Daytona 500: 17 Days and Counting

Thursday, January 31st, 2008 7:41pm UTC

Latest Nascar News And Info! By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Published on Thunder Lounge.

Jamie McMurray

2007 Stats
- Organization: Roush Fenway Racing
- Car Number: 26
- Crew Chief: Larry Carter
- Sponsor: Crown Royal
- Points: 17th :: 3556 :: -3167
- Starts: 36
- Poles: 1
- Wins: 1
- Top 5′s: 3
- Top 10′s: 9
- Winnings: $3,793,160
2008 Preview
- Organization: Roush Fenway Racing
- Car Number: 26
- Crew Chief: Larry Carter
- Sponsor: Crown Royal

2007 brought Jamie McMurray his first win as a full time Cup driver. His second win overall, his first came when subbing for Sterling Marlin when he was injured in 2002.

Jamie had a nice season. Finishing 17th, grabbed a win, and had some really good runs along the way.

Some folks across the net seem to feel he may be someone to keep tabs on as being the guinea pig to roll over to Yates when Jack announces the trimming of his stable down to 4. While Jack doesn’t have to have this completed until the close of the 2009 season, RFR has said they will have the decision made this season, so that there are no worries in 2009. The move won’t happen until after the 2009 season, however.

I’m still not onboard with Jamie being a possibility. He may not be the hottest in statistics at Roush, but he fits the Roush mold very well. I’m still convinced that if all the cards play out, Edwards and Biffle sign new deals, Ragan looks to be the odd man out. Then again, stranger things have happened, andit’s not uncommon for common sense to be denied.

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

Jack Roush Playing Favorites Amongst His Roushketeers?

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Monday April 2, 2007
1:33pm UTC
Published on Thunder Lounge.

Jack Roush and his NASCAR Nextel Cup drivers Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but here’s my take on this. But first, let me say this is nothing against Greg Biffle. He’s the unfortunate innocent party in this new Roush Debacle. As you know, here a Thunder Lounge we don’t necessarily dislike any driver. The few exceptions to the rule being Todd Bodine, and on occasion a love to hate Mr. Flip-Flop’s opinions.

So when NASCAR drew the line at 4 Cup teams per stable, Roush was grandfathered into the mix with a clause that essentially said they had to whittle down to 4 teams as soon as possible, once a sponsorship or driver contract had come to the end of its terms.

OK, so let me see here. Since then Roush has replaced Mark Martin, and Greg Biffle is flying new colors this season as well. Not too long ago, NASCAR must have saw the light and made a firm date of “no later than the 2010 season” for the ol’ Cat in the Hat to whittle his stable down by one team, unless contracts dictated a sooner date.

So let me see here if I get this right. Essentially Jack is either playing NASCAR for a fool, or he’s playing favorites amongst his Roushketeers. Perhaps a little of both.

Greg apparently has another year left on his contract after this season, and Ameriquest has opted to not renew for 2008. So here Geoff Smith is trying to not only broker a new contract for Biffle, but a new sponsorship contract as well. So we are already up to the third opportunity for Roush to comply with the NASCAR mandate. Anybody see anything wrong with this picture here? Anybody want to call shenanigans yet?

The above being the case, and three neglected opportunities to comply, what’s going on here? Roush may very well be the biggest independent influence in NASCAR. He’s built a powerhouse that commands respect of his accomplishments no matter what your personal opinion is. Yet, is he “above” NASCAR?

He’s going to have to pick one team, and soon, to begin phasing it out of operations. The likely scenario is a partnership or an under the table deal with Yates, where if need be Roush is running that team but under a different stable. It would be a Yates team, but Roush would foot the bills and whatever else on the side if need be.

The question is, who will it be? Greg doesn’t seem likely, and you know Carl isn’t going anywhere. The rookie isn’t a safe bet, else he wouldn’t have been hired unless his contract is the same length as AAA’s sponsorship. Matt? OK, yeah, right. Roush give up his Championship team? Not hardly. That leaves Jamie, at the moment.

It’s no secret that the performance to date has been very “Un-Roush” like. Last year was dismal for McMurray, but then again, Roush struggled as a whole with the new Fusion. So the blame isn’t squarely on the 26 team, and so far this season things are picking up in that department so far. So what about David Ragan then? I’ll give a thumbs up for improvement at Martinsville this past Sunday, in comparison to last October, and at least he’s not being told to skip Texas. However with him being the new face in the crowd, does that limit his credentials in the stable? Obviously Jack doesn’t think so, and knows it would be an uphill battle to bring out the kid’s potential. What it very well may come down to is performance between the 26 and 6 teams. He who finishes best, keeps his Roush logo on his fire suit.

Not a position I’d want to be in, then again I wouldn’t want to be a TV reporter either. (Note: TV reporter comment just to give Jay a laugh.)

So what’s the deal going on here? Is it Roush playing favorites, acting as his Roushketeers are above the “law”, or what?

Could it be that he’s holding out as long as possible, playing Russian Roulette instead, and whoever comes up comes up?

I don’t think so. Roush isn’t dumb, folks. He has something up his sleeve, and that you can be sure of. Trying to guess their next move is like trying to predict a winner on Sunday. You can guess, but until it happens you just don’t know. Some obviously guess right, and some don’t.

Kind of reminds you of how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Tootsie Pop, huh?

Maybe Mr. Owl has an answer for the Roush Camp too.

California Cleanups

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Sunday February 25, 2007
8:53am UTC
Published on Thunder Lounge.

Is anyone surprised by this? Jeff Gordon being on top at California? You shouldn’t be surprised that he’ll pace the field to the green today, not being the only driver with multiple wins (3) at the track, and a record there that speaks for itself. Then again, overall, it’s tough to find a track where this guy hasn’t had success. What the team has to face now is that no California winner has ever come from the pole. If the Truck or Busch race are any indication, don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched.

Mark Martin looked to have the truck race wrapped up Friday night, yet some “inconvenient” contact from Hornaday on the second to last restart put Mark through the grass and opened the door for Skinner to sneak into Victory Lane to give Toyota their second piece of hardware in a row.

Matt Kenseth Then we have Mr. Roboto here. Patience and keeping up with the track conditions made for yet another Kenseth Busch win. His 22nd win, in 200 starts, in the series came without too much fanfare. Jeff Burton had a pretty fast car, as did Kyle Bush as well. In the end though, clean air and good calls kept Matt in the hunt as he walked off with the win. The only challenge coming from Casey Mears, in the 24′s first appearance in Busch Series competition since 2002, and while Mears made the charge, he needed another 5 to 10 laps. But he was coming though, and it at least provided a little hope of a battle to the checkers. In the end though, Katie was sending text messages on her way to greet Matt in Victory Lane. The interesting battle was actually behind Kenseth as Burton, Edwards, Mears and Bush battled for the spots behind Kenseth. Allowing Kenseth to pull out to a little over 2 seconds, Mears finally broke through and cut Kenseth’s lead in about half in 10 laps. Give or take.

Michael Waltrip Then we have Mr. Waltrip waiting at the gate. With only one car left to qualify, he was sitting on the bubble Friday afternoon. The remaining car? David Reutimann in Michael’s own #00 entry. One has to wonder what the call is there. Team orders? Do your best and let the chips fall as they may? Both cars having to make it in on speed, one was going home. Reutimann put it in the show, sending his boss to the house for the first time this season and putting the team orders rumor to bed. Unless the team orders are to do your best and let the chips fall where they may.

Toyota again put half its cars in the show. Blaney was guaranteed with owners points from last season, Jarrett used his 2nd provisional, Brian Vickers put his Camry in 15th, and then Reutimann. Essentially the same lineup from Toyota as last week, just swap Waltrip for Vickers.

I don’t see Vickers missing too many shows this season. He’s always been rather good in qualifying, and was at Daytona as well. However, as we all know, Daytona 500 qualifying is its own beast.

So as we head into the afternoon, we’ll have some initial stories to follow. One that deserves mentioning is Roush. Watch that team, and the whole team. McMurray’s always been good here, as have the other Roushketeers. Biffle was taking everyone to school a year ago, until he blew a motor in the closing laps.

Daytona 500: 17 Days and Counting

Jamie McMurray

2007 Stats

2008 Preview

Jack Roush Playing Favorites Amongst His Roushketeers?

California Cleanups

Recent NASCAR Articles