Entries.

18 days left until the 2008 Cobo Cup entry sheet deadline and just under 20 days until the 50th running of the Daytona 500. There have been 35 entries handed in thus far. It is always slow at first but next week will pick up with the last week always a rush. No one has doubled thus far with only 2 teams with 1 driver (team) different.

Now for the news.

Las Vegas Speeds Day 1 PM: 74 cars tested in the afternoon session on Day 1 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, with #18-Kyle Busch being the fastest of the day at 183.580mph [getting closer to the track record of #9-Kahne set in 2007 at 184.856mph]. #20B-Tony Stewart was 2nd [and 3rd in thr #20A], then #99A-Edwards [with his #99B 5th]. #29B-Harvick and #88B-Earnhardt Jr. The fastest Dodge was #12B-Ryan Newman who was 16th fastest. Slowest cars were #77A-Hornish Jr. and #26A-McMurray. #65A-McCumbee was in a Chevy, a possilbe 3rd Haas CNC Racing car? Jon Wood tested the #21A Ford. Some Incidents during a very windy day at Las Vegas included: #01-Smith spun off turn two in the early session and spun around and smacked the nose into the inside wall. #77-Hornish scraped the wall hard. #40-Franchitti spun and the rear of the car was heavly damaged. #27-Villeneuve spun around but failed to hit anything. #6-Ragan spun off turn 2, the car was pretty much destroyed. #8-Martin hit a cement piling avoiding a tow truck in the garage area, doing damage to the front end of the car.

Las Vegas Speeds Day 1 AM: on opening day of testing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, 67 cars took to the track. The fastest was #11A-Hamlin in a Toyota at 178.265mph, followed by #07B-Bowyer in a Chevy, #17B-Kenseth in a Ford, #24A-Gordon in a Chevy and #18B-Busch in a Toyota. The fastest Dodge was 19A-Sadler who was 9th. Michael McDowell tested a 4th MWR Toyota [#32] and Chad McCumbee tested one of the #70 Haas CNC Racing Chevy’s, with Jeremy Mayfield testing another #70 Chevy. NOTE: the track record is held by #9-Kahne who ran 184.856mph to get the pole in 2007.

Villeneuve cuts ties with manager: #27-Jacques Villeneuve has cut ties with his long-time manager Craig Pollock just weeks before the start of the 2008 Sprint Cup season. According to the Journal de Montreal, the split was primarily due to Pollock’s personal life going in another direction. However, there are also reports that the two differed on the management of Villeneuve’s NASCAR career. “Craig has a new wife and he seems to want to concentrate on his new family life which will be centered in Europe,” Villeneuve tells the newspaper. For my part, I chose to base myself here, in Canada, with my family, in order to pursue my career as a NASCAR driver. It’s going well so far with Bill Davis Racing. I want to concentrate on it and do my things here.” Villeneuve is set to start his first full season in the Sprint Cup series but reports he has not yet secured financing for the entire year meaning he is only guaranteed to compete in the first five races. It’s believed the former F1 and Indy 500 champion has been able to secure two-thirds of the sponsorship needed for a full time ride but suggestions that Pollock’s management style was becoming an obstacle for both Bill Davis Racing and Toyota may have forced Villeneuve’s into the decision to part ways.

Jimbo (the Pitbull)