Johnson wins a depressing Brickyard 400

Well folks, I don’t know what to say. In my mind yesterday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race, the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was one of the most that was one of the most pitiful races I ever watched. Sure, Jimmie Johnson had a great car and captured his second Brickyard win along with the 48 Lowe’s team, but what I saw yesterday was definitely not a race. If you were living under a rock yesterday and missed the race, you were probably one of the lucky ones. The tires that Goodyear brought were totally terrible; they couldn’t even last more than ten to 15 laps before blowing out. The tires looked the same every time they were pulled off with the cords showing due to severe wear. The rubber wouldn’t even stick to the track instead it became dust that blew away in the wind. This pathetic race was just mind blowing, but now everyone wants to know who is to blame?

The finger of course was pointed towards NASCAR and Goodyear for not handling the tire situation in a logical fashion. The first mistake that NASCAR made was not to have an open test at Indy this year like they do every year instead they only had a little tire test in which they only invited three teams to participate. They could have also used a different compound come race time, but they decided to stick with unreliable tire.

NASCAR VP of competition, Robin Pemberton said after the race on Sunday to Autosport.com that many of the solutions thought of wouldn’t help out one bit. "I think when you have an open test things like that have already been decided," Pemberton said. "I don't think an open test here would've done enough for us, it wouldn't have helped, I don't think.

"You may have had enough issues that you'd have gone back and redesigned the tires, but I don't know if we could've gone with that in time. Hindsight is always 20/20, I think we'll just learn from this experience and try to do a better job next year."

Other people tried to blame the abusive track surface at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the problems that were occurred on Sunday, but Pemberton denied that as a cause for the problems, instead he thinks that racing with the Car of Tomorrow for the first time at Indy may have caused the issues.

"This isn't the first time we've raced here with the surface the way it is, and in the past we've been able to accomplish what we need to accomplish," Pemberton said. "So to pick on the surface wouldn't be fair. I think the new car, and probably not having a test here, probably didn't help us at all. You can say that surface is abrasive, but we have been able to accomplish a full fuel run here in the past."
"We have to anticipate where the tires and the competition are going to meet on Sunday afternoon," he added. "We have challenges when we develop tires here because you have such a dramatic change in surface grip as the track rubbers in. You can make everybody happy on Friday, miserable on Saturday, and really miserable on Sunday, or you can come back and work best at trying to achieve the right grip when it comes to Sunday afternoon."

Pemberton also believed that not having any support races at Indy was the cause to the problems either.

Problems pushed aside a few good things did happen on Sunday, A.J. Allmendinger got his first career top 10 in NASCAR Sprint Cup competition, getting he and his Red Bull team ever closer to the top 35 in owner points. Elliot Sadler and Jamie McMurray got their best finishes of the season finishing 4th and 6th respectively. And with Johnson’s win Hendrick Motorsports got their first win of the season that didn’t involve fuel mileage, (with the way race was run, fuel mileage wouldn’t have been a factor anyway). The Sprint Cup Series moves on to Pocono where they and fans like I will hope that the memories of this race will disappear like a bad television series.

NASCAR to learn from tyre debacle [Autosport.com]

Stewart still mulling over options

Boy, Tony Stewart must love the attention he is getting these days with no wins this season (more on that to come later) and lot options when it comes to picking up a ride next year. And now with Casey Mears being released from Hendrick Motorsports at the end of the year, Tony may have another option.

"There's no one in the garage area that's not going to look in that direction," Stewart said. "You've got to look at it. Absolutely."

Of course it is most likely that Mark Martin will take over the 5 ride at Hendrick Motorsports in 2009, but Stewart feels like the opportunities to maybe get a ride at Hendrick are still open and may affect his search for what ride he wants in 2009.

"It may be pushed back even more." Stewart said. "We'll wait and see. It's however long it takes to make the right decision. There's a lot of variables to look at. We've got all the information except what happened today. The good news is we still have time to look at it."

Stewart interested in filling Mears' spot at Hendrick Motorsports [ESPN.com]

Hendrick to Mears: Get Lost

Well maybe not that harsh, but Casey Mears will not return to Hendrick Motorsports in 2009. "We've put a ton of emphasis on the #5 program," said Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports. "It's been a total team effort, and Casey has worked as hard as anyone to help us improve. We've tested more than we ever have, but the results just haven't come. None of us, Casey included, have been satisfied with the situation this season. But he's confident there are other options out there for him in 2009, and we feel like Hendrick Motorsports will have some opportunities, too."

"I know the effort has been there, but we haven't had the finishes to show for it," Mears said. "I've never tested this much or put more energy into racing. But for whatever reason, we just haven't been able to make it click. It's certainly not for lack of dedication on anyone's part. I'll talk to people about opportunities and get my 2009 plans wrapped up soon, but I'm also focused on the next 20 races and finishing 2008 on a positive note. We ran well the second half last year, and I know we can do it again. I want to close this season the right way."

This move has left the door open to see Mark Martin behind the wheel of this car for the 2009 season.

[Source: Hendrick Motorsports PR]

And the silly season is just getting started

ESPN.com reported yesterday, that Mark Martin is going to replace Casey Mears in the 5 car for Hendrick Motorsports in 2009. Of course this rumor has spawned out of a couple moves by DEI. The first is that Aric Amirola who splits time with Mark Martin in the 8 car at Dale Earnhardt, Inc. will most likely drive that car full time in 2009 and with DEI possibly downsizing in 2009, that would leve Mark Martin without a ride, hence the rumor about Mears getting booted out fo the 5 car.

The rumor comes at no surpise to me as Mears has not been performing up to expecations, he just scored his first top 5 of the year yesterday in Somona. But Mears' car owner Rick Hendrick doesn't to seem be ready to let go of Mears just yet.

"I'm committed to him [Mears] right now," Hendrick said on Sunday at Infineon Raceway. "I'm committed to him making that car run better right now."

Another thing to figure in is that Mark Martin is not running full time and will need a driver to split time with Martin and that driver will most likely be Brad Keselowski. It will be interesting to see what comes out of this little drama.

Martin to leave DEI, replace Mears in No. 5 [ESPN.com]

Extensions, extensions

Jeff Gordon and Hendrick Motorsports today signed an extension that will keep DuPont on the #24 machine through 2010. Extending a relationship between the two groups that has already lasted for a period of almost 16 years. "The relationship Hendrick Motorsports and Jeff Gordon have enjoyed with DuPont is not just one of the great success stories in NASCAR, but across all forms of sponsorship," team owner Rick Hendrick said. "We feel fortunate to have such a terrific, long-term partner, and our entire company looks forward to an exciting future with the No. 24 DuPont team."

Financial terms of the contract were not disclosed.

Elliott Sadler also signed a contract extension that will have him behind the wheel of a Gillet-Evernham Dodge for a few more years.

“This is the place where I want to race,” Sadler said in a statement issued by the team. “I think what we are building here is special and something other drivers and crew members envy.”

“Elliott is a well-respected driver who has the skills, both on and off the track, to succeed in NASCAR,” said Tom Reddin, CEO for Gillett Evernham Motorsports.

“In addition to being a great Sprint Cup driver, Elliott has a wonderful personality that attracts fans and sponsors who love working with him. We have enjoyed working with Elliott over the last year and a half and look forward to continuing our relationship.”

Exact details of the contract were not given.

DuPont extends contract with Gordon, Hendrick Motorsports to 2010 (SceneDaily.com)

Sadler signs multiyear contract extension with Gillet Evernham Motorsports (Scenedaily.com)