A look at the season at the midway point

By TONY FABRIZIO
MEDIA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE
Published: July 9, 2008

One thing about NASCAR: It always delivers the unexpected.

Take Tony Stewart going off on Goodyear after a frustrating second-place finish at Atlanta in March. “That’s the most pathetic tire I’ve been on in my racing career,” he said on national television. “If they can’t do any better than that, they should pull out of the sport and save us a bunch of headaches.”

Or Ford team owner Jack Roush claiming a Toyota team stole a proprietary suspension part and committed “intellectual espionage.” Roush was responding to an accusation by Toyota executive Lee White that Roush’s team cheated with Carl Edwards’ car at Las Vegas in March.

Those are a couple of the wackier stories from the first half of the Sprint Cup season, which concluded with Saturday’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona.

Today, a look at the major developments so far on and off the track.

A DREAM REALIZED

When Aric Almirola finished eighth at Bristol in March driving Dale Earnhardt Inc.’s No. 8 Chevy, he had no idea what the impressive run would do for his career.

He found out recently, when DEI offered him a job driving the No. 8 car full-time in 2009. Eager beyond words to get to the Sprint Cup series full-time, the 24-year-old Almirola quickly accepted.

WAITING IN THE WEEDS

The team that won half of the races and finished 1-2 in the championship last year has won only twice this season, but Hendrick Motorsports has quietly positioned itself well for the Chase.

Newcomer Dale Earnhardt Jr., two-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson and 2007 runner-up Jeff Gordon all took top-six spots through the first 18 races.

THE AMAZING NO. 20

What’s more important in NASCAR, the driver or the car?

In the case of Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 20 Nationwide Series team, the car is the real beast.

Four drivers have combined to give the wicked-fast No. 20 Toyota nine victories. Even 18-year-old rookie phenom Joey Logano got in on the act.

Crew chief Dave Rogers’ No. 20 team needs one more victory to tie the record for most Nationwide Series victories by one car in a season. And Joe Gibbs Racing, with 12 Nationwide victories this year, needs one more to tie the record for most wins by a team.

ONE TOUGH ECONOMY

Chip Ganassi couldn’t find a sponsor for defending Indy 500 winner and Indy Racing League champion Dario Franchitti, so he shut down his No. 40 team last week. The development brought into focus the difficulty teams are having securing sponsorship in a difficult economy.

High fuel prices and other economic hardships have taken a toll on tracks, too, as empty seats and half-full campgrounds at several races attested.

Now NASCAR has another worry: the economic uncertainty that General Motors, Ford and Chrysler are facing. The Big Three and Toyota are spending a combined $500 million a year on their NASCAR programs and could have to cut back if things don’t improve.

BACK IN THE SADDLE

Mark Martin said he was retiring from the Sprint Cup series in 2005.

Yeah, right. Martin cut back to a limited schedule in 2007, but he learned he is still pretty good. And last weekend at Daytona, the 49-year-old four-time series runner-up announced he is coming back full-time in 2009.

With Hendrick Motorsports, no less.

SURPRISES & BUSTS

•Kasey Kahne is eighth in the standings, with two victories in points races and another in the all-star race. At this point last year, he was 26th in points without a top-five finish.

•David Ragan has made a nice jump from his rookie season to his second year in Roush Fenway Racing’s No. 6 Ford. He is 15th in the standings, still within striking distance of a Chase berth.

•Big things were expected from Casey Mears when he moved within Hendrick Motorsports to the stout No. 5 car. But he is 24th in the standings, and he has been told he won’t be back next year.

•Boss Chip Ganassi said it was “Chase or Bust” this year for former Formula One star Juan Montoya. Well, Montoya is 21st in the standings and not headed to the Chase.