The Frontstretch Newsletter: November 30th, 2009

[Frontstretch.com]

THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
November 30th, 2009
Volume III, Edition CCXXXII

Editor's Note: Wondering where the Newsletter was these last couple of days? Don't forget, it's the offseason now ... so we've scaled down to once a week. The next edition of the Newsletter will head your way on Monday morning, December 7th.
 
Today's Top News
by Phil Allaway

Danica Patrick To Make Big Announcement Monday Morning

 

On Thursday, GoDaddy.com posted a small announcement on their homepage, saying that "GoDaddy Girl" Danica Patrick, currently the driver of the No. 7 Boost Mobile/GoDaddy.com Dallara in the Izod IndyCar Series, will make a big announcement on Monday, November 30th regarding her future plans.  Patrick announced on her Twitter feed Saturday that the big news would be tied into an appearance on ABC's Good Morning America Monday morning.  Speculation centers around the driver's NASCAR future, with the expectation she'll announce an agreement to drive part-time in the Nationwide Series with JR Motorsports and Rick Hendrick in 2010.

 

The potential of Patrick running stock cars in addition to her full-time IRL schedule has been a huge story over the past couple of months.  In addition to Hendrick and Dale Earnhardt, Jr., news reports have linked her to Michael Waltrip Racing and Stewart-Haas Racing (the latter being another Hendrick-affiliated group). 

Patrick's GoDaddy.com sponsor is already with Hendrick Motorsports, sponsoring the No. 5 Sprint Cup Series car driven by Mark Martin for 2010.

 

Lawyer Files Lawsuit Against Jeremy Mayfield

 

As first reported by ESPN’s David Newton on Wednesday, Jeremy Mayfield’s former head counsel, Bill Diehl, has filed a lawsuit in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina claiming that Mayfield owes nearly $372,000 in unpaid legal fees from his pending civil case against NASCAR.  Diehl worked on behalf of Mayfield for approximately five months before Mayfield dropped him in favor of Mark Geragos in October. Diehl's lawsuit claims repeated attempts to collect the money have failed, and multiple phone calls to Mayfield from the lawyer and his office have gone unreturned.

 

On a potentially related note, Mayfield recently had a large scale auction of some of his and his wife Shana’s belongings.  Items auctioned off included cars from the driver’s personal collection, guns, land, a house, and even some of Shana’s clothes.  At the time, Mayfield claimed there was no financial motivation behind it and that Diehl had been paid in full.

There was no immediate comment from Mayfield on the lawsuit.

Aric Almirola Drops Lawsuit Against EGR

 

On Wednesday, SceneDaily.com first reported that Aric Almirola has dropped a lawsuit that he had filed against Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates and Dale Earnhardt, Inc. just prior to the season-ending races down in Homestead-Miami.  The lawsuit had alleged a breach of contract by EGR after Almirola was pulled out of the No. 8 after seven races earlier this season due to lack of sponsorship.

 

In the seven races that Almirola drove in the No. 8 during the 2009 Sprint Cup season, his best finish was a 21st at Atlanta in March.  Sponsorship for those events was provided by a variety of companies (Activision, through their Guitar Hero franchise, Cub Cadet, Champion Apparel, and TomTom GPS devices (through the Target sponsorship)). But when permanent sponsorship could not be secured, the team was sidelined and a number of employees were laid off, including Almirola himself.

There's no word from either party as to whether an out-of-court financial settlement was reached. Almirola remains without a full-time ride in any of the top three series for 2010, although it's Billy Ballew's preference to keep him in the No. 15 Truck as long as primary sponsorship is secured.

 

Mika Salo to the Nationwide Series?

 

On Thursday, Autosport reported that former Formula 1 and current American LeMans Series driver Mika Salo is likely to join the Nationwide Series during the 2010 season, on the heels of a successful test session with Michael Waltrip Racing at New Smyrna Speedway in New Smyrna Beach, Florida on November 15.

 

If Salo were to make the jump to NASCAR next season, it is unclear where he would end up.  Michael Waltrip has sold a partial interest in his Nationwide team to Gary Bechtel, the former Busch and Winston Cup car owner, forming Diamond-Waltrip Racing.  Continuing to run the No. 99, their plans are to put Trevor Bayne full-time in the seat for 2010 -- meaning they'll need to expand to a second team to bring Salo into the fold.  However, the Finnish driver would bring funding from a variety of different companies to whoever signs him, leaving him an attractive free agent to teams looking to stay afloat in this tough economic climate.

 

As a result, Salo is optimistic that he will have a ride come Daytona, and already has a plan for how he is going to go about his career in NASCAR.

 

“It's all about the money.  If my sponsors are happy, it will happen,” Salo admitted on Thursday.  “The plan is to learn the racing and learn the tracks in Nationwide, and then move up to the Sprint Cup in 2011.”

 

That might be easier said than done, however, since Salo (and Jarno Trulli) tested Sprint Cup CoT’s at New Smyrna Speedway, not Nationwide Series cars.  The two vehicles drive much differently, so there will be a learning curve for Salo as he makes a full-time transition into NASCAR.

 

An open-wheel driver for most of his career, Salo first entered the Formula 1 World Championship in 1994, driving the final two races of the season for Team Lotus.  Afterwards, Salo's F1 career featured three years at Tyrrell (1995-1997), one year at Arrows (1998), and substitution roles at Ferrari in place of Michael Schumacher in 1999, as well as BAR in place of Ricardo Zonta.  The sub stint at Ferrari earned him a full season ride for Sauber Petronas in 2000; then, after a year of testing, Salo was one of the original drivers for Toyota's F1 team in 2002 before dropping out of the series at year's end.  In 109 total Grand Prix events, Salo scored a total of 33 career points.  His best ever finish was a second at the Grand Prix of Germany at the Hockenheimring in 1999, earned while subbing for Schumacher.

 

Since then, the now 43-year-old Salo has mainly raced in sports cars, most recently here in the United States, where he has co-driven the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari F430 with Jamie Melo.  The team has won the GT class in the 12 Hours of Sebring, 24 Hours of LeMans, and the Petit LeMans multiple times.
 
Have news for Phil and the Frontstretch? Don't hesitate to let us know; email us at ashl...@mail.com with a promising lead or tip.

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TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:
2009 Sprint Cup Rookie Final Report Cards: Grading A Year Filled With Future Potential
by Tony Lumbis

A Season On The Brink: One Final Look At The Four-Team Battle To Finish In The Top 35
by Mike Ravesi

2009 Season Review: Brian Vickers
by Tommy Thompson

2009 Season Review: Carl Edwards
by Jeff Meyer

2009 Season Review: Kasey Kahne
by Tony Lumbis
 
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q:  Early on in the history of the Camping World Truck Series, the series had a two race "Northwest Swing," with events at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, Washington and Portland Speedway near Portland, Oregon.  However, for 1999, the truck race in Portland was shifted to Portland International Raceway.  Why did this happen?

 

Check back next Monday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
 
Tuesday's Answer:
Q.   In articles written over the past couple of years, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has revealed that he was a big fan of independent Jimmy Means while growing up.  One of his biggest memories of his Means fandom was when Means finally got a shot at a competitive ride in 1987 in the Oakwood Homes 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.  Who was Means driving for at CMS that day, and how did that opportunity come together?

A.  Means was driving a No. 52 Chevrolet (so that the team could make use of Means' provisionals just in case) for Hendrick Motorsports.  The car carried sponsorship from Folgers Coffee, whose primary driver Tim Richmond was unable to run due to his various issues relating to "illness" -- an unnamed disease that would turn out to be AIDS.  Previously, Means had put up a herculean effort with his independent race team to contend for the victory at Richmond in September, battling up front before running out of tires and falling to a ninth place finish.

 

Means qualified the No. 52 in fifth spot, and was biding his time early in the going when a multi-car crash broke out in turn 2 collecting, among others, Means, Buddy Baker, and Dale Earnhardt.  Earnhardt Jr. admitted in an interview at this link earlier this year to actually crying about Means working so hard for that opportunity and having it fall apart so quickly.
 
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Coming Monday, December 7th in the Frontstretch Newsletter:
-- Top News from Phil Allaway
-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, and more ... including our 2009 Driver Reviews!

 

All this week on the Frontstretch:

2009 Chase Driver Reviews by the Frontstretch Staff
Drivers always say earning a spot in the Chase makes their season a success ... but is that really true? Find out what our experts think as we take an in-depth look at this year's top 12 finishers in the final point standings -- and whether the results from all 36 races left them worthy of earning their playoff bid.

Schedule:
Today: Brian Vickers, Carl Edwards, and Kasey Kahne
Tuesday: Ryan Newman, Juan Pablo Montoya, and Greg Biffle

Wednesday: Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin
Thursday: Kurt Busch and Jeff Gordon
Friday: Mark Martin and Jimmie Johnson
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