Nextel Cup Media Tour
’07 Notebook
The Teams! The Drivers! The Buzz!
The annual NASCAR Nextel Media Tour Hosted by Lowe’s Motor Speedway in NC has become the starting line for every NASCAR season the past 24 years. I know; I’ve been on almost all of ‘em and seen it grow from a few media types attending, to 200 swarming about.
Here’s a whirlwind ride across 19 stops in 3-1/2 intense days of eating, scribing, and getting goodies. You think that it takes stamina to drive Bristol? It’s cake compared to this.
Day One
Ginn Racing Lunch
The former MB2 team is gaining speed with their new partner/investor Bobby Ginn and we predict they will end up a major team before too long. Their coup of getting Mark Martin to become a driver AND teacher for their development drivers was brilliant. Martin said, "I can’t wait to help all these young drivers develop their careers.” A 2-½ car team in ‘07 and four cars in ‘08 is part of their five year plan. Key word: Developing.
NASCAR R&D Center
Inside the NASCAR R&D center a new COT chassis is “qualified” with a digitizing arm to make sure it’s within spec. Note the new steel plating on the driver side door bars for protection.
A VERY interesting stop. NASCAR admitted they had to make what they called a radical change to the Chase by bumping it to 12 cars, five more points for a win (that’s a total of 10 added points in three years) and implementing a ‘seed’ system. Brian France said, “We want to emphasize winning even more.” The latest discussion on the Car Of Tomorrow (COT) was intense. Bottom line: New Chase format – good. COT – good.
Chip Gannasi Racing with Felix Sabates
 Former F1 star Juan Pablo Montoya (JPM) comes to Cup full time in 2007. Ganassi Racing’s future is on his shoulders. |
Key Word: JPM - Juan Pablo Montoya. He was pretty much ALL the buzz at this shop. On his new “shoe” Ganassi said, “I don’t think there’s any question he’s a superstar, certainly in auto racing. I don’t know about NASCAR yet, but it’s great to have a guy like that around.” Co-owner Felix said about JPM, “We can talk in Spanish. We can say things in front of you and you won’t know what we’re saying.” Bottom line: This team has been rebuilding, changing people and working their way up to being a major player for seven years now. They need to start producing or they’ll be labeled a revolving door instead of a winning team.
