NASCAR ROUNDUP | News and notes

New assignment: Gil Martin was chosen as crew chief for Richard Childress Racing's special teams program. Martin's new responsibilities include acting as crew chief for the No. 33 team, with driver Kerry Earnhardt, in the Nextel Cup Series and the No. 29 team, with a revolving lineup of drivers, in the Busch series. Earnhardt is scheduled to drive three more races in 2004, while the Busch car will run twice more this season. Martin has been the team manager for Kevin Harvick's No. 29 Cup team since midway through the 2002 season after serving as the team's crew chief for the first 23 races before handing over the reins to Todd Berrier.
Indianapolis crashes: Tony Stewart and Larry Foyt crashed this week -- but neither was hurt -- during testing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Brickyard 400. Stewart, who returned to the track in a different car, damaged the right rear of his car when he hit the wall in the second turn. Foyt hit the wall in the first turn, damaging the car's right side. He did not return to the track because his team brought only one car for the session.
Nemechek signed: Joe Nemechek signed a one-year extension this week with MB2 Motorsports to drive the No. 01 Chevrolet through 2005. Nemechek joined the team with four races remaining last season, replacing Jerry Nadeau, who got a head injury in a crash at Richmond International Speedway. MB2 general manager Jay Frye said there is no timetable for Nadeu's return to competition.
Toyota still winless: Halfway through the season, Lee White is pleased with how Toyota has performed in its first season in NASCAR's truck series. Still, he doesn't want expectations to get too high. "When we started the program, we hoped to win in the last quarter of the season," said White. "Then, when we started the way we did at Daytona, the expectations changed. Now, everyone is disappointed we haven't won yet." In that first race at Daytona, Toyota drivers Travis Kvapil, David Reutimann and Mike Skinner led laps and Kvapil finished second. White said it was probably unrealistic to expect a manufacturer new to the series to win races right away. With half the season remaining, though, White hopes the first win -- and more -- will come, even though it's still a long shot. Leading the way for Toyota are Kvapil, eighth in the Craftsman series standings with three top-five finishes and six top-10s in 12 races. Skinner is 12th in points, Reutimann 13th. "Honestly, we're a little unsure at this point what to expect," White said of the second half. "We started the season with all our teams running very close together and now they're all over the map. We don't have the same consistency that we had the first couple of races. Whether that's just everyone searching for answers, or setups, or what, I'm not sure."
Toyota still winless: Halfway through the season, Lee White is pleased with how Toyota has performed in its first season in NASCAR's truck series. Still, he doesn't want expectations to get too high. "When we started the program, we hoped to win in the last quarter of the season," said White. "Then, when we started the way we did at Daytona, the expectations changed. Now, everyone is disappointed we haven't won yet." In that first race at Daytona, Toyota drivers Travis Kvapil, David Reutimann and Mike Skinner led laps and Kvapil finished second. White said it was probably unrealistic to expect a manufacturer new to the series to win races right away. With half the season remaining, though, White hopes the first win -- and more -- will come, even though it's still a long shot. Leading the way for Toyota are Kvapil, eighth in the Craftsman series standings with three top-five finishes and six top-10s in 12 races. Skinner is 12th in points, Reutimann 13th. "Honestly, we're a little unsure at this point what to expect," White said of the second half. "We started the season with all our teams running very close together and now they're all over the map. We don't have the same consistency that we had the first couple of races. Whether that's just everyone searching for answers, or setups, or what, I'm not sure."
New Busch director: NASCAR has chosen Joe Balash as director of the Busch series. He replaces Brian de Hart, who resigned. Balash joined NASCAR earlier this year as technical director for its touring divisions. He came from the American Speed Association, where he was senior vice president of race operations.
Source: Associated Press