Not to say that the rumor definitely isn’t legit, but why would Bill Davis sell out to one of his new drivers? Mike Skinner is about to win a Truck Championship for he team, and Dave Blaney’s performance in 2007, though not stellar, has been the most consistent Toyota has seen. Things are probably better now for Bill Davis than they have been in a long time.
When Joe Gibbs Racing takes over as Toyota’s flagship team next year, Davis’ foresight and Blaney’s consistency may take a backseat to winning races. However, I think Davis has a solid enough relationship with Toyota that he will not suffer cost or performance- wise.
Stay tuned toAuto123.com, however. Those guys may know something we don’t. As is the case at every Nextel Cup event nowadays, there are some unusual driver sightings to report from Martinsville Speedway. Italian driver Max Papis was hanging out for both the Craftsman Truck Series and Cup races, so his interest in NASCAR is still very much in evidence. Papis has made four starts in the NASCAR Busch Series for teams such as Evernham Motorsports and Phoenix Racing, most recently at Watkins Glen earlier this season.
Burney Lamar, former Kevin Harvick Inc. Busch driver, was also at Martinsville. He revealed that he plans to attempt to make the Nextel Cup field at Atlanta next week with an independent team. Lamar’s most memorable achievement to date was his second-place finish at for KHI at Daytona in 2006.
It was also great to see Paul Andrews back at the track. Andrews was badly injured in a fall earlier this season shortly after parting ways with Petty Enterprises as crew chief for the #43 Cheerios Dodge of Bobby Labonte. The champion crew chief is still on crutches, but is very much on the mend and as always, was wearing a big smile.
Saturday’s wild Craftsman Truck Series race was not good to the two Indianapolis 500 champions who took part in the event. Dario Franchitti parked his truck with rear end problems almost simultaneously with Jacques Villeneuve’s trip to the infield care center after being caught in one of the day’s major pileups. Juan Pablo Montoya was on hand as soon as Franchitti exited his truck. Franchitti said that Montoya has been a tremendous help to him in his transition to NASCAR and that he is very happy to be working with Montoya again. When asked about his NASCAR debut, Franchitti gave a slight smile and described the experience as “very different.”