Well, Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch won their respective qualifying races. That means they will line up right behind Martin Truex Jr. and Mark Martin for Sunday’s Daytona 500.

Unless some gets disqualified, this will be the starting lineup for the 51st Daytona 500.

1. No. 1, Martin Truex Jr.
2. No. 5, Mark Martin
3. No. 24, Jeff Gordon
4. No. 18, Kyle Busch
5. No. 14, Tony Stewart
6. No. 83, Brian Vickers
7. No. 48, Jimmie Johnson
8. No. 42, Juan Pablo Montoya
9. No. 20, Joey Logano
10. No. 11, Denny Hamlin
11. No. 8, Aric Almirola
12. No. 96, Bobby Labonte
13. No. 2, Kurt Busch
14. No. 88, Dale Earnhardt Jr.
15. No. 9, Kasey Kahne
16. No. 99, Carl Edwards
17. No. 36, Scott Riggs
18. No. 41, Jeremy Mayfield
19. No. 98, Paul Menard
20. No. 44, A.J. Allmendinger
21. No. 26, Jamie McMurray
22. No. 33, Clint Bowyer
23. No. 47, Marcos Ambrose
24. No. 12, David Stremme
25. No. 07, Casey Mears
26. No. 31, Jeff Burton
27. No. 55, Michael Waltrip
28. No. 00, David Reutimann
29. No. 77, Sam Hornish Jr.
30. No. 19, Elliott Sadler
31. No. 7, Robby Gordon
32. No. 29, Kevin Harvick
33. No. 6, David Ragan
34. No. 43, Reed Sorenson
35. No. 16, Greg Biffle
36. No. 39, Ryan Newman
37. No. 34, John Andretti
38. No. 82, Scott Speed
39. No. 17, Matt Kenseth
40. No. 21, Bill Elliott
41. No. 28, Travis Kvapil
42. No. 78, Regan Smith
43. No. 66, Terry Labonte

Missing The Race:
No. 71, Mike Wallace
No. 51, Kelly Bires
No. 75, Derrike Cope
No. 57, Norm Benning
No. 73, Mike Garvey
No. 08, Boris Said
No. 87, Joe Nemechek
No. 09, Brad Keselowski
No. 46, Carl Long
No. 37, Tony Raines
No. 27, Kirk Shelmerdine
No. 23, Mike Skinner
No. 64, Geoff Bodine

Post from: Adam Fenwick

That is signifigant for a few reasons. First, these cars weren’t drafting, they were running individual runs to prepare for Sunday’s qualfying sessions. Thus, Bill Elliott has, possibily, one of the fastest single cars at the track and is a threat to take home the Daytona 500 pole.

Second, Bill Elliott and the Wood Brothers No. 21 aren’t guarnteed a spot in the Daytona 500. If Elliott is able to qualify on the front row then that would guarntee the team a spot in the race. Even if he doesn’t qualify on the front row, as long as he is among the top three teams not quarnteed a spot in the race in terms of speed, that will get him in the show as well.

Here’s hoping the Wood Brothers make the race, they missed the show last year.

Post from: Adam Fenwick

News from Yates Racing: As expected, Yates Racing moved its Owner Points around a bit. The No. 96 will get the points from the No. 38 while the No. 98 will get its points from the No. 28. Meanwhile, Travis Kvapil will be forced to race his way into the Daytona 500. Poo I say!  Oh yeah, the new Hall of Fame/Yates alliance unveiled the paint scheme of the No. 96 Ask.com Ford. It looks a little odd, but hey, who knows what it’ll look like at 200 mph?

News from Penske Racing South: With the buyout of Alltel complete, Verizon still plants on sponsoring the No. 12 Dodge driven by David Stremme. The only difference? They have no plans to put their logos on the car, at least from what I’ve read anyway. Here is an excerpt from Jayski.com: Verizon will fully fund the #12 Sprint Cup car of Penske Racing this season but the company’s logo and name will not be allowed on the paint scheme. “The [Cup] car will be identified and branded as the Penske Dodge Charger,” said Walt Czarnecki, the executive vice president of Penske Corporation. That means David Stremme, who replaces Ryan Newman in the #12, could find himself promoting Verizon even though the name can’t be on the car, thanks to a 2004 ruling after Nextel became the top series sponsor (it was since become Sprint).

News from Tommy Baldwin Racing: Scott Riggs was named the driver of the new Tommy Baldwin Racing Toyota entry. No sponsor has been named yet, but the car will sport No. 36.

News from Gillett Evernham Richard Petty Motorsports: The merger everyone was expecting was made final, with Gillett Evernham pretty much absorbing the former Petty Enterprises to create Richard Petty Motorsports. As Monte Dutton put it earlier today in a conversation I had with him, essentially all Gillet Evernham has done is purchase the rights to the Nos. 43 and 44. The No. 43, being driven by Reed Sorenson, will run full time with sponsorship from several places (including Valvoline, Air Force, McDonald’s and more to be named) and the No. 44 will run part time with A.J. Allmendinger behind the wheel. The No. 44 will race as often as they can find sponsorship.

News from Joe Gibbs Racing: Farm Bureau Insurance announced plans to sponsor a JGR Toyota in six Sprint Cup races in 2009. Hamlin will fly the colors of Farm Bureau twice and Joey Logano once. The remaining three races of the Farm Bureau sponsorship will be on a fourth JGR entry (No. 02) with an as yet unnamed driver.

News from Stewart-Haas Racing: Minor news here, but Stewart-Haas has signed Burger King as a major associate sponsor who will serve as primary sponsor on Stewart’s No. 14 for 2 races.

News from Wood Brothers Racing: Nothing really new here, but Motorcraft confirmed they will sponsor the No. 21 Ford driven by Bill Elliott in 9 races in 2009, including February’s Daytona 500. Remember, this team is only planning on running a limited schedule in 2009.

Misc. Team News: Several teams are planning on attempting to make the Daytona 500. Among them are…
Mike Skinner, driving the No. 23 R3 Motorsports Chevrolet.
Kirk Shelmerdine, driving Toyota’s recently purchased from the former Bill Davis Racing team. Also note Shelmerdine plans on running the entire Cup schedule, at least so says the rumor mill. I’ll believe that when I see it.
Kelly Bires, driving the No. 51 Black Jack Racing Dodge.
Mike Wallace, driving the No. 71 TRG Motorsports Chevrolet
James Hylton (yes, THAT James Hylton), driving the No. 08 EM Motorsports Dodge
Also expected to make attempts are Carl Long, Derrike Cope, Terry Cook, Norm Benning and lord knows who else.

Post from: Adam Fenwick

Yates Racing and Hall of Fame Racing announced a working agreement, sign Bobby Labonte and Ask.com for No. 96 Ford.
What a twist!  I, for one, never saw that coming at all. All signs pointed towards Bobby Labonte joining up with Earnhardt Ganassi, but things apparently changed quickly. Out of no where Yates and HOF announced a working agreement, switching the No. 96 from Toyota to Ford.  Then, only a few days later, it was announced that Bobby Labonte would join the fold to drive the No. 96, bringing with him sponsorship from Ask.com. The end result of this will be a three team operation with Yates and Hall of Fame, meaning either Travis Kvapil or David Gilliland will be the odd man out (rumor has that odd man to be Gilliland).  Whatever team doesn’t run (the No. 28 or No. 38) that team’s owner points will likely go to Paul Menard in the new No. 98.

Elsewhere, the signing of Labonte by Yates/HOF might have hurt any chances Earnhardt Ganassi had of fielding four full time teams. In fact, they would be lucky at this point to field two full time teams (because that is all they have sponsorship to cover). Martin Truex Jr. and Juan Pablo Montoya are all but set to run full time in ‘09, Aric Almirola still needs sponsorship and of course there is still the question of the No. 41 car that was supposed to have sponsorship from Target. At this point I have no clue what this team plans to do.

Also, is anyone else confused about the new rules for the Budweiser Shootout? Why can’t we just go back to running the pole winners from the previous year in the race? Wouldn’t that just make life easier for everyone involved?

Post from: Adam Fenwick

Gillett Evernham Motorsports (GEM) and Petty Holdings announced an agreement in principle to form a new NASCAR Sprint Cup team co-owned by Richard Petty, Petty Holdings, owned by majority shareholder Boston Ventures, and Gillett Evernham Motorsports. The team will field four Dodge entries in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. Details of the transaction are expected once the deal is closed. Petty and GEM officials anticipate a final agreement by the end of January. Some notes:
* The new team plans to run a fourth Dodge in eight races in the 2009 season including the Budweiser Shootout with additional races contingent on sponsorship.
* Ray Evernham retains a minority ownership role with the new team.
* Richard Petty and Petty Holdings will continue to own and operate the Richard Petty Driving Experience as an independent entity.
* Key Petty employees Robbie Loomis, Dale Inman and Brian Moffitt will also have active roles with the new team.
* The new team will use the GEM race shops in Statesville, N.C. and engine shop in Concord, N.C.
* GEM and Petty sponsors will continue with the new organization. (Gillett Evernham PR)

Post from: Adam Fenwick

00 David Reutimann Aaron’s Toyota (Michael Waltrip Racing)
Reutimann has Aaron’s on board for 18 races in 2009. Team still needs sponsorship for the rest of the season.

1 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet (Earnhardt Ganassi Racing)
Part of the new Earnhardt/Ganassi team. I expect no changes to this team despite the merger.

2 Kurt Busch Miller Lite Dodge (Penske Racing South)
No changes expected for this former Sprint Cup Series champion.

5 Mark Martin Kellogg’s/Carquest Chevrolet (Hendrick Motorsports)
Martin returns for one more crack at a Sprint Cup title, replacing the departing Casey Mears.

6 David Ragan UPS Ford (Roush-Fenway Racing)
Ragan gets solid sponsorship from UPS, which departed Michael Waltrip Racing at the end of 2008.

07 Casey Mears Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet (Richard Childress Racing)
Mears takes over the No. 07 car previously driven by Clint Bowyer. Bowyer moves to the No. 33 car in the Childress stable.

7 Robby Gordon Jim Beam/Menards/Mapei Toyota (Robby Gordon Motorsports)
Well, Robby Gordon has jumped from Dodge after one year to join up the ever growing Toyota camp. We’ll see how this works out for him.

8 Aric Almirola UNKNOWN SPONSOR Chevrolet (Earnhardt Ganassi Racing)
Another team that is part of the Earnhardt/Ganassi merger. This team needs to nail down sponsorship for the 2009 season and fast.

9 Kasey Kahne Budweiser Dodge (Gillett Evernham Motorsports)
No changes known or expected for the defending Coca-Cola 600 champ.

11 Denny Hamlin Federal Express Toyota (Joe Gibbs Racing)
No changes expected for Hamlin and company in 2009.

12 David Stremme Alltel Dodge (Penske Racing South)
Stremme replaces Ryan Newman at Penske Racing South in 2009.

14 Tony Stewart Old Spice/Office Depot Chevrolet (Stewart-Haas Racing)
Tony Stewart leaves Joe Gibbs Racing and buys into the former Haas/CNC Racing team to create Stewart-Haas Racing. Stewart gets sponsorship from Old Spice and Office Depot in 2009.

16 Greg Biffle 3M Ford (Roush-Fenway Racing)
No changes expected for Greg Biffle in 2009.

17 Matt Kenseth DeWalt Ford (Roush-Fenway Racing)
Kenseth signed a multi-year contract extension with Roush-Fenway recently, so he isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Toyota (Joe Gibbs Racing)
No changes expected for Busch, who was the talk of the 2008 season (at least, until the Chase started).

19 A.J. Allmendinger Best Buy/Stanley Tools Dodge (Gillett Evernham Motorsports)
The big change here is Elliott Sadler has been booted from his spot in the No. 19 in favor of young A.J. Allmendinger. Sadler isn’t happy about it, going so far as to announce plans to sue GEM over the entire ordeal.

20 Joey Logano Home Depot Toyota (Joe Gibbs Racing)
The young Joey Logano will drive full time in Sprint Cup in 2008, replacing Tony Stewart, and go after the Rookie of the Year honors.

24 Jeff Gordon DuPont Chevrolet (Hendrick Motorsports)
Other than National Guard apparently coming on board for a few races in 2009, no changes are expected here.

26 Jamie McMurray Crown Royal Ford (Roush Fenway Racing)
No major changes expected for the No. 26 Ford driven by Jamie McMurray.

28 Travis Kvapil UNKNOWN SPONSOR Ford (Yates Racing)
Another team in need of a full time sponsor in 2008. This team used several different sponsors in 2008 and could really use some help in 2009.

29 Kevin Harvick Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet (Richard Childress Racing)
No changes expected for Kevin Harvick and company.

31 Jeff Burton Caterpillar Chevrolet (Richard Childress Racing)
Caterpillar leaves the No. 22 Bill Davis Racing team to join up with Burton and RCR, who lost AT&T as its sponsor due to an agreement with series sponsor Sprint.

33 Clint Bowyer General Mills Chevrolet (Richard Childress Racing)
Clint Bowyer leaves the No. 07 to drive the new fourth team for Richard Childress in 2009, the No. 33 General Mills Chevrolet. BB&T will also sponsor this car in 11 races.

38 David Gilliland UNKNOWN SPONSOR Ford (Yates Racing)
Gilliland and Yates Racing need a sponsor or I don’t think this team will last too long into the 2009 season.

39 Ryan Newman U.S. Army Chevrolet (Stewart-Haas Racing)
The second car in the Stewart-Haas armada, Newman still needs sponsorship for 14 races in 2009 (U.S. Army is only covering 22 races).

41 UNKNOWN DRIVER Target Chevrolet (Earnhardt Ganassi Racing)
This is the wild car in the Earnhardt/Ganassi merger. Rumors have the recently released Bobby Labonte taking over this seat.

42 Juan Pablo Montoya Wrigley Gum Company Chevrolet (Earnhardt Ganassi Racing)
The Wrigley Gum Company is only sponsoring this car for half of the schedule. The remainder of the schedule remains unsponsored for Montoya and the new Earnhardt Ganassi Racing team.

43 UNKNOWN DRIVER UNKNOWN SPONSOR Dodge (Petty Enterprises)
The merger between Petty Enterprises and Gillett Evernham isn’t a done deal, YET. All sources indicate that this should be done in at least two weeks, probably less. Reed Sorenson is likely to end up in this seat once the merger is signed, sealed and delivered. No word on sponsorship.

47 Marcos Ambrose Clorox/Little Debbie’s/Kingsford Toyota (JTG Daugherty Racing)
Marcos Ambrose moves up full time to the Sprint Cup Series in 2009. Should be an interesting year for the road course expert.

48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Chevrolet (Hendrick Motorsports)
No changes known for the defending three-time Sprint Cup champ.

55 Michael Waltrip NAPA Toyota (Michael Waltrip Racing)
No changes expected for Michael Waltrip and company.

77 Sam Hornish Jr. Mobil 1 Dodge (Penske Racing South)
No changes known for the No. 77 team. AAA will join this team for three races as primary sponsor.

82 Scott Speed Red Bull Toyota (Red Bull Racing)
Speed replaces A.J. Allmendinger at Red Bull Racing. Team switches from No. 84 to No. 82.

83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota (Red Bull Racing)
No changes expected for Brian Vickers and the No. 83 team.

88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Amp Energy/National Guard Chevrolet (Hendrick Motorsports)
No changes expected for the most popular driver in NASCAR.

98 Paul Menard Menard’s Ford (Yates Racing)
The new third team at Yates Racing, Paul Menard jumped ship from Dale Earnhardt Inc. before the merger with Ganassi and brought his father’s sponsorship with him.

99 Carl Edwards Aflac Ford (Roush Fenway Racing)
Aflac replaces Office Depot as the new full time sponsor on the No. 99 Ford driven by Carl Edwards.

Other 2009 team information:

10 UNKNOWN DRIVER UNKNOWN SPONSOR Dodge (Gillett Evernham Motorsports)
The future of GEM’s No. 10 team is totally up in the air now. With the expected merger with Petty coming soon, it is expected that Reed Sorenson will move to the No. 43. That leaves this team without a driver or major sponsorship, though they did sign up Air Force for two races as primary sponsor.

No. 13 Germain Racing Toyota
Team announced late in 2008 that they would attempt 18 races in 2009 with driver Max Papis and sponsorship from Geico. Could run full schedule if sponsorship is found.

No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford
This team will go to a part time schedule in 2009 with Bill Elliott driving the car in 12 races. They should have sponsorship from Motorcraft and Ford for those races.

No. 22 Bill Davis Racing Toyota
Big news for this team recently. It has been announced that Bill Davis has sold his NASCAR operation to Marty Gaunt and Michael Held. They plan to field the team full time in 2009, but they lack sponsorship and a driver.

No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet
Team announced a few weeks back they would run a part time schedule in 2009. It was recently announced that 2008 Rookie of the Year Regan Smith will take over driving duties of this car from Joe Nemechek.

No. 96 Hall of Fame Racing Toyota
Team owners have recently stated they plan to run the entire schedule in 2009 with this team, but rumors continue to circulate about this teams future. DLP is signed on, supposedly, to sponsor this team for at least a portion of the schedule. No word on a driver or who could step in to sponsor the car for the rest of the schedule.

No. ?? Tommy Baldwin Racing Toyota
This team was just announced by Tommy Baldwin, the former crew chief of Dave Blaney, and they plan to run Toyota’s for the entire 2009 schedule. Rumors have Dave Blaney, amusingly enough, coming on as the driver. No word on a sponsor or car number.

Post from: Adam Fenwick

This is a very unfortunate situation for everyone involved.  I admit, the way Sadler was let go from GEM wasn’t under the best of circumstances.  He had, after all, signed a contract extension to stay with GEM until 2010 just this past season. Then, all of a sudden, Sadler is on the unemployment line with A.J. Allmendinger slated to take over his seat in the No. 19 Dodge.

I certainly hope both parties can end this dispute quickly, it would be unfortunate if they drag it out and it spills over and ruins both parties reputations.

Post from: Adam Fenwick

Elliott Sadler had driven for GEM since 2006 when he jumped ship at (then) Robert Yates Racing after Watkins Glen to replace Jeremy Mayfield in the No. 19 Dodge.  Sadler earned two top-fives and 12 top-10’s with GEM.

Allmendinger, meanwhile, joined Red Bull Racing in 2007 as a rookie.  After struggling through much of 2007 and early 2008, Allmendinger broke out.  He won the Sprint Showdown at Lowe’s Motor Speedway to earn him a spot in the Sprint All-Star Race and he also earned his first career top 10 at Indianapolis.  He was replaced in the No. 84 Toyota by Scott Speed after posting a career best 9th place finish at Kansas on Sept. 28.  After a one race deal with Michael Waltrip Racing, Allmendinger finished out the 2008 season driving for Gillett Evernham, bringing consistency to it’s No. 10 Dodge, something that team hadn’t seen all season with previous driver Patrick Carpentier.  It’s that consistency that may have gotten Allmendinger his new job.

I’m surprised another team hadn’t already swooped in and signed Allmendinger before now.  With more practice and coaching I think Allmendinger is a sure-fire talent with a bright future ahead of him. Meanwhile, Elliott Sadler finds himself looking for a job at quite possibly the worst time to be doing so. Only one team is left that has full sponsorship available for the 2009 season, that being the No. 41 car out of the new Earnhardt Ganassi Racing stable, and they already seem to have their eye on former Sprint Cup champ Bobby Labonte.  I feel like Sadler will find himself behind the wheel of a car at Daytona, but after that, I have no idea.

Post from: Adam Fenwick

Bill Davis Racing, the winner of the 2008 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship with Johnny Benson and owner of 5 victories in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series (including the 2002 Daytona 500 with Ward Burton) has sold majority interest in the team to Triad Racing Technologies owners Marty Gaunt and Michael Held.

It is another in what is turning out to be a series of ownership changes this off season in NASCAR’s premier series.  Of course we already have the Earnhardt/Ganassi merger, the constant talk of the possible Petty/GEM merger and now this.

So far no plans have been announced by new BDR owners Gaunt and Held, but they hope to have an announcement about the future of BDR’s Sprint Cup Series program in a few weeks.  Personally, I really hope they can find sponsorship and put this team on the track in 2009, Bill Davis Racing has always been the little team that could and I’d love to see them stick around.

Post from: Adam Fenwick

Now, I can understand switching manufactuerers if there is an obvious upside to the situation.  But, as far as Robby Gordon goes, he switches manufactuerers like some women switch shoes.  I can’t understand for the life of me why he would continue to switch manufactuerers every year.  Keep in mind folks, in the last three years he has driven Chevrolets, Fords and Dodges.  Maybe he figured that since he has driven for every other manufactuerer in the last few years, why not complete the set?

Really, I don’t see any upside to this move in the grand scheme of things.  It’s not like he has had any real success under the banner of any other manufactuerer, what makes you think he’ll have any more success driving a Toyota?

Post from: Adam Fenwick