Edwards Crew Member Can Finally Shave Again, Thanks To Driver

BROOKLYN, Mich. — Tony Stewart sounded like a man with a plan to ease into The Chase for the Cup, and  let the field chase him for the title.
Asked after his third-place finish Sunday in the Citizens Bank 400 at Michigan Int’l Speedway if it bothered him that he has yet to win in 2007, Stewart was both practical and philosophical about his situation.
“No, because you don’t have to win right now,” he said. “It’s nice to get those extra 10 points for The Chase, (but) the important thing is just being consistent right now, I would say, more than winning a race here and there.
“Those extra bonus points might get you the lead at the beginning of The Chase, but you’re going to have to be consistent those last 10 weeks (in The Chase).”
Rather than brood over a slow qualifying lap and wall contact in the final practice at MIS, Stewart said he focused on the positive.
“Hey, we rebounded and we overcame a lot of adversity this weekend and came home third.”

— Team-owner Jack Roush pulled off a rare racing “hat trick” at MIS over the weekend. His drivers won all three races on the two-mile oval. Developmental driver Erik Darnell won the ARCA RE/Max race on Friday, Travis Kvapil won the NASCAR Craftsman Truck race on Saturday and Carl Edwards won the Nextel Cup Citizens Bank 400 on Sunday.

— Among the happiest of Carl Edwards’s winning crew Sunday was Tom Giacchi, who has been sporting a full red beard since the Office Depot Ford team’s last victory on Nov. 6, 2005.
His promise had been to shave the beard the next time the car found victory lane. Edwards helped him along by cutting a couple healthy handfuls of hair with a pair of scissors.

— Officially, Tony Stewart’s 38-place improvement in Sunday’s Citizens Bank 400 was an MIS track record. His starting position on the grid was 41st and he drove to third place.

— For the first time this season, Matt Kenseth failed to complete the distance in a Nextel Cup race. Involved in a seven-car melee on the backstretch on lap 76, Kenseth took the Carhart/DeWalt Ford to the garage. He returned later and was credited with 78 laps, finishing 41st.
“We do the best we can,” he said. “The crew builds reliable equipment ,and we try to keep our nose clean. But, heck, you can’t stay out of all of them.”

— J. J. Yeley’s first NASCAR Nextel Cup pole effort was in doubt until the end. Yeley, in the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet for Joe Gibbs Racing, had to sit and watch half the field take a shot at his mark, and he weathered the storm by a scant one-thousandth of a second.
Yeley’s lap at 187.505 miles per hour was accomplished in 38.399 seconds. Runner-up Jimmie Johnson’s lap in the Lowe’s Chevrolet was turned in at 39.400 seconds, 187.500 mph.
Kyle Busch was third at 186.829 mph in the Kellogg’s Chevrolet, followed by Ryan Newman in fourth in the Alltel Dodge at 185.596 mph and Joe Nemechek, fifth at 186.475 in the Haier Chevrolet.
Those failing to qualify for the Citizens Bank 400 were Dale Jarrett, Ward Burton, Jeremy Mayfield, Mike Bliss, Kevin Lepage and Kenny Wallace.

— Two Toyotas from Michael Waltrip Racing finished in the top 15 on Sunday. Waltrip drove the NAPA Camry to 10th place, and teammate David Reutimann brought the Burger King Camry home 15th.

— Chevrolet and NASCAR will pause on Aug. 19 at Michigan Int’l Speedway to honor the 50th anniversary of the 1957 Chevrolet.
Eleven Team Chevy drivers — Ward Burton, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Jeff  Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Sterling Marlin, Mark Martin, Paul Menard, Tony Raines, Martin Truex, Jr., Kenny Wallace and  J. J. Yeley — will race in the 3M Performance 400 in cars wearing special ’57 Chevy paint schemes.
Diecast models of the 11 cars will be available through Motorsports Authentics.

— Fans purchasing tickets for the 50th running of the Daytona 500 in 2008 will be treated to a unique ducat.
The ticket design will be done by one of 10 celebrities, to be determined July 7, just before the running of the Pepsi 400 at Daytona.
Among the celebrities whose desings will be judged by a panel of NASCAR community members, are drivers Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Marvin Panch and Mario Andretti, broadcaster Mike Joy, comedian Jeff Foxworthy, CMT Insider host Katie Cook, extreme sports icon Tony Hawk, 17-year-old Patrick McRae (on behalf of Rick Hendrick) and 7-year-old Derek Wynne (on behalf of Jimmie Johnson).