David Reutimann knew coming into 2008 that he was going to have to adjust to higher expectations after Bristol in March, as he would be replacing veteran Jarrett behind the wheel of the big-money sponsor UPS Toyota.
Released from his full-time ride at Hall of Fame Racing after 2007, Tony Raines spent much of 2008 as a Sprint Cup fill-in – and one can only describe his season as dismal.
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David Ragan’s second year on the Sprint Cup tour began like most of his rookie year races ended, with a big wreck. During the season-opening Daytona 500, Ragan lost control of his No. 6 Ford, swept up teammate Kenseth and sent both careening into the wall.
Depending on what you believe, Kyle Petty’s Cup career may be far from over after all. The LATEST rumor, as of January 2nd, was that E&M Motorsports would field Kyle in the No. 08 Dodge in as many as 14 races – with Wells Fargo as a sponsor.
In like a lion, out like a lamb was perhaps the best way to describe Newman’s season. In the first four weeks, Newman scored his first Cup victory since Loudon in September of 2005, then followed that up by posting three consecutive top 15s on intermediate ovals that had long been the No. 12 team’s Achilles’ heel.
Between sponsorship issues affecting his teammates and personnel changes on his own crew – including three different crew chiefs in one month – this was quite a challenging season for Juan Pablo Montoya.
Joe Nemechek got off to a rocky start, finishing 41st and 34th in the season’s first two events. He failed to live up to the “Front Row Joe” moniker from there.
After a year in the former No. 25, Casey Mears took over the driver’s seat in the No. 5 car for HMS, replacing Kyle Busch.
Paul Menard’s sophomore season provided some slight improvement. After the struggles that marked the early part of his rookie campaign, 2008 brought continued steadiness for him that marked his second half of 2007.