Tony Stewart in a TOYOTA??? Say it Ain't So, Tony!!!

All these swirling rumors about Joe Gibbs Racing defecting to Toyota -- I just can't see Tony Stewart running a Toyota in Cup racing. Particularly since he is so involved in World of Outlaws (WoO) and dirt car racing. Tony has been a Chevy guy since day 1! Paul McMahan runs one of Tony's Chevy's and Donnie Schatz is expected to run another Chevy next year.

Latest word is that Gibbs racing does have a governing board, and their three current drivers are on that board. Hopefully they will be able to make a case for keeping JGR with Chevrolet. Sure hope so!

Toyota's entry in Cup has been less than stellar, shall we say, and jumping ship next year would be a tremendous hurdle for a team changing manufacturers. No matter how good JGR is, that will be a 'lost season' for any driver of Tony's or Denny Hamlin's talent.

Joe Gibbs still runs JGR, even if son J.D. is managing the race teams. Hopefully this is just one of those rumors that will go away.

Please!!!

The Michael Waltrip Overload (Or, Won't You PLEASE GO HOME!!)

I like Michael Waltrip. I really do. He's tall, handsome, and has a good sense of humor. He can be witty. But, the fact of the matter is he has been just too salesmanlike lately and I just don't like seeing him every single time I turn on a racing show, ESPN, Speed Channel, or any sports network. The commercials (Aaron's, Dominos and NAPA in particular--who'd have thought NAPA would become a Toyota sponsor?) are getting sappier and sillier. They must be a real ego boost, but they have reached the top of the annoyance level meter in our household. There oft comes a time when a person reaches the point of overexposure. Michael--you've reached that point. Michael Saturation might be a good term for it...I actually turned off the television Sunday morning when Michael Waltrip was on yet another panel show on Speed, wearing his driving suit (guess since he didn't make the Cup race again, he felt he had to get some use out of the fancy duds), and going on and on about whatever it was he was talking about. 'Please, Shut Up!' I told him (well, it was a bit stronger than that), and I clicked the TV off. There. That was better. There's only so much jabbering one can take with all these racing experts trying to out-shout each other.

All winter, all we heard in racing news was about Michael and his newToyota teams -- how grand it was going to be, the new shop being built, hype after hype...Now, having missed 3 races in a row, one wonders how long Toyota is going to stick with Michael as the flagship for their Cup teams. He's giving new definition to the term, 'Go or go home.' ...Of course, NASCAR is rushing the car of tomarrow into usage an effort to help level the playing field for the Toyota teams. One wonders if Toyota was sold a bill of goods that was undeliverable. From an objective point of view, it rather looks that way.