As reported on The Backstretch, Ricky Carmichael will be racing in the Camping World East Series for Ken Shrader Racing, with backing from Hendrick Motorsports.

I'll be watching how Carmichael does this racing season. I watched him a little bit in Motocross so it will be interesting to see if he can do as well. I will also be keeping an eye on Steve Park. Park signed a fulltime contract earlier this year with NDS Motorsports. I've never really watched this division of racing but will keep an eye on both of these drivers as the year goes on.

Here's the racing schedule for the Camping World East Series. The division has two races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, June 27 and Sept. 12.

I am heading down to the Speedway Expo tomorrow. I'll be there for the festivities tomorrow night and most of the day Saturday. I've never been and want to go check things out. I will have my camera in hand so I'll upload a few pictures for all to see. Is anyone else going?

I'll be back tomorrow with my picks for Vegas...

I got this press release last night in my inbox. It states:

"Two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Tony Stewart is working with Old Spice to give a lucky fan the sweat towel right off his shoulder – unwashed and autographed! Directly after winning the Feb. 25 Stater Bros. 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Auto Club Speedway of Southern California, Stewart signed his Old Spice towel in black ink and handed it over to a charity auction to benefit the Tony Stewart Foundation."

EEEWWWWWW! This is the most disgusting thing I have ever heard of right here. Now I'm not squeemish in the least, but the thought of a sweaty towel that was used by Tony Stewart makes me cringe. I'd probably settle for making bids on his hat ... maybe. Wait! It get's even better:

"During an average race, temperatures inside Stewart’s race car can reach up to 150 degrees, and he can lose 10-15 pounds by sweating. Stewart relies on Old Spice antiperspirants, deodorants and body washes to stay cool and smell great before and after a race."

Now that I think of it, I'd probably settle for just donating the money and have him keep anything that comes off his body. Seriously.

Here's the rest of the release:

"The charity auction begins at 9 a.m. EST on Tuesday, Feb. 26 and will run until 9 a.m. EST on Tuesday, March 4. Fans can place a bid for the autographed towel by logging on to www.OldSpice.com/products_new.html or www.TonyStewart.com.

Throughout the 2008 racing season, every time Stewart wins a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series or NASCAR Nationwide Series race, his Old Spice victory lane towel will be auctioned off for charity."

I know this is going to a good cause but let's be real here. Other than racefan, would anyone want a grungy old towel that's been spewed on by Stewart? YUCK!

Aside from that, congrats to Tony for the Nationwide victory yesterday at Auto Club Speedway. He is the points leader in that division.

If I read correctly, there will be some 280 Midget cars trying to qualify for the 24-car race at the Chili Bowl in Tulsa, Okla. That is simply amazing. We will be purchasing this $24.95 pay-per-view event at the Lizotte residence to watch on Saturday night. Anyone else going to be watching?

Joe Gibbs resigned as head coach for the NFL's Washington team. Hhhmmm ... do you think he will be needed a bit more in the garage area to deal with Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart scuffles? (Just kidding.) But seriously, I don't see the two of them working well together. We'll see, I guess.

According to a press release from Roush Fenway Racing, Matt Kenseth's new crew chief will be 34-year-old Chip Bolin. The press release also states: "Throughout the years Bolin has served at Roush Fenway Racing as engineer of the No. 17 team, the research and development team, and different testing teams. But, in 2007, Bolin's role changed. First in February, when Bolin got his initial crack at being a crew chief in the Daytona 500, when incumbent Robbie Reiser began a four-race suspension."

Here are the testing speeds from this morning at Daytona International Speedway.

All for now ...

I've been a bit out of touch. It's that time of year when we are so close to the end of racing that I am running out of steam. Call me a bad race fan but I look forward to the break. I believe the racing season is longer than in any other sport. (Correct me if I'm wrong.)

If you haven't gotten a chance to read this article on nascar.com, you should. It kind of made me feel a bit better about the whole unknown of whether or not we might lose a race at the newly named New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Even before reading this article, what stands out in the teleconference that was held last Friday to announce the sale of NHMS was that Bruton Smith said that New Englanders would be happy with what he was going to do at the track. I would think he must realize that if we lost a race there that many wouldn't be all that happy about it. Maybe he is completely filling us with baloney, but I do not know. I want to believe that he isn't.

What do you think?

It was reported today from Michael Vega from the Boston Globe that the sale of New Hampshire International Speedway has been completed. Bruton Smith, CEO and Chairman of Speedway Motorsports Inc. reportedly has purchased NHIS from Bob Bahre. SMI already owns six racetracks: Fort Worth, Texas, Atanta, Las Vegas, Infineon (Sonoma, Calif.), Lowe's (Concord, N.C.) and Bristol, Tenn.

Smith has wanted a second race for quite some time at Las Vegas. So it may mean, in the end, one less race at NHIS for New Englanders sometime in the future.

An announcement will be made regarding the purchase of NHIS today at 12:30 EDT from Texas Motor Speedway.

I'll be back with an update after the teleconference.

Texas Motor Speedway Data
Race #: 34 of 36 (11-4-07) Number of laps: 500
Track Size: 1.5 miles Length of Event: 263 miles
• Banking/corners: 24 degrees
• Banking/straights: 5 degrees
• Frontstretch: 2,250 feet
• Backstretch: 1,330 feet

My picks:

This week I will be going with Clint Bowyer or Jeff Burton for the win. Bowyer's never won here but according to the dumb headline on nascar.com, he may need my support.

I'll also go with Burton, he has won here twice.

FYI, Jeff Gordon, Jimmy Johnson and Clint Bowyer are winless in 24 combined
starts at Texas Motor Speedway.

Last night I was tooling around nascarmedia.com trying to find a topic that interested me to talk about on the blog. As soon as the browser opened up, I saw this:

Dario Franchitti and Juan Pablo Montoya

It was like it was some sort of sign. So I started browsing around to find out why Franchitti and Montoya were featured right there on the main page. Then I saw the full transcript of an interview with Jacques Villeneuve, Patrick Carpentier and Dario Franchitti.

One of the questions asked was why all of the sudden are F1 drivers coming to NASCAR. It was a question that I have thought about for a while. I've heard some people say it has to do with money. But after reading the transcript, I don't think it is.

Patrick Carpentier answered the question with it has to do with the Car of Tomorrow (COT).

He said that with the old car, team owners looked more for "experienced" drivers. He said: "It's almost impossible to come in and keep up with these guys with all the experience and technical background they have."

Regarding the COT: "But I think the reason for that is because the switch to the Car of Tomorrow and you see that there's a opportunity for guys to learn and adapt and be able to be up there with these guys later in the year."

Makes sense to me.

Sometimes the headlines on nascar.com crack me up. Here's a few that stand out:

"Bowyer not backing down from the Chase challenge" - Seriously, does anyone think he would really back down? Come on now!

"With four races left, some drivers need fan support" - huh? Oh, right...Clint Bowyer is going to do much better knowing that Jenny Lizotte from Pownal, Maine is on his side.

"Jarrett ready to run up front with leaders at AMS" - hasn't he been ready all year? I mean, he has been NOWHERE near the leaders, that is, until they lap him on the track.

Honestly, I did not read any of those articles that I mentioned above. I was just skimming nascar.com's headlines to see if anything jumped out at me and these did, just not in the way that I think NASCAR wanted them to.

Seriously NASCAR, thanks for the chuckle this morning. What a great way to start my day.

I think the last couple days I have been so busy at work that I just threw up a couple blogs regarding the Carl Edwards/Matt Kenseth confrontation without commenting on what I thought about the whole thing. So here's my take:

First, as I have stated, I didn't see the altercation when it initially happened. So thank you, racefan, for bringing it to my attention. When I first watched the video, I have to admit, it made me smile. I never could have seen this coming. And apparently, neither did Kenseth. He looked a bit surprised.

I like knowing that there's still a fire in Cousin Carl. I like that he acted on his frustration and let Kenseth, his own teammate, know of his discontent. He may regret it now, but I still like knowing that spark is still alive in him.

Drivers get so expressionless and robot-like that it's a breath of fresh air to see this type of behavior every now and then. It shows me that there's still some passion out there.

I think I now have a better understand of why folks like Tony Stewart so much. I suspect with a teammate like Kyle Busch in 2008, I will be busy uploading a lot of video. The only difference that I am predicting is that if Tony is that close to Busch, I think his fist will make contact. I don't think he's afraid to follow through.

I am sure good ol' Jack Roush will get things all ironed out between the boys before the race this weekend at Alanta Motor Speedway.

I'll be back tomorrow with stats, facts and my picks for this weekend's race.

I don't have all that much to chat about today. I have the transcript from yesterday's teleconference with Carl Edwards.

Here's the complete transcript and a short piece of the audio from Carl Edwards teleconference that was held yesterday. The audio is 58 seconds long.

I'll be back tomorrow with some stats and facts for the race this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Racefan had asked in yesterday's blog entry about the altercation between Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards. I never saw this altercation.

I contacted Adrian Parker from Roush Fenway who said: "At this point, we don't have anything to add to what you see on the video." Here's the video:

Parker also said, "Carl Edwards will be on NASCAR's National Teleconference today at 2:00 PM Eastern."

So there you have it. That's all I know.

Simply put, the new Busch Series logo is ugly. Not that it matters a whole lot. I don't watch too many Busch races because as I have said before, it is basically just another Cup practice/race.

Did any of you hear that rumor about Rusty Wallace being replaced as analyst for ESPN/ABC? I am sitting here wondering just how I could have missed such a rumor. So I started reading some forums and some of them were saying that he was going to be replaced by Dale Jarrett, as Jarrett is retiring in 2008. But it was just that, A RUMOR. Rusty's not going anywhere.

Would it be nice to not have to listen to him during a race? Yup. I get sick of listening to him. But then again, I get sick of Boogety, Boogety, Boogety...

Speaking of Jarrett, kudos to him for saying he will be making a clean break after his retirement. He says he will not be an on again, off again driver. I hope that he does it. I hate the provisionals. Jarrett will however, race in the Bud Shootout and the first 5 races. He will also be in the All-Star race in May.

Here's the weekend schedule from nascar.com:

If you haven't seen it. Take a look at what the 8 car will look like next year:

Change is always hard for me. However, the new appearance of the 8 car for 2008 is SO different that it will make it a lot easier for me to disassociate Dale Earnhardt Jr. from it.

So now the only thing I will have to be concerned with in regards to this car is who is driving it ... Aric Almirola or Mark Martin.

It is a far nicer looking car than the one that Junior will be driving next year. (just my opinion, of course)

What do you think of the new look?

Another name change

Starting in 2008, Busch Series will be referred to as the Nationwide Series. All I think of when I say Nationwide is that commercial... "Nationwide is on your side." I can't get that little melody out of my head.

Honestly, I don't care all that much about what they call the Busch series. It's just a second race for the Cup drivers.

Move over Boris Said
There's a new woman in town...Ashley Judd. Man or woman, who doesn't just love Ashley Judd?!

Her husband, Dario Franchitti, will be joining the Sprint Cup Series, driving the No. 40 car for Chip Ganassi Racing in 2008. He will be joining teammates Juan Pablo Montoya and Reed Sorenson. For more on Dario joining Ganassi, visit www.chipganassiracing.com/

Tomorrow, he will be debut in the ARCA race at Talladega Superspeedway. For more on Franchitti racing in the ARCA series, check out this article.

Another Formula One driver will also be debuting next year, Jacques Villeneuve, driving for Bill Davis Racing. He will actually be racing in the Cup race this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway. Some Cup guys, such as Jeff Gordon are not so pleased that he will be in the field on Sunday.

Thirsty?
Coors Brewing Company will be the new Official Beer of NASCAR, replacing Budweiser in 2008. This year, the drivers raced for the "Bud" pole award. Coors will not sponsor the Shootout at Daytona International Speedway. But in 2009, I would guess it will be called the Coors Shootout.

RCR
Richard Childress Racing will not be fielding a fourth car in 2008. He was too busy sheep hunting in Mongolia and not busy enough trying to secure a driver in that fourth car.

And finally...
M&M's will be the main sponsor for Kyle Busch. When I think of M&M's I think yummy and sweet which is completely opposite of what I think of Kyle Busch.

The 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule has been announced:

Feb. 9: Budweiser Shootout at Daytona – Daytona International Speedway*
Feb. 17: Daytona International Speedway
Feb. 24: California Speedway
March 2: Las Vegas Motor Speedway
March 9: Atlanta Motor Speedway
March 16: Bristol Motor Speedway
March 30: Martinsville Speedway
April 6: Texas Motor Speedway
April 12: Phoenix International Raceway
April 27: Talladega Superspeedway
May 3: Richmond International Raceway
May 10: Darlington Raceway
May 17: NASCAR Sprint All-Star Challenge – Lowe’s Motor Speedway*
May 25: Lowe’s Motor Speedway
June 1: Dover International Speedway
June 8: Pocono Raceway
June 15: Michigan International Speedway
June 22: Infineon Raceway
June 29: New Hampshire International Speedway
July 5: Daytona International Speedway
July 12: Chicagoland Speedway
July 27: Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Aug. 3: Pocono Raceway
Aug. 10: Watkins Glen International
Aug. 17: Michigan International Speedway
Aug. 23: Bristol Motor Speedway
Aug. 31: California Speedway
Sept. 6: Richmond International Raceway
Sept. 14: New Hampshire International Speedway
Sept. 21: Dover International Speedway
Sept. 28: Kansas Speedway
Oct. 5: Talladega Superspeedway
Oct. 11: Lowe’s Motor Speedway
Oct. 19: Martinsville Speedway
Oct. 26: Atlanta Motor Speedway
Nov. 2: Texas Motor Speedway
Nov. 9: Phoenix International Raceway
Nov. 16: Homestead-Miami Speedway

*Non-championship points events; tentative, subject to change

New Hampshire International Speedway will again be the start of the 10-race Chase for the championship and Homestead-Miami Speedway will be the final race of the series and where the Nextel Sprint Cup Series driver will be crowned champion.

---

Penalties

The penalties should be of no surprise... Carl Edwards was docked 25 driver points. Jack Roush was docked 25 owner points and Bob Osborne, crew chief, was docked $25,000 for the car being too low in the right rear at the post-race inspection.

Roush Fenway Racing president, Geoff Smith, released this statement about the penalties:

"We have the misfortune of violating a rule which makes no sense. It was promulgated to address restrictor plate races, not downforce races. I say misfortune because we are being penalized for a violation that actually impaired the car's performance.

"We intend to appeal the unfair assessment of the point's penalty. What is unfair is that Carl is receiving a penalty that is 250 percent greater in its effect than a similarly assessed penalty against a non-'Chase' driver. 'Chase' drivers are competing for a total of 1,950 points. All drivers competed for 5,070 points in the first 26 races. Do the math. The net effect is that a 25 point penalty falls unfairly hard on a 'Chase' contender. That's simply not right. To equalize the penalty impact on all competitors not more than 10 points should have been taken from a 'Chase' contender."

So what do you think?

Today's announcement from Dallas of what number Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be driving and his primary sponsors are official.

His new car number will be 88 and his primary sponsors: Amp Energy Drink and the National Guard.

It really didn't matter to me what his number or primary sponsors were going to be. I am just glad that this drama is over.

---

Budweiser sponsorship -is going to Kasey Kahne. Honestly, I had not seen this before so I had to share it with you. This is from a press conference when Kahne was announced as the new driver for Budweiser. It has got to be the hokiest thing I've ever seen. He looks completely scared out of his mind.

Now I have absolutely nothing against Kahne but I must say he doesn't fit the Budweiser image to me. I would peg him to be more of a Bud Light man, to be perfectly honest.

The long-awaited Dale Earnhardt Jr. announcement regarding his number and main sponsor is being made tomorrow from Dallas.

Rumor has it that he will be driving the No. 88 and his primary sponsor will be Mountain Dew.

Did anyone see the pre-race show on television on Sunday? Apparently, Ken Schrader pretty much spilled the beans on live television. He pointed to the Mountain Dew that he was drinking when asked who Junior's main sponsor would be (or so I'm told). Did anyone see that?

Budweiser will now be Kasey Kahne's primary sponsor for 2008.

Yesterday I had mentioned that I thought Sunday's post-race interviews with Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart at NHIS were hilarious. Here is the audio...

Click here to listen to audio

I will warn you that the entire audio is 27 minutes long. Around the 9 minute marker is where I think it starts getting pretty funny. Enjoy.

The days of seeing the Coors Light sponsor on the 40 car are numbered. It is going to be really weird watching a race without them as the sponsor on that car. Coors Light has sponsored the car for 14 years.

Ricky Rudd made his 900th career start last weekend in California. He is going to have to sit out this coming weekend though due to a separated left shoulder sustained from a wreck at Fontana. Kenny Wallace will be the sit-in driver at Richmond.

Surprise, surprise...Joe Gibbs Racing officially announced yesterday that they will be going with Toyota Camrys in 2008. I think if anyone can make Toyota work, it is JGR.

And finally, who's going to Loudon? I am and I am really looking forward to it. I don't think it will be as boring as the last couple races have been.

I went into a NASCAR chatroom last night. I wanted to see what the big deal was with one. I didn't participate in the discussion, rather, I just wanted to read what was going on. First thing I observed, it is REALLY difficult to keep up with the reading. Everyone has this shorthand and I was lost half the time.

Then you have people that go off on completely random discussions such as where they ate for dinner. One person said that they ate at Burger King the night before and was going to eat at Wendy's last night. I lost interest in that chat room rather quickly.

Then I decided to move on to the message board, which was also a first. Right off the bat, I was much more comfortable. The topic was basically: Who got the better deal, Gibbs or Hendrick?

I don't need to state right here what I think, I am pretty sure based on the picture with my blog you know the answer.

While I was reading all that was being said, I was just waiting for something that I wanted to chime into. It is kind of intimidating. You say one wrong thing, and you have EVERYONE that will correct you, fairly immediately.

As a matter of fact, you can get like ten people pouncing all at the same time, even before you get a chance to say, okay, okay...I made a mistake. It's really weird.

I'll be honest, my skin is thickening but I am not fully developed in that area as of yet. Journalists are great, in that it seems it doesn't faze them a bit when someone pounces back with a nasty comment.

It's a little similar to this blog, only I can correct the error before everyone pounces.

But, I would like to throw that question out to all of you...

So, I'll ask you, who do you think got the better deal, Joe Gibbs Racing or Hendrick Motorsports?

On another note, it became official yesterday that Dale Jr. will not be driving the No. 8 car for Hendrick, which was yet another discussion. People were discussing what number he should drive and whether or not tattoo shops were going to be real busy getting rid of or adding to the No. 8 that fans had tattoed on themselves.

Just because there is usually one day a week that I throw something out there that is completely off topic and a bit silly...

With Dale Earnhardt Jr. heading to Hendrick Motor Sports next year, how can the name DEI remain DEI? After all, there will be no Dale anywhere...

My suggestion: TEI, Teresa Earnhardt Inc.

Can you tell I'm a little bitter about Jr. leaving DEI? It makes me question whether or not I have to go through another round of photos for the blog. I seriously don't want to have to go through another 100 pictures to find one that I kind of like.

I think I may just keep the one I have and it will be a "remember when..."
A classic.

Another thing that I've thought about is whether or not dale3 fan ended up burning all of his/her Dale Jr. stuff. This race fan mentioned it in my entry, Dale Jr. has made a decision.

So, dale3 fan, if you're out there, did you do it? I'm just curious.

In case you missed the race at Watkins Glen this past weekend, this is the confrontation that happened between Juan Pablo Montoya and Kevin Harvick:

Even after Harvick acknowledges that it was Martin Truex Jr. that caused the wreck, he manages to continue verbally beating up Montoya. Montoya gets such a bad rap.

Kyle Petty was so mad at his misfortune at the Glen that he punched a door inside his hauler after the race and broke his hand. This was his first DNF this season. It is unknown if he will be able to race at Michigan this weekend. Quite honestly, I didn't know he had it in him to get wound up like that...

To make matters worse, John Andretti who they have used in the past as a backup driver in the event that Kyle couldn't drive, will not be available as a fill-in because he is driving the remainder of this year for BAM racing, driving the No. 49 car.

I had a hard time coming up with a topic this morning and one of my friends threw this one out there....drug testing.

So, let's talk about NASCAR's so-called policy for drug testing, which is basically to test on suspicion. To me, it's completely unacceptable. By the time someone is suspected of using drugs, many, many lives may have already been put at risk ... in the pits or on the track.

Not to mention the fact that if you do in fact use drugs, I would guess that you would do an awefully good job at hiding it, hence the reason for a more strict enforcement for random or regular drug testing.

I think NASCAR completely does it backwards if you ask me. They should be proactive, not reactive. For a sport that really preaches safety, they are turning a blind eye on this one.

I am almost laughing too hard to type this entry. Robby Gordon has given Marcos Ambrose a car of his to drive at the Cup race at Watkins Glen this weekend.

Of course, this is all after Gordon was fined and put on probation for intentionally spinning Ambrose in the Busch race in Montreal last weekend. Ambrose will make his Cup debut driving the No. 77 car owned by Gordon.

"There are a couple of reasons why I'm doing this," Gordon told The Sporting News on Tuesday. "The first reason is that it's unfortunate that Marcos got put in a position in Montreal where I was thinking, 'OK, if I'm not going to win, he's not going to win.' "

When I think of the race coming up ... any driver who is in front of him at Watkins Glen will be wondering, "What is Robby Gordon thinking right now?" But now that I say that ... what's new? I am sure that thought runs through every driver's head at every race that he is in.

Here's the full release from yesterday.

Here's Robby Gordon's statement that was posted on robbygordon.com.

Doesn’t Joe Gibbs have enough on his plate? And now he wants to bring Kyle Busch in? Wow. I’ve seen Busch take his own brother out of a race. I can’t wait for the day that I see him do it to Tony Stewart.

Yup, I can see it now…I will be sitting there watching the race as I always do. Busch will “accidentally” take out Stewart. I will start grinning, just waiting for the interview. I am certain it would make for an excellent blog topic the next day!

I just can’t see the two of them working together well. He is supposedly taking over the No. 18 car driven by J.J. Yeley.

I am really surprised that owners of teams don’t take a tougher stance when it comes to allowing their drivers to race in other forms of racing. Last weekend, Carl Edwards got in a wreck in a Late Model event and supposedly dislocated his thumb. What if it had been more serious, such as breaking his leg?

Driving in a Cup or Busch race is risky enough for injury.

Remember when Dale Earnhardt Sr. broke his collarbone and cracked his sternum racing at Talladega? Do you remember that he still raced at Watkins Glen, two races later? He pulled off a sixth-place finish despite his injuries. That was classic. I will never forget that race.

Safety has come a long way since that Talladega race in 1996, but injuries still do happen. I'm just not sure that it is a wise decision for NASCAR drivers to risk injuries in fringe races.

Landon Cassill did a great job in Saturday night’s Busch race. Yes, he wrecked, but he was really impressive for his first Busch race. Rusty Wallace couldn’t stop saying positive things about the kid.

I really do think he is going to be someone to watch going forward.

Did you watch the Busch race? If you did, what did you think?

Aric Armirola will be taking over co-driving the No. 01 car with Mark Martin. Ragan Smith, who was the co-driver with Martin, is moving to the 14 car, replacing Sterlin Marlin.

Joe Nemechek was released from the No. 13 car.

This is just the beginning of a whole lot of shuffling, I am sure.

I've always enjoyed both Nemechek and Marlin. I am sure they will find a ride somewhere whether it is in a Cup car or Busch car.

On a different note - It looks like the weather is going to cooperate for this weekend's TD Banknorth 250. Anyone out there going to it?

As reported by Hendrick Motorsports, a new up and comer, Landon Cassill will make his debut NASCAR Busch Series race on Saturday, driving the No. 24 car owned by Hendrick Motorsports.

He just turned 18 on July 7. This will be his fourth race with Hendrick. He has competed in two NASCAR Grand National Division, Busch East Series and one ARCA Series show. In the Busch East Series race at New Hampshire International Speedway last month, he finished fourth.

Cassill, one of 16 drivers to participate in the 2006 GM Racing Development competition, signed with Hendrick Motorsports in December.

Has anyone watched him race? Or is there anyone you have been watching that you feel is going to make it to the big time?

Also-- if you have a topic you would like to discuss at some point, please email me directly. I am always looking for topics.

In the subject line, please type Bump Draft. Some emails go into my spam filter and I want to be able to easily pick out those emails so they don't get deleted...thanks!

The top-35 rule is doing some damage to a few teams.

Morgan-McClure Motorsports reported temporarily releasing 5 people this week. This is their second round of layoffs. In the first round of layoffs, earlier this month, they released 14 employees. They are struggling to get additional sponsorship for the car, probably due to being 46th in the point standings.

It was also reported that Ginn Racing has laid off up to 30 employees this week. They are also suspending operations of the Busch Series team, the #4 car, driven by Regan Smith . They may also sell off the #13 Cup car, driven by Joe Nemechek, which could be quite valuable given they are within the top-35 in points. Nemechek is currently 33rd in points.

I did read that NASCAR is considering making it the top-25 or 30, instead of 35. It won’t do these teams any good this year, but maybe it will next year.

Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson have both been docked 100 points, similar to the penalties and fines of Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Steve Letarte and Chad Knaus have each been fined $100,000 and are both suspended for the next six events and placed on probation until Dec. 31.

One hundred owner points have also been deducted from both Rick Hendrick, owner of the #24, and Jeff Gordon, owner of the #48.

What do you think of Nextel Cup changing its name again?

To be honest, I enjoyed the days when it was called Winston Cup. Maybe it's because it takes me back to the good ole days. You know, the days of less rules and regulations.

It was called the Winston Cup from 1972-2003. It was all I ever knew growing up. In 2004, it became what we know today as the Nextel Cup Series.

I just was getting used to calling it Nextel Cup and now it is rumored that the name will be changed to NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series in 2008.

That would be the third name since 2003. I really don't think changing the name every couple of years is a very good idea. By nature, people don't like change. This isn't a very good way to attract new audience or keep the existing audience.

What's next: Verizon Wireless Cup? That would be a mouthful.

On a TOTALLY different topic, my pick this weekend is Boris Said.

I was almost sick waiting for the announcement. I really didn't want to see that he was going to Hendrick....but that is exactly where he is going.

I think dale3 fan said it best in his comment on my blog entry from yesterday: "Dale Jr. going to Hendrick would be like David Ortiz going to the Yankees."

Dale Jr. made the announcement at 11 a.m. today from JR Motorsports.

There has not been a decision yet on what number car he will be driving or what his sponsorship will be.

Kyle Busch will continue to drive the #5 car for the remainder of the year but will be looking for a ride for 2008.

Dale Jr. will announce TODAY where he will be going and who he will be driving for in 2008. It is rumored that he will replace Kyle Busch in the #5 car.

More to come soon and let me know your thoughts...