Ambrose will drive the No. 47 Toyota Camry, co-owned by Tad and Jodi Geschickter and former NBA All-Star Brad Daugherty.

Ambrose won his first NASCAR victory earlier this season at Watkins Glen.

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Menard was one of two drivers at DEI that had a full sponsor, but he will be taking that with him to Yates. Now, only Martin Truex, Jr. is left at DEI with a full sponsor. Menard has gone 68 career races with reaching the winner’s circle and posted only one top 10 finish in his career at DEI. Menard’s first race for Yates will be in 2009.

Speed will be joining the NASCAR Sprint Cup series after running in the Craftsman Truck Series. Speed will begin running the No. 84 car on Oct. 19 at Martinsville. Speed was able to run a test on the Red Bull car at Lowe’s Motor Speedway last week. However, Mike Skinner will run the next two races in the No. 84 car, including at Lowe’s Speedway, before Speed takes the wheel.

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Allmendinger started the race in 14th and moved up to a high of sixth place in the race, yet finished in ninth. “I always feel like I have something to prove, especially when you’re told you might not be the guy that’s going to be back next year,” said Allmendinger after the race.

It’s been rumored that Allmendinger will be replaced by Scott Speed. However, I would expect Allmendinger to land with another team in time for the 2009 Sprint Cup season.

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Biffle’s No. 16 car posted the fastest time during the practice round, cutting up the Kansas Speedway at 167.385 MPH. Biffle is tied for second in the Chase standings, along with Johnson, who finished the practice round with a top speed of 166.528. Edwards posted the third-best top speed in the No. 99 car at 167.271.

So what are we looking at this afternoon? Well, the Kansas Speedway has been notorious for being extremely hard to win for those 12 drivers involved in the Chase. It’s all been almost expected to see a wreck that will impact the race standings. So, here’s my prediction. With the history of the track hard to ignore, I’m staying on the side of caution. Both Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart looked impressive in practice Saturday, however both are starting near the back of the pack. With so much to make up, I don’t feel comfortable choosing either as a hands-down winner. But I do feel comfortable picking either Mark Martin or Jeff Gordon.

Martin starts alongside Johnson on the front row after Montoya was disqualified. Gordon will start in the 13th position. Yet, it’s hard to ignore Biffle and his chase for a third-straight win. So, here are my top three finishers for today’s race. Gordon will win, followed by Martin and Biffle fighting for second.

Now, time to sit back and wait for that green flag.

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Johnson is tied for second in the Chase for the Sprint Cup standings, trailing Carl Edwards by 10 points entering Sunday’s race in Kansas. Montoya thought he had earned his first pole position in NASCAR Sprint Cup before he was notified of the violation, which turned out to be improper gas pressure in his rear shocks. The ageless wonder, Mark Martin, will start next to Johnson on the front row Sunday.

The Kansas Speedway has been particularly tough on drivers in the Chase in the past. Many of the drivers involved in the Chase ran slow in qualifying. The Chase leader, Carl Edwards will start 34th, while third-place Greg Biffle will start 18th. The rest of the lineup for Sunday with cars involved in the Chase can be found below.

3. Matt Kenseth
11. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
13. Jeff Gordon
24. Clint Bowyer
27. Kyle Busch
30. Denny Hamlin
36. Kevin Harvick
37. Jeff Burton
41. Tony Stewart

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Let me know where your allegiance lies. Voting will continue through the month of October.

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Tony Stewart says “Sliced Bread” is a good replacement for him.

Jeff Foxworthy is coming out with a new animated show about a NASCAR family. We can only hope it doesn’t bomb like “The Jeff Foxworthy Show” did.

Bruce’s NASCAR Bits and Pieces wonders where A.J. Allmendinger will be ending up after being let go by Red Bull.

From the Marbles compares Jimmie Johnson to some other great sports dynasties of the past.

The NASCAR Insiders talk about what the Chase for the Cup has done to the sport. I have to agree with them. I was worried what the Chase would do to the sport, however, it seems it is working out just fine.

Fox 4 news station in Kansas City is covering this weekend’s race.

EA Sports revealed its Fall lineup for mobile games and it includes NASCAR 09.

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As seen in the video footage of the accident, Bobby LaBonte was left limping his way over to the infield care center. It was then learned that LaBonte was taken to the hospital in Elmira, NY with what Petty Enterprises VP Robbie Loomis described as discomfort in his rib and abdominal area, but NASCAR officials later stated that Bobby was released from the hospital and cleared to resume competition.

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“I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “I literally could not believe it. I was just praying the car was gonna hold together and I wasn’t gonna get a late caution. But, we got the job done. I feel really good about it, and it’s just a big lift for our team and it feels like everything’s worth it today.”

Marcos didn’t have much time for celebration, though, because the following day served an even much taller task for the Australian native. He was to return once again to Watkins Glen and step behind the wheel of the Wood Brothers Racing no. 21 Ford to make his third Cup Series start, but after qualifying was washed out on Friday, Ambrose would have to start all the way in the back of the field in 43rd at a track where no driver had ever come from deeper than a 16th starting position to win.

Ambrose quickly made people forget that the team he was driving for on Sunday was a team on the verge of obscurity as he climbed his way into the top-15 by the halfway point. Then, with one of the fastest cars on the track, he dashed up inside the top-5 and was sitting in 3rd after Ryan Newman spun with just 13 laps to go. Even with two restarts to try and get it done, though, Ambrose was never able to get around the 2nd place car of Tony Stewart to try and press Kyle Busch for the lead, but if you ask Marcos, he’ll take his top-five Cup finish anyday of the week.

“It’s a big, bad world out here in NASCAR world, and I’m just pleased that I’m able to have a weekend like this to remember,” said Ambrose. “When it’s all said and done, I’ll be able to go home back to Tasmania and tell them how good I was at Watkins Glen on one year.”

It was certainly a well deserved weekend for Ambrose and his team(s). Ambrose has 5 more races remaining on his schedule driving the no. 21 Wood Bros. car before he competes full-time in the Cup Series next year with JTG Dougherty Racing.

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Earnhardt gave up the lead during the first round of green flag stops after being one of the last cars to make their stop. Running several laps on the older tires while the rest of the field came in for some fresh rubber immediately proved to work against the team as he came out of the pits in 6th place, so one can’t help but wonder why they would choose to replay this strategy later in the race.

Junior once again found himself with the lead on lap 58 after the rest of the leaders came in to make their final stops of the day. His lead opened up to more than 25 seconds over second place as he became the only driver in the field that had yet to come down pit road, but he was giving more than a second per lap. Aside from the time that they were losing on the track, it became quite evident that a caution anytime before Earnhardt made his stop would flat out ruin his day, so it’s a bit peculiar as to why crew chief, Tony Eury Jr, would elect to keep his driver out on the track.

On lap 64, the worst did in fact happen. NASCAR was forced to waive the yellow for loose gravel that Travis Kvapil had kicked up onto the track, and as if it weren’t bad enough that Earnhardt had to surrender the lead to pit, he was one of only a small handful of cars that made that loenely drive down pit road with about 25 laps to go. He restarted back in 37th and was able to climb his way back up to 22nd by the end of the race, but Earnhardt fans everywhere now can’t help but wonder what might have been … and, what was Tony Eury Jr. thinking? To make matters worse, this also isn’t the first time that Junior fans have felt that Tony Eury Jr. may have cost Dale a shot at victory.

The disappointing finish also dropped Earnhardt from 2nd to 4th in the points standings, getting passed by Carl Edwards and his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Jimmie Johnson. Junior Nation has had plenty to cheer about this season, though, as his first season with Hendrick has been far and away better than his final season with DEI in 2007 as he snapped his winless streak with a win earlier in the year at Michigan and he’s been up inside the top-5 in points for most of the year.

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