Following the lead of other aging veterans, Sterling Marlin chose to cut back to a part-time schedule in 2008, signing up to drive for one of the most powerful independent owners in the Cup business these days – James Finch.
As Joey Logano prepares to fill big shoes in the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota next year, JGR officials had to be a little discouraged by what they saw in the youngster’s 2008 Cup Series debut.
Remember when Terry Labonte retired at the end of the 2006 season? Apparently, the part-time opportunities stemming from his past champion’s provisional are simply too much to pass up.
In his third season behind the wheel at P.E., this year was supposed to be the one where Bobby Labonte returned the No. 43 car to its former glory.
The 2008 season wasn’t a huge success for Travis Kvapil, but it was his best points finish in three full-time seasons in the Cup Series (he drove for Penske in 2005 and PPI Motorsports in 2006).
While we’ll still see him as a commentator in the ESPN booth, Dale Jarrett will truly be missed on the racetrack.
When you look at his overall stats, Kasey Kahne’s No. 9 team was clearly the best-performing Dodge organization this season. Unfortunately, that’s not saying much.
Robby Gordon finished all but four races on the 2008 Sprint Cup schedule, with one DNF because of engine troubles and the other three because of wrecks.
After a dismal partial schedule in 2007 that saw Sam Hornish Jr. qualify for only two Cup races in eight attempts, the IRL transplant shocked the NASCAR community with a top 15 in the Daytona 500. That brief glimmer of hope was short-lived, though, as the next week at Fontana Hornish completed only 20 laps before slamming into Casey Mears.
There was not much for Bill Elliott or his struggling No. 21 Wood Brothers team to gloat about in 2008. The team fell outside the Top 35 in points last season and could never break the threshold this season.