Publication: NASCAR News
Labonte to sub for Waltrip | |
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NASCAR NEWS - Thursday, July 19, 2007
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Labonte to sub for Waltrip in No. 55 at Indianapolis
By Official Release
CORNELIUS, N.C. - Michael Waltrip Racing announced
Wednesday that two-time Nextel Cup Series champion Terry
Labonte will once again step into the No. 55 Toyota for
the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor
Speedway.
"While we've planned to bring Terry back for the Watkins
Glen road course event, I felt having him in the car next
weekend at Indianapolis would be a great opportunity for
me to continue to evaluate my entire organization from an
owner's perspective," Waltrip said. "The feedback related
to road-course racing that Terry was able to provide my
team after Infineon Raceway was very valuable. We look
forward to more of the same input after Indy."
Labonte piloted the No. 55 car last month at Infineon
Raceway, where he started 25th and finished 35th.
"It felt good to get back in the car in Sonoma and while
it wasn't the finish I had hoped to deliver to the guys at
MWR and NAPA, I believe we learned quite a few things in
which we can build on," Labonte said.
Labonte has eleven starts at Indianapolis. His best finish
came in 1996 when he drove the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet to a third-place finish. The Allstate 400 will
be Labonte's second NASCAR start of 2007.
Waltrip returns to his No. 55 for the Pennsylvania 500 at
Pocono Raceway on Aug. 5.
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Smith to replace Marlin at Ginn; Nemechek released
Almirola moving to Ginn Racing as part of restructuring
By David Caraviello, NASCAR.COM
Regan Smith will replace Sterling Marlin in the No. 14
car next week at Indianapolis, and Joe Nemechek has been
released from his duties in the No. 13 car as Ginn Racing
continues its ongoing restructuring.
In addition, Busch driver Aric Almirola will split time
with Mark Martin in the No. 01 car.
"We are starting our future now," said Jay Frye, Ginn
Racing's CEO and general manager. "A lot has been said
about our program recently and this shows we've been
working hard to solidify our future."
Marlin said he was shocked by the news.
"You know, it kind of caught me by surprise," the driver
said Tuesday evening on Sirius Satellite Radio. "I guess
they've got to do things to reorganize and do what they
gotta do. And, you know, I do have a valid contract with
them and they gotta do what they say they're gonna do and
everything will be fine."
The teams of Nemechek and Marlin have been beset by sponsor-
ship woes, a situation that has forced the Ginn team --
which came within a few inches of winning the Daytona 500
in February -- to step back and reorganize.
"We appreciate everything that Joe and Sterling have done
for us," Frye said. "They have been a class act."
Marlin said he would have liked the situation to be a
little more classier.
"Well, you know, the classiest thing to me would have been
to finish the year out," Marlin said. "I didn't make it
any secret that I was planning on cutting back next year,
running 15-20 races. But to do something in mid-year, just
totally unexpected -- you know, Joe [Nemechek] had the same
thing happen to him -- and, you know, it's sponsor-driven.
"... I can get up and look in the mirror and know I've done
everything right. I don't think that's the case on the
other side so I'll just leave it at that."
The U.S. Army, which backs Martin's No. 01 car, is the only
full-time sponsor the team currently has in place for next
season.
Smith had been splitting time with Martin in the No. 01
and driving in the Busch Series, but Ginn recently shutter-
ed its Busch operation as part of a rollback that also
involved some layoffs. Looking to get the young driver more
seat time, Ginn will move him into the car driven until
recently by Marlin, who turned 50 earlier this month and
was not likely to be back with the team next year.
Almirola was credited with a victory in a Busch race at
Milwaukee earlier this season, but was stung when he was
replaced during that event by Joe Gibbs Racing teammate
Denny Hamlin, who arrived late from the Nextel Cup event
at Sonoma, Calif. Almirola came up through the development-
al program at Gibbs, which viewed the 23-year old as a
prime candidate to pilot an eventual fourth Nextel Cup
team.
Almirola's first race in the No. 01 will be Aug. 12 at
Watkins Glen. He will fulfill his obligations with Joe
Gibbs Racing and compete in five more Busch races for
the team this season.
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Busch's run from the back indicative of season's trials
Without previous penalty, No. 2 driver would be in Chase
By Joe Menzer, NASCAR.COM
JOLIET, Ill. - Nothing seemed to be working right for Kurt
Busch and his No. 2 Dodge as the weekend progressed at
Chicagoland Speedway.
He struggled to get up to a competitive speed during
practice sessions and qualified poorly. And then, after
qualifying in the 35th position, which would have put
him on the inside of Row 18 at the start of Sunday's USG
Sheetrock 400, he learned that he needed to have the
engine changed in his machine.
That meant he was booted to the very back of the 43-car
field -- not that far from where he would have started,
but worse nonetheless. It did not seem to bode well for
him heading into the race.
But with the new engine in place and the collective jaw
of his team set with a steely determination to march
toward the front, Busch eventually scratched out a sixth-
place finish Sunday. Coming on the heels of a third-place
finish one week earlier in the Pepsi 400 at Daytona
International Speedway, it helped move Busch up one spot
to 14th in the driver standings.
"We had a really good run [Sunday]," Busch said. "We just
kept creeping up on 'em. Starting 43rd, we just had to
take our time and really put a maneuverable setup in the
car where I could go low and I could go high.
"It turned out really positive. The team had solid pit
stops. We thought we had a top-five, but ended up sixth."
The top 12 drivers after 26 races qualify for the Chase for
the Nextel Cup, NASCAR's version of the postseason playoffs
that cover the final 10 races of the season. Had Busch not
been docked 100 points earlier this season for driving onto
pit road and initiating an incident with Tony Stewart (and
endangering one of Stewart's crew members by nearly running
him over), he would be 12th in the standings.
He said the key Sunday was not panicking when his team
learned the engine change had to be made.
"We had something internally," Busch said. "I think it was
the plug out of the back of the cam shaft. See, you've got
to have oil pressure when you run. That's what took us out
of it. It was unfortunate. We didn't even make a lap with
it.
"We had to start in the back and work our way forward.
Those are the rules and that's what we did."
Busch said he had to stay patient and pick off the cars in
front of him one at a time.
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"You just got to stay on pace and take your time," Busch
said. "You can have a bad pit stop at the beginning of the
race and go to the back. You just have to stay consistent
and stay smooth."
He had moved up to 31st after just 15 laps, 17th by Lap 45,
and was 12th by Lap 60. He finally broke into the top 10
around Lap 165 and eventually climbed as high as fourth
before falling back just a little by the end.
"We were good. I just couldn't run the top groove," he
said. "I needed the lapped cars to yield, but they're not
going to get out of the way. I needed that bottom groove,
it seemed like, at the end. That was where we were making
hay. It was just tough when the lapped cars were there, I
couldn't quite get around them as quickly as some of the
other guys could.
"I'm bummed that we didn't get a top-five. I've only got
three tracks that I've raced on that I don't have a top-
five on [Chicagoland, Kansas and Watkins Glen] but sixth
is great, especially coming from where we did."
Busch's team has had to overcome adversity all year. He
began the season with Roy McCauley as his crew chief, but
McCauley took a leave of absence to be with his ill wife.
Pat Tryson, who began the season as crew chief of Greg
Biffle's No. 16 car at Roush Fenway Racing but left to
join Penske Racing, eventually took over for McCauley.
Busch said Tryson is beginning to make a positive
difference as the team heads into an off-week prior to
the next Cup race at Indianapolis on July 29.
"We're just plugging away. Everybody is hitting their
stride," Busch said. "Pat Tryson has had some good input
the last few weeks. It's nice to have a week off to see
what we can add to our Indy car, so hopefully we're even
better there.
"Who knows what we can do? Right now we're just trying to
stay consistent. ...It just seems like we keep getting
cards dealt to us that are tough to play. But if we just
sit there and take our time and wait for the right cards
to come to us, we'll be in great shape. I'm hoping that
they do, because a third and a sixth the last two weeks
feel really good right now."
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