Nascar News Roundup
Yates to retire, hand team to son at end of season Travis Kvapil to take over No. 88 Ford for retiring Rudd in 2008 and David Gilliland will stay in the 38 car. Sponsorship is still up in the air, Masterfoods, the owners of M&M’s, may not be back next year, they announced a deal with Roush Fenway Racing, and, Robert Yates announced he will be retiring at the end of this season.
Stremme unlikely to return to 40 Dodge next season David Stremme is the latest driver on the free-agent market, as his ride with Chip Ganassi Racing appears to be coming to an end amid speculation he’ll be replaced by Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti.
Stremme is in his second season driving the No. 40 Dodge, and Ganassi holds an option on next season that the car owner has yet to exercise. Stremme referred all questions about his status to his agent, Jeff Dickerson of Motorsports Management International.
For Junior, odds aren’t insurmountable, but close For Dale Earnhardt Jr. to qualify for the season-ending Chase for the Nextel Cup, NASCAR’s most popular driver will need an effort Saturday night similar to the one Jeremy Mayfield turned in on the eve of the 2004 playoffs. With one exception — Earnhardt is going to require a little more help.
Notes: Martin, Almirola to split DEI’s No. 8 car in ’08 Before he agreed to step into Dale Earnhardt Inc.’s flagship racecar, Mark Martin wanted the blessing of the one man who might best know the late team owner’s wishes. So he sat down with Richard Childress.
“I know what Dale’s intentions were when we had the 3 car,” said Childress, who owned the car Earnhardt made famous. “He wanted the number to stay with us. He was going to pick the person to drive the car, and Mark Martin was one of the guys we had talked about. Jeff Burton was who he wanted to see in the 3. I explained that to Mark. I said, ‘Mark, Dale would have wanted to see you in that 8, and he’ll be proud to see you drive it.’”
Kenny Wallace is best known as the funny brother. Now, he’s hoping to take over the number 88 car now that Ricky Rudd is retiring, and Robert Yates is giving him a tryout now that Ricky Rudd has separated one of his shoulders.
