Team Owner Shoutouts

Chip Ganassi got a lot of press this weekend - and deservedly so.  With Dario Franchitti's domination of the Indy 500 and Jamie McMurray's victory at the Daytona 500 in February, Ganassi is now the first team owner in history to win both of these events in the same year.

(Insert round of applause here).

With McMurray back at EGR and Juan Pablo "Mad-toya" wheeling the No. 42 car, it looks like 2010 is going to be a better year than expected for the NASCAR side of team Ganassi.

But Ganassi isn't the only surprise in the NASCAR garage. There are a couple more team owners who deserve props for the first third of the season.  Sure, they haven't made history yet - but then again, the year ain't over.

Take Michael Waltrip.  Mikey's best career move may turn out to be giving Martin Truex, Jr. a full-time ride.  Truex definitely seems to click with the guys at MWR and he has the points to prove it. After Charlotte, Truex is only 14 points outside the top twelve. And he might well be the sleeper of the season.  The New Jersey native drove his way into the All-Star race and finished second only to winner Kurt Busch.  And let's not forget Truex also snagged the pole at Dover. 

MWR's David Reutimann isn't doing too badly either.  Reutimann has managed to secure top five finishes in the last two points races (which is more than current champ Jimmie Johnson can boast).

Another owner that deserves props is Richard Childress.  Toward the end of 2009, it was apparent to anyone paying attention that the RCR cars were making vast improvements. If the season had been a few races longer, we might even have seen an RCR win. 

That's why it wasn't all that surprising that Childress and company hit the track running in 2010.  Kevin Harvick is leading the points and has an early season win courtesy of Dega. Jeff Burton is in the top 12. And Clint Bowyer is a mere four points out.  It looks like Childress is back - and they mean business.

Rick Hendrick and company better watch out ...

Photo info: Kevin Harvick and team owner Richard Childress talk in the garage.

A Little Chase to Chase Comparison

This time last year, the standings for the Sprint Cup Chase sure looked mighty different.

Who would have thought things would have changed so much in 2010?

For starters, Kevin Harvick is sitting pretty this year. So far, Happy is perched in the top spot with one win to his credit. Not so last year, as he was stuck back in the 23rd spot after Richmond. And even though the NASCAR media has dubbed Jamie McMurray the new bump-draft king, Harvick really deserves the crown. His consecutive wins at the Bud Shootout and his smooth, race-winning move at Dega are proof positive of that.

Unfortunately for Smoke fans, it's now Tony Stewart's turn to be on the outside looking in. Granted, last year's early-season success was atypical for Smoke, it's still a bit disconcerting that he's now in the 15th spot. Good thing about Stewart, he's liable to crank up the summer heat and snag a win or two to gain those all-important bonus points.

Regarding bonus points, Jimmie Johnson stands to gain the most of any driver with an impressive three wins to his credit thus far. Even though Four-Time has had some uncharacteristic issues during the last two races, he's actually in great shape points-wise, with a second-place spot. Last year about now, Johnson was in sixth - and we all remember how last year turned out.

And here's a little prediction - Paul Menard may have shocked and awed the NASCAR world during the first few races of the year, but he won't be the big sleeper. I'm betting that Martin Truex Jr. will keep gaining spots and take Michael Waltrip Racing smack into the thick of the Chase.

At least I hope so. I'd sure like to hear a Chase version of that Napa Know How commercial ...

The Third NASCAR Day of Christmas: Three Monday Races

From the get-go, Mother Nature seemed ready to play havoc with NASCAR this year. Matt Kenseth's rain-shortened win at the Daytona 500 started it off. And by season's end, three Cup races during had to be run on Monday due to inclement weather.

The Coca-Cola 600 was one of those rained-delayed races.

But rainy days and Mondays sure didn't get David Reutimann down. When more precipitation hit the track on Monday, NASCAR officials called the race early, giving Reutimann his first Sprint Cup victory and Michael Waltrip Racing its first win ever.

Reutimann and Waltrip celebrated the victory with a most exuberant man-hug. And I predict Waltrip will be doing more hugging in 2010 - he's added Martin Truex Jr. to the MWR fold and Marcos Ambrose had some darn good showings to build on for next season.

The other two Monday winners? Denny Hamlin at Pocono in August and Tony Stewart, just one week later, at Watkins Glen.

Hamlin's win - his first in 2009 - gave the #11 team the momentum it needed to end the season mid-Chase. And Stewart, well his victory at Watkins helped cement his spot as the regular season champ.

See? Rain's not so bad after all.

Photo info: Waltrip and Reutimann talk things over during the Coca-Cola 600 rain delay.

Sunday Superlatives - Dover Edition

The Autism Speaks 400 wasn't the most exciting race of the season, but it did have its moments. Below are the winners and losers of The Monster Mile.

The Two Things At Once Award: With another 2nd-place finish at Dover and a new first place spot in The Chase, Tony Stewart gets my vote as the guy who's most likely to make this driver/owner thing work. Not only are the teams of Stewart-Haas Racing competitive in their first year out, they're damned good. With rumors abounding that Smoke will add a third car to his stable in 2010, it looks like this is one driver who can own a team and still be a formidable on-track contender.

Smooth Move of the Race: For sheer racing gravitas, this award goes to David Reutimann. The pole sitter found himself in an uncomfortable position when David Stremme wrecked right in front of him. But with some quick-thinking smoothness, Reutimann spun his car around the careening Stremme to avoid one monster of a crash. "The Franchise's" move saved the day and helped give Michael Waltrip Racing a top 20 finish.

Weekend Game-Changer: Rick Hendrick made a tough call this week, replacing Tony Eury Jr. with Lance McGrew atop the #88 pit box. And, from the sound of the team's radio chatter and Dale Jr's 12th-place finish, it looks like the crew chief shake-up was a good thing. Not only did the switch appease Junior Nation, McGrew's calls seemed to satisfy his driver as well. Junior told the media after the race, "I was pretty pleased that we were making good gains on the car all race long."

Instant Karma's Gonna Get You Award: Kyle Busch made headlines this week taking yet another verbal jab at Dale Earnhardt Jr., his favorite punching bag. But in the end, Busch's punches came back to haunt him. Call it instant karma or poetic justice, but Busch lost Saturday's Nationwide race to Brad Keselowski (who just happpens to drive for the Dale Jr.-owned JR Motorsports). As if that wasn't enough, Busch finished Sunday's Cup race in 23rd spot, well behind Dale Jr's 12-place-finish. Of course, Busch will likely blame tire trouble and/or equipment failure for his lackluster performances. After all, it's never the driver's fault. Right, Kyle?

Killer Pit Crew Performance: Matt Kenseth's Killer Bees secured a leading spot for their driver in one heckuva pit stop. Too bad Kenseth's car didn't have the goods to contend for the win. But kudos to his crew for their fantastic performance.

Rebound of the Race: Greg Biffle went from one lap down to having a legitmate shot at the checkers. Taking just two tires on the last pit stop put the #16 Ford in position to win. But in the end, Johnson and Stewart proved too much for The Biff. Still, third place is nothing to sneer at--and it's Biffle's ninth top 10 finish at Dover.

Cussed Out, Rained Out, But Still a Winner

He was cussed out by Tony Stewart and washed out by rainfall, but in the end, a win is a win.

And David Reutimann will take it.

Although a Cup victory for Reutimann in 2009 isn't a big surprise, the fact that he won this particular race is. Listening to pre-race coverage, Hendrick Motorsports was supposed to dominate, Ryan Newman was pegged to give Stewart-Haas its first points win, or Kasey Kahne was a shoe-in to repeat last year's victory. And early on, it looked like The House of Gibbs had the whole shebang locked up as Kyle Busch quickly drove away from the field.

Tony Stewart clearly thought Reutimann didn't have a shot. During one of the rain delays, he walked over to the #00 Toyota and accused Reutimann of racing like a Nationwide driver. It was a re-emergence of the Stewart we all know and love. And things got even more heated when one of Rudy's crew decided to take Smoke on mid-tirade.

But racing fortunes can turn on a dime, and the fates do not always favor the fastest car, the quickest pit crew or the most aggressive driver. Sometimes, a victory boils down to a gutsy strategy and a little bit of weather.

And that's fine by Reutimann.

"When you envision yourself winning your first Sprint Cup race, you envision it different," Reutimann said. "But it's so hard to win these deals, we'll take it any way we can."

Not only is this a career milestone for Reutimann, it's also the first victory for Michael Waltrip Racing. To put it politely, until the first few races of 2009, nobody would have given MWR a snowball's chance in hell of winning a Cup race.

My, oh my, what a difference a year makes! Wonder what Stewart thinks about that?

Note From NASCAR-ista: For all you Tweeps in the NASCAR universe, David Reutimann does not have a Twitter account, per the communications office at Michael Waltrip Racing. Yes, there is a guy who claims to be Reutimann on Twitter, but he's a phony.

Associated Press Photo