R07 Woes For Chevy’s Top Dogs

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Published on Thunder Lounge.

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Motors, they are a changin’.

Or was that “times”? Well, that wasn’t the case in Daytona this afternoon.

It would seem that teams running Hendrick engines, at least 6 (includes Nemecheck and Riggs), would be changing engines before the Duel’s tomorrow afternoon.

But wait, we’re not stopping there. Toyota is also have problems with their engines. In fact, the exact same problem. To the extent that TRD is sending new engines straight from California, post haste.

The problem, for you engine techs out there, is that the coating on the cam shaft is coming off, getting on the lifters and filtering through the engine.

Clint Bowyer is also changing an engine today, but it was unrelated to the above problem according to SPEED.

What this means is that the teams who have changed engines prior to their Duel will have to start at the back of their assigned heat. Once the Duel’s have run, all teams may freely make an engine change without penalty.

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Filed Under: Casey Mears, Clint Bowyer, Dale Earnhardt Junior, Daytona, Drivers, Furniture Row Racing #78, Haas CNC Racing #66, Hendrick Motorsports #24, Hendrick Motorsports #25, Hendrick Motorsports #48, Hendrick Motorsports #5, Hendrick Motorsports #88, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Joe Nemechek, Nascar, Scott Riggs, Sprint Cup, Teams, Tracks





Trackback URL for: R07 Woes For Chevy’s Top Dogs

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Saturday January 12, 2008
12:44pm CST
Published on Thunder Lounge.

Scott Riggs

• 2007 Stats

  • Organization: Gillette Evernham Motorsports
  • Car Number: 10
  • Crew Chief: Rodney Childers
  • Sponsor: Valvoline/Stanley Tools
  • Points: 36th :: 2135 :: -4588
  • Starts: 27
  • Poles: 0
  • Wins: 0
  • Top 5’s: 0
  • Top 10’s: 1
  • Winnings: $2,671,040

• 2008 Preview

  • Organization: Haas/CNC
  • Car Number: 66
  • Crew Chief: Bootie Barker
  • Sponsor: State Water Heaters

Sometimes even the best potential things just don’t pan out. After missing the 2006 Daytona 500, Scott worked it back into the Top-35 and even the Top-20. However, as Gillette Evernham Motorsports struggled (along with the rest of the Dodge camp in general) in 2007, Scottie just couldn’t pull it off. He found himself missing 9 shows, which ultimately kept him out of the Top-35 at the end of the season.

Looking forward, Scott Riggs moves into a new chapter at Haas/CNC. While both the #66 and #70 were in the Top-35 after Homestead in 2007, it wasn’t by much. Both Scott and Jeremy will have to make the best of the first 5 races this upcoming season if they want to get a jump on keeping it in the Top-35 for the year.

Note: information is accurate as of date published. Check Thunder Lounge for additional updates and information.

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Filed Under: Drivers, Evernham Motorsports #10, Haas CNC Racing #66, Nascar, Nextel Cup, Scott Riggs, Sprint Cup, Teams

Tagged As: Barney Rubble



Trackback URL for: Daytona 500: 36 Days and Counting

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Wednesday October 24, 2007
9:09am CDT
Published on Thunder Lounge.

My time is short, and my schedule’s been hard, but lucky for you I’m out of cards.

OK, so it’s supposed to be money’s short and times are hard, but hey, work with me here.

Either way, I’m left wondering where the last week went? Wow. I have no idea, although I slept through most of it due to one hell of a cold (or some kind of sinus/respiratory crap).

Richert out a Red Bull

Doug and Red Bull Racing have parted ways, effective immediately. Are they NUTS?
From the sounds of it, although nobody is placing blame, it sounds like RB was the initiating party here.
Um, WTF? Doug is quite the capable crew chief here folks, and miracles don’t happen over night. You’re a start-up team, and with this move your sophomore year isn’t going to be any better either.

Your loss, someone else’s gain. Best of luck, Doug!

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Filed Under: Drivers, Features, Jeremy Mayfield, Nascar, Nextel Cup, Scott Riggs, WTF? Wednesday's





Trackback URL for: Anyone been baffled in the past week?

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Friday February 16, 2007
1:44am CST
Published on Thunder Lounge.

In what was an inspirational day at Daytona for some, it was a heart breaker for others as they loaded their trucks to head for the house. Also, not a day without it’s controversies, and the underdogs coming from the back to live a dream.

First up in the day was Tony Stewart who lead the field to the checkers in the first heat. Strong in the field were several cars, but in the end nothing was in the way of that orange machine and finding victory lane at Daytona for the second time in less than a week.

Kyle Bush had a pretty good run, as did Jeff Burton although his finishing position doesn’t really show what the car could (or was) doing. Ah, the comfort of knowing you’re in the show. Unfortunately, we can’t say the same for brother Ward.

This guy here, who’s had probably the worst 5 days in his life recently, maneuvered his way into one of the two available transfer spots in the 500, for a start just ahead of mid-pack. Granted the Red Army is going to be a little hot, when Waltrip spun Junior into the infield. Junior recovered for a top 5 in the heat. It wasn’t deliberate, and all was well between the two at the end of the event. A mistake was made, but all forgiven. Of course, had the outcome been different, who knows.

So now were on to the second heat. Duel #2, if you will.

With a winning dodge of Kurt Bush’s Dodge, who tried to block, Jeff Gordon again lead the field to the checkers at a Daytona event. In a less caution filled event than the first, the “controversies” were less, and although the racing wasn’t exactly boring, the drama was less than in the first. Up until the final few seconds, which saw Mike Wallace come out of almost nowhere to end up sliding into the 500 yet again.

With the factor between zero and hero being less than 3/10ths of a second in both heats, it was a nail biter.

Now we come back to Mr. Gordon, who will be starting the 500 from the 42nd position Sunday.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, you ask? Well if you’ve been under a rock this evening since shortly after the conclusion of the second heat, or perhaps trying to figure out why there’s two characters on your screen when you know darn well you only pushed the button once, you missed the #24 failing post race inspection.

Ah, but it goes further. Before some of you get up on your high horses, let the neutral opinion of Thunder Lounge interject. It wasn’t due to an intentional circumvention of the rules, meaning it wasn’t intentional, says NASCAR Director of Competition Robin Pemberton.

During post race inspection, the 24 came through the height sticks about an inch too low. This obviously called for further analysis, and Robin was even under the car a few times.

Here’s what happened. NASCAR, as we all know, mandates rear shocks and hands them out for installation. Well, the bolt that secures it to the shock mount failed. It wasn’t an illegal bolt, it either got cross threaded or whatever, and started failing. Read that as coming apart.

So the reason, as deemed by NASCAR, for the 24 being too low was part failure. However Robin said that since it was a failure which could have lead to serious safety incidences, that the 24 would be starting from the 42nd spot (tail end of that line) instead of the 4th position behind Ricky Rudd. No further penalties will be handed down, and the matter is closed.

What I don’t get, personally, is why a penalty for a part failure? When someone gets their front end, or rear end for that matter, knocked around and the templates don’t fit in post race, isn’t that a part failure in a sense? I mean, deification occurs, so a penalty for a part failure which wasn’t intentional (which is what they said) makes no sense to me. But, OK. Whatever.

So what this comes down to is that now a team can be penalized for a part failure? This could have an impact somewhere down the road. We’ll just have to wait and see.

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Filed Under: Atlanta, Daytona, Drivers, Evernham Motorsports #19, Frank Morrison, Guest Authors, Hendrick Motorsports #24, Jeff Gordon, Joe Gibbs Racing #20, Matt Kenseth, Michael Waltrip, Michael Waltrip Racing #55, Nascar, Nextel Cup, Press Releases, Scott Riggs, Teams, The Chase, Tony Stewart, Tracks





Trackback URL for: Dual Duel’s, And Misused Tools

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Tuesday February 13, 2007
4:58pm CST
Published on Thunder Lounge.

Holy cow, man. Here we go…

Roush Racing #17:

• - - Robbie Reiser: suspended 4 weeks
• - - Robbie Reiser: Cough up $50 G’s
• - - Matt Kenseth: Give back 50 of them points at the conclusion of the Daytona 500.
• - - Jack Roush: Give back 50 of them points at the conclusion of the Daytona 500.

Evernham Motorsports #9:

• - - Kenny Francis: suspended 4 weeks
• - - Kenny Francis: Cough up $50 G’s
• - - Kasey Kahne: Give back 50 of them points at the conclusion of the Daytona 500.
• - - Ray Evernham: Give back 50 of them points at the conclusion of the Daytona 500.

Evernham/Valvoline Motorsports #10:

• - - Rodney Childers: suspended 2 weeks
• - - Rodney Childers: Cough up $25 G’s
• - - Scott Riggs: Give back 25 of them points at the conclusion of the Daytona 500.
• - - James Rocco: Give back 25 of them points at the conclusion of the Daytona 500.

Evernham Motorsports #19:

• - - Josh Browne: suspended 2 weeks
• - - Josh Browne: Cough up $25 G’s
• - - Elliot Sadler: Give back 25 of them points at the conclusion of the Daytona 500.
• - - Ray Evernham: Give back 25 of them points at the conclusion of the Daytona 500.

As we all know by now, the #17 and #9 were found in post-qualifying inspection, and were found to have made illegal aero modifications.

The #10 and #19 were found prior to qualifying last Sunday.

All infractions were for:

• - - Section 12-4-A (actions detrimental to stock car racing)
• - - Section 12-4-Q (car, car parts components and/or equipment not conforming to NASCAR rules)
• - - Section 20-2.1E (unapproved aerodynamic modification)

Oops! See you guys at either Las Vegas or Bristol.

Buh bye now.

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Filed Under: Daytona, Drivers, Elliot Sadler, Evernham Motorsports #10, Evernham Motorsports #19, Evernham Motorsports #9, Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Nascar, Nextel Cup, Roush Racing #17, Scott Riggs, Teams, Tracks





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