FanHouse BillDavisRacing

Former Formula One champ Jacques Villeneuve got NASCAR approval this week to attempt his first Nextel Cup race next weekend at Talladega.

That approval went over like a lead balloon in the Nextel Cup garage on Friday -- as it should have. Villeneuve will now get to attempt with Bill Davis Racing and potentially race in one of the toughest races of the year at Talladega.

The race is tough for a variety of reasons -- ranging from the 3- and 4-wide racing, the constant mental strain, it's key placing in the Chase for the Nextel Cup, and coming this time, it's the first time any Nextel Cup driver will pilot the COT on a restrictor-plate track in race conditions.

Sounds like a great place to tryout a Cup car, eh?

If I thought it would mean anything to anyone, I might have written the headline as "NASCAR Suspends Walker Indefinitely." But Tyler Walker is hardly a respected household name--even among NASCAR fans.

And now it's likely he never will be. Memorable maybe ... kind of like we all remember Shane Hmiel, but respected? Er ... not this season.

Walker, a driver in the Craftsman Truck Series for Bill Davis Racing, has been suspended from competition indefinitely by NASCAR, for violating the sanctioning body's substance abuse policy. He was tested following the May 18 race at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

2007 Pre-Season Flashback

Walker: "I've waited for an opportunity like this for a long time, and I plan to make the most of it. I know that chances like this don't comealong every day, and I feel really lucky to be involved with BDR and have backing from 360 OTC. Bill Davis' entire organization is top-notch, and the Bill Davis Racing NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series program is, in my opinion, the best one out there. With trucks from BDR, and teammates like Johnny Benson and Mike Skinner and 360 OTC behind me, I can't imagine how I would ever have a better shot at success in NASCAR."

A lifetime of racing got him there. And he threw it away for what? I really wish NASCAR didn't have a policy of not naming the substance. I'd really like to know which one Walker thought would taste better than success.

And did ya'll catch the part that he was tested after the race?So whatever substance this was was in his system when he was on the track? with 42 other drivers? Lovely ... I wonder if that will have any bearing on NASCAR offering him second and third chances ...

Update

Is Walker's future at BDR in question? BDR Statement:

"We agree with the vigilance that NASCAR is taking in this instance. We also have a zero tolerance substance abuse policy at Bill Davis Racing and will take the appropriate action concerning Tyler's future status with our company."

Despite having only started six races this season, Brian Vickers has given the manufacturer the most stats to write home to Japan about.

His old ride, the #25 HMS Chevrolet driven by Casey Mears, kept him out of victory lane, but Vickers had the "car to beat" Sunday.

His 5th place finish--with a new engine and a car that lost its power-steering at some point during the race--was a season best for the driver and Toyota. Their second best? Vickers' 10th place finish at California Speedway in February.

Vickers has also led more laps than all of the Toyota drivers put together. Prior to the Coca-Cola 600, Toyota had led a cumulative 14 laps, 8 of them Vickers'. He added a healthy buffer to that lead after tacking on another 76 laps at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

The red-headed Red Bull gained two spots in the owner points standings this weekend but still sits four positions and 200+ points out of the top 35.

In his fifth effort, Vickers' Red Rull teammate, A.J. Allmendinger, scored his best finish of 31st and is holding down the 47th position for his owner.

Toyota Teammates
Jeremy Mayfield ran in the top 15 for much of the day, even leading 3 laps. He said the new engine "made all the difference in the world." And so it did. Until it crapped out. Mayfield was relegated to a 25th place finish--he gained one spot for owner Bill Davis Racing and now sits in 45th.

Dave Blaney, who has failed to maintain a position in the top 35 despite being the only Toyota driver fortunate enough to start the season there based on last year's owner points, turned in another lackluster performance for BDR, leading no laps and finishing 18th. He remains 36th in the points.

Michael Waltrip Racing driver Dale Jarrett lost a spot. Ditto for David Reutimann, who failed to qualify. As for Mikey ... Do I really need to go there?

Now that NASCAR has lifted the indefinite suspension of David Hyder, team owner Bill Davis has no qualms about picking up the crew chief who was in charge during Michael Waltrip Racing's "Intake Gate":

"My opinion is he served his time with NASCAR, and they've reinstated him and that's all I need. I certainly don't think I'll ever know what happened in Daytona, nobody does. But the penalty was assessed and he's served it. He deserves the opportunity to go back and work."

Davis told the AP that he's been trying to bring Hyder on for years but didn't have the right position. Now he does. Next week, Hyder starts his new gig as crew chief for Jeremy Mayfield, who has qualified for only four races this season. Davis hopes that Hyder can pump some illegal fuel energy into the struggling #36 team:

"I've been everything you can think of -- sad, mad, angry, frustrated -- anything you can call it or everything you can call it. We just didn't expect to struggle with that deal."

By "that deal," I assume Davis means being far outside the top 35 in owner points and failing to qualify for races.

It's that time of year ... almost a third of the way through the season, halfway through the race to the chase ... time for teams to assess where they're at. During this phase, crew changes tend to come before driver changes--Dale Jarrett and Greg Biffle are also trying new ones on. Something better click pretty quick for this #36 team or Mayfield himself is likely to be the subject of the team's next silly season headline.

...whaaaaaat?

Somehow, during Thursday night's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series practice session at Lowe's Motor Speedway, NASCAR let an unlicensed driver out on the track in Johnny Benson's No. 23 truck.

We're not talking like a state driver's license, but rather a driver who hasn't been graded or passed any of the sanctioning body's requirements to race in the series.

The whole incident happened when the guy driving the Toyota Tundra race truck, who we'll refer to as John Doe from now on, crashed during Thursday night's test session in turn 2. Unable to continue, Doe climbed from the damaged vehicle for his trip to infield care center.

That's where things got a little bit fishy.

Brian Vickers was Toyota's top finisher today in 15th place. He and Mayfield's Bill Davis Racing teammate Dave Blaney, who finished 23rd, are the only two Toyota drivers that completed all of todays 504 laps.

Vickers led laps for Red Bull Racing today for the second time this season and Jeremy Mayfield, in his first season outing, also led a lap.

Mayfield cut a tire on lap 227 causing damage to the right side - he finished 18 laps down in 34th.

Red Bull's A.J. Allmendinger and Michael Waltrip Racing's Dale Jarrett were both involved wrecks and finished 40th and 42nd respectively.

Dale Jarrett blamed his misfortune on Matt Kenseth:

"I was trying to pass Kyle Petty and get in under him and then Matt Kenseth just turned me going into the corner. The car was good; I was having a good time. It's fun racing, but it's not fun when somebody does something like that. It's not the first time, but it will be the last .. You have to show some patience and here we are only 60 laps into the race and somebody does something like that ... This is not the first time that he's done something like this. Everybody has this great vision that Matt Kenseth is this nice guy on the race track, he is a nice guy away from the track, but he's a rough driver on the race track when he doesn't have to be. We'll have a discussion."

Michael Waltip and David Reuitmann failed to qualify.

The Harsh Reality
Toyota left Bristol today without a single car in the Top 35.

Red Bull Racing's A.J. Allmendinger is tired of hearing, "When are you going to qualify for a race?"

Now he won't have to for awhile--at least for a week.

The former Champ car driver finally qualified for his first Nextel Cup race.

"Oh my God, I'm just so happy. Sitting out there watching how fast everybody went was freaking the heck out of me."

His PR rep should be happy, too, as she is under orders from Red Bull to issue post-race press releases whether her driver actually runs or not.

With Bill Davis Racing's Dave Blaney starting inside the top 10, BDR's Jeremy Mayfield also qualifying for the first time, Red Bull's Brian Vickers and Michael Waltrip Racing's Dale Jarrett, Toyota has five cars in the show and is the success story of COT qualifying this week, save for MWR, whose other two cars didn't qualify.

Starting Monday, new question: "When are you going to qualify for another race?"

Jeff Gordon will be out front on Sunday when the cars of tomorrow take the green flag.

All four manufacturers have at least one car starting inside the Top 10.

Toyota drivers A.J. Allmendinger (Red Bull Racing) and Jeremy Mayfield (Bill Davis Racing) both made the field for the first time in five attempts. Brian Vickers also made the field for his third race of the season.

Michael Waltrip Racing's #55 (Waltrip) and #00 (David Reutimann) both failed to qualify. Dale Jarrett qualified the #44 on time and still maintains two championship provisionals.

Top 35 bubble driver Paul Menard (DEI) failed to qualify, as did Kevin LePage (0-5). Joe Nemechek and Johnny Sauter both failed to qualify for the first time in 2007.

Food City 500 Starting Lineup

Unlike Brandon Whitt, Jeremy Mayfield, A.J. Allmendinger and Mike Bliss survived the "three strikes you're out" approach and went on to attempt to qualify for Sunday's Nextel Cup race.

Mayfield and Allmendinger failed ... for the fourth straight week. (Ray Evernham and CHAMP Car fans everywhere are laughing their [insert preferred body part here]s off.)

Kevin LePage is also 0 for 4.

Ward Burton, Kenny Wallace and Michael Waltrip have all failed to qualify in three out of four attempts.

The KOBALT Tools 500 will be Brian Vickers' second race of the season and Mike Bliss' first.

At what point does a team say, "We have a problem?"

At what point does a sponsor say, "We can't afford to keep pouring money into your team without getting a return on our investment?"

Team Red Bull has an obvious advantage sponsoring their own team.

But how long can it possibly be before 360 OTC Team Green, et. al. decide to pull the plug?

How long before Napa tells Michael Waltrip Racing that they'd like to sponsor one of their Toyotas that actually makes it into the field?

My guess? Not much longer.