Racin' With Russ
By Russell Schmidt

2008 Sprint Cup Team Lineups (Part 4)
Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Here is Round 4 of a multi-part series to describe the 2008 Sprint Cup team lineups for next season. There are lots of wholesale changes between drivers, sponsors and car makes, so take notes and enjoy some of my predictions:

No. 27
Ex-open-wheeler Jacques Villeneuve returns in a full-time mode for Bill Davis Racing in this Toyota. The Canadian driver gained some valuable experience last season with a handful of truck and Cup starts with so-so results. Sponsor questions and personnel have yet to be decided. Getting in all the shows, a couple of top 10 finishes and a top 25 for the season would be a major accomplishment.

No. 31
A new paint scheme for this AT&T Chevy driven by Jeff Burton is the only major change in store for a team that gelled well in 2007. They will have to gain some consistency in the closing stages of the season to get on top.

No. 38
David Gilliland will drive this Yates Ford, but with long-time sponsor M&M's leaving for Toyota, the team has yet to announce this year's major backer. They got in all the shows last year, but 28th in points and only two top 10 performances are not enough to brag about.

No. 40
Team owner Chip Ganassi adds yet another ex-open wheeler to his staff, this time 2007 Indy 500 winner, Dario Franchitti. The Scotsman got a chance to drive some ARCA, Busch and Cup events last year with nothing to beat his chest about by the time the checkers flew. He will have all the right parts to do well, but the jury's out as to what the results will be. Talented? Yes, in open wheel, but as of yet, I have not seen anything to get excited about. I'm also concerned about the driver booted from the seat, David Stremme. All this talented young man has on his plate for 2008 is a part-time Nationwide gig.

No. 41
Reed Sorenson is back as driver of the Target Dodge with most all of last year's part and personnel in place. Six top tens and three top fives is OK, but Sorenson needs to move up to the next level of performance in order to keep his ride.

No. 42
Juan Pablo Montoya surprised many doubters, myself included. The transplanted F1 driver won the Cup road course race as well as the Busch race in Mexico, yet most Cup finishes were less than exciting. The Colombian shoe has led the way in showing an ex-open-wheeler set a decent performance can be achieved. We'll see if his stats can improve this year.

No. 43
Bobby Labonte will pilot the 'King's' Dodge once again, with Cheerios sponsorship still well in place. The ex-champion gets a new crew chief this year with Jeff Meendering moving over from the Jeff Gordon team as car chief. Between moving into new 'digs' in Mooresville and a new crew chief, sounds like a good combo to me. Wouldn't it be good to see that No. 43 back in the winner's circle sometime?

No. 44
David Reutimann will start the year in this Waltrip Toyota before moving over to the No. 88 UPS ride full-time. The final word on who or what will happen after the first five races has yet to be determined for the No. 44.

No. 45
Kyle Petty returns behind the wheel of this Marathon/Wells Fargo Dodge, but there's no telling how much longer this arrangement will continue. It would probably be a safe bet however to realize the son of the "King' will probably hand over the driving duties to someone younger and hungrier for results such as Chad McCumbee. It's time.

No. 48
This is definitely the leading candidate for the 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' department. Jimmie Johnson returns as two-time Cup champ with many feeling No. 3 is right around the corner. Lowe's is certainly back, as is crew chief Chad Knauss. Can he do it for a third time in a row? Drop me a line and let me know? My opinion? No. Statistically the odds are against it and I believe it will hinge on two factors….1. How well Dale Jr will perform and 2. How well the Gibbs Toyotas will affect the Hendrick juggernaut.

Did you know?
There are no fewer than 20, yes, I said 20 Sprint Cup crew chief changes for next season. Talk about needing a score card to keep things straight…between the crew chief changes, driver swaps along with sponsor and paint scheme changes, it will take some serious note taking to know who's where for 2008.

That's it for this week. Next week's RWR will continue with Part 5 of the 2008 Cup lineup and more racing news from around the globe.

Happy New Year!

Questions? Comments? Contact Russ