Daytona Preseason Thunder Starts Today

[kbsooner21]

[bover1]

really............

[kbsooner21]

Biffle to bond with team, test shoulder at Daytona

Offseason included changes, engagement, crash for 16 driver



DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Daytona testing, which begins Monday with the first session of Preseason Thunder, is alternately ridiculed and reviled by many drivers in the Nextel Cup Series.

But for Greg Biffle in 2007, the three-day test at Daytona International Speedway might be priceless for both medical and personal reasons.

No less than 25 teams are expected to join Biffle's Roush Racing unit for the test, primarily for those that finished in odd positions in the 2006 Cup owner standings, led by champion driver Jimmie Johnson.

Among the other teams expected are those of 2006 Chase contenders Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kasey Kahne; as well as new teams for veterans Joe Nemechek, Dale Jarrett and Brian Vickers, the latter two set to debut Toyota Camrys at Daytona testing, along with Bill Davis Racing's Dave Blaney.

"Daytona testing gives you the chance to get back in the swing of things after the holidays," said Harvick, who finished fourth in the 2006 series standings. "It gives you momentum heading into the Budweiser Shootout and the Daytona 500, and it also helps you see where you stack up against other teams."

It'll serve a couple more purposes this year for Biffle.

The last time Biffle was in one of his Roush Racing Ford Fusions, he survived probably the worst accident of his NASCAR career, when he hit a wall at Las Vegas Motor Speedway during a Goodyear tire test in early December.

"I'm doing pretty good, physically," Biffle said. "I mean, my shoulder is still sore and it kind of pops and cracks a little bit when I move it the wrong way."

Since the accident Biffle, a former state high-school wrestling champion in his home state of Washington, has engaged in physical therapy, announced his engagement to longtime girlfriend Nicole Lunders and took trips to his mountain property in North Carolina, and another home in Mexico.

"I've dislocated that shoulder two or three times, starting in high school, and the last time in the winter of 2001 -- but never in a car," Biffle said. "It's very abnormal for that to happen inside a racecar because 99 percent of the time, when people dislocate a shoulder, it comes out to the front.

"Mine was a result of going against the shoulder brace [in the car] and then going forward -- and maybe kind of having a loose shoulder socket to begin with. Plus, maybe holding onto the steering wheel and bracing on that may have had something to do with it, too."

But Biffle said he's ready to test and thankful for the relative ease of driving Daytona's high-banked, 2.5-mile layout.

"As far as driving, we're kind of the test dummies, so to speak, when it comes to testing at Daytona," Biffle said. "Because there is literally nothing we can do, as a driver, to get that car to go any faster under testing conditions for qualifying.

"When it comes to racing, that's a whole different program, but not for testing. And it's almost the most boring testing for a driver, because there's nothing we can do."

His lack of Daytona steering input aside, the Vegas misfortune interrupted a successful initial break-in period with an entirely new team for Biffle, who's heading into his fifth Cup season with Roush.

Near the end of last season, team owner Jack Roush moved Biffle to work with the team that formerly fielded Mark Martin's Fords, headed by veteran chief mechanic Pat Tryson. The little more than a day they spent running at Las Vegas was positive, Biffle said.

"I think [the test] was good, and we learned a lot," Biffle said. "I think we were definitely on the same page as far as our communication went. We had both cars running pretty fast."

Probably the worst aspect of the Las Vegas testing accident, considering Biffle can still talk about it, is that it cost the team the car in which Biffle had won the last three season finale Ford 400s at Homestead-Miami Speedway, as well as seven of his 11 career victories.

"That was disappointing [and] oh, my God, it's gone," Biffle said of the car. "It folded up the metal behind the driver's seat and parts that didn't have any damage from hitting the wall were deformed from the sheer impact of it.

"That particular car was pretty special. Don't ask me why, but [at Vegas] at Lap 10 it was considerably faster than one of their 6 cars was [that was also at the test], down in the racetrack and a lot easier to drive.

"But that was that car's characteristic, and it would do that if I compared it to my own second-best car. We had a meeting of all the engineers and chassis guys and body guys and nobody could figure out what was so special about that car.

"There's no replacing that car. We've tried to replace it -- measured it and done everything -- but we just can't put out finger on exactly what it is about that car."

Or what it was, in this case.

Moving ahead, Biffle said he would use only one of the cars that wore the No. 16 a year ago, when Doug Richert was his crew chief. And he would have none of his former personnel, at least on the road.

"The crew chief left, the engineer left and the shock guy, Al, left," Biffle said. "They needed Bobby [Bakeeff, car chief] to stay as the car chief because Jimmy Fennig wouldn't have had anybody.

"We are taking a few of the 16 cars -- I don't know how many, but maybe just one or two. We were going to take the 239, but now that's trash -- so it will mostly be new builds, though we will use a few of the 6 cars, because I know those guys are going crazy, flat-out building stuff."

But Biffle has a different mindset for Daytona testing, anyway.

"Daytona is definitely a real reflection of the race team and the guys back at the chassis shop -- what they've accomplished, and things like that," Biffle said. "And a lot of it is the engine, as well [because] we know that four or five horsepower is worth a tenth of a second in restrictor-plate testing.

"It's the team's time to play, to test and tune, putting different pieces of metal on and off and changing springs and shock dampening on the front, which we're allowed to do. So it's kind of in their hands to get speed out of the racecar.

"And it's not like I'm a wily veteran at this, but you know what you've got the first day you're there. You're not going to pick up half a second, unless you've got something major wrong, like brakes dragging or something like that.

"All that metal on the body, from front to back, really makes up your speed, and you can only fine tune it at the test."

So for Biffle and many other drivers, Daytona becomes a more critical personal exercise.

"I see Daytona kind of as a bonding time for a lot of guys, because you're doing a lot of standing around while you cool the engine down, and stuff like that," Biffle said. "A lot of those things are time consuming and that's why we have three days -- so you end up spending a lot of time around the guys.

"We absolutely make it a point to schedule things away from the racetrack. We go to the go-kart track or we go to dinner, which we did at Vegas. That's a good chance to get to know everybody, because during the season there just isn't time, so testing is the perfect opportunity to get together and do stuff with the guys."

[vols fan]

Great article,but dont you think roush is going overboard by calling him the team leader.I dont like any of the roush cars but I would take Kenseth over Biffle any day(except California)
RIP Bobby Hamilton

[kbsooner21]

Johnson arrives for testing, says wrist is fine

Cup champ more concerned with finding a spotter than his splint




DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Jimmie Johnson was at Daytona International Speedway for all of 15 minutes on Monday before the questions began.

Why did you get on top of a golf cart? Is it against your contract to ride on the top of golf carts? Does your wrist hurt? What was your score on the golf course that day?


OK, so the last question wasn't. But the first three -- and many more -- were.

Johnson broke his wrist Dec. 8 while participating in a charity golf event in Florida. At the time of the accident, he was riding op top of a golf cart when the driver of the cart hit a bump, sending Johnson sprawling.

Johnson said the injury will not affect his Speedweeks duties, but he did arrive for the first day of testing with a splint, which he will wear while driving.

Johnson won the Daytona 500 in 2006 to start the season, and he went on to win two of the four restrictor plate races last year.

"My wrist is good," Johnson said. "I'm going to wear a splint in the car just to be smart and to be sure, but the cast is off and the hand is working and everything is good."

The injury occurred just seven days after Johnson was honored in New York as the 2006 champion, and he wrote off the experience as "one of those bad decisions I've made in my life.

"I work hard and I focus on my job and give it everything I've got," Johnson said. "But on the flip side of that is that I like to play hard.

"Unfortunately I broke my wrist in the process. I'm a normal guy and like to go out and have fun and do my thing and I broke my wrist in the process."

Johnson was adamant in saying he was pain-free upon his arrival at the track for the first of three days of Daytona testing. Johnson has problems other than his wrist that needs addressed.

For the second consecutive year, Johnson is facing the season opener with a new spotter. Earl Barban, his spotter last season, left unexpectedly in the offseason.

Johnson said finding a replacement this late in the offseason will be difficult.

"It's tough," Johnson said. "We have to operate under a head count and under certain restrictions that Hendrick Motorsports has for budgeting reasons and to try to fit someone in is really the hard part because what we really need him for is spotting.

"But they are all usually good mechanics or fabricators or whatever it may be. And our shop is full. We're at maximum head count. And it's hard to find someone to work in that position."

[kbsooner21]

Riggs glad to be on other side of fence this season

Driver says missing 2006 Daytona 500 kept his team sharp, focused.



DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- There's a hierarchy in the garage area at Daytona International Speedway: the haves and the have-nots.

The haves, like defending champion Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr., have stalls that face the track. It's a straight shot from the garages to the track and back.

For them, a January test session is one more chance to fine-tune cars already locked in to the Daytona 500 lineup.

The have-nots are scattered here and there, out of sight -- literally and figuratively. It's a convoluted trip through the garage area to pit road, very much like the path they'll have to take to make the field in February.

Some, like Sterling Marlin and Ward Burton, didn't fare well enough in 2006 to break the top 35. Others, like Michael Waltrip Racing, are new teams. In every case, they will have to rely on a tricky combination of speed and luck to land one of the no more than eight open slots.

They're here to wring every last hundredth of a second out of their cars.

If something goes wrong, there's no soft landing. Ask Scott Riggs, who is now one of the haves.

"This year, we're looking at how dangerous the 150s [Gatorade Duels] might be with people trying to get into the race versus last year, where we had to be the ones who were making it dangerous sometimes, trying to take chances to make sure we got in," Riggs said.

Riggs missed the 2006 Daytona 500 when he finished 13th in the second qualifying race. But instead of letting that misfortune ruin the entire season, the No. 10 team found inspiration.

"In some weird way, it was something that made our team better," Riggs said. "Going through that low point right off the bat, the very first race of the year, it made us buckle down and focus even harder on one race at a time.

"It made us almost have something to prove. It put us behind the eight ball to start the season out, but it gave us all something to shoot for, made it something to strive for."

Riggs said the team still feels it can be better.

"We feel like we have a team that was capable of winning races last year. We just didn't do it," he said. "This year, we can go after winning races and trying to be more consistent, being competitive every race and a lot more consistent than we were last year."

And his advice for the guys on the other side of the garage area?

"Just stay focused, stay sharp on what you're doing," Riggs said. "Pay attention to your surroundings and the people around you in the race.

"Even though you might have a fast enough car to get in, there are things that happen sometimes that are out of your control and you just have to stay focused and confident on who you are and what your team is."

[kbsooner21]

Refreshed Rudd ready to roll for rebounding RYR

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The wet weather that wiped out the second half of Monday's Jackson Hewitt Preseason Thunder at Daytona International Speedway couldn't dampen Ricky Rudd's enthusiasm at being back in a racecar.

Wearing a white helmet and basic Simpson driver's suit -- white with black sleeves -- Rudd looked out of place amid others sporting colorful logos and designs. That is, until he rolled onto the track.

It didn't take long for the 50-year-old to fit right in. Within five laps, Rudd had the No. 88 Ford into the top 10, then took six more laps to stick the backup in the top 15.

So much for needing a refresher course.

At the end of his last season with the Wood Brothers in 2005, Rudd looked exhausted, both physically and mentally. On Monday, he dodged raindrops, chatted with friends and carried on like it was his first time at Daytona instead of his 59th.

"It's pretty neat. I missed it," Rudd said. "There's a lot of it I missed.

"Talk to me at the end of the year and I'll let you know the real story, but right now I'm fresh and feel good and ready to go. I'm not tired out from all of the travel."

Rudd's fresh outlook may be the perfect antidote for Robert Yates Racing, which failed to win a race in 2006, its first winless season.

So why come out of self-imposed retirement to return to a situation that you left five years ago?

"I feel like I'm kind of needed over here," Rudd said. "They've got some work to do and I feel like I can contribute and make it a better race team."

Rudd said he's already seen signs that the team is pointed in the right direction -- and that's a renewed effort from Robert Yates himself.

"Robert is a big key to this thing working and he has been for all these years and I think he tried to step back a little bit and it didn't work," Rudd said. "But I will say that he's back there now and that's probably the biggest incentive for me to come over here and run because they definitely have all the things in place to do good."

One place he'd love to "do good" is Daytona, where he's posted seven top-five finishes in 58 career starts, but never better than third.

Rudd finished behind Richard Petty and Bobby Allison in the 1981 Daytona 500 and trailed Greg Biffle and Jeff Burton in the Pepsi 400, 22 years later.

[Ldawg]

Nice Avie ! You and Libinator Michael Moore do lunch often ?

He down with Bud Lite too ?





























Libaoakie ....

[kbsooner21]

McMurray has changed personnel, outlook in '07

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- One of the first things Jamie McMurray did at the end of a miserable 2006 season was to call his old friend and crew chief, Donnie Wingo, to see if he was available.

He wasn't.

"I called Donnie, but he is loyal," McMurray said. "He still has a contract with Chip Ganassi and he is going to honor that. I asked him, 'What are your plans?' and he said, 'I still have a year left on my contract.'

"So that was the end of the conversation."

McMurray knew it was a shot in the dark, but he had to try. Wingo, an easygoing South Carolinian, was crew chief when McMurray enjoyed his career year of 2004 (nine top-fives, 23 top-10s).

When McMurray left Chip Ganassi Racing at the end of the 2005, he admittedly underestimated the impact Wingo had had on his career. When McMurray arrived at Roush, he was paired with Jimmy Fennig.

"The thing with Donnie Wingo that was so great was that we had that friendship that I believed in him and vice versa," McMurray said. "If I would ask Donnie to do something, no matter how wild it was, he would just do it. I really didn't have that last year."

By the time the year ended, McMurray had gone through three different crew chiefs, each one lacking the same chemistry he had shared with Wingo.

"When we made a crew chief change [in the spring], the media built that up because we ran good the next few weeks," McMurray said. "Personally, I didn't feel like that was what was going to turn our team around."

It didn't. The season was nearly a total washout. It started badly, and it got worse. McMurray spent the final race of the season running in the back until his engine mercifully expired with 18 laps to go.

"I never would have guessed that it would have been that big of a deal," McMurray said of the change to Roush Racing. "I can remember looking up at the scoring monitor a couple years ago [and seeing slow cars] and thinking, 'How can someone be that far off? How can you be that slow?'

"And I know now."

After the season, team owner Jack Roush told McMurray to go out and find exactly the crew chief he wanted. It was something Roush didn't do in the spring of 2006, when he removed Fennig and installed intense, engineering-minded Bob Osborne as McMurray's crew chief.

On paper, it looked like a solid move. Osborne was credited with helping Carl Edwards score four wins in 2005, and his skills as a crew chief were beyond reproach.

But McMurray says he never clicked with Osborne.

"I didn't have that friendship with my crew chief that I had with Donnie," McMurray said. "I didn't have that friendship, that comfort zone. Jack made the change in Texas, didn't ask what I thought. He just did it, and it didn't work."

McMurray was allowed to put out his own feelers to various crew chiefs, and one man who called back was Larry Carter, who had worked with McMurray when the two were both employed by Rusty Wallace's Busch team.

McMurray wasn't able to get Wingo over to Roush Racing, but Carter has a similar style, and Carter was eager to make a move after spending a year working for Michael Waltrip.

"Donnie and Larry kind of ran in the same clique. They are really good friends," McMurray said. "I had a relationship with him already and he is a lot like Donnie, same demeanor and personality.

"You feel very relaxed around him, very comfortable. Some guys don't need that, and I do. I do need that."

McMurray said that Wallace, who was Carter's driver at Penske Racing in 2004-05, had a major influence on getting Carter to come to work at Roush.

"When I spoke with Rusty, he was like, 'Man, you have got to find someone that is willing to fight for you, that believes in you,'" McMurray said.

"When I told him I was talking to Larry, he was like, 'Man, Larry does an incredible job of getting the right people and building a great team that wanted to be together.

"[Rusty] told me that it was a great choice, a great decision. It was a big deal to have someone like Rusty that backs you up in a decision that you already think is a good idea."

Once Carter started working on McMurray's cars for the 2007, he set about rebuilding and replacing some of the parts that had not worked.

By the time Carter was done, he had managed to replace several of the key components to a modern Nextel Cup team. The car chief was replaced; a new tire specialist was brought in; engineering help added.

"I pretty much know all these guys," McMurray said. "I never would have guessed last year when the season ended that we would be able to get the quality of people that we did, they are people that I am very comfortable around and people that believe in me."

Roush moved Todd Zeigler, formerly the car chief on the No. 6 Ford, to McMurray's team. Engineer Derek Stamets was lured from Penske Racing, and Billy John completed the revamping.

McMurray said he considered John to be one of the premier tire specialists in the garage, and he also said that Zeigler would become the new front tire changer.

"I never would have guessed that we would have been able to assemble this team that we have," McMurray said.

McMurray also hired a trainer who deals with mental conditioning.

McMurray wouldn't confirm the trainer's name until he officially starts work in a week or two.

"I have hired the best trainer in motor racing, hands down," said McMurray, 30. "If you watch much SPEED Channel, you will know who I hired.

"He is not only good at the physical side, but he is good at making you headstrong and making you believe that you are better than everyone else.

"I am doing everything I can to be more successful."

[kbsooner21]

Labonte says challenge remains same: improve

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Imagine trying to put together a 1,000-piece puzzle in the dark. That's similar to what Bobby Labonte faced during the 2006 season.

His first crew chief, Todd Parrott, left the team in August for a job with Robert Yates. His second, Greg Steadman, was a fill-in until the third, Paul Andrews, came over from Kyle Petty's operation a month later.

With so many pieces needing to fit together, it's no surprise that Labonte struggled through his third consecutive winless season, grasping for consistency until the late stages of the year.

"With Paul being the crew chief on the No. 43 car with me, it's great because he's been with Petty Enterprises for a couple of years working with Kyle," Labonte said. "And Billy [Wilburn] working with Kyle, that's a strong program right there in itself.

"Kyle and I have known each other for a long time prior to racing, [but] working with him and last year, there probably wasn't quite the relationship we needed, 100 percent. When Paul came over, it took a little bit but it became stronger by the end of the year."

Labonte could see the chemistry getting better with every race. At Dover, the No. 43 was seventh. At Talladega, Labonte wound up 10th. That was followed by top-five finishes at Lowe's and Martinsville.

Suddenly, it was as if Labonte and his team had finally fit together the puzzle's border -- and could begin to see the hint of an image appearing.

"The chemistry's going to grow with our relationships and the crew chiefs' relationships, so that's going to strengthen our organization because we already see that it was helping toward the end of last year," Labonte said.

That confidence is evident in Jackson Hewitt Preseason Thunder testing at Daytona International Speedway. Both of Labonte's cars appeared to work well during Tuesday afternoon's drafting session.

"The new car didn't roll off the truck very good but we got a little better [Tuesday] afternoon and the older car's not bad, either," he said. "We're not bad. That's a good thing. I feel really good about it."

So will all the pieces fit together in a way that puts the No. 43 back at the front on a consistent basis? Labonte said that's the big challenge in 2007.

"It's true in a lot of ways that the next step is going to be harder," he said. "The crew chief change this year was difficult but we've overcome that. I think that's a plus on our side.

"I hope it's not as hard to get in the top 15 as it was to [get to] 21st. I know there's areas that I made mistakes in, we had some DNFs that we didn't have any control over. That'll get us there without even running any slower or faster. The law of averages got us some last year."

That, and the undeniable fact that Petty Enterprises is trying to break back into an exclusive club. Specifically, teams with more cars and more resources.

"To compete against Hendrick or Roush or Gibbs and Evernham, obviously it's difficult," Labonte said. "It's a big jump and hopefully we can be making those big jumps. We just have to keep making the right decisions as a team to do that.

"It's always a challenge, but I like that challenge."

[kbsooner21]

Time is now for Mears to reach potential

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Casey Mears sauntered confidently through the Nextel Cup garage, street shoes in one arm, logo shirts in the other. He's on a mission — a drastic departure from his freshman season four years ago when he entered the sport with just a dream and his pedigree.

At 28, he exhibits purpose and poise with an underlying humility that is refreshing in a garage full of superstars. With striking good looks and articulate delivery, Mears is a sponsor's dream. He fits the National Guard's template perfectly, from his military haircut to his stand-at-attention posture. And with the strength of the Hendrick Motorsports machine behind him, Mears has no excuses. The time for him to prove himself is now.


"Obviously the pressure is there to run good," Mears said. "But I want to win so bad I can't stand it. I think the results will be there. Obviously, the season will explain everything sooner than later. But I really feel like the opportunity is here, and I'm really excited about it."


Nearly a year ago, Mears pulled off his first major victory in the prestigious Rolex 24 at Daytona. Against 65 international racers, many of them road-course specialists, it was survival of the fittest, and Mears finished on top.


In Nextel Cup, however, the Bakersfield, Calif., native is 0-for-144, despite an auspicious start to the 2006 season, his last with owner Chip Ganassi. The son of off-road legend Roger Mears and the nephew of four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Rick Mears pushed his future teammate and fellow Californian Jimmie Johnson to the finish line in the Daytona 500 and posted a career-best second. Mears backed up that performance with consecutive top-10 finishes at Fontana and Las Vegas.


Unfortunately, the No. 42 Texaco-Havoline team couldn't maintain the pace it set in the first three races. Mears didn't post another top 10 until June at Michigan, only days after rumors were confirmed that he would replace Brian Vickers in the No. 25 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Mears ended the season a respectable career-best 14th in the standings, knowing that the days ahead are brighter and the pressure to perform more intense.

On Tuesday, in the Nextel Cup garage during "Preseason Thunder," Mears was accommodating any and all fans by signing tickets, programs and die-cast cars during his lunch break. Up strolled Johnson, who had teamed with Mears when both were budding drivers in the Mickey Thompson Off-Road Superlites Series.


"He's going to win four races," Johnson asserted, starting an immediate lovefest between teammates and simultaneously ratcheting up expectations. "Casey and I worked together when we were really young and we learned to be teammates. That's what's really going to help us this year. He's very unselfish as a teammate. He knows how to be part of a group and how to be part of a company. That's the way I was raised."


The support of Johnson and the Hendrick organization should help ensure that Mears lives up to his pedigree


"I don't feel like there's any more pressure, because the people that count, the people that gave me that name, don't put the pressure on me," Mears says. "But I want to make my family proud. That's for sure. I want to do a good job.


"I know at the end of the day if that didn't happen it wouldn't kill me, but at the same time I want people to say, 'You know what? Rick Mears has won a bunch of Indy 500s, Roger Mears has won a bunch of Baja 1000s, and Casey Mears has won a bunch of Daytona 500s.' That's how I'd like to end my career. I want to do the best I can for them."

[jcindaville]

[10DimeBry]

no one cares

[kbsooner21]

Blaney has good feel for 2007, future with Toyota

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- It could have been, in Dave Blaney's mind, the near-perfect way to unofficially start the 20007 season. .

There wasn't a race to be won at Daytona on Monday, but Blaney's first ride in a Toyota was surprisingly quick out of the box (he was third-best in the only session of the day).

His day took a turn a turn for the worse once he left the track to watch Florida play his beloved Ohio State for the national title.

The Buckeyes were drubbed 41-14.

"The football game ruined my day," Blaney said with a laugh. "That was surprising but that is how it happens. Well, you could tell from the middle of the first quarter that they were in trouble."

The game -- or lack of it -- allowed Blaney to get into bed a few hours early.

"I don't know what went on, but they are not the team they usually are," Blaney said. "[Monday] night is when it counted. I didn't make it past halftime."

Blaney is one of only three Toyota drivers testing this week at Daytona. Most of the Camry's corps is slated to test next week, including Blaney's new teammate, Jeremy Mayfield.

His team, Bill Davis Racing, has competed without major factory support since early in 2003, when it began building Toyotas with the intent to compete in the Craftsman Truck Series. BDR was running the Dodge brand at the time, and the two parties eventually spent three years in litigation. The legalities were resolved in November.

For the first time in three seasons, Bill Davis Racing was able to enjoy extensive wind-tunnel time, as well as standard engineering help from the manufacturer.

Blaney said it was difficult to underestimate the changes.

"Toyota, with all their help and support, let us do more of everything," Blaney said. "Wind-tunnel testing, hiring more people. Engineering support is way up, just everything.

"It just elevated our whole team and it is showing. We are way ahead of the game here in testing compared to where we were last year."

Michael Waltrip experienced well-noted troubles as Blaney's teammate last year -- he finished 38th in owner standings, and missed four races -- but Blaney experienced an unspectacular but consistent season, scoring just two top-10s, but finishing in the bottom 10 just three times.

"Last year we did all we could do," Blaney said. "Now, we did improve a little bit and we found some gains in a few places, but you know, you have got to have all the tools and the resources that the guys are winning do to realistically compete with them week in and week out.

"That is where Toyota has helped us along."

The team received a major shot in the arm late in the summer when Tommy Baldwin returned after a stint at Robert Yates Racing. Baldwin started a major hiring effort, eventually swelling employee ranks by 40 people.

"Everyone made a plan on who we are trying to get, how many we are going to try to throw at it," Blaney said. "We have added lots of guys, and lots of good guys. It just strengthened our whole team [from] top to bottom."

Blaney knows that it is a stretch to expect to make the Chase in Toyota's inaugural year, but he thinks his penchant for finishing races -- he failed to finish just two last year -- can give the team a top-15 points finish.

"Can we jump 10-12 spots in the points? Yes, we can," Blaney contended. "We were 26th last year; can we get in there between 10th and 15th? Yeah, I think so. We have the personnel and the equipment to do it."

[rwall]

Holy Shit!!!!

What the hell is this the Oklahoma Constitution?

That's a long read my friend......