Racin' With Russ
By Russell Schmidt

2008 Sprint Cup Team Lineups (Part 1)
Monday, December 10, 2007

Here is the first 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. 00
This ride will feature a number of driver and sponsor combos, a situation arising more and more due to the ever-increasing cost of sponsorship. David Reutimann will start the year in this MWR Toyota with Burger King (maybe) on the quarters. After the first five races, Reutimann will move over to the No. 44 UPS ride in which Dale Jarrett will retire from. Rookies Josh Wise and Michael McDowell will share the driving duties, but don't rule out David Stremme on a full-time basis. Sounds complicated? You bet.

No. 01
Regan Smith heads up this year's rookie-of-the-year lineup in this DEI Chevy with a possibility of Coors on the sides. This young driver has much to prove and just may have the tools to complete the mission of success.

No. 07
Here is the first of several scenarios that fit into the category, 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'. Clint Bowyer returns behind the wheel with most everything in place, including backer Jack Daniel's decals and Gil Martin as crew chief. After all, one win and third in the points is a working program. Can they repeat the performance this year? If this driver can step up on the consistency wagon…yes.

No. 1
Martin Truex Jr's stock certainly rose in 2007 and now that Dale Jr has left the building will head up the DEI Cup effort. All of the current ingredients will return for this year and their performance level has still not hit full stride.

No. 2
Kurt Busch was on a role in the closing stages of 2007 with his Penske Miller Lite ride. If they could come out of the box stronger, they could very well be a force to be reckoned with by year's end.

No. 4
State Water Heaters will return to back this Morgan-McClure Chevy, but many of the other parts of the Virginia team have not been finalized, including the driver. Results? This team would do well just to make every race, something they surely didn't do in '07. (Missed 20 races.)
No. 5 -

Hendrick driver Casey Mears returns to work, but with a totally different paint scheme, sponsor and crew. Carquest and Kellogg's will back this team with Alan Gustafson calling the shots from atop the pit box. Results? I'd give Casey yet another mark in the win column before year's end. Chase? Not this year.

No. 6
David Regan will be back in the saddle in this Roush ride after a pretty good rookie season, finishing as runner-up in the final R-O-Y stats. With a 23rd place finish in the points and two top five's and three top ten's, I look for this talented young driver to step up to the next level of performance stats.

The Craftsman truck banquet saw Ron Hornaday collect a record amount of winnings, some $1.1 million in all. The event was aired two weeks afterwards (don't know why) and saw a late night talk show format in interviewing each driver. The comedic talent was better than David Spade and the live band was a bit over the top for me.

The final Busch series banquet was held Friday night with Carl Edwards brining home more than $2.5 million for the season. More details next week after the tape delayed airing this week.

From Rumorville

Looks like Craftsman is calling it a day on sponsoring the truck series. That's right, after the 2008 season, the founding sponsor is stepping aside as the primary series backer. Of the three premiere racing series however, I think this will be the easiest one to secure another sponsor as their TV ratings have increased over the past few years while the others have slipped.

Kurt Busch will join Jimmie Johnson as one of the Cup drivers competing in this years's Rolex 24 sports car race at Daytona in January. Busch will make his second 'left and right' appearance, this time with Helio Castroneves and newbee Ryan Briscoe.

Did you know?

For the first time ever, the famed indoor Chile Bowl race will be aired live on TV…although it will cost you $24.95 on a pay-per-view basis to watch the likes of Tony Stewart and Kasey Kahne wheel their midget racers around the diminutive indoor oval. Look for the event on Jan. 12.
That's it for this week. Next week's RWR will continue with Part 2 of the 2008 Cup lineup and more racing news from around the globe.

Questions? Comments? Contact Russ