Richmond Picks

8 - Earnhardt - winner- And it won't make a damned bit of difference.

12 - Newman

2 - Ku. Busch

1 - Truex

29 - Harvick

20 - Stewart

24 - Gordon

48 - Johnson

5 - KY Busch

11 - Hamlin


All the drama surrounding the Chase aside, this is a pretty solid but predictable list. I took a chance on little Reed Sorenson last weekend and got burned. It won't happen twice. I hate to see the 8 win, because his fans are obnoxious, and also the "what might have been" stories will be more than any thinking person can bear, but it is what it is.

By the way, if Harvick and Busch make it into the Chase with Junior on the outside, please see this post from July 30 by, well, me predicting exactly this. It is good to be clairvoyant.

Gibbs to Toyota

Joe Gibbs Racing will announce tomorrow that it is trading in its Monte Carlos for Camrys effective next season. This is by far the biggest coup for Toyota in its NASCAR recruiting efforts. JGR is a really big fish.

The effects of such a NASCAR powerhouse switching to the foreign manufacturer are unknown. A few questions yet to be answered:

1. How do Tony Stewart and Danny Hamlin feel about this move?
2. How will the legion #20 fans react? Will Tony lose fans? Toyota has not been well received by the NASCAR fan community.
3. And the BIG question: Toyota has underperformed this year. Will Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, and Denny Hamlin be able to make the cars go fast? Tony Stewart, for one, will not accept losing because of a bad car. He is likely to spontaneously combust if he gets as far as say, Indianapolis, next year without a win.

More reaction tomorrow...This is a very big deal in NASCAR.

From the "embarrassing demotions" dept, J.J. Yeley will race for Hall of Fame racing next year. What happens to Tony Raines? (Does it matter?)

The Earnhardt Domino effect continues:

Earhardt to Hendrick / Kyle Busch fired / Kyle Busch to Gibbs / J.J. Yeley fired / Yeley to HoF / Tony Raines fired...My guess is that that is the last domino. Raines is not exactly a hot free agent.

NASCAR.com: Kyle Busch to Gibbs

According to a source cited on NASCAR.com, Kyle Busch is headed to Gibbs where he will unseat J.J. Yeley in the historic #18 Interstate Batteries car.


Article here.

UPDATE: It's (seemingly) official. Kyle Busch informed Ray Evernham and Richard Childress today that he is indeed going to Joe Gibbs Racing. Two other interesting likely changes are noted in this Jayski post:

1. Joe Gibbs Racing is apparently probably trading in their Chevys for Toyotas. That's huge.
2. The current driver of the #18, J.J. Yeley, is going to the #21 Little Debbie or (whatever it is now) car owned by the Woods Bros.