Changes for '09 - Silliest Season Ever!

....And here last year at this time we thought the COT was going to be a major change to get used to. There's been more driver & crew chief changes than in recent memory, a few mergers, another series title change and even sponsors have realigned with different teams, cut back or have left the sport altogether. Call it a sign o' the times. NASCAR hasn't been merely changed, it's been restructured. You've heard it before and we'll hear it again that these hard economic times have affected NASCAR more than any other sport.* Here we go with some of the changes that we'll need to get used to for the start of the season.

Driver Changes:

#20 - #14
After 10 years with Joe Gibbs Racing and two series championships, Tony Stewart has left to start his own team, Stewart-Haas Racing. Look for him in the #14 Old Spice/Office Depot Chevrolet.

Joey Logano takes over the #20 ride. At 18, he’ll make history as the youngest driver ever to run the Daytona 500!

#12 - #39
Ryan Newman joins Stewart-Haas Racing and will drive the #39 U.S. Army Chevy.

David Stremme has filled the #12’s empty seat at Penske Racing.

#5 - #8 - #07 - #33
Mark Martin gives up “semi-retirement” leaving DEI and the #8 team for a full time ride with Hendrick Motorsports in the #5 Kellogg’s/CARQUEST Chevrolet.
Look for Aric Almirola in the #8 for Earnhardt/Ganassi.

Casey Mears leaves the #5 behind for the #07 at Richard Childress Racing.
Clint Bowyer’s not switching teams, but he’s moving from the #07 to the #33 to make room for his new teammate.

#41 - #43 - #96
Reed Sorenson moves from the #41 to the #43 for Richard Petty Motorsports.
Bobby Labonte no longer drives the #43 as he’ll drive the #96 AskMen.com Ford this season.

Jeremy Mayfield is set to return to the Sprint Cup Series as both team owner and driver of the #41 Toyota under Mayfield Motorsports.

A.J. Allmendinger signed with Richard Petty Motorsports to drive the #44 Dodge.

Look for Scott Riggs in the #36 Toyota for Tommy Baldwin Racing.

Paul Menard changes teams this year, too and is moving from DEI's #15 to the #98 Menard’s Ford for Yates Racing.

Regan Smith ('08 Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year) also moves from DEI to drive the #78 Chevy for Furniture Row Racing for a reported 12 races this season.

The Mergers and/or Switches & Outs:

Gillet Evernham Motorsports + Petty Enterprises = Richard Petty Motorsports (RPM) Drivers include Kasey Kahne, Elliott Sadler, Reed Sorenson and A.J. Allmendinger

Dale Earnhardt Inc. + Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates = Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates that’ll include full-time drivers Juan Pablo Montoya, Martin Truex Jr. and Aric Almirola.

Bill Davis Racing is no longer. Bill Davis sold his team. As announced on February 4th, Bill Davis has become a minority owner in Penske Racing which will now be known as Penske Championship Racing.

Hall of Fame Racing and Yates Racing are partnering up.

Add Joe Nemechek to the driver and owner list as he's just announced plans to run the full schedule in both the Sprint Cup (#87 Toyota) and Nationwide Series (#87 Chevy).

Robby Gordon makes a manufacturer’s switch from Dodge to Toyota.

Other Notes:

The Craftsman Truck Series is now: The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
The series opener at the Daytona International Speedway will mark the 10th anniversary of the truck series racing at the legendary track.

Only 2 full-time Sprint Cup Series drivers plan to run the full Nationwide Series schedule this year: Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch.


What do you think of some of these changes? What are you most looking forward to? What are you least looking forward to?

*According to this article from the Associated Press, it's estimated at over 600 people were let go from various NASCAR organizations since November. You can read the full article here.

We also must consider NASCAR has more than 400 unique corporate sponsors and the most Fortune 500 involvement in all of professional sports. According to custom research findings recently released by Sports Business Journal with Image Impact, NASCAR sponsors received almost 1.7 billion dollars in exposure for their brands in the '08 season with close to 600 sponsors being tracked. It's an interesting read, click here.

Changes for '09 - Budweiser Shootout

NASCAR announced last week a revision to the format that will provide each manufacturer a "wild card" entry. The size of the field will increase from 24 to 28 cars. As previously announced, the line up will consist of the top 6 teams from each manufacturer. And as previously announced, the race distance will increase from 70 laps to 75 laps with two segments of 25 and 50 laps. Both green and yellow flag laps will count. Between segments, there will be a 10 minute pit stop in which teams will be permitted to work on cars and will be allowed to perform functions they would normally do during a regular pit stop.

So who's in?
Chevrolet: 48, 29, 07, 31, 24, 88 and (wild card) 14
Ford: 99, 16, 17, 6 ,26, 28* and (wild card) 38*
Dodge: 9, 12 , 2 ,43, 19, 7 and (wild card) 10
Toyota: 11, 20, 18, 83, 44 (will be #00), 55 and (wild card) 22

* may be switching numbers

Starting positions will be determined by a blind draw on Thursday night, Feb. 5th from the SPEED Channel stage, outside Turn 4 at the Daytona International Speedway.

The Budweiser Shootout is Saturday night, Feb. 7th
Daytona International Speedway
75 laps = 187.5 miles

Last year's winner: #88, Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Changes for '09 - Testing Ban

We don't have too much longer to wait until the season starts! I don't know about you, but I absolutely can't wait! It feels like it has been the longest 'off season' ever, hasn't it?!

There are a lot of changes to get used to as this new season gets underway. And maybe one of those changes is why it feels like it has been the longest 'off season' ever. Due to these hard economic times, NASCAR banned test sessions at all of the tracks on the current schedule. The ban was obviously designed to save organizations money and in the end (unfortunately) put these organizations in a position where they had to let go of a lot of personnel.

Preseason Thunder went on as planned at the Daytona International Speedway last week. For the recap, check out the Daytona International Speedway website - here.

The calendar for D.I.S. Speedweeks '09
Jan. 24th through the 25th - The Rolex 24
Feb. 7th - The ARCA/Remax Series Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 leading into the Budweiser Shootout
Feb. 8th - Daytona 500 Qualifying
Feb. 12th - Gatorade Duel Races
Feb. 13th - The Camping World Truck Series NextEra Energy Resources 250
Feb. 14th - The Nationwide Series Camping World 300
Feb. 15th - "The Great American Race" The 51st Running of the Daytona 500

Not too much longer to wait, indeed...