Notebook: Pieces falling into place

Notebook: Pieces falling into place


By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR  Service

BRISTOL, Tenn.—With the signing of Aric Almirola to drive the No. 88 Chevrolet next season JR Motorsports’ Nationwide Series program is coming sharply into focus.
Team co-owner Kelley Earnhardt said the team is close to filling out sponsorship for the No. 88 and will determine Danica Patrick’s races in the No. 7 Chevy after the IndyCar Series releases its schedule. Patrick is slated to drive approximately 13 races for JRM next year.
“We’re very close to wrapping up the sponsorship on the 88,” Earnhardt said Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway. “It looks like we’ll definitely have GT Vodka back on board for a 15-race program. Our Unilever folks, we’re real close with them on about 12 to 15 races. That will leave us short four or six or eight, however the math works out on the 88. We’ve still got time to put stuff together for that car.”
Almirola, who had a brief stint in the Sprint Cup Series, sharing a ride in the No. 8 Chevrolet with Mark Martin at Dale Earnhardt Inc., jumped at the chance to drive for JRM.
“It was really easy for me,” Almirola said. “I had several other opportunities, but this was the opportunity that I looked at that I felt like, being 26 years old, I could wait a few more years before going to Cup and still be OK.
“I felt like this was the place where I needed to be to be able to prove that I can win races and run for a championship at the next level. I’ve been fortunate enough to do that this year (in the Camping World Truck Series), and I didn’t want to go too fast, too quick and end up like I was a couple years ago (without a full-time ride).”
Earnhardt acknowledged that Patrick has had difficulty getting up to speed in her six Nationwide starts to date.
“I think she’s definitely had a difficult year getting used to these cars from where she’s came from (IndyCars),” Earnhardt said. “I think still everyone has to keep in (mind) that she’s ran six Nationwide races and pretty much six stock car races in her career. She’s still very fresh and new at this and still has a lot to learn about the way these cars work.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr. will compete approximately six times in the No. 7 car next years. The allocation of the rest of the races is a work in progress, but Kelley Earnhardt said the organization has been pleased with the performance of Josh Wise in recent races.
“Josh has done very well for us and kept the car in the top 20 of the owner’s points and hasn’t put a scratch on our car, that I can recall,” she said.

The old switcheroo
It didn’t take Kevin Conway, the default Raybestos Rookie Of The Year winner in the Cup series, to find a new home. A week after parting with Front Row Motorsports last Friday at Michigan—and taking sponsor ExtenZe with him—Conway landed in Robby Gordon’s No. 7 Toyota for Saturday’s Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol.
Gordon, who was initially entered in the No. 7, moved to his own No. 07 Camry, which originally was entered with driver TBA. Gordon qualified 37th, and Conway 40th.
Casey Mears took over for Max Papis in the No. 13 Toyota in a move that originally had been planned for Atlanta two weeks hence. Papis will concentrate his efforts on the truck series. Mears was the last car to make Saturday’s field.
Almirola, too, got an unexpected ride when David Reutimann began suffering from flu-like symptoms. Almirola drove Reutimann’s No. 00 Toyota for the majority of the first Cup practice session, making way for Reutimann for a few laps at the end of the session.
Reutimann practiced the car in Happy Hour and qualified fifth for Saturday’s race later in the afternoon.

New tire befuddles drivers
Based on a June 29-30 tire test involving Juan Pablo Montoya (Chevrolet), David Ragan (Ford), Scott Speed (Toyota) and Denny Hamlin (Toyota), Goodyear provided left- and right-side tires that had never been run before at Bristol.
Several drivers pointed to difficulties in adapting their setups to the new mold shape, construction and stagger of the tire combination.
“We’re getting used to that, because we rarely go back to the racetrack with the same set of tires,” Greg Biffle said. “I’m having trouble figuring that part out. This racetrack puts on great races. The last couple of races here were good, and now we’ve got a new tire, and it doesn’t seem like it has as much grip.
“It seems like, in my opinion, it’s going to be harder to run side-by-side. The tire is freer into the corner, which spells trouble for the guy on the bottom—and the guy on the top, if the guy spins out below you. … You can’t stand still, but you often wonder, when you have a great race, and you have no tire issues, why you’d come back with something different.”
Kurt Busch, who led 278 laps and finished third at Bristol in March, offered an explanation.
“A lot of teams were on the edge here in March,” Busch said. “There were a lot of tire blowouts on long green-flag runs. If you were to bring the same tire that was marginal in March, you’re definitely going to be on edge when it’s warmer in August.”