in her desire to switch out the track's NASCAR Labor Day weekend race for a Chase for the Cup date. Now, it appears her wish has been granted. Auto Club Speedway is part of a three-track deal that will bring NASCAR to Fontana in October 2009, in the midst of the Sprint Cup's Chase for the Championship, according to a person familiar with the deal who spoke on condition of anonymity. Atlanta Motor Speedway will acquire the Labor Day weekend race, Auto Club Speedway will take Talladega Superspeedway's old date -- which is scheduled for early October this year, the fourth race in the Chase -- while Talladega will get Atlanta's date in late October. -- Riverside Press-Enterprise
BMX: 'NASCAR on two wheels'
The International Olympic Committee and NBC are betting viewers are going to fall in love with a sport that features big people riding little bikes. It's called BMX, which is short for bicycle motocross, and it does resemble motorcycle racing without the motors. In Beijing, they won't need motors because the cyclists will get all the speed they can handle from a scary starting drop down a 30-foot ramp into a series of dirt jumps, bumps, berms and gaps. It's been called "NASCAR on two wheels," but for the Summer Games, it's an attempt to catch some of the excitement snowboarding has brought to the Winter Games. -- USA Today
Who Knew?
Jimmie Johnson is the 10th different NASCAR Sprint Cup champion to compete in a Truck Series race. Jeff Gordon is the only active champion without a series start. -- WBIR Knoxville
Ben Maller can be heard weeknights on "The Third Shift on Fox" via the vast Fox Sports Radio Network. The show is broadcast live Monday-Friday from 2am till 6am (est). Check your local radio listenings for the FSR affiliate in your town, listen to XM Satellite Radio Channel No. 142 or via live streaming audio online at FoxSports.com/Radio. Say hi to Ben at myspace.com/benmaller. Interact with Ben's fans and talk sports on Ben Maller's forum Questions, comments and news tips can be sent to Ben via e mail at BigBen@Foxsports.com or Ben@BenMaller.com.
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