McGREW NAMED INTERIM CREW CHIEF OF NO. 88 SPRINT CUP TEAM

CONCORD, N.C. (May 28, 2009) – Hendrick Motorsports today named Lance McGrew as interim crew chief of the No. 88 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team of driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. beginning with the June 7 event at Pocono Raceway. Team manager Brian Whitesell will lead the team this weekend at Dover, Del.

“Our performance hasn’t been where it should be,” said Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports. “It’s impossible to pin that on any one factor, but a change is the right decision at this point. We have a plan in place, and we’re going to move forward with it.”

Continue reading “Official: Tony Eury Jr. out as Crew Chief of the 88”

Dover Pit-Road Improvements Complete
Thanks to winter construction, Dover now has a longer, safer pit wall.

The new 1,592-foot concrete wall extends from Turn 4 down the frontstretch and into Turn 1. It’s 432 feet longer than the old steel wall, and is wrapped with SAFER barrier.

The construction also allowed Dover Motorsports officials to widen and improve pit road – now four feet wider, supplying more passing room.  All 43 stalls are four feet longer – 32 feet compared to their previous length of 28 feet.

New apron space also was created at the entrance to pit road, allowing cars more room to slow down before crossing the commitment line.

Watch out for Mark Martin and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings leader Jeff Gordon at Dover. Both lead all active drivers with four wins each there while Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman both have three Dover wins.

Newman, Gordon and Martin also lead all active drivers with four poles each at Dover.

Martin, however, statistically rules the Monster Mile. He leads all drivers with 21 top fives and 28 top 10s there; also with 23 lead-lap finishes.

Kyle Busch, currently sixth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings, is the defending winner of this Dover race.

Newman, coming off a fourth consecutive top-five finish (he was the runner-up in Monday’s rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600), now moves to one of his best tracks. He’s seventh in the standings, continuing the new Stewart-Haas Racing’s recent strong outings. Team co-owner Tony Stewart is second in the standings behind Gordon.

So it seems a popular topic of discussion is NASCAR’s penalties to the 7 team of Robby Gordon. Apparently Robby was caught with an illegal rear axle housing and was docked 50 points and his crew chief fined $50,000 and placed on probation until December 31st. This is a blow to the one car team that finished 3rd in Monday’s rain delayed race.

One has to wonder was this really a case of cheating or was the team trying something out that didn’t work for them?

On another note, what really is cheating in NASCAR? Back when, everyone used to cheat. Or was it innovate? Even before the rule book was written (in pencil), there were many grey areas in NASCAR and things have changed dramatically. The governing bodies issued templates for just about everything. Its any wonder to me that the drivers themselves don’t have to be a certain weight.

So what really is considered cheating? I mean, everyone wants to get that advantage over the other guys, this is why they work on the cars during pit stops and pay engineers to give them an edge. Its a thin line between cheating and innovating.

@NASCARGirl14

The opinions expressed in this article are solely that of the author and not this website.

MOORESVILLE, NC (May 27, 2009) – Braun Racing is pleased to announce that 18-year-old, Marc Davis, will pilot its No. 10 Toyota Camry for six upcoming NASCAR Nationwide Series races including this Saturday’s Heluva Good! 200 at Dover International Speedway.  The No. 10 will carry sponsorship from WHUR-FM Radio (96.3) and The Word Network.

Plans call for Davis to drive the No. 10 Toyota in six Nationwide Series races, including events at:

Dover International Speedway (May 30th)

Nashville Superspeedway (June 6th)

Kentucky Speedway (June 13th)

The Milwaukee Mile (June 20th)

Gateway International Raceway (July 18th)

O’Reilly Raceway Park (July 25th)
Continue reading “Marc Davis to Drive for Braun Racing”