After 16 years with Toyota it looks like Joe Gibbs Racing will be going with Toyota. According to various sources the announcement will be soon. This move comes at a weird time and I’m wondering what they offered Gibbs to switch. It will be interesting to see if it is true. This would be a big boost for Toyota to have the stable of drives like Tony Stewart Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch to draw from.

Toyota has had a rough year and they need more teams to switch to Toyota if they hope to make any inroads in the Nextel cup. Getting Joe Gibbs racing onboard is a start. I see that trend probably growing in the next couple of years. Alot of that though will depend on what kind of success Joe Gibbs Racing has with Toyota engines next year if that is what he is going to do.

Nascar fans are the best which of course we all know that. I’ve decided that we are going to have some fun in the next few weeks besides watching some great racing. I’ve decided I wanted to do something a little different with Closer Look Nascar so let’s have some fun doing this next thing.

I’m going to need the input of the fans out their for this. I want you to list your top two drivers who you like to see in victory lane that never made it their. They could be driving now or retired. I’m interested to see what the readers think. Tomorrow I will list my two drivers who I wished had won a race. Get your responses in my adding it to the comment box on this post.

Rumor has is tha Junior could very well be driving the No. 38 For Hendricks Motorsports. Your saying but Robert Yates owns the number right now. Both Yates and Hendricks people are discussing the possibility of switching the number to Hendrick Motorsports. I’m sure some deal will probably get done as the possibilities for Junior are big. Let’s look at the big picture here.

Junior gets the number 38 which means Junior can pay tribute to his dad and also still have the No. 8 on the car. The No. 38 just makes perfect sense for him. I’m sure Junior fans will love it to. I can see merchandise sales shooting through the roof as well. Celebrating his father and his old number at the same time is a fitting way to go. I guess we will see if it comes to pass. I would bet it does. Yates still has the number 28 in his stable so if he does indeed sell the number to Hendrick Motorsports he can bring the No. 28 back which also has special value among race fans.

I guess in reality it’s a win-win situation for both teams as Yates would love to see the No. 28 back on the track once again.

With Dale Earnhardt Jr leaving at the end of the season many changes are blowing through the organization. Regan Smith has reached a verbal agreement with DEI to drive the No. 1  which is currently being driven by Mark Martin and Aric Almirola. Martin and Almirola will split time when the move over to the No.8 car.

I love Mark Martin and Regan Smith will be a good driver, but in my mind DEI blew it. They needed to get a big name to replace Earnhardt. Now Mark Martin is a big name and he will only be their for so long. Martin Truex Jr is a very good driver and should only get better. I just think they could do better than Regan Smith. They had chances to get Kyle Busch and I personally would have took Jeremy Mayfield over Smith, but that’s my opinion.

Now this I find a real interesting situation and thought I would give my take on the AT&T-Cingular and Nascar battle. In my opinion it’s really trivial compared to what’s going on in the world. It comes down to Nextel is the main sponsor and the contract with Nascar prohibits any other communications company from coming into the sport and sponsoring a car. Cingular did sponsor Jeff Burton, but when they wanted to switch to AT&T Nascar wouldn’t allow it.

To be this is really petty for the most part. They say it’s all about protecting your brand. With me the bottom line is if you have a superior product who cares what brand is advertising on cars. In fact Nextel and Nascar has done AT&T a service by getting their name out their even more now. Maybe that’s AT&T’s whole idea from the start. No matter how it works out in my mind it’s really petty and should just be dropped.

Looks like Formula One racer Jacques Villeneuve will be coming to Nextel Cup Racing after all. Bill Davis racing plans to put Villeneuve behind the wheel of the No. 22 craftsman Truck series entry later this season  as well as doing some running of the car of tomorrow. An ARCA race at Talladega could also be in the cards for Villeneuve.

After all this is done it looks like Villeneuve will go Cup racing in 2008. Villeneuve this year hasn’t had the success he thought he would and actually Nextel Cup racing is something his style of driving he should do well at. This is all in the experiment stages, but if their is one thing about Jacques Villeneuve he wants to be the best in whatever series he drives in. Look for Jacques Villeneuve to make a big splash in Nascar Racing.

Dale Earnhardt Jr is one guy who in my mind will never really get the respect he deserves in Nascar racing. Take the chase where right now unless a miracle happens he won’t make the chase. This to many people is a disappointment and  to Junior a big disappointment too. If he makes the chase and doesn’t win the title it’s another lost season for him. Don’t believe me just ask the press.

For all the great things that Junior has done in his career he will be judged by championships because of his famous father Dale Earnhardt. Like it or not that’s how people will judge him. In my mind that is totally unfair. His father won those championship’s in a different era than what Junior is going against. Comparing era’s just isn’t fair. 

How do you judge Junior’s accomplishments, you can’t really he’s not done racing yet. The bad part he will always be judged by his father’s accomplishments and that just isn’t fair to him. Will it ever change probably not and that’s the sad part. He doesn’t deserve all the harsh comments that he gets.. He deserves respect for what he has accomplished instead of tearing him down.

I wanted to be the first to welcome everyone to Closer Look Nascar where we will look at everything Nascar. I’m excited to write this Nascar blog for a couple of reasons. Nascar racing is some of the best around and I love racing. Secondly, I’m also excited to meet nascar fans and hear their opinions. The readers voice is very important to me no matter if you like my opinion or not. So, don’t be shy and drop be a note when you think I’m wrong and even right.

Some of the things that we will be covering our the following:

1. Busch Series
2. Craftsman Truck Series
3. Nextel Cup Series
4. All-Time Series
5. Rising Stars
6. Turn Back The Clock

These are just some of the things to look for in the future. More will follow as we get into the off-season of racing which doesn’t last very long. I hope you enjoy the ride and pull those belts real tight one more time before we take the green flag.