Did You Notice? How quickly Greg Biffle was ready with a story when he exited his car in Kansas’s victory lane? Whether you believe NASCAR made the right call or not, listening to the way in which the No. 16 driver handled the scenario certainly made it hard to believe that car would have lasted another three laps. I’d put $10,000 on the line to see that car started in the current condition it was on Sunday after hearing Biffle speak.
Did You Notice? How much of a one-sided “partnership” the new Roush Fenway – Yates Racing tandem has become? First off, driver Travis Kvapil gets picked for the new ride over Kenny Wallace and others, and then the team’s driver of the future, Stephen Leicht, is mysteriously released after whispers the team’s Busch operation is scheduled to close. All this after Leicht won a race this season and progressed well with the support of Citifinancial, a sponsor who just one year ago expressed interest in moving up to Nextel Cup.
Now, crew chief Butch Hylton from the No. 88 team is leaving… making this whole thing seems more and more like a Roush Fenway sellout by the day.
Did You Notice? That with legends like Ed Rensi looking for a sponsor for both his cars, drivers like Leicht looking for a ride and teams like McGill Motorsports forced into a situation where they need to rent out their racecar to funded drivers in order to survive… the Busch Series could see its exclusive car and driver count drop significantly once again next year? Of course, there are still plenty of Nextel Cup guys willing to run the series; unfortunately, if they didn’t there would be serious questions raised as to the viability of the sport’s long-term survival chances.
Did You Notice? That with the frustration level on high after getting wrecked by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch made a claim that was mostly false? He claimed Earnhardt let down a team that he’ll be driving for next year, referring to the current crew he’s running with in his remarks. There’s just one problem with Busch’s statement; all the guys he’s working with won’t be with the new No. 88 team in 2008. Instead, it’s members of the currently No. 25 squad that are meshing with former DEI holdovers to rebuild Junior’s operation from scratch.
Whoops! So, it’s actually the National Guard Chevrolet that Earnhardt Jr. really needs to be careful around… and with Busch’s immaturity on high, he probably has the right to push him around all he wants.
Did You Notice? That the No. 78 team driven by Joe Nemechek was on track for the team’s first top-10 finish before handling and other assorted issues took over late in the race.
About the author
The author of Did You Notice? (Wednesdays) Tom spends his time overseeing Frontstretch’s 40+ staff members as its majority owner and Editor-in-Chief. Based outside Philadelphia, Bowles is a two-time Emmy winner in NASCAR television and has worked in racing production with FOX, TNT, and ESPN while appearing on-air for SIRIUS XM Radio and FOX Sports 1's former show, the Crowd Goes Wild. He most recently consulted with SRX Racing, helping manage cutting-edge technology and graphics that appeared on their CBS broadcasts during 2021 and 2022.
You can find Tom’s writing here, at CBSSports.com and Athlonsports.com, where he’s been an editorial consultant for the annual racing magazine for 15 years.
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