Small team standings (after Daytona)
If Big Teams didn't rule the world. Your Top 10 of the small teams ...
Rk / Driver (Team)(*) / Pts-behind
1. Bobby Labonte (Petty) (10) ... 130
2. Brian Vickers (Red Bull) (12) ... -3
3. Scott Riggs (Haas CNC) (20) ... -30
4. Jeremy Mayfield (Haas CNC) (23) ... -36
5. J.J. Yeley (Hall of Fame) (24) ... -42
6. David Gilliland (Yates) (28) ... -51
7. Travis Kvapil (Yates) (29) ... -57
8. Kyle Petty (Petty) (33) ... -69
9. Dave Blaney (Davis) (36) ... -76
10. John Andretti (Front Row) (39) ... -87
(* = The number in parentheses is the official NASCAR rank.Don't get used to seeing any of these guys in the top 20 for much longer.)
Updated Thursday to reflect Robby Gordon's 100 point penalty (and slide out of the STR Top 10) and to correct my gross oversight of Bobby Labonte. This is a work in progress, people!
A couple of superlatives after the jump.
Congratulations to: Kenny Wallace of Furniture Row Racing, who posted the first DNF of the 2008 Cup season.
See you later to: Former Bill Davis Racing driver Jacques Villeneuve. Dude didn't have any owner points, and he was driving BDR equipment and he doesn't have much stock car experience and he didn't have sponsorship. Those four things tell me he was a longshot to make the 500. He didn't make the race after he crashed out of Thursday's duels.
But to fire him and replace him with Mike Skinner and Johnny Benson? Those two guys were already on the BDR payroll, and no one's interested in paying Cup money for either one of them, which is why Villeneuve was in the car. The fact that no one's willing to pony up Cup cash for the 27 when a guy with a pretty good resume was behind the wheel suggests the problem lies with the folks who own the 27.
How much do you want to bet that someone said something to someone in the minutes after the Duels? Besides, nowhere in any of my N&R HR handbooks, including the ones I got in Lower Middle Management School, said that a good way to develop someone is to fire them.
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