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Ben Maller's NASCAR rumors and notes
by FOXSports.com
Joey Logano: I've gotten used to being a young star
Joey Logano on being a celebrity at age 19. "I've gotten used to being a young star. All of my friends are doing something in racing and they know what I'm going through. I think that's kind of cool because they treat me like a normal Joe. Going into NASCAR at a real quick rate, it's just the one thing I've always wanted to do my whole life." -- Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Patriots star Randy Moss looking to own Cup team
Patriots WR Randy Moss and David Dollar are co-owners of Randy Moss Motorsports, which will field two trucks -- the No. 5 driven by Mike Skinner and the No. 81 driven by Tayler Malsam -- in today's NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Lone Star 350 at Texas Motor Speedway. Dollar was asked if his team plans to get into the Cup Series. "Being the business that it is, I think you've got to move forward and grow. National sponsors have a Cup mentality. Randy and I don't want to leave our truck roots, by any means, but it's our goal to grow into a Cup program down the road." -- Oklahoman
Mark Martin: Testing ban helped enormously
Even though he needs some help to win a championship, Mark Martin is happy to be back as a full-time competitor. "It would have been the biggest mistake of my career to have passed on this opportunity," he said. "I feel very good. I feel fresh and surprised that there's only three (races) left. The people at Hendrick Motorsports have made this a better year for me than I expected. The sponsors have been wonderful to work with, and it's beyond my wildest dreams. One thing is, the testing (ban) has helped enormously. I would not have re-signed for 2010 had the testing been brought back, much less 2011. That's huge. You know, when you're in a bad mood and something happens, it irritates the heck out of you and when you're in a good mood, and the same thing happens and it doesn't bother you. Have you noticed that? Well, that's where I've been there this year. I haven't been tired, burned out, frustrated and all those kinds of things. I'm fresh and enthusiastic and all those kinds of things." -- USA Today
People skills key to the success of Hendrick Motorsports
Before becoming the general manager of Hendrick Motorsports nearly five years ago, Marshall Carlson held an executive role in team owner Rick Hendrick's auto dealership empire. Racing cars hasn't been much different than selling them, at least when it involves putting the organization's staff first. "They're a lot less different than you'd think because the culture is very much aligned," Carlson says. "A lot of car dealers put the customers first. At Hendrick Automotive Group, the employee is No. 1, and they'll take care of the customers, because happy customers keep the manufacturers happy. "It's same with the team. We feel if we have smart and talented people happy to be there, we'll run well. If we run well, the sponsors will be happy. Even in a sport where the technology is very important, the difference is the human capital." -- USA Today
Will NASCAR stop Hendrick?
There is only one question that remains to be answered about the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase for the Championship: Will Brian France wait until after the final race at Homestead Miami Speedway to legislate Hendrick Motorsports back to the pack? It must be driving the bosses at 1801 W. International Speedway Blvd. in Daytona Beach absolutely to distraction to see how Hendrick has taken every ounce of drama out of this year's Chase. After all, with a sixth-place finish at Talladega, and still three weeks of racing left on the 2009 calendar, Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus already have cleared space on their mantelpieces for their unprecedented fourth consecutive Sprint Cup for the No. 48 Hendrick Chevrolet team. As a result it is a virtual certainty that scores of NASCAR executives have been working 24-7 on plans that would attempt to prevent this from happening ever again. -- The Barrie Examiner
NASCAR fans upset with Jimmie Johnson's lack of passion and personality
Even though he's still burdened by his old reputation, it does appear that Jimmie Johnson is different today. Still fans say they don't like him. It's highly possible that what they're really rejecting is what he represents - the NASCAR of today, with a car they don't particularly like, a championship format that isn't for everyone and a lack of passion and personality among the participants. Maybe fans should begin listening a little closer to Johnson and what he has to say. And maybe they should consider that he made it to the top of the sport without having rich parents to bankroll his racing development and that having some class isn't something to be held against him. -- Racin' Today
Jeff Gordon: I had rivalry when dominating in 1990s
In the 1990s, it was Jeff Gordon who was on a championship run similar to what Jimmie Johnson is experiencing now. "Back then from my standpoint, I was loving it," Gordon said. "And it didn't matter to me what other people thought. But there was a rivalry there and it was great. It built up that rivalry because it made people that were Earnhardt fans only hate me more and it built up the people that started to like me; it built that fan base up more. And it was really sort of divided and I think the more you dominate, the more they divide, and that's only a good thing for this sport as well as for Jimmie." -- USA Today
Joey Logano continues to improve
Through it all, the 19-year-old from Middletown, Conn., has maintained his jovial, enthusiastic attitude. Most importantly - for Joey Logano's career on the track - he has continued to improve. "It's been ups and downs. It's not easy. There have been good parts of it, and there've been bad parts, too," Logano said. "It's hard this year, because all of these teams are so close, everywhere we go." While he may already have the rookie-of-the-year title sewn up, Logano is still showing progress. He has three top-five finishes this season and two have come in the past three races - a fifth at Charlotte and third last weekend at Talladega, Ala. -- Charlotte Observer
Marcos Ambrose: We want to end season on a high note
Marcos Ambrose on the Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway "We ran well there and it's a good track for me," said Ambrose. "We just need to have a good finish. We've had some bad luck recently and we want to end our season on a high note. "Next season, we hope to win races and be in the top-12, which is ambitious, but realistic since we think we'll finish somewhere around 17th in the points. "We started off with expectations to at least finish in the top-35 and right now with three races to go we are in the top-20." -- Motorsport.com
Crew chief: Texas track suits Greg Biffle's driving style
Greg Biffle's crew chief, Greg Erwin, said that one reason for Biffle's recent success at Texas isn't necessarily in the mechanics of the racecar. "The track suits Greg's driving style and that always helps," Erwin said. "Greg led 93 laps in the spring race and we had a little problem in the pits that he was able to come back from for a third-place finish. If we can avoid any little problems like that, I don't see why we can't get this 3M Ford into victory lane." -- Examiner
IndyCar becoming best-dressed group
It appears the IndyCar Series is going to at least be the best-dressed group in racing for the next six years. But the announcement Thursday that apparel manufacturer IZOD has signed on as the title sponsor for the American open-wheel series is far more than just great news for the drivers' sartorial choices. "To be honest, this is probably the first legitimate title sponsor we've had," said Brian Barnhart, vice president of competition for what will now be known as the IZOD IndyCar Series. -- Racin' Today
Crew chief Rick Ren headed to Kyle Busch's new team?
We've been hearing quite regularly for the last few weeks that crew chief Rick Ren will leave Kevin Harvick Inc. at the end of the season. He's rumored to be heading to Kyle Busch's new team to serve in a general manager type role. As we first reported in July Kyle Busch is expected to start a team fielding two or more Camping World Truck Series teams and possibly a Nationwide Series team in 2010. -- The NASCAR Insiders
Matt Kenseth: Most unique part of Texas track is trying to get off the corners
Matt Kenseth on this weekend's race: "Texas is a great place to race. The fans and the people at the racetrack are great and it is overall a fun place to go. The track is pretty high-banked in the corners, but it is very flat on the corner exits. The most unique part is trying to get off the corners, especially in turn two. You have to have a car that can go through the middle of the corner and the bumps very fast." -- Motorsport.com
Ricky Carmichael leaving Harvick Inc. for Turner Motorsports
Ricky Carmichael called his impending move "a great opportunity" and said he remains on good terms with the Harvicks, who will once again field the No. 33 Truck of point leader Ron Hornaday in 2010. "I think there would always be room there but we couldn't give them the yes or no on our sponsor for next year when we needed it and I think Kevin wants to focus on the 33 and his Nationwide stuff as well," Carmichael said after practice at Texas Motor Speedway. "We're great friends. There's no problems there. He needed to make a business decision and I understand that." Carmichael wants to run a full Truck schedule in 2010, sponsorship permitting. He's competed on a part-time basis this year, sharing time in KHI's No. 4 truck with Kevin Harvick, Ryan Newman and J.R. Fitzpatrick. Carmichael has just two top-10s in 15 starts. -- Scene Daily
Jimmie Johnson does his best work in Texas
- Best average finish among active drivers at Texas (3 or more starts):
1 Jimmie Johnson (8.5)
2 Matt Kenseth (9.7)
3 Denny Hamlin (11.6)
4 Tony Stewart (12.6)
5 Carl Edwards (13.4)
6 Clint Bowyer (13.6)
7 Mark Martin (13.8)
8 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (13.9)
9 Kevin Harvick (13.9) -- Racing-Reference.info
Jeff Gordon needs record finish
Coming into the 2009 Sprint Cup Series season, there were still a couple of tracks at which Jeff Gordon had yet to win. That number dropped to one after Gordon won the April race at Texas Motor Speedway, ending a dozen years of frustration at The Great American Speedway. "We had been so close in the past," Gordon said of his 16 tries at TMS. "But, whether it was me hitting the wall late in the race while leading or an electrical issue while leading, we just never were able to win -- so to get that first win here was great for us." Now Gordon returns desperately needing to win on Sunday and sweep the two races this season to hang on to his outside chance of winning the 2009 Sprint Cup championship. Gordon heads into Sunday's Dickies 500 at TMS in third place, 192 points back of leader and teammate Jimmie Johnson. To catch Johnson in the Championship chase, Gordon will have win this weekend and follow that up with wins at Phoenix and Homestead-Miami to close out the season. -- Houston Chronicle
Who Knew?
Wonder how tiny Abu Dhabi became part of the Formula One schedule? The average net worth of the 420,000 permanent residents is estimated at $17 million, according to F1. -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Joey Logano: I never watched wrestling as a kid
Joey Logano on his WWE experience. "Hosting WWE Raw on Oct. 26 was a new experience for me. I never watched wrestling when I was a kid. It was interesting, though, and I was excited about how it happened and how it played out. It was pretty funny. Kyle and I were joking about it because we were pretty nervous being in the ring. But it was pretty cool to go out there in the middle of the ring and say a couple words and have people go crazy. The fans were screaming and yelling, which was pretty neat. And I met a few of the wrestlers, too, and all of them were pretty cool." -- Fort Worth Star-Telegram
How About That?
Drivers who failed to qualify for the Chase, but who have performed well in the past six races include Clint Bowyer (739 points, 9th overall), Matt Kenseth (727 points, 10th overall), Kyle Busch (718 points, 11th overall) and Casey Mears (708 points, 12th overall). -- Racing-Reference.info
Jeremy Mayfield selling real estate and personal property at public auction
Jeremy & Shana Mayfield along with Mayfield Motorsports, Inc. have contracted with Iron Horse Auction Company, Inc. for a public auction of real estate and personal assets. The real estate consist of 475+/- Acres with a 13,000+/- Sq. Ft. executive home, 3,000+/- Sq. Ft. ranch home, 1,800+/- Sq. Ft. log cabin, 21 stall equine facility, 6,200+/- Sq. Ft. shop and numerous sheds with electricity. The personal items include heavy equipment, luxury vehicles, guns, race helmets, driver suits, shop tools, metal working equipment, tractors, motorcycles, ATVs, a 2000 Allegra Motor Coach and much, much more. -- PR Newswire
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