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The Hot Pass: Silly season ready to heat up
There are still plenty of players — some free agents, some not — that need to find a home for 2010.
Around the garage
Here are four drivers to follow over the next month:
Internet reports of Richard Petty Motorsports switching to Toyota after Kasey Kahne participated in a photo shoot with a No. 9 Budweiser Toyota were quickly dismissed this weekend.
"I don't know what the deal is with that," Kahne said. "I did my Budweiser photo shoot and obviously you guys know that it was a Toyota. Why? I don't know why it was. I'm Dodge, man. I think I'll be Dodge next year, truthfully."
Since last September, rumors have persisted of RPM making a move to Toyota. Certainly, the greatest indication was the delay by RPM in developing the new R6 Dodge engine.
With the current state of the auto manufacturers, very few would entertain bringing on additional teams at this time. If Red Bull stays with Toyota — as all indications point to — moneys that possibly would have been freed up might not be now.
The exception? Ford. Perhaps the next shoot for Kahne could be in the No. 9 Budweiser Ford.
"We've publicly said we're interested in talking to teams that would be interested in coming over," said Doug Hervey, operations manager of Ford Racing North America. "It's getting late in the season, but there's still time."
NASCAR officials carefully assessed the Turn 5 area at Watkins Glen International where Sam Hornish Jr. bounced off the tire barrier and back into traffic collecting Jeff Gordon, Jeff Burton and Joey Logano in last Monday's rain-delayed race.
SPIN CITY
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NASCAR is working with the University of Nebraska, who initially developed the SAFER barrier, to devise a solution for that turn before the tour returns next season.
Hornish said on Saturday he "felt fine." While no official impact numbers have been released from the black box data recorded in the No. 77 Dodge, initial reports showed three large spikes — first from the initial contact from Kasey Kahne, secondly from hitting the barrier and finally from Gordon's hit.
Following a tantalizing finish in Saturday's NASCAR Nationwide Series race, where the lead changed twice over the final three laps as Brian Vickers, Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski battled for the win, the real fireworks began on pit road.
Busch: Unfortunately, sometimes you race with idiots.
Vickers: You know, I'm so sorry. I forgot it was the Kyle Busch Show ... I thought it was a Nationwide race.
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