Andy Santerre signs Sellers for No. 44

Former NASCAR Whelen All-American Series champion Peyton Sellers is going to fill the vacant seat at Andy Santerre Motorsports this season.


ASM announced on Wednesday that Casella Waste Systems would sponsor Sellers in the No. 44 Chevrolets that Sean Caisse drove in each of the last 2 seasons, the same cars Santerre drove to 4 straight Camping World East Series titles.


Curious that the press release making the announcement would champion Sellers as the "top returning" series driver, which he is, at least in theory. Joey Logano is out of work while he waits to make his Nationwide Series debut at Dover, Del., this spring, and Caisse, who finished 2nd, is still looking for work after a Germain Racing truck deal fell through over the winter.


Sellers spent the last 2 seasons in the East Series, though the Santerre seat is by far his best chance to showcase his talents after driving for a family-owned team last season. The 2005 national champion from Danville, Va., was winless with 4 top-5 finishes in 13 races last season.

ASM will also field the No. 3 for Richard Childress Racing development driver Austin Dillon, Childress' grandson.

E Street Band named official band of the C3M

When The Godfather beckons with an assignment, you can't simply ignore it. When you're the consigliere for the Connecticut Motorsports Media Mafia, you have to go where The Godfather tells you.

It's kind of a part of the gig. A big part.

So, Thursday night, I'm heading to Hartford. Seems the big guy's got an extra ticket for the Bruce Springsteen show at that place where they used to play National Hockey League hockey, and I'm going to be attending. You know, like The Godfather's invited guest.

It's only the beginning.

From there it's off to the Speedway EXPO in Springfield, Mass., where on Saturday morning The Godfather and I are going to regal scores of interested racers and teams with tales of how to get their tales told in the newspaper. And in magazines. And on the internet (well, actually, that last one's an easy one -- they've just got to shell out for it. oops, sorry, couldn't resist...). Then on Sunday, they hand out the Speedy awards, where Godfather and I are finalists for the same media award.

Naturally, I can't win. If I did, wouldn't he then have to 'off' me?

So, while I'l be "Working on the Highway" all weekend in the place I affectionately refer to as the "Badlands," it won't be all for naught. It'll be like being at a "County Fair" and when it's done, I'll be back in Maine, a little "Further On Up The Road."

Hey, I know it wasn't my best effort, but it was worth a shot....

You know, I got to thinking...

- After going to Daytona, I realized that New Hampshire Motor Speedway fans know nothing about what it means for a facility to be "fan friendly."

- NASCAR really botched it bad at California last weekend. Wet tracks, wet conditions are a recipe for disaster -- as much now as ever.

- What do Kasey Kahne, Kurt Busch and Matt Kenseth have in common? Not one of them has a personality. Heck, Jimmie Johnson seems downright loosey-goosey compared to Kahne, et al...

Leaving on a jet plane...

A few final thoughts while I surf some 35,000 feet above the ground and ponder just how long it took buttoned-up Roger Penske to ditch that gaudy Daytona 500 championship jacket they tossed on him at Monday's champion's breakfast inside The Daytona Experience...

- How ironic was it to see the Dodges of Daytona 500 winner Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch and Reed Sorenson team up for top-5 finishes in the closing laps of Sunday's race? Newman, after all, blasted Sorenson following the Gatorade Duel qualifying race earlier in the week for helping a Chevrolet and not a Dodge get to the front of that event.

- Race car drivers obviously have selective memory.

Newman remembers sitting in the grandstands as a youngster watching the 500, remembers his days running USAC cars across the midwest and, if he was to be honest, probably remembers every time he's felt slighted by one of his competitors on the track.

But that crash in 2003, the nasty one that sent him flipping across the infield grass along the Daytona fronstretch in his second 500 start? Yeah, he wasn't so willing to rehash that on Sunday night.

Who could blame him? It's what separates these guys from one another -- some of them can put it behind them and some of them can't.

- Never thought I'd be one of those guys who blogged about travel problems. Then again, never though I'd be one of those guys who blogged while I was in an airplane. But since I am, it's worth pointing out that now I understand why writers blog about the complications of airline travel.

What else are you going to do when you show up 2 hours before your scheduled departure, only to find out that that departure has been pushed back 2 hours. And then, in a matter of minutes, the departure time changes three more times. Yeah, it happened to me - but we left on time, anwyay.

I've got air sick kids puking and crying, and a real jerk in front of me giving the flight attendants a hard time about headphones. Good times, trust me.

- Yeah, I fished Lake Lloyd -- if you could call it that on some crap Target passed off as fishing tackle. It was either the $26 dollar throwaway I went with with all of 2 color choices for lures or it was a $70 combo that wasn't going to make it back to Maine with me.

But, I worked the water for more than an hour the night before the 500, saw fish rising to the surface to feed and even got a couple of fruitless strikes, I'm willing to call that a success.

Did I mention that I fished the infield at Daytona International Speedway? Did I?

- And, in parting, just one final question: Are you Bobby Dickerson?

Daytona 500: They said it

"Fifteen years ago I was sitting in the grandstands in the Seagrave Tower. ... It was awesome. Listening to my dad on the radio spotting for me, all the other things -- all the other emotions, all the hard work, all the people that gave me a shot racing quarter midgets, midgets, sprint cars, Silver Crown cars. I have to thank everybody, including the fans."
- Daytona 500 winner Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 12 alltel Dodge

"Anybody that didn't win tonight is disappointed. ... It is the biggest race. I mean, if it wasn't a big deal it wouldn't bother you, but this is the Daytona 500. If you know you've got a car that's fast enough to win and you don't, you know, you're devastated over it."
- 3rd place Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet

"If (Stewart) would have jumped in front of us, I would have pushed him. He stayed low, and that gave the opportunity for Newman to jump up in front of us. So maybe he did think twice before he jumped up high, that it was me up there.
"Instead of worrying about who it was, he should have just went there."
- 2nd place Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge, on whether he had any reservations about working with Stewart in light of last week's Budweiser Shootout practice crash

"I don't know how I stayed out of trouble. I got hit on every corner and was sandwiched in the draft. They had my rear tires off the ground and the nose against the guys in front of me. It was just a handful. I don't know how I survived it."
- 10th place Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M Ford

"We were just slow. Our car just woudn't go."
- 14th-place Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 29 Shell Chevrolet and 2007 Daytona 500 champ

"The worst part about it is having to wait another year to try again."
- 24th-place Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 07 Jack Daniel's Chevrolet, who spun while racing for the lead through the tri-oval on lap 184

Daytona 500 notebook: JGR teammates can't seal the deal

DAYTONA BEACH: The day's most dominant driver cost 2 cars a shot at victory.

Kyle Busch had the fastest car all day long, and he was poised to lead the Toyota charge to victory lane in the Daytona 500 when he lined up second on a restart with 3 laps remaining behind Jeff Burton. But Busch got too good of a restart and ended up diving below the yellow out-of-bounds line at the bottom of the race track entering the first turn.

NASCAR rules dictate that any driver making a pass in below the yellow line must slow enough to give back any positions he gained -- and when Busch let Burton back by, he lost all momentum and any chance at a victory for either himself or Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Tony Stewart.

"Those guys had such a head of steam," Busch said of Penske Racing teammates Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch, who posted a 1-2 finish. "They got ahead of me on that restart. They lagged back and then got a big push. In the NASCAR rulebook, that's not right, but they let it go."

Stewart kept waiting for a push to come from Kyle, but it never materialized. He later admitted he had no idea his teammate had to give back positions he took by crossing below the yellow line.

"Kyle finally got to me off turn 4, but by that time we were both way too far behind to make a charge," Stewart said. "We needed another lap. If we could have got another lap, the outcome might have been different."

Kyle Busch led a race-high 86 laps.

"Just frustrating to come home fourth, but that's part of the Daytona 500, when you run as good as we had all day long," Busch said. "Those guys couldn't keep up with us, but there was all those cautions at the end that propelled (Newman and Kurt Busch) forward enough in order to get them ahead."

*****

The Hendrick Motorsports domination trumpeted in newspaper headlines all week never materialized on Sunday.

3-time Daytona 500 champion Jeff Gordon finished 39th after falling out with suspension failure, 2-time defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson finished 27th after a spin on lap 177 and Casey Mears slapped the turn 1 fence while racing with the leaders just five laps from the checkered flag.

Even newest Hendrick teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr., thought all week to be one of the favorites to win the 500, led just 12 laps en route to a 9th-place run.

"We obviously didn't have enough car there most of the day," Earnhardt said. "I made a lot of poor choice where to take my runs and what to do with them."

"I hope my teammates get up there and make something happen against those Toyotas, because I don't see anyone who had anything for them," Gordon said after falling out of the race with a broken control arm. "The suspension is just so tough on these cars with these bumps here. You don't know what's taking all the load. You keep fixing one thing and it just keeps creating another issue. It's unfortunate."

Johnson looped it after contact with Sam Hornish Jr. in turn 2, but he had slipped all the way back as far as 30th in the early going, fearing he'd have to pit out of sequence at one point because the car was handling so poorly.

*****

The final Daytona 500 for 3-time race-winner and former Cup Series champion Dale Jarrett ended with a 16th place finish.

"After I got past the start-finish line under the white flag and nobody wrecked, I thought about that," Jarrett said of his final lap of competiton on the famed 2.5-mile oval, the birthplace of NASCAR racing. "I was thinking that that was my last time I would make a lap here. I had time to cool down there and think about it. This has been a very special place for me."

But Jarrett said it really hasn't sunk in that he won't race in the Daytona 500 again.

"That will happen later, as soon as I get home and think about it," he said. "Then by that time, it will be time to go to California. It is never ending."

*****

Newman had only finished in the top-10 twice in 12 previous Cup starts at Daytona, with a career-best finish of 3rd in the 2006 Daytona 500. One of those 12 races resulted in a spectacular tumble down the frontstretch in this race in 2003. ... 6 of the top 8 finishers in the 500 were Dodges. ... Hornish, an IRL and Indianapolis 500 champion, was the top-finishing rookie in 15th.

The Artful Dodger

Newman wins 50th running of the Daytona 500

DAYTONA BEACH -- Shame on everyone who forgot about Dodge.

With a dramatic last-lap charge, Ryan Newman silenced two weeks' worth of talk about Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs racing over the last two weeks at Daytona International Speedway. Using a strong push from Penske Racing teammate Kurt Busch, Newman stunned a sellout crowd of more than 200,000 by winning the 50th running of the Daytona 500 on Sunday.

Newman became the 32nd winner of the prestigious event and snapped his own 81-race winless drought, which dated back to his win at New Hampshire in September of 2005.

"(I) don't have the words," said the 30-year-old native of South Bend, Ind. "It's awesome. It's probably the most awesome thing that's ever happened to me. To be looking face to face with all the greats (during the drivers' meeting), the guys that were on the stage up there, the former champions, to be on the same team with those guys, it's amazing."

Hendrick Motorsports, home of multi-time Sprint Cup Series champions Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, continued to grab headlines early in the week with wins in the Budweiser Shootout and the Gatorade Duels by new addition Dale Earnhardt Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing threatened to unseat the Hendrick folks, using their baptism into the Toyota camp to produce a Duel win and a victory by Tony Stewart in the NASCAR Nationwide Series event here on Saturday. They were poised as the two superteams in the Sprint Cup Series going into 2008.

Stewart was leading Sunday when the field came to the white flag, with Newman behind him. Stewart's JGR teammate Kyle Busch -- who led the most laps -- ran third, while Kurt Busch was fourth. Racing off of turn 2, Newman and Kurt Busch gathered all the momentum they needed as they ran into the lead in the outside groove.

They never looked back, pulling away for Penske Racing's first-ever Daytona 500 victory.

"Without a doubt, (Kurt) could have gone 3-wide and made a heck of a mess going into turn three," Newman said of getting help from Busch. "But he chose to be a teammate, and that's the most honorable thing he could do."

Newman also credited Stewart for not resorting to dirty on-track tactics.

"Kurt was the push from heaven that made it all happen," Newman said, "but Tony was very much a sportsman. He could have made that Home Depot (car) very wide, but instead he chose to race."

The three JGR drivers were the three drivers who led the most laps, between them accounting for 134 laps led. That was of little consolation to Stewart, who battled a less than an ideal race car in the middle of race to put himself in position to give Toyota its first win in a Cup Series points race.

"This is probably just one of the most disappointing moments of my racing career," said Stewart, who is winless in 10 Daytona 500 starts. "It would be a lie to come in here and say I was happy about, you know, going from first to third on the last lap of the Daytona 500."

Newman started creeping toward the front in the final 100 miles of the event. He led briefly on three occasions prior to the final lap, and left Kurt Busch happy to be part of a monumental day for team owner Roger Penske -- who has dominated open-wheel racing's biggest day with 14 victories as an owner in the Indianapolis 500 but had yet to claim stock car racing's most sought after trophy.

"It was a race of durability," said Newman's crew chief, Roy McCauley. "Ryan drove a masterful race, as far as when he had the car he could run in the top five, and when he didn't have the car, he found a slot to ride in. ... I think that's the sign of a smart driver."

It's also an early sign that Dodge needs to be included in any Sprint Cup Series conversations this season.

*****

For complete Daytona 500 results, click here.

Wessa's story

I would be remiss if I didn't pass this along.

This story by David Poole in the Charlotte Observer is the best to come out of speedweeks. No doubt about it, this racing game is about a whole lot more than winning and losing.

"AMP"-ing up for the big day

Welcome to race day, and this version is brought to you by Monster energy drink and stale CLIF bars. It's just the way I roll...

Claustrophobia strikes deep here at Daytona, where it's almost impossible to move around, -- even as much as 6 hours before the race. Funny thing, though, as you walk along the expansive fan zones here both inside and outside of the track in what looks like a marketing campaign on the verge of going awry. See a lot -- and I mean A LOT -- of AMP energy shirts and hats. But here's the catch: you don't see many of the fans, bleary-eyed from a night of heavy pre-race frolicking, actually drinking the AMP in an effort to energize.

Lots of other soda pops and coffee, but AMP is still relatively low on the morning wake-up call podium.

*****

I partook of one of the great traditions here at the speedway, one I didn't even know existed.
Once allowed out on the track, fans grab up their Sharpie markers -- otherwise reserved for driver autographs -- and sign their names, leave messages of encouragement and write notes for their favorite drivers. And they do that writing right on the checkerboard start-finish line.

What an amazing way to get fans involved in the Daytona 500, and what does it cost the track to do it? Absolutely nothing, save for a security guard or two that they've already got employed elsewhere on the grounds, anyway.

Let's just say Coop and Manny are along for the ride today...

*****

You certainly don't need me to leave an "expert" prediction for you to day, but it's hard to resist the temptation.

Here's what I think -- I think it's either of the Busch brothers today or Jimmie Johnson. Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s been good this week, but to the point of it being a detriment to his chances. When you're that dominant, teams are typically reluctant to push you to the front of the field, knowing full well that if they do they're not going to be able to pass you.

Saw it on a few occasions in Saturday's Nationwide Series event here, where Junior was left to fend for himself in the late going, despite having a car that got great runs on the high side of the speedway.

*****

And finally, in the interest of starting a tradition, aren't you Brad Wapner?

Maybe it's better off as a Busch league

DAYTONA BEACH -- Kyle Busch just wants to pass off the advice he's been given so many times during his colorful NASCAR career, and in the process he just might spark some more interest in stock-car racing's top levels.

Busch certainly had some choice words for Martin Truex Jr. after the Camping World 300 for the NASCAR Nationwide Series on Saturday. Seems Truex voiced his displeasure with the way Busch was driving in the closing laps of the event, won by Busch's teammate Tony Stewart. Truex accused Busch of blocking.

"What else you gonna do, man? Shoot, he's pushing me through the tri-oval, wanting to spin me out," said Busch, who finished second, one spot ahead of Dale Earnhardt Jr. "I'm sorry I saved it and kept it in front of him."

And then he had this to say to Truex: "Grow up, bud."

Busch had the race lead with 5 laps remaining and then took it back with a lap and a half remaining after Stewart passed him in turn 2 on lap 118 of 120. Stewart finally took the lead for good heading into turn 3 on that very same circuit, leaving Truex and Earnhardt to try and split up the Joe Gibbs Racing stranglehold of Stewart and Busch.

Truex tried to get under Busch through turns 1 and 2, but Busch held him off with momentum down the backstretch.

Busch then got flip when answering a question about Truex's criticism, firing off in a way that was equal parts funny and hostile.

"What does he want me to do? Pull over?" Busch asked. "Next question."

While Busch's driving ability is stunning, his own maturity level has been called into question on several occasions.

He once left a race while his crew was still making repairs to the car, and he's suggested that NASCAR wants to raise the age limit on drivers in the Sprint Cup Series once again as a "Kyle Busch rule" aimed at limiting the off-the-track issues he's had.

Just last season, he made for an ugly split with former employer Hendrick Motorsports, saying he felt that he wasn't being offered the same information as his other teammates and that he felt his team was left to race alone.

But Busch might be just the thing NASCAR needs this season as it pledges to return to its roots. One night he's taking an ill-handling Truck and wrestling it all over the place en route to a podium finish not many others could muster; the next afternoon he's firing off-the-cuff criticism the way of Goodyear.

"I've gotten a real good feel for the tires this week. They're junk," he said. "They were terrible today. They were terrible last night (in the Truck race). So, I expect (the Daytona 500) to be a whole lot of fun."

He's young, he's brash and he's supremely talented and quotable. Could be just what NASCAR is looking for to resurrect a sport plagued by plunging television ratings and sagging ticket sales.

Maybe he can help the sport "grow up, bud."

Note to ESPN: Enough already

ESPN is turning its NASCAR Nationwide Series coverage into nothing more than a daily promotion of its new show about Dale Earnhardt Jr., "Shifting Gears," a 5-part epic detailing Earnhardt's move from Dale Earnhardt Inc. to Hendrick Motorsports.

The final few questions asked of Earnhardt after he finished 3rd in the Camping World 300 at Daytona all had to do with what Earnhardt thought of the program and how it was produced. This came on the heels of Friday's qualifying session for that race, after Earnhardt's disappointing effort in time trials.

In fact, ESPN garage reporter Mike Massaro spent more time Friday asking Earnhardt about the show than he did about how the No. 5 team was caught before qualifying with an illegally-modified rear spoiler.

Earnhardt produced the show with his own entertainment company, and said it was "an atta-boy" for his loyal fans.

"I know it's hard to sit through all the Dale Jarrett commercials, but that's what we had to do to get it on (ESPN)," Earnhardt said. "I know I have a hard time sitting through them all."

Junior is NASCAR's biggest star. He's had the best week at Daytona of anybody, already winning the Bud Shootout and one of the Gatorade Duels. But race coverage should be race coverage -- if you want to plug your own programming, don't disguise it as a post-'race' interview on pit road.

I think I'm going to be sick

First, my lungs tried to leap out of my chest. Then the bagel I ate for breakfast threatened to retrace its steps up my throat. Then I got dizzy, nearly fell over and stumbled off to a patch of shade.

All from standing 10 feet away from a small group of Sprint Cup Series cars blistering their way by at a buck-90.

Yeah, it's that fast. And utterly amazing that these guys are willing to put themselves in packs of 20 or 30 cars at a time under those conditions -- and not amazing at all that fans are here to soak up the complete sensory overload.

*****

More security stories from Daytona.

After The Godfather and I waited a good 20 minutes behind a bus pouring exhaust into my window -- maybe it was Courchesne's way of trying to off me, a signal that he's had enough of this marathon trip to the heart of stock-car country -- we finally got to the media parking lot behind the tower on the DIS fronstretch.

And as we pulled in, we were accosted by three teenagers in yellow "security" vests, one ornery one of whom was insistent on knowing whether we had media credentials.

We did. And he told his friends he somehow missed the "M" sticker on our windshield, the one that tells them that we are, indeed, allowed to park there.

"I don't know how I missed it," he said to his buddy as we zipped off to our spot.

I know. Maybe it was the 2-a-side football game you guys were playing -- the one we had to drive through -- that took your attention away from the job they are paying you to do.

The track should get its money back. Seriously.

*****

This place is big. Have I mentioned that at all this week?

Here's a little anecdote to put it all in perspective for you:

Those of you who know me know that I'm not opposed to a little physical activity. I make it a point at the race track to walk instead of shuttle, take stairs instead of elevators, drink water instead of soda. But after making it down 12 full flights of stairs and walking the entire length of the frontstretch, I finally had to stop short of my destination.

My little boy gave me very strict instructions when I pulled out of the snowstorm in Portland more than a week ago -- the red and blue of Jeff Gordon merchandise had best make its way back in my suitcase. So I headed out to souvenir row outside of turn 4 here, where the souvenir haulers are stacked 112 deep.

But I never made it. I'm guessing I walked at least a mile (one way) and never made it past the DeWalt tools display. Too crowded, too hot and, most importantly, too far.

I can't believe I uttered the words.

But there is good news -- Daytona 500 final practice is over, meaning that all that's left now is a Nationwide Series race this afternoon and the big dance tomorrow.

Chevy Silverado 250: Bodine wins "Rowdy" race

DAYTONA BEACH -- In 20 years of coming to Daytona International Speedway, both as a crew member and a driver, Todd Bodine's seen a little bit of everything at the famed beachside track.

"I've finished second, finished third third, crashed hard, burned a couple times," Bodine said.

Those sentiments could have summed up the entire Chevy Silverado 250 for the Craftsman Truck Series on Friday night, a race Bodine won by holding off the charge of Kyle Busch and Johnny Benson. It was Bodine's first win of any kind at Daytona.

The victory came on a night where Busch touched off a fiery 10-car wreck in turn 2, one that set up a 17-minute delay under the red flag less than 20 laps in. Four more trucks were sidelined a few laps later, and the machines of Erik Darnell and Justin Marks tangled while running 2nd and 3rd with 13 laps remaining.

That final wreck set up a restart with 9 laps left, and Bodine led Busch and Benson into the 3rd turn on the race's final circuit. Busch tried to hang back and get a run at the lead, but Bodine was too strong.

"I was fighting pretty hard those last few laps," Bodine said. "Kyle's pretty notorious for driving hard, and you always worry about him driving hard. But we've become pretty good friends, and I knew he wasn't going to turn me or anything like that.

"This is finally, after 17 years (as a driver) -- I've been waiting for this."

Busch took center stage in the race on lap 19, when he pulled down into Mike Skinner in turn 2. That sent Skinner spinning across the track, collecting Brendan Gaughan, Chad Chaffin, Ted Musgrave and others -- including P.J. Jones, who drove down 2/3 of the backstretch in a blazing fire before escaping the cockpit unharmed.

"Kyle will still race tomorrow," a disgusted Gaughan said. "To him, this is 'fun' time. ... He had the whole outside (lane) and he just stayed in the center."

"I was running the top side and bouncing all over the place on these springs here, and I tried turning down the race track just a little bit to try and get under (Chad McCumbee)," said Busch, who is pairing with David Stremme to run the entire CTS slate in the No. 15 this year. "When I did my front end really bit and turned down the track.

"Last I heard I was kind of clear, but I wasn't exactly sure. Unfortunately, Mike was there and it caused a big pileup. I apologize to those guys and everybody else who was involved."

Day 8: Tiring of the same old conversation

I admit it, I'm starting to feel the wear and tear of 8 straight days on the road, with 3 more to follow. Readers must be noticing, too -- considering one among you (and you know who you are!) actually suggested I stay at Daytona and cover the 500 because I was so disappointed by the fan turnout at New Smyrna Speedway this week.

Let's clarify one thing here. I'll take short-track racing over the Sprint Cup Series any day of the week. It's why I made it a point to get to New Smyrna on a few occasions for some of the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing there. And just because I think it's too bad there aren't more fans there, or because I think the rules there could use some tweaking in the interest of more entertaining competition, it doesn't mean I think there's no reason for teams to make the trek to central Florida for mid-winter racing.

Hey, I'm more Oxford 250 than Daytona 500, more PASS 300 than Sylvania 300.

I love short-track racing for all of the reasons that I grow tired with the issues I face moonlighting as a Sprint Cup Series reporter. If Johnny Clark and Mike Rowe spin each other out racing for the win at Beech Ridge, you track them down and get emotional, colorful quotes that paint the picture for fans who can't ask those drivers themselves. But if Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch wreck each other out of a Cup race (or, ahem, practice), you're not going to get close to either of them. If you're lucky, you might get a transcribed quote sheet from a public relations rep.

Like I said, if you're lucky.

I love the racers who do their own work on the car during the week, scrape together every last penny just for a couple of tires on Saturday night and race for a paycheck so small it barely covers the fee at the pit gate.

My love of covering the everyday people in this sport is probably why I gravitate to the likes of Robby Gordon or Kevin Lepage in one of the NASCAR garages. Gordon invited me into his hauler to sit down today after Cup practice, offered me a Monster from the cooler and comfortably eased me into some fun conversations he and his team were having for what felt like half an hour.

Last September, by contrast, it took 3 full days of trying to finally get one of the Roush Fenway Racing drivers to give a local reporter 10 minutes. And we're not talking about a Roush driver who was in the Chase, either, leaving you to draw your own conclusions.

Suffice it to say, some of these guys are already "legends" in their own minds...

Maybe I'm especially tired of the lack of direction there seems to be around here. No fewer than 3 times I went to somebody tending one gate or another around the Daytona International Speedway infield looking for information, only to be told each time the EXACT same thing -- "I don't know what to tell ya'." No help, no suggestions for who might know, no further instructions.
One good thing happened. I think.

Speed 51 founder Bob Dillner came over to say hi this afternoon. That was interesting, particularly considering I've been fairly critical of some of that organization's dealings recently, as I'm sure you're all well aware.

It went like this:

"Are you Travis Bennett?"

"No, it's Barrett, but whatever."

"Oh. I just wanted to stop by and say, 'Hi.' "

And with that, he was gone. Funny, I thought, he knew who I was back in July.

I don't know what to tell ya'.

Specialty Racing misses the show

Kevin Lepage's hopes of running an entire NASCAR Nationwide Series schedule took a hit on Friday at Daytona International Speedway.

Driving the unsponsored No. 61 Ford for Doug Taylor's Specialty Racing, Lepage was bounced from a starting position in tomorrow's Camping World 300 when Jason Keller turned a lap of 50.337 seconds (178.795 mph). Lepage was one of 23 drivers without a guaranteed starting spot, and he was timed at 50.621 seconds (177.792 mph).

In Thursday practice, Lepage posted the 6th-fastest lap among that group, but he was unable to match his speed during Friday's qualifying session.

Lepage had hoped to run the entire season for Taylor, with help from Yates engines and Roush cars, but he will miss at least the first event of the season.

Robby Gordon's romper room

Versatile driver says he's having plenty of fun in racing

DAYTONA BEACH -- There's been a lot talk lately about "real" racing being back at Daytona International Speedway this week with the Daytona 500 debut of NASCAR's Car of Tomorrow. But stock car drivers can seldom be criticized for being too worldly.

It makes Robby Gordon a fine choice for putting restrictor-plate racing into perspective.

"Oh, it's really racing," said Gordon, who will start 26th in Sunday's 50th Daytona 500. "I think the cars are a bit of a handful to drive, and that's a good thing. If anybody can drive them wide open, that's not a good thing. It's not supposed to be a breeze."

Gordon is a champion of off-road racing, and he has also found himself behind the wheel in Indy cars, sports cars and stock cars in some of the most prestigious races in the world -- including the Indianapolis 500, the Daytona 500 and the Baja 1000. Even with that resume, he's a believer that the new NASCAR race car, with its severe limits on ingenuity in the garage, has made Sprint Cup Series racing -- gulp! -- fun.

"Of course we're having fun," Gordon said, sitting in his hauler following practice on Saturday, trading barbs with a couple of members of his team. "To do what you love to do, to have the comaraderie we have and be able to bitch and complain, that's fun. I mean, if you can't bitch and complain.... I mean, what good is it?"

Gordon likens life at Robby Gordon Motorsports to the long-running reality television show on MTV, "Real World."

"What's that show? 'Real Life?' " he asked. "We've got real life right here every week."

For a 39-year-old racer from Cerritos, Calif., who considers barreling off into the desert in a truck for days on end "fun," it's hard to see how the headaches of Cup ownership could serve any purpose for him. But you need only sit with Gordon for a few minutes to realize that there's a Type A side to his personality that ownership fits like a glove.

"Oh, come on -- it's a babysitting job," Gordon says, drawing chuckles from those who work closest with him, opening a discussion of who was in diapers longer. "It's a full-time romper room here.

"But I like that (ownership) part of it. Obviously, keeping all our sponsors happy is a big part of it, too, and that's a challenge I enjoy."

The challenge is made easier by the fact that Gordon finished last season in the top-35 in Cup owner points, securing him a spot on the starting grid in the first 5 races of 2008. That, he said, allows sponsors to put together incentive programs for customers -- knowing that the No. 7 Dodge will be around on Sundays.

Gordon recalled his first year as an owner-driver, in 2005, when he failed to qualify for the main event despite being a former winner of the Gatorade Duels.

"We've done the game before where we've come to Daytona and not had the opportunity to race," said Gordon, who has 3 career Cup Series wins, including one at New Hampshire, but has never finished better than 6th at Daytona. "Our first year as a team we did that. (Two years) before I won the 150 (with Richard Childress Racing), and then I went home the next year.

"The top 35 thing's tough, but I like it. It's good for the sport and good for the sponsors."
And no matter what he's racing, it's all with the same goal in mind.

"It actually doesn't matter if you're riding a Big Wheel. You want to beat them, beat the best," Gordon said. "It's a team. A race car driver doesn't make these cars go fast. You've got to have a good pit crew, you've got to have good race strategy, reliable race cars and a good-handling vehicle, as well.

"The most important things are those things, and the guys that get that the best are normally the teams that win."

In any form of racing.

World Series a losing effort

The whole thing's been a flat-out disappointment.It really has, despite my eager anticipation of a couple of weeks ago.


The World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna Speedway has left lots to be desired.


There are some great things about the event, namely that it takes place just a few miles down Tomoka Farms Road from Daytona International Speedway. Race teams have come from all across the country to compete, and the fact that there's competitive short-track racing in February is surreal for us Mainers.

But there are some noticeable shortfalls of the event, one of the most notable being the lack of people watching in the grandstands. To be certain, the World Series is far more important to racers than it is to fans -- it's too cold at night for any self-respecting Floridians to head out to the track until nearly midnight, and it's too far away for enough northerners to come down and burn vacation time to watch a few faces they know well. In many ways, it helps you appreciate showing up for PASS race at Wiscasset Raceway or an ACT race at Oxford Plains and knowing a little something about everybody in the show.

Scheduling certainly hasn't helped attract interest.


Thursday night was a fantastic case in point. With thousands upon thousands of fans descending on the big track in Daytona, it's a great opportunity to open the gates to race fans on vacation. But instead of holding the feature event -- a 50-lap main for aguably the week's most competitive division, the Super Late Models -- for a few hours to allow fans to grab a bite to eat or time enough to get to the track, New Smyrna officials rolled that 50-lapper out at promptly 7:30 p.m.


To open the show.


No one's advocating running that event at 11 p.m., but it certainly shouldn't have been first, particularly when people are still pouring out of the Daytona infield a half-hour after that SLM feature takes the green flag.


SLM and Crate Late Models aside, car counts are disappointing, with fewer than 20 cars in the Modified divisions. Drivers and crews love time trials, small inversions at the front of the field, single-file restarts and leader protection at all costs -- it helps keep them from tearing up equipment over 9 trying nights of racing -- but it's a recipe for boredom in the grandstands.


For 42 years, New Smyrna has done the job of using its valued tradition as a draw for race teams at a time of year when most of the country is mired in the dead of winter. But in recent years, fans have been reluctant to turn out for many of those nights of racing, nights dedicated to the hardest of hard-core racers.


It's easy to see why.

Gatorade Duels notebook: It's not quite as good as a win

DAYTONA BEACH -- Let's be perfectly clear here: Toyota still has not won a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.



Sure, Denny Hamlin's win in the 2nd of the two Gatorade Duels on Thursday afternoon at Daytona International Speedway announced to everybody that the Toyota-Joe Gibbs Racing marriage would be a strong and prosperous one. But winning a 60-lap "sprint" at Daytona and winning an actual 400- or 500-mile race on a downforce track in the middle of, say, August are entirely different animals.



The Gatorade Duel is a qualifier -- nothing more than a common heat race dressed up in lipstick and high heels. Find me one short-track racer who runs around the grandstands championing himself as a big heat race winner. Go on -- find me one...

Suggesting that Hamlin earned the car maker its first Cup Series win earlier today is nothing but poorly disguised public relations gobble-dee-guk. Toyota will get its first win, sooner rather than later, and it will be celebrated. But let's save the real rejoicing for later this weekend, OK?

When someone wins a race.



*****




If you think it's easy driving a 3,400-pound stock car around Daytona, it's because you haven't tried.



When a former Formula 1 world driving champion like Jacques Villeneuve spins out in the middle of a turn while driving by himself, setting off a 4-car crash that wipes out 2 of the 3 open-wheelers in that particular Duel, it says quite a bit. Unfortunately, the crash ended Villeneuve's hopes of getting into the Daytona 500 in a Bill Davis Racing entry prepared by crew chief and Maine native Slugger Labbe.




"The car was just a little too loose, and I got sideways quite a few times," Villeneuve said. "I knew one of those times it was going to catch me up.



"These cars aren't bad when you have the perfect set-up in the car, but when you start sliding they're a handful, mostly in traffic."




*****



HOT LAPS: Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the first Duel, giving him a Bud Shootout win and a Duel win already this week. No driver has won the Shootout, a Duel and the Daytona 500 in the same year. ... In the Busch Series -- whoops, there's another dollar in the kitty -- I mean, the Nationwide Series, Kevin Lepage was 29th fastest in final practice for the Camping World 300. But Lepage was 6th out of the 21 drivers required to qualify based on their times. ... Notables who were notable only in that they did not make the show: Bill Elliott, Ken Schrader, Boris Said, Patrick Carpentier and 2-time Daytona 500 champ Sterling Marlin.

Gatorade Duel No. 2: MWR still running strong

DAYTONA BEACH -- The story out of last weekend's Daytona 500 qualifying was the feel-good resurgence of Michael Waltrip Racing, with team owner Michael Waltrip putting his own No. 55 on the outside pole and 2nd-year driver David Reutimann virtually locking up a starting spot with the 4th-fastest lap of the day.

Under race conditions in Thursday's Gatorade Duels at Daytona International Speedway, the Toyota-backed team looked just as strong. The trio of Waltrip, Reutimann and 3-time Daytona 500 champion Dale Jarrett all ran well enough to qualify for Sunday's 50th running of the 500. Waltrip was guaranteed his spot, Reutimann had his qualifying to fall back on and Jarrett finished 9th to earn a spot in his 20th and final Daytona 500.

For the second year in a row, all 3 MWR entries made Sunday's big show.

"To know that you have to go out there and you know what you have to do, to be able to take the car and put it up in the top five and run there, you know, right around the majority of the race... that was very gratifying," said Jarrett, who will only run the first 5 Sprint Cup Series races of the season before moving into the ESPN broadcast booth. "Personally, hey, when it comes time to get this done -- yeah, I enjoy that challenge."

Reutimann's efforts last Sunday made for a much more relaxing week. Unlike last year when he didn't have a great qualifying time to fall back on during a stressful introduction to Daytona as a rookie, he could use the Gatorade Duel as a chance to polish up his chances for a 500 win.

"I've actually managed to be done here however long we've been and haven't thrown up once, so it's been good," Reutimann said. "It's a lot different than last year."

It would have to be.

Between the 3 teams, MWR failed to qualify for a total of 44 races last season -- 51 if you consider that Jarrett started 7 races with a past champion's provisional. Waltrip had the worst run of all, failing to qualify for 22 events, including 11 in a row after the season-opening Daytona 500.

On Thursday, the teams not only made the field but served notice that they were able to run well in the draft with the likes of Denny Hamlin, Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon and others.

"It was a good time out there," Waltrip said. "I just concentrated on our main goal (which was getting Jarrett into the 500). We needed to practice for a few laps to make sure we knew what we were doing, and we did, obviously."

"Just to be able to get down here, get in a race, function somewhat normal, has been quite a relief," said Reutimann , who will move into the No. 44 UPS Toyotas in place of Jarrett, beginning with the Goody's Cool Orange 500 at Martinsville Speedway in late March.

But Reutimann's Duel day was not without some semblance of adversity -- which the team overcame, a further statement to its off-season improvements.

On the original start of the 150-mile race, Reutimann passed Waltrip before the field made it to the start-finish line and received a pass-through penalty on pit road. That put him nearly 3/4 of a lap behind the field until the race's first caution flag on lap 15.

"Michael told me he was going to be a little soft on the original start," Reutimann said. "I didn't anticipate him being in a coma when they dropped the green.

"Before I realized it, it's like, 'Oh, dang, here comes the start-finish line.' Then I thought maybe (officials) didn't see that. What do you think the chances of that were?"

But Reutimann recovered and was running in the top-10 on lap 60, before a green-white-checkered finish shuffled him to 12th.

Kind of the same way Michael Waltrip Racing seems to have recovered from a disastrous 2007 season.

Gatorade Duel No. 1: Brotherly love

DAYTONA BEACH -- There was a little brotherly love at Daytona International Speedway on Thursday, just in time for Valentine's Day.

More to the point, it arrived just in time for Gatorade Duel at Daytona.

Guided by brother Mike Wallace, Kenny Wallace finished 8th in the first of the 2 150-mile qualifying races at the track, races won by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Denny Hamlin, respectively. Wallace's finish placed him first among the 8 drivers who had to race their way onto Sunday's Daytona 500 starting grid, earning him his first appearance in the 500 since 2005.

"My story, the way I feel, just incredible," said Kenny Walllace, who was pulled out of the No. 78 Furniture Row Chevrolet last year in the middle of the season. "The story goes like this: I got fired by Furniture Row, and (they) said, 'Hey, look, we realize that we shouldn't have fired you. We want to give you an opportunity.

"We want to give you an opportunity on your own terms."

So this year they put Wallace in the No. 87 as a teammate to Joe Nemecheck, who succeeded him in the No. 78s. And this time around, they put Hendrick Motorsports power plants in the cars. Nemecheck didn't qualify for the 500 through the Duels, but he did make it based on his qualifying speed from last Sunday, the 3rd fastest lap of time trials.

Mike Wallace finished 4th in last year's 500 but doesn't have a ride this time around. He approached Kenny about helping in his pursuit.

"Because this is the 50th Daytona 500," Mike Wallace said. "You see, a few years ago, Kenny and I sat in his motorhome here and we both didn't have a ride for the 500 and we looked at each other and said never again are we not going to have something to drive down here.

"(Kenny) had a shot and had a fast car, and it was like, 'This is huge.' He's my brother."

Kenny Walllace will start 17th in the 50th running of the Daytona 500, his best starting spot in 10 tries.

Kenny said Mike was instrumental in getting him into position to qualify for the 500, helping him dice his way through traffic to run as high as 4th-place inside of 10 laps to go in the 60-lap sprint.

"Mike is one of the best there is," Kenny said of his brother's drafting abilities as a driver. "He just inspired me the whole time. There were so many times when people cut me off and I thought I was going to hit them. And then in the end, he was yelling, 'Just go! Just don't run into anybody!'

"What Mike was really good at was two things -- letting me know what lane (people were) trying and what was going on. Because there were a couple times I went to the bottom early with new tires and couldn't get the job done. That was number one. ... The other thing he did was just emotional -- you know, 'Hey, this is the 50th Daytona 500.' ... I think it was just more having somebody on the radio that you really know who has done it and has felt what you felt."

With a full-time Nationwide Series ride with Armando Fitz in the No. 36 Chevrolets, Wallace said that running the way he did on Thursday allowed him to be at peace with himself and his driving abilities despite a roller-coaster 18-year Cup Series career in which he's run the entire slate just 7 times.

"I want to thank (Furniture Row) for letting me prove my talent and send a message to every great race car driver out there that, look at me," he said. "I made the Daytona 500. ...

"The reality of it is that I always tell the truth, and I catch hell for it all the time. But the truth is this: My brother, Mike, finished fourth in the Daytona 500 last year. You've just got to have the equipment, man. That's all there is to it."

Red Bull tastes too bland

(This entry has been modified by the blog administrator.)


NASCAR may be willing to let drivers be a little bit more themselves this year, but that doesn't mean the PR reps have all bought in.


During a televised post-race interview on Thursday, after which A.J. Allmendinger failed to qualify for the Daytona 500 in the first of 2 Gatorade Duels, the driver of the No. 84 Red Bull Toyota was distraught. He said that it "pretty much sucks" to miss the show for the 2nd straight year, and that he had driven his "ass off trying to get back to the front to have a chance."


Exceptionally candid comments that painted the side of Allmendinger we'd heard of before he got to NASCAR -- that he was emotional and brash, a younger, hipper version of another former open-wheel driver who also hails from Texas. A guy named A.J. Foyt.


But the Toyota folks apparently think Red Bull must have some type of "vanilla" flavor due out this summer, and they wanted to introduce it this week at Daytona.


In the Toyota transcript of Allmendinger's interview distributed to the print media, the words attributed to Allmendinger were not his own. According to the transcript, Allmendinger said "this pretty much stinks" and he "ran my butt off." In neither case were there parentheses around "stinks" or "butt" to note that the quotation had been modified.


The Dodge folks could easily have played around with quotes, too -- but that manufacturer opted, rightly so, to take the high road with Ryan Newman when he was critical of another Dodge driver.


"(Dale Earnhardt Jr.) made the pass and I tried to pass him back, and (Reed) Sorenson went with him," Newman said. "Way for the Dodges to stick together there."


It was a quote that easily could have been left off that particular transcript, but given the increasingly limited access to Sprint Cup Series drivers, give Dodge credit for helping do its part to build the bridge from drivers to fans that runs through the media. It's also a side of Newman (and a bunch of other drivers, too) that people like -- they are competitive to a fault and losing stings. It's why they're good.


Hey, this sport may not always be pretty, but it's ever more important to allow these guys to be themselves. NASCAR's bought into that for 2008; now it's time for everybody else to get on board, too -- including the buttoned-up Toyota folks.