Toyota SaveMart 350: Right-Hand Turns
Brian Gabrielle
Last Week: Stupid fuel-mileage race. We had Matt Kenseth at +1000 for last week's race at Michigan, and by the end of the day, Kenseth clearly had the best car. However, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kasey Kahne were able to finish a green-white-checkers caution lap running on fumes, and thus finished one-two, while the rest of the field had needed to stop for fuel. It was bad, bad luck. I supposed we've had our share of good luck this season, but considering we also had Kyle Busch beating Kahne in our head-to-head pick, that qualifies as a true kick in the butt. So let's call it even, shall we, gambling gods? For the week, we lost 1.5 units; for the season, we've profited 4.7 units on 21.5 units wagered, a return of 21.9%, and we've given you winning weeks in 12 of 15 events. (Note that if you'd eschewed the relatively conservative betting pattern we outline below, and simply bet one unit per wager we recommend, last week you'd have lost four units; for the season, that would leave you with a profit of 10.74 units on 59 units wagered, a return of 18.2%. But there's clearly a bit more week-to-week risk associated with that strategy.)
Take Tony Stewart (+450), 1/6th unit. This weekend, the Smokeless Set heads to the road course at Sonoma, where the drivers will make right-hand turns and try not to spin around hairpins, or leave the ground while rumbling down hills. Stewart is one of the current unquestioned kings of the roadies, having won six times in 18 career road-course events in Sprint Cup, including twice at Sonoma. Now, Smoke is definitely better-suited to winning at the series' other road course, in Watkins Glen. But last year, he led the most laps in this race and was positioned to post a third Sonoma win when five cars were able to make it to the finish without an extra pit stop. (Fuel mileage! Why must you vex us!?!) Anyway, I'll take Smoke to win Sunday.
Take Jeff Gordon (+450), 1/6th unit. Gordon is the other NASCAR superstar who's also an unbelievably good road-course driver. He's won five times at this track in 15 starts, and has finished in the top 10 on 11 occasions. He's also won four times at Watkins Glen. Stewart and Gordon are clear favorites when the stock cars turn right, and I'll take each of them.
Take Robby Gordon (+1000), 1/6th unit. The other Gordon has wins at both Sonoma and Watkins Glen, but is also a perennial tease at these road courses. He's perhaps the most accomplished regular NASCAR driver on road courses, and always looks like he's got a chance to win, but something always seems to happen to him, especially at Sonoma. It's been five years since his win here, and in that four-race span, he's finished 16th twice, 34th and 40th. Nevertheless, I'm buying the hype again. Robby Gordon Motorsports essentially exists to compete on two weekends a year. And this is one of them.
Toyota/Save Mart 350 PostQ
Could this be the week that Jeff Gordon finally gets to victory lane? We are nearing the half way point of the season and Gordon has yet to see the checkered flag, which has left the team a tad frustrated. Gordon, however, has been one of the best road course drivers in the series with a 12th place average finish in the last eight road course starts. He has two wins with four top 10s in that span and is looking to add to that win total this at Infineon Speedway. Gordon has been stellar at Infineon in his career recording five wins and right top 10s in his last 10 starts at the track. Expect Gordon to be contending for the win at the end of the day.
It might surprise some to see Jamie McMurray ranked in the top 3 on the PostQ forecast but McMurray is a pretty solid road course driver. He did have a could of problems in the road course races last season but prior to the 2007 debacle has six consecutive top 20 finishes with a pair of top 3 finishes. McMurray has a 2nd place finish at Infineon in his career and ranked 6th on our Speed chart propelling him among the top drivers projected for a decent finish. McMurray may not push for the win but he could be a solid pick for a top 10 if not a top 5 finish. Jump on the #26 Crown Royal Ford bandwagon for the Toyota/Save Mart 350.
We always talk about the road course specialists that race in just the two road course events of the season. The most well known is Boris Said and he looks like he is poised for a big day this Sunday. Said qualified in the 14th position while ranking in the 10th position on our Speed chart. He has five straight top 20 at Infineon posting four top 10s. He is a must have for this race. Also consider Ron Fellows for this event. Fellows has three top 15 finishes in six starts at Infineon. He recorded a pair of top 15 finishes for Hall of Fame Racing’s #96 Chevrolet last season – among the best finishes of the year for the team. Finally, consider newcomer Marcus Ambrose. It is Ambrose’s first career start at the Cup level but he if a formidable driver on the road courses in the Nationwide series, where he competes full time. Ambrose finished 2nd in the road course event in Mexico earlier this season in the Nationwide series and has a fast car this weekend for Wood Brothers racing. He qualified in the 7th position and ranked No. 1 on our Speed chart – which is impressive. He could be the surprise driver of the weekend.
As there are always those drivers that specifically run the road course races there are also drivers that you most definitely will want to avoid for this type of track. One of those drivers is Matt Kenseth. Kenseth has been one of the hottest drivers in the series posting five consecutive top 10 finishes. He has not run that well in the road course events in his career however. In eight career starts at Infineon Kenseth has just three finishes in the top 20 with zero top 10s and a 24th place average finish. We would recommend avoiding the #17 DeWalt Ford team for this race even though he has on a hot streak.
Another Roush Fenway driver that looks to be in for a long day is David Ragan. Both Ragan and Kenseth are just a few points out of the top 12 in the point standings but neither driver has looked good on road courses in their respective careers. Ragan is averaging a 30th place finish in his two starts last season and has not looked very good at all so far this weekend. He qualified in the 38th position and has been among the slowest cars in the practice sessions. He ranks just 38th on our Speed chart and is outside the top 30 on our PostQ forecast. Ragan has been running much better on tracks he performed poorly at last season but that will not be the case this weekend.
profantasysports.com
Gordon looks to celebrate 1st win of '08 at Sonoma
June 21, 2008
SONOMA, Calif. (AP) -NASCAR's annual trip to Sonoma has always been a celebration for Jeff Gordon. Surrounded by family and friends, he enjoys some fine wine, a game or two of croquet and his many personal milestones.
Two years ago he threw an engagement party here, and last year he celebrated the birth of his first child. The party this trip is daughter Ella's first birthday, planned for after the garage closes Saturday at Infineon Raceway.
But if Gordon has it his way, the celebration will stretch to Victory Lane on Sunday with his first win of the year. He had already scored four of his six 2007 victories by this point last season, but the four-time Cup Series champion has struggled to duplicate those efforts this year.
He said he's ``not yet'' frustrated by this winless streak. Instead, his aggravation is directed at the ups and downs his Hendrick Motorsports team is experiencing.
``I'm more frustrated that we're not more competitive,'' Gordon said. ``To me, you can be the fastest car out there and not get wins. So that's not really bothering me. What's bothering me is that we're hit or miss. We've put some top-fives together - some of them we earned, some of them we earned by strategy.
``We didn't go out there and really perform well enough to get those and that's where I feel like we really want to be - really getting the performance of our car.''
Gordon was a model of consistency last season, racking up a NASCAR record 30 top-10 finishes in the 36 points races. He built a lead of more than 300 points on the competition during the ``regular season,'' then staged an epic battle with teammate Jimmie Johnson for the championship before finally settling for second in what will go down as one of the greatest seasons of his career.
So why has his performance fallen so far off? He does have six top-fives through the first 15 races, but those finishes are pocked by days like Pocono and Michigan, where he was an uncharacteristic 14th and 18th.
Gordon points to the full-time use of the Car of Tomorrow as one of the issues plaguing the No. 24 team. Hendrick Motorsports was better than every other team last season in managing the back-and-forth swapping of the new and old cars, and maybe this year other teams have simply caught up because there's only one car to focus on.
``We weren't on mile-and-a-half tracks with this car. We had the old car and we had the old car dialed in. We had this car dialed in for the tracks we were going to. And it was really that we had it more dialed in than our competitors,'' Gordon said. ``Our competitors went to work and they've gotten better. And we've got to step up.
``It's very easy to get behind. Our teammates have done a little bit better job of catching up than we have, and that's where I want us to get better.''
Indeed, teammates Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. have each been to Victory Lane once this season. And while Gordon is ninth in the standings and in Chase contention, Earnhardt is third in the points and Johnson is fifth.
But Sonoma is Gordon's chance to shine. He's an exceptional road racer with nine career victories on NASCAR's two road courses. Five of those wins were here at Infineon, including three-straight from 1998 to 2000. He last won here in 2006, and has 11 top-10s in his 15 career starts.
As much as he'd like to duplicate his past success on Sunday, he won't make it a make-or-break race for his season.
``I don't want to put that kind of pressure on us to feel like we have to win here, and then if we don't it's our last opportunity or a failed weekend,'' he said. ``I really just want to come in here and do what we know we're capable of doing and try not to make mistakes - put the best car out there and go about it like we would any other time, whether we came in here with four or five wins or with no wins.''
And no matter the outcome, this weekend will go down as a memorable one.
``This is a really special weekend,'' he said. ``We always have a great time coming out here. I've put different events together with friends and family here for years and this year obviously, with (Ella's) birthday, it's just getting bigger and turning into a birthday party.
``And so it's going to be quite a bash. It'll be something she'll probably never remember, but something we will never forget.''
No pressure on Montoya in return to Sonoma
SONOMA, Calif. (AP) -The pressure was on Juan Pablo Montoya last year when he arrived at Infineon Raceway expected to score his first Cup Series victory.
The road-racing ace delivered, winning when he was able to stretch the gas in his No. 42 Dodge all the way to the finish line. Now he's back, without the target, and a much different attitude.
``There's no pressure at all,'' Montoya said. ``It's a great race to win, but it's sort of like `Been there, done that.' I don't need to win to prove anything.''
So Montoya is totally at ease heading into Sunday's race - he has used his time in California to play a round at the exclusive Sonoma Country Club, shop with wife Connie and enjoy local fare with friends his family.
His crew chief, meanwhile, could barely sleep.
Montoya might not be feeling the pressure, but Brian Pattie most definitely was.
``There's a lot of pressure. A ton,'' Pattie said before practice Friday. ``But that's because I want to win a Cup race.''
And if there was anywhere that the struggling Chip Ganassi Racing team can do it, it's on a road course.
The team has three road racing veterans running this weekend in Montoya, former IndyCar Series champion Dario Franchitti and former Grand-Am Series champion Scott Pruett. Although Franchitti struggled through his first practice around the 10-turn, 1.999-mile course, all three could conceivably challenge for the victory.
But it's Montoya that everyone looks to lead the charge, and Pattie is responsible for giving him a car capable of winning. The two have only been together a month, as Pattie took over the No. 42 crew in late May in the third crew chief change this season for Montoya.
Their four races together have been a frustrating cycle of one step forward, one step back with crashes in Charlotte and Pocono, a 12th-place finish at Dover and then a miserable 38th-place showing last week in Michigan.
Despite the results, the duo has finally settled in with each other and are moving forward committed to turning the team around.
``He is who he is, and as long as you know that and accept that, you are fine,'' Pattie said of the passionate Colombian driver.
Now they've turned their attention to Sonoma, where Pattie brought a brand new car and last year's notes to give Montoya a chance to win. Because he won on fuel mileage strategy, Montoya isn't shy about admitting he didn't have the best car here last year.
It's a sentiment shared in the garage, as some are naming veterans Jeff Gordon (nine career road course wins) and Tony Stewart (six) more credible favorites to win Sunday.
``Everyone said what a great job he did last year, but he had a 15th-place car last year and just happen to get better fuel mileage than everybody else,'' said two-time road course winner Robby Gordon. ``I don't even look at him as being a threat as much as I do with Jeff or Tony.''
Pattie disagrees, knowing that his years racing road courses in CART and Formula One give Montoya an edge few drivers can duplicate.
``He's got a reputation. An intimidation factor,'' Pattie said. ``If you see the 42 coming on your bumper at a road course, I promise you know who it is and how he's going to race.''
And Montoya won't be bothered by statement's like Gordon's. His credentials are intact: Seven F1 victories, NASCAR wins on the road courses at Sonoma and Mexico City (Nationwide Series) and a pair of victories in the prestigious 24 Hours of Daytona sports car race.
``A year later or two years later, the only thing anyone will remember is who won the race,'' he said. ``Not how they won the race.''
So Montoya heads into Sunday seeking his second career Cup win, but more importantly, a strong finish that can give him a push in the points. He peaked at 12th in the standings in mid-May, but has slumped to 22nd.
``If I had a chance of winning, I want to take it,'' he said. ``But at the same time, the last few races, we've struggled. If I take a third against a 20th place, it's an extra 100 points. You might take that third place and get the points and go home happy, but there's always a little chip in your head that says, 'OK, go for it.'''
Trading Paint: Toyota/Save Mart 350 picks
Welcome to Trading Paint, a weekly entry where a statewide panel of four auto racing "experts" will make picks on the NASCAR Sprint Cup races. This week: Sunday's Toyota/Save Mart 350 in Sonoma, Calif.
The rules are simple:
1. A panelist can't pick the same driver in back-to-back weeks.
2. Standings will be calculated each week based on the actual points earned by the drivers each panelist picks to win.
After 15 races, the standings are as follows, with their pick of last week's winner in parentheses:
1. Steve Kaminski (Matt Kenseth) -- 2,293
2. Jeff Bleiler (Carl Edwards) -- 2,016
3. Mike Pryson (David Ragan) -- 1,994
4. Antoine Pitts (Kyle Busch) --1,961
Jeff Bleiler -- Jackson Citizen Patriot
I couldn't make it to Michigan International Speedway over the weekend -- a graduation party and a trip to Comerica Park to watch the Tigers beckoned -- but I understand from some co-horts and spies in the media center that Kaminski was feeling pretty good about himself considering his lead in these proceedings.
He also allegedly made disparaging remarks about me and my upbringing. What he doesn't know is that we've just been toying with him so his head gets inflated (more so than already) before our big rally. It begins now. Time to hit the road.
• Winner -- Jeff Gordon. He won two years ago at Sonoma and has proven himself to be an adept road-course racer. He'll be near the front, if not in it, this weekend.
• Sleeper -- Tony Stewart. Also a decent road racer over the years, Stewart has received plenty of attention about his future and also with NASCAR's you've-got-it-good-so-shut-up speech. Maybe he'll put everything together and get added attention for winning.
• No chance -- Matt Kenseth. He has 151 top-10 finishes in his career, and none have come at Sonoma. His closest was 11th three years ago. He'll do well to match that this weekend.
Steve Kaminski -- The Grand Rapids Press
Sonoma is the toughest race to pick so far.
Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart have been the best at this track, but they are struggling. When in doubt, go with Kyle Busch or Carl Edwards. That usually works, but not this time. They are hardly road course demons.
Maybe I'll go with a ringer. Maybe I'll just pick a name out of a hat. No, I'm just going to go with my gut.
• Winner -- Juan Pablo Montoya. As terrible as he has been the past month, he'll make it 2-for-2 at Sonoma.
• Sleeper -- Jamie McMurray. He almost won this race last year before running out of fuel.
• No chance -- Matt Kenseth. Sonoma could destroy his momentum, since Kenseth has never finished better than 11th in eight career starts there.
Antoine Pitts -- The Ann Arbor News
After a cup of coffee at home, we're headed west again. Remind me again of where we're going ... Sonoma? Sears Point? Infineon? Whatever they call it these days, make sure you're ready for those right turns and elevation changes. There's also something fun happening here.
• Winner -- Jeff Gordon. Hard to overlook a five-time champ on this unique track. He's my road course specialist.
• Sleeper -- Juan Pablo Montoya. He returns to the site of his first Cup win.
• No chance -- Kasey Kahne. NASCAR's preview says his average finish of 31.2 is the worst of anyone currently in the top 12.
Mike Pryson -- Jackson Citizen Patriot
Drivers and teams won't admit it, but they're scoreboard watching from here on out as the Chase is past the halfway point.
And us "expert wannabes" are watching Kaminski pull farther in front of this challengers.
This week, it's the road course at Sonoma, and it's hopefully time to start piling on the points.
• Winner -- Jimmie Johnson. Conventional wisdom says it will be Jeff Gordon. After all, he's got to win a few races this season. I say it will be a different Hendrick Motorsports driver, as the team looks to build upon its Michigan success. The hunch here is that the Hendrick roll is starting.
• Sleeper -- Juan Pablo Montoya. The guy has done nothing this year worth writing about, but he is the defending champ and knows how to get around a road course. Either he does it this weekend, or he may never do it again in the Cup series.
• No chance -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. Sure, he's a Hendrick guy, and, sure, saying he's got no chance goes against just about everything I said in the rant above, but picking Earnhardt to win back-to-back races after snapping his 76-race winless streak last week is a bit much to ask. Also, Little E always struggles on the road course and has never had a top-10 finish at this week's venue.
mlive.com
Infineon field full of Said's proteges
Sporting News
SONOMA, Calif. -- Road course specialist Boris Said doesn't seem to mind giving ammunition to his opponents.
In looking over the 43-driver field for the Toyota Save Mart 350 NASCAR Sprint Cup event at Infineon Raceway, Said checked off the names of 18 drivers he has helped master the nuances of road course racing. The list includes Kasey Kahne, who won the pole for Sunday's race.
"You show them the difference between oval racing and road-course racing," explained Said, who would like to change his status from road course interloper to full-time Cup driver. "It's a different braking technique, and, really, they're not used to going so slow into a corner -- so just show them some basic stuff.
"In my opinion, these guys are the best drivers in the world. They have a lot of car control, so if you show them a few things, it's like showing a duck water -- they know how to swim."
Said acknowledged that, in some cases, the students have been able to school the master.
"It's a double-edged sword, because a lot of guys you've helped now beat you," he said. "But for me, I think long term -- when I go to the ovals, I've gotten so much help from guys like Dale (Earnhardt) Jr. and just a whole list of guys that help me, and that's shortened my learning curve."
Said ran a conservative lap in Friday's qualifying to ensure he would make the field for the event and will start 14th Sunday on the 1.99-mile road course.
Reutimann crashes in Saturday practice
Heavy contact with the wall during Saturday's first practice session at Infineon forced David Reutimann to a backup car for the Toyota Save Mart 350.
That presents a problem for Reutimann, who won't have much seat time in the backup before the green flag flies on Sunday. After turning a few laps in final practice, Reutimann left for Milwaukee on a team plane. The plan was to get Reutimann to the Milwaukee Mile in time for Saturday's qualifying for the Nationwide Series race.
Chris Cook, who has been instructing Reutimann on road course racing, completed Happy Hour in Reutimann's absence, but the No. 44 Camry posted the slowest time among the 43 cars in the final session. Reutimann's departure, however, may not matter that much, given that he was slated to start 42nd on an owner points provisional on Sunday.
Ambrose scrapes Turn 10 wall
After positing the fastest speed in Happy Hour, Marcos Ambrose slammed his No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford against the wall in Turn 10. The damage to the left side of the car was primarily cosmetic. The team won't have to resort to a backup car, and Ambrose will make his Cup debut from the seventh starting position he earned during Friday's qualifying.
"We had already set the fastest time, and I guess the car was feeling pretty good, and he kind of let it get out from under him in Turn 10," team co-owner Len Wood said. "There's quite a bit of left-side damage, particularly in the front.
"However, it didn't bend any suspension parts or the frame or anything like that, so we chose to fix it and patch it up best we can. It won't look the greatest, but as far as the suspension and those things are concerned, I'll be fine. It'll drive fine."
A.J. Allmendinger wasn't so lucky. A blown engine on his No. 84 Toyota will drop him from 36th on the grid to the back of the field for the start on Sunday... Sam Hornish Jr., Jeff Burton and Ryan Newman all spun in practice on Saturday but suffered minimal damage or no damage in their respective incidents.
Petty discounts road course aces
Sporting News
SONOMA, Calif. -- Kyle Petty says writers on the NASCAR beat use way too much ink every year talking about the chances of road course specialists at Infineon Raceway and Watkins Glen International.
"You guys always write about the road course ringers, and a Cup driver always wins the race," Petty said Thursday at a lunch in San Francisco to promote the weekend's Toyota/Save Mart 350 NASCAR Sprint Cup race activities at Infineon.
Petty won't be driving the No. 45 Dodge this weekend, as he continues his six-week stint in the broadcast booth for TNT, but he knows his history. In 19 races at Infineon and 22 at Watkins Glen (since NASCAR's top series returned to WGI in 1986), no road course specialist has ever been to victory lane in a Cup race.
To series points leader Kyle Busch, there's no contest when it comes to assessing who has the edge.
"If you look at past results, obviously, it's the Cup guys," Busch said Friday. "I think Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson and those guys are good. Denny (Hamlin) ran pretty well at the road courses, and Tony Stewart always has. The guys that have been here and know everything about these cars, it pretty much shows every time out."
It wasn't a Cup driver, however, who topped the speed charts during Friday's practice session. Nationwide Series regular Marcos Ambrose, who has an extensive road course resume, was fastest at 91.744 mph, followed by Cup veterans Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick.
RAGAN PLAYING DEFENSE AT INFINEON
Currently 13th in points and fighting for one of 12 spots in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, realistic David Ragan doesn't expect to be fighting for the win in Sunday's race. Instead, he'll be fighting a holding action, trying not to lose ground to those vying for the final few places in NASCAR's version of the postseason.
Fortunately for Ragan, those he's battling for the last Chase position aren't exactly road course aces either -- in a combined 13 starts at Infineon, Matt Kenseth (14th in points), Martin Truex Jr. (15th) and Brian Vickers (16th) have no top-10s to show for their efforts.
"Defense is a good word," Ragan said of his approach to Sunday's race. "You can't afford to just throw any one or two particular races away when you're looking at just 10 points (separating Bowyer, the 12th place competitor, and Ragan). A 25-point swing, and that's two positions up or two positions back. You just can't afford to give up any of those. So, we've put a little bit of extra effort into going to Road Atlanta and testing, going to Virginia International Raceway and testing for this race.
"I came out here last week and drove a Southwest Tour car. So, just maintain, be on the defensive side. We know we can't have the attitude we're going to go in and be aggressive and try to pick up a lot of points, because we'll probably get ourselves in a lot of trouble. So, 'maintain' this weekend is a big word -- top-15, stay on the race track all day and, like I said, the guys we're racing with will be right there with us."
If Ragan does gain a position in the standings this weekend, don't expect him to climb higher than 12th. The three drivers ahead of Bowyer -- Jeff Gordon (ninth), Kevin Harvick (10th) and Tony Stewart (11th) all are among the favorites to win the race.
But Ragan will have to improve vastly over practice just to hold his own. At 88.536 mph, Ragan was the slowest of 47 drivers in Friday's session.
NEW CONTRACT FOR BIFFLE?
Greg Biffle hopes to announce a contract extension with Roush Fenway Racing next weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, but the driver of the No. 16 Ford said Friday that there are details that still must be worked out before he signs the new deal.
"I think we're down to just getting this signed, more than anything. . .," Biffle said, "so I imagine we'll call a press conference in Loudon. It's not done yet. Anything could happen. The wheels could fall off of anything, I suppose, but I'll be excited to get it done and behind me."
Biffle's comment about the wheels falling off evoked laughter among reporters at his media session at Infineon. Loose wheels have been a chronic problem with Biffle's Ford and with the cars of some of his teammates this year.
"We had a wheel stud and lug nut issue," Biffle said. "We switched manufacturers, which I did not know of -- not that they need my approval anyway -- but I just didn't know that the hardware had switched on the car.
"We weren't the only car with loose wheels in our organization. Matt (Kenseth) had a loose wheel in a Nationwide race. We had a loose wheel at Texas. The 6 (David Ragan) had a loose wheel at the (Sprint) Showdown. They torqued the wheels prior to the event, and after the race the wheels were loose. They never had a pit stop.
"That just goes to show you what can happen when the hardware isn't mating up properly."
Biffle indicated Friday that the problems with the loose wheels had been resolved by switching some of the hardware.
LOOK OVER YOUR SHOULDER
You might start wondering about your job security when your car owner pulls you in favor of a road course specialist. That's the case with Reed Sorenson in Chip Ganassi's No. 41 Dodge and Regan Smith in Dale Earnhardt Inc.'s No. 01 Chevrolet, neither of whom will be racing at Infineon this weekend.
Scott Pruett takes over for Sorenson and Ron Fellows for Smith, but the moves have less to do with dissatisfaction with the drivers' performances than with the intense seven-car battle for positions 30-35 in owner points. Only the top 35 are assured starting positions in Cup races.
The No. 01 Chevy is 30th in owner points, just 37 ahead of Haas CNC Racing's 36th-place No. 66 Chevy. The No. 41 Dodge is 32nd, 29 points ahead of the Haas car, driven by road course specialist Max Papis this week, as regular driver Scott Riggs moves to Haas CNC's No. 70 Chevy, which has no full-time driver.
It also might be a good idea to start working on your resume when your owner issues a press release praising the performance of your car and your crew chief without mentioning you, the driver.
That was the case in Bill Davis Racing's release confirming the defection of sponsor Caterpillar to the No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. The release made a point of highlighting the No. 22 Toyota's 10-position gain in the owner point standings since failing to qualify for the race at Talladega. It also made of point of crediting crew chief Tommy Baldwin with the improvement of the team.
Conspicuously absent, however, was the name of veteran driver Dave Blaney.
Food for thought, if you're the guy behind the wheel.