AUTO RACING ROUNDUP | News and notes

AUTO RACING ROUNDUP | News and notes

Dodge Boys off to strong start:Shaking off the disappointments of 2007, Dodge is off to a strong start this year in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series. After the first three races, the Dodge Boys have a win (by Ryan Newman) in the Daytona 500 and head into Sunday’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway with three Charger drivers in the top 10 in points and five in the top 15. Newman is second in the standings, while Kasey Kahne is third. Kahne, considered one of the brightest young stars in NASCAR, won six races and finished eighth in the points in 2006. Last year was a disaster for Kahne and the entire Gillette Evernham Motorsports team as they went without a win and failed to get any of their three cars into the Chase for the championship. Kahne finished a very disappointing 19th in the standings.

Busy week: Following a disappointing 37th-place finish Sunday in Las Vegas — his worst performance of the season — David Reutimann began a very busy week. He flew to Arizona on Tuesday to take part in the Sprint Cup test at Phoenix International Raceway, then boarded another plane for a one-day road course training session Wednesday at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. The road course workout was set up by Reutimann’s Nationwide Series crew chief Jerry Baxter to help the Michael Waltrip Racing driver improve his road racing skills. Reutimann got behind the wheel of a late-model stock car provided by ShiftIntoGear, Inc., a driver coaching school run by ace road racer Chris Cook. Cook has helped train numerous NASCAR drivers, including Tony Stewart, Clint Bowyer, Greg Biffle, Elliott Sadler and Dale Jarrett for the rigors of turning left and right. Last year, Reutimann did finish 12th, ninth and 25th in the Nationwide road races in Mexico City, Montreal and Watkins Glen.

Grass roots: Besides racing full time in the Cup series, veteran Ken Schrader is gearing up for the 2008 Camping World East Series by expanding his team to two cars. Jamie Hayes and former motorcycle star Ricky Carmichael will drive for Ken Schrader Racing full-time in 2008. Hayes will be returning to the team after an eighth-place finish in the 2007 series standings. “I’m looking forward to getting back in the seat and trying to build on our 2007 season,” Hayes said. “Now that I have been to all of the tracks and have the experience of racing there, I am excited about the possibilities for 2008.”

Associated Press