Allmendinger Signs Contract

If you're an Allmendinger fan, rejoice!

A.J. Allmendinger signed a contract with Richard Petty Motorsports that lasts through the 2010 season.

Up until now, 'Dinger has been driving under a creative contract, dependent on sponsors and performance. He's proven the performance part. (NBaP would love to see him in top tier equipment!) And up until recently, was guaranteed a ride up until Richmond with a new sponsor signing on until then.

It seems that all the chatter about the possibility of 'Dinger headed looking at a ride with an American Formula One team, or other NASCAR teams that started inquiring into his availability cranked the interest up a notch from RPM.

Regardless, the Los Gatos, CA native (He's nearly my neighbor!) has himself a ride for a while. Way to go A.J.!

Source: ESPN

Change is in the Wind!

If NASCAR can change car templates, maybe I can make some changes too!

Stick around NBaP and find out soon what's in the wind for NASCAR Bits and Pieces.

Winning At Every Track: Jeff Gordon

Jeff Gordon, is now 21 of 22 and is closing in to join some all time greats.

With Gordon's win at Texas, he now has a win at 21 of the active 22 tracks on the NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule.

The only track he needs a win at now is Homestead-Miami Speedway -- the site of the season finale Ford 400 -- and that will complete the active track win sweep.

NBaP is amazed at this endeavor, being that only three drivers have won at every active track in a given season's schedule:

• Richard Petty,
• David Pearson and
• Cale Yarborough.

Petty boasted a win at every track run from 1981-1985.

Pearson had a win at every track from 1976-78 and again from 1982-85.

Yarborough also did it from 1981-85.


Regardless of whether you are a Jeff Gordon Fan or not, I think it's a worthy, professional endeavor and we should root for achievement, if nothing else.

Headed To Phoenix: Whose Perfect, Whose Headed For 4?

Jimmie Johnson is going to try and make it four-in-a-row at Phoenix International Raceway on Saturday night.

NBaP doesn't have to look far to see who the last driver to win four-in-a-row was. It was Johnson, himself when he won four straight at Lowe's Motor Speedway from 2004-2005.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series record for most consecutive wins at a track is 7, held by both Richard Petty (Richmond, 1970-73) and Darrell Waltrip (Bristol, 1981-84).

At Phoenix, five drivers have posted multiple victories at Phoenix – each time in consecutive races:

• Davey Allison (1991-92),
  
• Jeff Burton (2000-01),
  
• Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2003-04),
  
• Kevin Harvick (both 2006) and
  
• Jimmie Johnson (2007-08).

If you're a fan of the new Loop Data from 2005 and on:

Two drivers have scored a perfect Driver Rating of 150.0 at Phoenix.

• 2005: Kurt Busch posted the very first 150.0, leading 219 of 312 laps in his only Phoenix win.
• 2006: Kevin Harvick completed the season sweep of Phoenix, leading 252 laps to score a perfect Driver Rating.
  

Pocono Raceway is the only other track where two perfect Driver Ratings have been recorded (both by Kurt Busch, 2005 and '07).

Surprisingly, Johnson has not had a perfect Driver Rating at Phoenix. In his November win last season, Johnson posted a near-perfect Driver Rating of 149.9, leading 217 laps of the 313 laps and tallying 66 Fastest Laps Run.

NBaP was wondering if Jimmie Johnson has ever scored a perfect Driver Rating, and he sure has. It was at Auto Club Speedway race last season.

Truck Series Looking Ahead To Kansas

There may be a Dorothy in Kansas, though she's not the one that went flittering about in a hurricane, but there is a storm brewing, and looking at Kansas in the form of the NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES.

The NCWTS Teams are looking forward to the next event in the schedule, the April 25 O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 at Kansas Speedway.



The track does not have a repeat winner ... yet and Victory Lane has seen winners of all experience levels, from Raybestos rookie-of-the-year contender Ricky Hendrick in 2001to three-time series champion Ron Hornaday Jr. a year ago.

The O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 marks the first opportunity of the season for Midwestern fans to see the series “up close and personal.” The race traditionally has been among the best-attended “stand-alone” races on the schedule and continues a Kansas City NCWTS tradition extending back to the inaugural season of 1995.

NBaP sends out a thanks to the Kansas fans for keeping it alive and well there.



Meanwhile we have a former champion battle brewing at the front.

Three of the top four in current championship standings are former NCWTS champions including Hornaday and Mike Skinner, who have battled for wins and titles in 155 races over the past 15 seasons.

1	Kyle Busch	682	Leader
2	Todd Bodine	644	-38
3	Ron Hornaday	611	-71
4	Mike Skinner	606	-76
5	Matt Crafton	561	-121
6	Terry Cook	528	-154
7	Johnny Benson	515	-167
8	Chad McCumbee	505	-177
9	Timothy Peters	503	-179
10	Rick Crawford	496	-186

Their records head-to-head are identical: 25 wins apiece. The two battled down to the wire in 2007 with Hornaday edging his rival for the championship by 52 points.

The two are separated by just five points entering the Kansas race. And if NBaP had a guess to make, that separation will be even closer, if you count paint and sheet metal!

A Quality Chat With Jeff Burton

Jeff Burton is a classic fan favorite. At least he is here at NBaP. He's been around long enough to know what it takes. He's adapted well enough to stay in contention, and it's just great to see all his hard work get rewarded every now and then and not watch Jeff fade into obscurity like some other drivers may have with time.

Earlier this week, Jeff Burton sat down with the press to chat about a few things. Let's see what he had to say on a few different subjects:

Coming to Phoenix, Jeff has won twice here so you would think it's a good track for Jeff. Despite that, he has some concern being as the team has not done as well as they need to. They're hoping to turn the tables this week for the 12th place sitting team.

His Take On The Economy
It's not as bad as they initially worried it might be, Jeff's take is that sometimes people just have to

"..buy milk first before rather than going to a race, and that's OK. That's a decision people should make."
Regardless, he knows the sport has lot of loyal fans, and he appreciates that.

His take on Marco Ambrose as a driver.
He said he hasn't had a lot of interaction with him but added that everyone is impressed with what he's been able to do this year as far as running competitively, barring engine issues.

Like any rookie, he's feeling his way through it and he thinks what Marcos has done is good.

NBaP LOL Moment:

Jeff was asked if he could understand Marcos when he talks with him.

Jeff said "I grew up with Ward, so I can understand pretty much anybody."

About drivers reaching out to more fans:
A lot boils down to how much time the drivers have to spend. The sponsors have always been the driving force behind the fan interaction with autograph sessions, sweepstakes and other things. Now that racetracks are stepping up to the plate and holding fan events. Everyone needs to do as much as possible on a race weekend to make the experience fun for everyone.

On the lug nut issues at Texas, where lug nuts are falling off because of the new
stud rule, gluing issue.

"Well, the stud length rule, the theory behind that, is that if you don't have enough threads on the nut side of the wheel, it's dangerous. The problem is the more threads there are, the longer it takes to tighten it up. In a competitive-based business, when our tire changers are paid and given the charge to do it quicker than the next guy, making it take longer – it doesn't make it safer. In some ways that can actually make it less safe because you have to stay on the lug nut longer."
He feels the idea behind the rule is sound, but the practice of isn't working out quite yet.

Yet, he doesn't lose sleep over the impact the issue can have on him. His focus is abut the things he can control such as getting on pit road, getting on good, putting the car where he needs to put it and all the other driving parts to the equation.

Otherwise, he says his guys work exceptionally hard and he feels like he's in good hands.

About Sponsors Demanding More For Their Money These Days

Jeff replied, "It's a buyer's market. I don't care what you're buying, except for maybe handguns and ammunition, it's a buyer's market."

His take is that corporate America is really smart and that's why they're where they're at. They're always gonna be looking for added value, there's no question about it.

And with that, teams need to be proactive in what they offer, but it's a fine line between getting a great deal and pricing yourself out of the position to be competitive.

Having "owned" Phoenix earlier this decade, does he think that if they unload a halfway decent car, can he contend for the win?
He feels they can contend for the win and it will take the entire team to do it.

"I can't just sit back and say, I've won her before, you just got to give me a good car. Getting a good car has a lot to do with the driver's input, what the driver thinks he needs out of the car. There's a lot to it other than unloading it. I believe we can go to Phoenix and compete at a high level and contend for a win."

On The Challenges Of RCR Adding A Fourth Team
It's been very difficult, having to build 25% more cars and have more employees. Despite new issues from having four teams, he feels that ultimately it will make them stronger.

Does a racecar driver have to ignite the fire in their belly or does it burn constantly?

He says everyone is human and they have their up and down days. There's even different times in your life or in your day even where you're not as motivated as others. He feels it's important to stay focused.

Despite getting older, he hasn't lost the competitive edge everyone says would happen. Yet he can't predict anything.

"I may only go to Phoenix for three or four more years. I don't know. I want to go for 10 more years, but I don't know if I'll be able to."
"I'm more motivated today than I was when I was 18 because I understand how special it is. I've lost it, and now I have it back. I want to make sure that I don't lose it again."

Is Joey Logano Meeting Expectations?

The following NBaP article is a guest column by Cathy Elliott.

Too Early To Judge Joey

Once in a while, a random comment can serve as a humdinger of a reality check.

I heard Joey Logano, driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, doing a radio interview. One of the hosts of the show asked him what he was planning to do on one of the all-too-rare days off allotted to NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers over the course of the grueling, 36-event race season.

"I'm just going to be a kid," Logano said.

Well, that sounded a little bit odd. If you ask most of the guys on the circuit, they might say they hoped to take the boat out for an afternoon or two, maybe relax a couple of days and enjoy the feeling that only comes with having absolutely nothing to do, and some period of time in which not to do it.

They might spend some time going over the books of the various business endeavors they're involved in. Someone might even get married; you never know. But why in the world would anyone say his goal was to make every possible effort to act like a kid?

Oh. The light bulb just went off. Logano wants to act like a kid, because he is one.

Logano has been in the news lately more than he would have liked, for the wrong reasons. The driver who was given the nickname "Sliced Bread" (as in, the best thing since ...) is already feeling the hungry dogs of doubt nipping at his heels.

He's hanging on to a spot in the top 35 for dear life -- currently, he is in the 35th position in the driver standings -- and some naysayers are already showing signs of changing that "Sliced Bread" designation to "Toast." They haven't gone that far yet, but you can tell they're really, really tempted.

After a disappointing 38th-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway on April 5, various Internet "experts and insiders" declared that JGR was considering replacing Logano in the car.

Is it just me, or are we being a tad hasty -- one might even say immature -- with this rush to judgment? Joey Logano is 18 years old. I have sweatshirts that are older than that, and they're not even all that ratty.

It might not be such a bad idea to try and gain a little bit of adult perspective here.

Joey Logano was born in the year 1990. The number one movie at the box office that year was "Home Alone." Think about this, people. He's younger than Macaulay Culkin. A lot younger. Yikes.

The top pop song in 1990 was "Hold On," by Wilson Phillips. 1990 also happened to be the year that Milli Vanilli was stripped of their Grammy award after it was revealed that, well, they didn't actually sing. The Grammy folks are picky about that stuff.

Wilson Phillips' last Top 40 hit was "Give It Up" in 1992. Logano was probably learning to say things like "No!" and "Mine!" about that time.

The San Francisco 49ers were Super Bowl champions in 1990, and the Cincinnati Reds won the World Series. Dale Earnhardt was the Cup Series champion, with Mark Martin, Geoffrey Bodine, Bill Elliott, Morgan Shepherd, Rusty Wallace, Ricky Rudd, Alan Kulwicki, Ernie Irvan and Ken Schrader rounding out the top 10.

The number one TV show that year was "Cheers." Logano can vote, and could serve his country in the military, but he is years away from being able to belly up to the bar with Norm and Cliff to shoot the breeze with Sam Malone over a couple of beers.

Let’s stop worrying about what Logano hasn’t done (so far), and talk for a moment about what he has.

At the age of 7, Logano won his first Eastern Grand National championship in the junior stock car division. He followed it up with a junior Honda Division championship in 1998 and in early 1999 a late modified division championship.

At the age of 10, he set a record 14-race Legends car winning streak at Atlanta Motor Speedway. At age 12, he won the Southeast-based Pro Legends national championship.

In 2007, at age 16, Logano won five races, three poles, and had 10 top 5s and 10 top 10s on his way to the Camping World East Series championship.

Last year at Kentucky Speedway, in his third start, Logano made history by becoming the youngest driver ever to win a Nationwide Series race.

The bottom line here is that if you're going to hold up a yardstick, make sure you're using the proper standards of measurement when you're wielding it. I surely am glad nobody examined me under the microscope and potentially put my career on the line after just seven weeks on the job. That's kind of harsh, unless maybe you're a brain surgeon or something like that.

The comedian Paula Poundstone once said that adults are always asking kids what they want to be when the grow up because they’re looking for ideas. I propose that we give this kid a break, because wouldn’t you really love to be Joey Logano when you grow up?

I know I would.

A Battle Is Taking Place At The Top

A classic battle looks like it's starting to take shape at the top of the NASCAR Cup standings since four of the top five drivers in the current standings are former NASCAR Sprint Cup champions.

This is just about as good as it gets for it being this early in the season. Then again, we here at NBaP know it is early in the season and we've seen what happens as things hit the final leg of the season! (Can we say Kyle Busch?)

In these top 5, we have four-time champion (1995, 1997, 1998, 2001) Jeff Gordon leading the pack.

Three-time series champion Jimmie Johnson.

The 2004 champion Kurt Busch, who didn't make much noise last year after all his owner points were wasted on Sam Hornish.

The ever hungry two-time (2002 and 2005) champ, Tony Stewart is fifth in points. With Tony sitting up top like this, and doing as well as he is, I am a betting man that he is very hungry to make point and prove that new teams are viable for contention when they're done right.

The total number of points separating Gordon from Stewart is a mere 216.

The EGR No. 8 Is No More

Lack of performance has driven the final nail in the coffin of the ill-fated No. 8 Chevy of EGR and operations have been suspended.

The No. 8 had one heck of a legacy.

The No. 8 legacy is one we will all remember as it started out under the driving guidance of Dale Earnhardt Jr and team owner vision of Dale Earnhardt Sr.

Since Sr's passing things have changed. The team is no longer what it was and has been absorbed into another team. (I don't care what order the names are in, if you need to join up with another entity to survive, you have been absorbed.)

Last Monday operations of the No. 8 under EGR were suspended.

NBaP is sad for Almirola and the team. Whether Almirola needed to do better, or he needed better equipment, it's moot now. So is pointing fingers at who or what helped precipitated it. For the moment, the shop is quiet while EGR attempts to stir up a sponsor.

Despite this, EGR says there are no changes planned for the No. 42 or No 1 cars.

No 8 on-track Image Cr: Getty Images for NASCAR, Red No. 8: ActionDiecast. (Though diecasts are from ACTION, I get all my non-Elite diecasts from Racing USA.)

Allmendinger Gets Even More Chances

In January of 2009, I wrote that A.J. Allmendinger had 8 starts lined up with the No. 44 Petty Dodge entry.

Now, he's got even more chances.

Due to the performance levels he's demonstrated with the No. 44 car, the team has been able to sign on Hunt Brothers Pizza, keeping 'Dinger in the car through September. Look out Richmond, here we come.

NBaP is pretty excited for A.J.. He's got talent and the obvious ambition and motivation to take a decent car and put it up there in all our faces, for all to see. Including potential sponsors.


CONGRATS 'Dinger! Keep it up and nail even bigger sponsors.

Photo Credit: Sam Greenwood/Getty Images for NASCAR