FORT WORTH, TX - NOVEMBER 08: Chad Knaus, crew chief for Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, pushes the car into the garage after being involved in a crash with Sam Hornish Jr., driver of the #77 AAA Dodge, during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on November 8, 2009 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)
The bloodletting has begun at Richard Petty Motorsports. The NASCAR Sprint Cup operation began the process of cutting its total workforce in anticipation of its long-awaiting merger deal with Yates Racing this week by letting go of 47 engine department employees at its Concord, N.C., shop, according to FoxSports.com
According to multiple media reports, this is only the beginning, too, as RPM is looking to shed somewhere in the range of 200 to 250 total employees by the time the merger deal with Yates is done. Additional layoffs were expected during the week, and numerous sources told FoxSports.com that each RPM team was told it would only be able to carry 17 total crew members at this point.
RPM and Yates announced their merger agreement in September. Under the deal, the team, which will race under the RPM name, will boast four teams with Kasey Kahne, Elliott Sadler, AJ Allmendinger and Paul Menard driving for those teams.
The new RPM will also run Ford engines and will use engines built by Roush Yates Engines. RPM has been a Dodge team and will continue to run Dodge engines until the end of the season.
RISE OF THE PHOENIX
According to multiple media sources, the soon-to-be open driver’s seat for the No. 09 Phoenix Racing ride is drawing the interest of a number of drivers with a short list of four among the favorites for the job.
Both Casey Mears, who is currently driving the No. 07 Jack Daniels Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing and Reed Sorenson are two of the names that keep coming up, while David Gilliland, who will drive the No. 09 this weekend and Phoenix, and David Stremme, who will drive the car next weekend at the 2009 Sprint Cup season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, are also in the running.
According to the reports, should Gilliland and/or Stremme fail to impress during their one-race tryout, either Mears or Sorenson will be considered.
Mears will be in search of a ride after this season after the parent company of Jack Daniels announced last month that it would not be re-signing its contract with RCR and the No. 07 team.
IN THE FRONT ROW
Racing Web site www.scenedaily.com reported this week that Front Row Motorsports intends to run two full-time teams for the 2010 season.
Team owner Bob Jenkins told the Web site that he plans to run the No. 34 team on a full-time basis again next season and make the No. 27 team, which attempted to qualify in 25 races this year, a full-time operation.
No drivers have been named as of yet, but Jenkins told scenedaily.com that he is happy with the effort he’s gotten from John Andretti (No. 34 team) and Tony Raines (No. 37 team) this year.
Sprint Cup veterans Stremme and Travis Kvapil have also been mentioned as possibilities for 2010.
CHASING DOWN A TITLE
Jimmie Johnson’s 38th- place finish at Texas last week has given Mark Martin new life, but with a little luck and some decent driving winning his fourth straight title should be possible.
Johnson can wrap up his fourth title in as many years with an average finish of fourth-place or better over the final two races (Phoenix and Homestead-Miami), fifth and a lap led in each race, or sixth and the most laps led in each of the final two races. If that happens, he will clinch the title no matter what else happens. He could also clinch on Sunday if he can come away with a 195-point lead over the second-place driver, whether that be Martin or someone else.
Currently 73 points ahead of Martin, Johnson would need to pick up an additional 122 points on top of whatever the second-place driver comes away with.
If history is a help, too, Johnson is in good position to win that title. He’s won three of the past four races at Phoenix and has the top pre-race driver rating at Phoenix of 120.0, which is 17.6 points ahead of second-best Kurt Busch’s 102.4.
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Rank…Driver … Points … Behind
1. … Jimmie Johnson … 6297 … ---
2. … Mark Martin … 6224 … 73
3. … Jeff Burton … 6185 … 112
4. … Kurt Busch … 6126 … 171
5. … Tony Stewart … 6119 … 178
6. … Juan Montoya … 6061 … 236
7. … Greg Biffle … 6050 … 247
8. … Denny Hamlin … 5975 … 322
9. … Ryan Newman … 5973 … 324
10. … Kasey Kahne … 5898 … 399
11. … Carl Edwards … 5857 … 440
12. … Brian Vickers … 5777 … 520
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