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2008 NASCAR Tickets & NASCAR Schedule
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Offseason Recap Posted:0535hrs
By Dan Sipocz, Cup Scene Daily Senior Staff Writer
Preseason Thunder wraps up at Las Vegas this week and then there will be silence. No roar of the engine, no sponsor plugs, no more half-decaled cars. In just over a week, Speedweeks will begin. Pole Day will lock in the two fastest cars and then everyone will have to race their way to their starting spot in the Daytona 500. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is ready to roll in his 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy. Expectations are high all the way around for Earnhardt, especially after crew chief Tony Eury Jr. said during Daytona testing that he expected to win at least four races this season. Dale Jarrett will retire and head to the ESPN/ABC booth. That’s right, no more ‘We want Dale to race the big brown truck’ commercials. Petty Enterprises has moved into the former Yates Racing shop and have shuffled around some key personnel. In the end, Robbie Loomis, Kyle Petty, and company continue to strengthen their operation with these moves. Now they have space to grow, more technology, and still have the knowledge of the King to help them out. Morgan McClure had to close shop and Boris Said has cranked up his efforts to once again gain enough funding to run a full-time schedule. Other part-timers will be Bill Elliott, Jon Wood, Marcos Ambrose, Kenny Wallace, and John Andretti (provided he finds a ride). Perhaps the biggest change will be signage again. Gone is the Nextel Cup and the Busch Series. Enter the Sprint Cup and the Nationwide Series. Next to go is the Craftsman Truck Series, as Craftsman leaves at the conclusion of the 2008 season. There were also some slight adjustments to rules in the offseason. Among the most notable is that crews can only push a stalled car three pit-stalls down pit road. This comes after several teams pushed their car nearly the entire length of pit road last year, putting themselves in harms way. In addition, all the cars that are not locked into the top 35 in owners points will qualify together, at the end of the qualifying session to take away the advantage of the late draw over the early draw (as there typically is an advantage to that at most tracks on the Sprint Cup circuit). Lastly, all fines that are levied will no longer be given back to the teams at the end of the season as part of the point funds. Instead all monetary fines will go straight to the NASCAR Foundation and divvied up among charities; no word on what Chad Knaus thinks of this idea, but rest assured if the past is any indication, Knaus may be making at least one donation this season.
NOTE: I'm a one man show, not supported by anyone. If you wish to donate to help offset expense, it would be appreciated:
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