"You Asked for It, You Got It; Happy Birthday Mario.."

Kyle Busch may not be the only Toyota driver going to the rear of the field for the Shelby 427 here in "Glitter Gulch". Toyota Racing Development (TRD) boss Lee White talked with a few reporters about some problems with the engines built by his shop. We hear at least David Reutimann and the Red Bull tandem on Brian Vickers and Scott Speed have changed engines. There's an issue with the valve train in the engines from TRD, which power the Michael Waltrip and Red Bull squads. This is a setback also for Michael Waltrip who has had a better start to 2009 than in past years. Starting from the rear makes any chance for a top 10 finish--let alone a win--not so easy. The Kyle Busch team had to change their engine, for an unrelated piston problem. Max Papis put his Toyota in the field in 26th place...the NASCAR rookie is one of the most demonstrative drivers ever. His team is using an earlier generation of the Toyota pushrod V8. Mark Cronquist is the veteran engine builder for Joe Gibbs Racing--his engines have not suffered the valve train problem.

Also, we'd be remiss if we did not wish a happy birthday to the feisty native of Montona, Italy, by way of Nazareth, PA--Mario Andretti. Mario, for those who do not remember history, is the only driver ever to win the World Driving (Formula One) Championship, the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500.

"Army Strong?"

Ryan Newman kinda thinks so...he smiles when he talks about Hendrick Racing horsepower for his #39 Army sponsored Chevy Impala SS. That should put a big spring in the step of his fans. Newman and new crew chief Tony Gibson chat about more than setups...both are outdoorsmen--although I don't think Ryan can sign out the sniper rifle he shot on the range at Fort Bragg to plink whitetails at 2600 feet. He's ready for practice at Daytona on/about February 5.

Boss Tony Stewart says he'll spend more time in North Carolina than he did back in Indiana now that his name's on the door and the checks. Smoke says he is the same driver who won two Sprint Cup titles and has the same get-after-it attitude that appeals to the old-time fan. Tony, however, was polished and charming while talking with us assembled scribes at his shop.

Jimmie Johnson won the SpeedTV Mario Andretti (best race car driver in the world) award. The trophy was presented by the feisty native of Montona Italy himself at the media visit at Hendrick Racing. Mario waxed elequent about the cost of racing, confidence, stupidity and cupidity in Formula One.

Johnson and teammates Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. are antsy and similarly ready for February 5. This weekend, Johnson will try to win his first Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona...and has a pretty good chance to do so with teammates Alex Gurney, Jon Fogarty, and Jimmy Vasser. If Johnson's team wins...it would be the first All American team to win overall honors since Rocky Moran, PJ Jones, and Mark Dismore did it 16 years ago.

Chip Ganassi back to back at the 24; Jeff Gordon 3rd

The Chip Ganassi Racing Lexus Riley of Scott Pruett, Juan Pablo Montoya and Salvador Duran won overall honors at the 24 Hours of Daytona Grand-Am Rolex series classic on the Speedway's 3.56 mile road course. That car completed 668 laps in 24:00:55.002. Montoya is a NASCAR Nextel Cup series rookie, reunited with racing maven and team owner Ganassi for 2007. Not a bad result for JPM. Pruett has 7 class wins at Daytona (most of any driver) and now has 13 Rolex series wins. JPM joins a list of nine other drivers to win a sports car race at Daytona, and the Indianapolis 500 (for the record, they include Mario Andretti, AJ Foyt, Parnelli Jones, Arie Luyendyk, Bobby Rahal, Mark Donohue, Al Unser Sr. & Al Unser Jr., and Dan Wheldon.

Gordon impressed a lot of observers with the 3rd place drive. The Wayne Taylor machine got behind and the team (Gordon, Taylor, Max Angelelli, and Jan Magnussen) clawed its way back to the lead lap, before a late race brake pad change knocked them off the lead lap.

Helio Castroneves and Sam Hornish had a long race...finishing 9th...some 40 laps down to the winner. Props to Hornish for getting road racing experience the hard way...it will pay off.

The Indy Racing League will test here Wednesday and Thursday. We'll blog some stuff your way.

Paul Kaminski

1/28/2007