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FastCar Newsdesk for New Hampshire Motor Speedway, week of 6/25/09

A partnership with Nationwide Series Toyota team Braun Racing begins this weekend (with Elliott Sadler in the No. 10) for Richard Petty Motorsports and rumors are rampant about the future manufacturer of that team. Reports surfaced this week that RPM is considering putting marquee driver Kasey Kahne in a No. 9 Sprint Cup Series Toyota in the next month and a half, but those sources say that change likely will not happen midseason.

Good golly.

You can’t visit a website or read a paper where they are not talking about Carl Edwards’ last lap crash at Talladega.

Now, I am not a NASCAR driver nor do I pretend to be.

But I am a race fan and I love the racing at Talladega.

I give the drivers a lot of credit for getting into those cars at this track knowing what the outcome may be. You may not get up into the fence as Edwards did, but you just might get caught up in a wreck that is not your fault.

But hey, can’t that happen at just about every track?

According to a story on the Blog of Tomorrow posted on Wednesday, California track officials were pleased at having only one-third of the track empty for last Sunday’s Sprint Cup race.

According to reports, Gillian Zucker, speedway president, said “It’s an awesome crowd” with only about 60,000 of the 92,000 seats in the grandstand filled.

Now, in today’s economy I could see where this might get scored as a big win at any race venue. But this is par for the course at the Fontana track, which has had 11 non-sellout dates.

I started this list last week here on the MotorSportsNews[dot]Net(work) and thought I would finish it.

Click HERE to check out the original article and let me know your thoughts there as well.

Here is my take on some of the other NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers to watch in 2009.

I'm normally a "glass is half-full" kind of guy, but not this time - it is definitely half-empty here.
After a serious threat of a lawsuit by Elliott Sadler to GEM/Petty Holdings (when is the new name coming?) he is now again the driver of the #19 Dodge. But for how long? Really.
Listen, I support Elliott in his threat of the lawsuit because he had a contract and GEM/Petty Holdings would have been in violation of it if they put the 'Dinger behind the wheel instead of Sadler, but in the end Sadler's victory is going to be a hollow one.
Why you ask?
Good question my young NASCAR fan. Let me tell you.

Well there you have it, Gillett Evernham Motorsports and Petty Holdings have reached a tentative agreement to form a new Cup team co-owned by Richard Petty, Petty Holdings (owned by Boston Ventures with Petty as a minority owner) and Gillett Evernham Motorsports.
No word yet on the new offical team name but I think the new team should be called PEG Holdings Motorsports (P for Petty, E for Evernham and G for Gillette), or MPM for Melting-Pot Motorsports, or even better RR'Gone Gillette Holdings Motorsports (RR standing for Ray Evernham and Richard Petty)!

FastCar Newsdesk for week of 1/2/09

The events of the last month regarding Petty Enterprises, Gillett Evernham Motorsports, and their possible merger have taken many turns. A.J. Allmendinger’s promotion to the No. 19 Dodge and Elliott Sadler’s removal from the team is one of he strangest. Last weekend, sources confirmed that Elliott Sadler had been released from his contract and replaced by A.J. Allmendinger, who raced the final five events for GEM in the No. 10 car.

I'll lay it out plain and simple for you:
1) Sadler is out of the 19 car. I feel bad for the Esad fans out there let me tell you.
2) Allmendinger is in the 19 car. AJ did run better than Elliott in the last five 2008 races for GEM, posting an average finish of 16.4 while Elliott had an average finish 31.8 in the same GEM equipment.
3) No one is in the 43 car because they a) can't find a sponsor yet, or b) the merger talks between GEM and Petty are not going so well. Either way no driver is needed for the 43 that is why AJ and/or Elliott weren't considered for the drivers seat left vacant by the departing Labonte.

Kyle and Elliott will be running a pink paint scheme on their racecars in support of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Susan G. Komen for the Cure.