NEW KID ON THE BLOCK
Pollock set to Buy Bill Davis Racing
By Greg Engle,Editor Cup Scene Daily, October 23
Craig Pollock, Jacques Villeneuve’s long time manager, will announce possibly as early as this week that he has become part or full owner of Bill Davis Racing.
The team currently fields two cars in Cup and three in the Craftsman Truck Series and Villeneuve is expected to race one of the cars in the NASCAR Sprint Cup next year.
Pollock’s foray into ownership of a race team will not be his first. In 1998 Pollock purchased Tyrrell, renaming it British American Racing (BAR), and signed Villeneuve as the driver. Pollock secured sponsorship for the team from British American Tobacco. After the team was formed, Pollock became somewhat of a controversial figure after he made abundant claims about how successful his team would be.
Those boasts proved groundless however and the team never really got out of the gate in 1999. By 2001, sponsor pressure led to Pollock being replaced, although he remained with the team in a limited capacity until 2004.
In 2003, Pollock formed CART team PK Racing, with businessman Kevin Kalkhoven. He remained as co-owner of that team until 2004.
This past weekend at Martinsville Pollock remained aloof on the subject of the buyout.
"I'm interested in having an active participation in a NASCAR team, preferably the one where Jacques drives," said Pollock. "It's the best way to make sure that my driver has access to the best equipment available."
"Every scenario has been examined, and this, with a lot of teams. We talked about partial buyouts, complete buyouts, set up of a new independent team, and multiple opportunities for a satellite team that would benefit from the expertise of an existing team.
"We talked to Roush, Evernham, Childress and, of course, Bill Davis."
Speculation is rampant however that the buyout is a done deal and the announcement will be soon. The only question that remains is if the purchase is a partnership or full buyout.
Franchitti to make Busch debut at Memphis By Greg Engle,Editor Cup Scene Daily, October 23
Dario Franchitti will make his NASCAR Busch Series debut at Memphis Motorsports Park this Saturday as he continues the transition to his first full season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup in 2008.
Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates will announce Monday day that the current IRL IndyCar Series and Indianapolis 500 champion will drive the No. 42 Dodge in the Sam's Town 250.
Franchitti will make his third stock car race start at the 0.75-mile oval where nearly a year ago Juan Pablo Montoya made his NASCAR debut for Chip Ganassi Racing and took a respectable 11th place finish.
Franchitti will have a guaranteed start because the car, which was driven by Montoya in 17 races this year, is in the top 30 in the Busch Series owners' standings.
Franchitti debuted in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in the Kroger 200 at Martinsville Speedway last week.
He qualified 30th for his first official NASCAR race, and for a time ran in the top-20 on the lead lap and was as high as 15th. He was involved in an incident just past the halfway point and was eventually forced to retire early. He was officially scored in 33rd.
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