Several of NASCAR's biggest names and personalities will descend on a tiny Rossburg, Ohio, half-mile clay oval next Wednesday for what has now become the hottest sideshow of the NASCAR season.
Hosted at the Tony Stewart-owned Eldora Speedway, the drivers will be joined by over 20,000 fans and hopefully many more for the HBO pay-per-view broadcast of the fifth annual Prelude to the Dream. Nationwide Series driver and SPEED TV personality Kenny Wallace, though, can't help to think how cool it would be to have NASCAR return to its dirt track roots.
"It would be nothing new, right?" said Wallace on Wednesday. "NASCAR used to run on dirt all of the time."
Driver Kenny Wallace still works for four to five hours every day the NASCARSprint Cup Series takes the green flag for a race of a few hundred miles.
The big difference between the 43 cars battling for position and Wallace, however, is what truly nabs at the current Nationwide Series driver. Instead of being on track, Wallace sits in front of the cameras to tell the NASCAR nation about what will happen and what just happened on the track.
Such a role isn't all that bad, as Wallace told the NASCAR Scene, but its led to some terrifically disheartening experiences.
Ricky Rudd will miss his third consecutive race this weekend at Dover International Speedway. Rudd suffered a serious shoulder separation during a crash at California Speedway.
Kenny Wallace has filled in Rudd's No. 88 since that time and will continue this weekend with Dover's Dodge Dealers 400.
Wallace says that he is looking forward to running in the Dodge Dealers 400.
"I really have a love/hate relationship with Dover," he said. "I've had some good runs there, and those are the runs I always try to remember when we head there for a race. I really enjoy the track a lot, and I'm just waiting to love the track, but I really feel that I can do well up there in the car of tomorrow this weekend. For as much as I enjoy Dover, I haven't had the finishes that I should have so far, but I'm just going to keep on trying."
During his time in the RYR Ford, Wallace has posted unremarkable finishes of 28th and 34th respectively at Richmond and Loudon.
David Gililland, the other Yates driver, has only posted finishes of 22nd and 39th at the same events -- showing that the Yates machines aren't exactly up-to-par at the moment, however.
For Wallace's future, you've got to hope that Yates brings a better package to the Monster Mile this weekend.
It's not known when Ricky Rudd, who is retiring at the end of this season, will come back -- if at all -- from his injury.
That's the word coming from inside DEI this afternoon.
Tim Packman, former website editor of www.daleearnhardtinc.com, was a guest on Dave Moody's show this afternoon and said that DEI has finalized its merger with Ginn Racing. Under the deal, the #13 team's owner points will be transferred Paul Menard to lock him into the field.
Mark Martin will drive the #01 in Indy as planned and will presumably finish the season splitting with Aric Almirola, who just signed with Ginn.
The #14 team's owner points will reportedly be sold to Furniture Row Racing to lock Kenny Wallace in.
Leader of the Outside the Top 35 Pack For the second week in a row, Red Bull driver Brian Vickers claimed the top starting spot among those teams outside the Top 35. Vickers' team currently sits in 39th position in owner points. While he sits only less than 200 points back from the 35th spot, he has not yet been able to close the gap because those drivers in between keep making races, too.
Following the Leader Fellow Toyota driver Dave Blaney scores the second sweet spot for the second consecutive week. He'll start in 17th.
The Wood Brothers/JTG Racing #21 Motorcraft Genuine Auto Parts Ford will start 21st. Bill Elliott qualified on time for the third time in four entries and still has five championship provisionals left. Having Elliott in the car hasn't produced the results they were looking for yet. The team has gone from 39th to 40th since Elliott stepped in at Lowe's.
Scott Riggs, who has only had one DNQ despite having to race in every weekend, will start 22nd.
Paul Menard, David Reutimann and A.J. Allmendinger will bring up the rear starting in 38th, 40th and 43rd respectively.
Losers of the Week (DNQs) Mike Bliss (11), Ward Burton (8), Dale Jarrett (4), Kevin Lepage (12), Jeremy Mayfield (10), Kenny Wallace (7)
Leader of the Outside the Top 35 Pack Brian Vickers was the top qualifier of all drivers outside the top 35 in owner points.
As predicted, the red bull had no trouble qualifying on the Pocono tri-oval. He'll start in the 9th position, a season best.
For now, Vickers is pleased with his team's progress and the direction in which it is headed:
"We seem to be really good in the races and I'm really proud of Toyota and TRD (Toyota Racing Development). They've been working real hard and it has shown in the last couple races with how well the Toyotas have been running. I'm real proud of our entire Red Bull team that's building these race cars -- our intermediate program has really been improving week after week. We've been doing a good job in the race and Doug (Richert) has been calling great races. I'm just excited to race Sunday and hopefully we can be just as good when we get to Michigan."
Following the Leader Dave Blaney returns after sitting Dover out. He starts 14th. Ward Burton 20th. Paul Menard starts his first race with a new crew chief in the 21st spot.
David Reutimann will be the sole representative for Michael Waltrip Racing, starting in 23rd. Vickers Red Bull teammate A.J. Allmendinger will pull off 28th. Scott Riggs 31st.
Bill Elliott was forced to used a championship provisional this week and will start 43rd.
Losers of the Week (DNQs) Mike Bliss (10), Dale Jarrett (3), Kevin Lepage (11), Jeremy Mayfield (9), Kenny Wallace (6), Michael Waltrip (12)
"I pity the other competitors the day [Michael Waltrip] makes the race, because he's going to have some pent-up frustrations. He wants to race. That's not relevant. He's ready." ~ Ty Norris, General Manager, Michael Waltrip Racing
I pity the fool who thinks Michael Waltrip might ever qualify for a race--and yet I never stop hoping he does.
It was another tough qualifying day for the Coca-Cola Racing driver, the only one of thirteen not representing their soft drink sponsor in its title race. Waltrip and MWR driver David Reutimann both hit the wall in qualifying [video] and failed to make the show. The Coca-Cola 600 will be Waltrip's 11th consecutive DNQ and Reutimann's fourth.
Poor Mikey. On the upside, Dale Jarrett, who is just inside the top 35 this week, qualified a season best 23rd.
Other Losers of the Week (DNQs) Paul Menard (4), Ward Burton (7), Kevin LePage (10), Mike Bliss (8)
Made the Show Dave Blaney was the best of the worst today getting a starting spot on the fourth row for the #22 Caterpillar Toyota, the manufacturer's only entry in the top 10.
Bill Elliott, who's racing to get the Wood Brothers/JTG Racing #21 Ford from 39th into the top 35, didn't need a championship provisional--he raced his way into the 22nd starting spot. Given their positions in the standings, with Menard and Waltrip on the sidelines this weekend, the #21 team stands to gain one spot just by starting the race. Awesome.
Scott Riggs will start 15th and Jeremy Mayfield 24th in his fourth race of the season. Brian Vickers starts 26th with his Red Bull teammate, A.J. Allmendinger, two rows behind in 29th.
Kenny Wallace avoided his fifth DNQ and kept Menard out by .08 seconds to start in the 43rd spot. It's his lowest starting position of the season ... but I bet if you when they ask him about it he'll say he's just happy to be in the race. As well he should be. Just ask Waltrip.
Leader of the Outside the Top 35 Pack Kenny Wallace raced his Furniture Row #78 Chevrolet into the show for the seventh time this season. He will start 6th tonight at Darlington Raceway, matching his best qualifying effort of the season last week in Richmond.
Good thing, too, because Kenny really wants to race in Charlotte and now he gets another chance to remind fans to vote for him:
"The 'Vote for Kenny' campaign has grown its own legs and developed into a huge deal. I am very appreciative to Furniture Row for being such a supportive sponsor by getting behind the 'Vote For Kenny' campaign. I don't think that many other sponsors, if any at all, would give up the hood of their racecar for a weekend to promote voting their driver into the NEXTEL All-Star Challenge. Being voted into this race would be a huge deal, not just for me, but for my Furniture Row Racing team too!"
Following The Leader Ken Schrader also starts in the top 10 in the 8th position. David Reuitmann starts 14th.
Both Red Bull racers are on track this weekend for just the second time this season, the first being Bristol. Brian Vickers starts in the 15th spot and A.J. Allmendinger starts 20th.p>Paul Menard starts 23rd in his eighth race of the season, Dave Blaney starts 27th and Ricky Rudd 40th.
Kevin LePage will start his first race of the season after attempting to qualify for 9 of the previous 10 races.
Losers of The Week (DNQs) Scott Riggs, who has been outside the top 35 since the beginning of the season, failed to qualify for his first race in 2007 in Darlington.
Just a quick shot of 110 octane to get you goin' for 500 499 miles of NASCAR Nextel Cup Racing at Talladega. Today's coverage starts at 1:30pm/et on FOX with the green flag sometime after 2:15pm/et. The weather forecast today is remarkable -- Sunny and a high of 82.
Would the Real Tony Stewart Please Stand Up? First, he wouldn't talk. Then, he blasted NASCAR for being the new professional wrestling. NASCAR then, for all intents and purposes, laid a verbal lashing on him. Yesterday? Defiant as ever, acting as if he was still right. Which are you, Tony? When will you pick a stand and quit waffling? I can't agree more with this column over on ThatsRacin. The first line really says it all -- Tony Stewart is no hero for what he said on the radio, rather, he is just talking to be heard because the method in which he displays his displeasure is utterly ineffective for change. The NASCAR Nation thanks you, Tony, for so damaging any credibility this sport has worked so hard to have. Today begins an attempt to bring that back.
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?
Several of NASCAR's biggest names and personalities will descend on a tiny Rossburg, Ohio, half-mile clay oval next Wednesday for what has now become the hottest sideshow of the NASCAR season.
Driver 
Ricky Rudd will miss his third consecutive race this weekend at Dover International Speedway. Rudd suffered a serious shoulder separation during a 
That's the word coming from inside DEI this afternoon. 
Leader of the Outside the Top 35 Pack
Leader of the Outside the Top 35 Pack
Leader of the Outside the Top 35 Pack
Unlike 
