Notebook: Gibson sees Earnhardt poised for success

Notebook: Gibson sees Earnhardt poised for success


By Reid Spencer and Matt Crossman
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

Tony Gibson has a cautionary word for anyone who might consider writing off Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s chances this season.
Gibson ought to know. Before coming to work for Stewart-Haas Racing as Ryan Newman’s crew chief, he was car chief for Junior at Dale Earnhardt Inc. in 2006, and he hasn’t lost his belief in Earnhardt’s talent. Gibson also has a work history at Hendrick Motorsports, where he got to know Steve Letarte, Earnhardt’s new crew chief.
“Stevie was my roommate when I worked at Hendrick, and it was my job to keep my eye on him,” Gibson said Monday during the Sprint Cup media tour’s stop at Stewart-Haas Racing. “Ray (Evernham) told me to just make sure that he got back at night and got back in. Steve is a great crew chief, he’s a great guy, he’s full of energy, he’s funny and good to be around.
“He’s just like Dale Jr. I think it’s a great pair-up, and I think they’ll be real successful. It wouldn’t surprise me if they went down there and won the Daytona 500 right off the bat, because I think the energy that they both have is going to complement one another.
“Man, Dale Jr. has more talent than anybody out there, and like I said, I think this year right here, he’s going to blossom.”
Sleeker RPM runs with full funding
Consolidation can be a good thing—as Richard Petty Motorsports can attest.
The organization that bears the seven-time champion’s name is running leaner this year—two teams versus the four that competed in 2010—but RPM drivers AJ Allmendinger (No. 43 Ford) and Marcos Ambrose (No. 9 Ford) can race with the assurance that their efforts are fully supported from a financial standpoint.
RPM announced its full sponsor lineup Monday. In addition to Best Buy, which returns as Allmendinger’s sponsor for 24 races, the No. 43 car also will carry six other sponsors on its hood on a rotating basis: Valvoline, U.S. Air Force, WIX Filters, Reynolds, Super 8 and Paralyzed Veterans of America.
Stanley Tools and DeWalt Tools will take turns as the primary sponsor of Ambrose’s car. The DeWalt brand, a longtime sponsor for Matt Kenseth’s No. 17 Ford at Roush Fenway Racing, is owned by Stanley Black & Decker.
Richard Petty himself has a much larger stake in RPM this year, after he and financiers Andrew Murstein and Douglas Bergeron partnered to buy out George Gillett’s majority interest last year. The bottom line is that an organization that struggled to make ends meet in 2010 looks much healthier financially and consequently more formidable as the 2011 season approaches.
Newman focusing on a good start to 2011
If Ryan Newman races the first 10 races this year like he raced the final 10 last year, he will return to the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. But Newman has struggled early in each of his two seasons driving for Stewart-Haas Racing.
Last year, Newman didn’t get his first top 10 until the sixth race of the season. The year before that, it was the fifth race. Both times, he scrambled to get back into Chase contention. He qualified for the Chase in 2009 but stumbled down the stretch last season and finished 15th.
“Our last 10 races (in which he had six top 10s) proved we could’ve and should’ve followed through,” he said.
He said he stumbled early for different reasons. The first year, it was a case of being overwhelmed by driving for essentially a new team with a new owner. (Stewart assumed ownership of an existing company and overhauled it so extensively in terms of personnel that it was virtually a new operation.) Last year, Newman said, bad luck hit him early. He wrecked in the season-opening Daytona 500 and blew an engine the following week at California.
“Everybody wants to get off to a good start,” he said. “You control part of it; racing luck controls the other part of it.”