NASCAR 2008 Team Capsules, Part 1

Its January and you know what that means. Less then two months from now America's favorite motorsports series will be taking to the high banks of Daytona to see who has the guts to take home the Daytona 500 trophy. Because of this, I felt it was time to start cranking out my 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Team Capsules. I've been planning this for a few weeks but I finally sat down today and wrote the first dozen. I'll keep doing 12 teams at a clip until I make my way through the entire roster of teams and drivers. This first capsule starts with Car No. 00 and ends with Car No. 10. Don't forget, if you have any thoughts or comments email me at adamfenwick@shelbystar.com!

Car No.: 00
Driver(s): David Reutimann (5 Races)/Michael McDowell (31 Races) (ROTY)
Sponsor: Aaron’s (5 Races)/Unconfirmed
Car Make: Toyota
Car Owner: Michael Waltrip Racing
Chase Outlook: Slim to None
Summary: This team is going to be one of many faces in 2008. David Reutimann will start the season with this team but after the first five races he will be jumping ship to take over the No. 44 UPS Toyota that Dale Jarrett is leaving. Michael McDowell, a MWR Developmental Driver, will be taking over the driving duties after Reutimann leaves. Sponsorship is a big question at this point because as it stands now Aaron’s is only sponsoring the first five races. Domino’s Pizza isn’t returning and Burger King may not be either. Odds of this team finding Chase glory are slim.

Car No.: 01
Driver: Regan Smith (ROTY)
Sponsor: Unconfirmed
Car Make: Chevrolet
Car Owner: Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
Chase Outlook: Mild at best
Summary: The car that Mark Martin drove to a second place finish in the 2007 Daytona 500 is getting a major facelift in 2008. Martin leaves to be the co-pilot of the No. 8 Chevrolet vacated by Dale Earnhardt Jr. while Regan Smith, whose contract was acquired by DEI during the Ginn/DEI merger, takes over the No. 01. Sponsorship is still up in the air but rumors continue to float around saying Coors Light will join this team to become primary sponsor. I expect mild success from this team but the odds of a Chase berth aren’t very good.

Car No.: 07
Driver: Clint Bowyer
Sponsor: Jack Daniel’s
Car Make: Chevrolet
Car Owner: Richard Childress Racing
Chase Outlook: High
Summary: Clint Bowyer is coming off a career year in 2007 that included one win, five top 5’s and 17 top 10’s. Oh yeah, he finished 3rd in the final standings. Expecting a repeat of that kind of a season from Bowyer would be asking a lot, but odds are he will deliver a strong performance all season and be a threat for victories and his second berth in the Chase.

Car No.: 1
Driver: Martin Truex Jr.
Sponsor: Bass Pro Shops
Car Make: Chevrolet
Car Owner: Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
Chase Outlook: High
Summary: Another drive coming off a career year in 2007, Truex picked up his first career Cup win in 2007 along with seven top 5’s and 14 top 10’s. His 11th place finish in the standings doesn’t really indicate the kind of year he had, despite former teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s issues last year. I expect Truex to have another strong year with maybe another win or two coming his way. I wouldn’t be shocked to see him fighting it out for a spot in the Chase come Richmond in the fall.

Car No.: 2
Driver: Kurt Busch
Sponsor: Miller Lite
Car Make: Dodge
Car Owner: Roger Penske
Chase Outlook: Higher
Summary: Kurt Busch and his No. 2 team had a strong year in 2007 racking up two wins along with a 7th place finish in the standings. The only major change that could hurt Busch in 2008 is Roger Penske swapped out Kurt’s 2007 points and gave them to Rookie of the Year candidate Sam Hornish Jr. to make sure he was going to start the first five races. Lucky for Kurt he is a former series champion, meaning he is guaranteed to make the first five races as well. Lets just hope he doesn’t run into a wall of bad luck.

Car No.: 4
Driver: Unconfirmed
Sponsor: Unconfirmed
Car Make: Chevrolet
Owner: Morgan-McClure Motorsports
Chase Outlook: Slim to None
Summary: This former Daytona 500 winning franchise might be on its last ownership leg. With sponsor State Water Heaters apparently jumping ship to join Haas CNC Racing and Ward Burton apparently not returning its not a question of if, but when, will this team finally close up shop. Forget the Chase, just surviving the 2008 season is going to be a race all by itself.

Car No.: 5
Driver: Casey Mears
Sponsor: Carquest/Kellogg’s
Car Make: Chevrolet
Owner: Rick Hendrick
Chase Outlook: Fairly High
Summary: Another driver with a breakout year in 2007, Casey Mears shocked the world when he won the 2007 Coca-Cola 600 by using a little math. This year Mears moves to his fourth team in four years (2008, No. 5, 2007, No. 25, 2006, No. 42, 2005, No. 41) and you know by now he (along with his merchandise buying fans) must be hoping that this change sticks for at least two seasons. I wouldn’t be surprised to see this car, which made the Chase in 2007 with Kyle Busch, make the chase again, but Mears is going to have to do a little bit extra to get it there.

Car No.: 6
Driver: David Ragan
Sponsor: AAA
Car Make: Ford
Owner: Jack Roush
Chase Outlook: Fair
Summary: Ragan, coming off a decent rookie campaign, will look to avoid the traditional sophomore slump and break out in 2008 much like Clint Bowyer did last year. Ragan was actually the only Roush driver that didn’t pick up a Cup win in 2007 and he is likely hoping to change that in 2008. Odds of a Chase berth are slim, but I’ll bet money he makes his way into the top 10 a bit more often in 2008 and he may even surprise a few people (like he did at the fall Richmond race last year coming home an impressive third).

Car No.: 7
Driver: Robby Gordon
Sponsor: Jim Beam/Menard’s/Mapai/Camping World/More
Car Make: Ford
Owner: Robby Gordon
Chase Outlook: Mild at best
Summary: Always a threat to win on a road course, Robby Gordon needs to find a way to make this team competitive elsewhere if he ever wants to break the mold of a road course driver trying to make it in an oval series. Victories at Infineon or Watkins Glen wouldn’t shock anyone, but a victory at California or Michigan would blow the doors off everyone in the garage, including Robby.

Car No.: 8
Driver(s): Mark Martin (24 Races)/Aric Almirola (12 Races)
Sponsor: U.S. Army
Car Make: Chevrolet
Owner: Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
Chase Outlook: Slim to None
Summary: The car formally known as the red No. 8 will now be driven by Mark Martin and Aric Almirola with sponsorship coming from the U.S. Army. I suspect this team will be highly competitive in 2008, with a victory or two not out of the question for either Martin or Almirola. Of course due to the fact that this team has two drivers its highly unlikely that this team will be in any position to make the Chase. That doesn’t mean however they can’t go after the Owner’s Championship though.

Car No.: 9
Driver: Kasey Kahne
Sponsor: Budweiser
Car Make: Dodge
Owner: Gillett Evernham Motorsports
Chase Outlook: Fairly High
Summary: Budweiser only had to move one number up the dial to find its new home, selecting Kasey Kahne’s red No. 9 as the new home for its NASCAR sponsorship. Good news for Kahne, bad news for everyone else, because Budweiser doesn’t like to lose. I expect to see a resurgence from Kahne in 2008 to make up for the awful 2007 campaign which saw him pick up only one top 5 and seven top 10’s.

Car No.: 10
Driver: Patrick Carpentier (ROTY)
Sponsor: Unconfirmed
Car Make: Dodge
Owner: Gillett Evernham Motorsports
Chase Outlook: Mild at best
Summary: The first of several open-wheel drivers making the fulltime jump to NASCAR in 2008, Patrick Carpentier is going to have a rough first season in this stock car sport. While Carpentier was impressive in the few starts he made in 2007, it’s a far cry from running the full schedule. Let’s not forget that this team has sponsorship questions. Valvoline is probably not going to be returning and rumors have Komatsu Equipment coming on to replace them, but at this point nothing has been confirmed by anyone within the organization.

Album Review - Reckless Kelly Was Here

So i'm going to try something different. This is a first attempt at writing an album review. The idea, at least as I imagine it, is that as I gather music throughout the year (and I gather a lot of it) I figure I can write up a review of each album as I listen to it and post a review here for all to see. With that being said, here's my first review.

Reckless Kelly – Reckless Kelly Was Here
MySpace Music Genre(s): Country/Rock/Jam Band
Release Date: Aug. 8, 2006
Label: Sugar Hill Records

Every now and then I stumble across a band that makes me go "How did I not know about these guys already?" Reckless Kelly is one of those bands. The band, based out of Austin, Texas, has been around since the late 90's and have released in the area of 8 or 9 albums. "Reckless Kelly Was Here," a double CD set that also comes with a bonus DVD, is the bands second live album, the first being an acoustic album called "Live From Stubb's." So this album was the bands first full-fledged electric live album. Well needless to say they NAILED it.

The album starts off with an adrenaline charged tracked from their last studio album (Wicked Twisted Road) called "Sixgun." Whoever made the choice to use this as the opening song on the album made an excellent decision, cause not only does it set the tone for the album but it gets the crowd revved up, which is important for any live album. They keep the action coming with a cover of Alejandro Escovedo's "Castanets" and Reckless Kelly originals "Motel Cowboy Show" and "I Still Do."

The fifth song on the album, one you'd know if you've listened to bluegrass for any length of time, is called "1952 Vincent Black Lightning." I've heard several different versions of this song and while this isn't my favorite (that goes to The Del McCoury Band) its still a great cover of a great song. This is followed up with a song I could see being played in any Irish pub in New England, and the song that ties for my favorite on the album, "Seven Nights in Eire."

The band slows it done a touch with a new one called "Break My Heart Tonight" (the band also includes the studio version of this and another song on the album, "Wiggles & Ritalin," on this collection) followed up by another band original "Nobody's Girl." The other song that is a tie for my favorite on the album is actually a medley featuring the songs "Hey Say May" and "Guacamole." One is a rock song, while the other is more of a lower Texas/Mexican line dancing song, sorta. It's hard to describe. They close the first of the two discs with what the band called their own name dropping song, "Vancouver."

The second disc is kicked off by another rocker, "Wiggles & Ritalin" followed by the slower "Wild Western Windblown Band." They pick it up a bit on the foot stomping "Baby's Gone Blues" before slowing down again with one of the band's live favorites "Wicked Twisted Road" from the album of the same name. The band then pulls out all the stops on the final two songs on the album, presenting a hard charging version of their song "Crazy Eddie's Last Hurrah" and then closing with a surprise, a cover of The Beatles "Revolution." All in all, a great live set from a great band. I plan to buy more from this band in the future, as a matter of fact, I already have. I expect the bands last studio album in the mail anytime now. If you like great country rock or rock country or whatever you want to call it, check out Reckless Kelly and this album. You won't be disappointed.

So what do you think? Good? Bad? Let me know.

Honoring our forefathers

I saw a story today about the oldest living World War I veteran dieing at the age of 109. Stirs up some memories of my grandfather, Austin "Bud" James Fenwick, who fought in World War II. A week or two ago while running some errands in Columbus, NC (the county seat of Polk County) I decided to make a quick stop at the Veterans Memorial in town (which can be seen at left).

In any case, I felt the need to see my Grandfather's brick. Some years ago when they first decided to create this memorial my father put down the money to have a brick made for Pop Pop (what we called our Grandfather). It took several years and a lot of money and donations but the memorial finally got built. And my Grandfather finally got the recognition he deserved for his sacrifice.

I felt the need to put this up, because the Holiday season is about many things, but most of all I think about those I care about, regardless if they still walk this earth or not. So Pop Pop, I hope were ever you may be your Christmas is as merry as it can possibly be and know that your family is thinking about you this holiday season. God Bless Austin "Bud" James Fenwick, World War II veteran and one of the most stubborn men I think I've ever met. We miss you.

Top music of 2007

So I was sitting at my desk reading through several popular stories floating around the internet when I stumbled across Stephen King's favorite music from 2007. Reading that got me thinking about what I felt like were my favorite albums of 2007. With that being said, here they are.

Scott Miller & The Commonwealth - Reconstruction

I had never heard of this band or this album until sometime early this year. I had stopped by to talk to some friends at WNCW and they played a song on the air while I was in the studio called "I Made A Mess Of This Town" from this album. I asked who it was and where I could get it. They just happaned to have an extra copy lying around and they gave it to me. What a great album. From "I Made A Mess Of This Town" to "Eight Miles Per Gallon" to "Drunk All Around This Town" this album was just an outstanding album. Oh, did I mention it was recorded live?

Tater - Where The Metal Meets The Grass ... Live

Folks from and around Shelby known who this band is. Tater, based in Shelby, has a rockbluegrasscountryalt band that is all about having fun and this live release from this is no exception. Recorded and released by the band in less then two weeks, this album debuts a lot of new material by the band, including the opening track "Anatomy." Just a great album, no questions asked.

Jason Isbell - Sirens Of The Ditch

Jason Isbell, a former member of Southern Rock band the Drive-By Truckers, released his first solo-album this year and boy was it a great album. Several tracks on this album just blew me away, including songs like "Down In A Hole" and "Brand New Kind Of Actress." The two best songs on the album are "Chicago Promenade," a tribute to his grandfather, and "Dress Blues," a song written in honor of a friend he graduated with in high school who died while fighting in Iraq. I'd recommend this album to anyone.

Warren Haynes presents the Benefit Concert Volume 2

This one is sorta special to my family. Every year in Asheville Warren Haynes (of Gov't Mule, The Allman Brothers Band fame) holds what is called the Christmas Jam. He invites all of his friends to come play for a good cause. All money once they break even is given to Habitat For Humanity. This recording is from 12th Annual Event in 2000, which my mother and father just happaned to have attended. My father and I still think you can hear my mother whistling near the end of Gov't Mule & Dave Schools' cover of the Tom Waits song "Goin' out West." Great sets from The Bottle Rockets and the Chris Duarte Group are also highlights on this album. As I understand it the plan is to eventually release all of the shows from 1999 forward (1999 and 2000 are already available) and I can't wait, because I was at all but two of those shows between 2001 and now.

There are of course many more albums and songs that I really enjoyed from 2007 but these are the four that really stick out in my mind. 2008 is looking to be a great year for music already as well, with the Drive-By Truckers and the North Mississippi Allstars planning releases in January. Boy, I can't wait!

My little brother, the rockstar

My little brother John (at left) is a guitar player. Not just any guitar player. A GREAT guitar player. He picked up a guitar my mom bought for my twin brother Austin (at right) a few years back and has since gotten three more guitars (including his prized Gibson Les Paul.)

Well, Wednesday evening my little brother played out for the second time but the first time with a full band (minus a bass player). He did an outstanding job. He played with local legend "Red Dog" (I don't know his real name, that's just what everyone calls him) along with one of his teachers from high school. To say he impressed would be a bit of an understatement. He got to play on some classic songs, including Lynyrd Skynyrd's "All I Can Do Is Write About It," The Allman Brothers "One Way Out" (which he played lead on) and the song in the video below by The Band called "The Weight." Check it out and feel free to let me (and him) know what you think.

Getting Taterized

Thursday I had the chance to go down to an old stomping ground of sorts. I took a 30 minute trip from my home in Sunny View, NC to Isothermal Community College to see Shelby's own Tater perform live in Studio B at WNCW. In the summer of 2006 I got the chance to intern at WNCW, a dream gig for me since i'm such a big music fan. I know many of the people down at WNCW and i've gotten to see many outstanding artists (Jason Isbell, Trent Summar, Darrell Scott, DesChamps Band, Dixie Hummingbirds just to name a few) in the studio thanks to the kindness of the WNCW staff (Dennis Jones, Kim Clark, Martin Anderson, among others).

In any case, here is a video of Tater (Luke Edwards, Roger Padgett, Phil Simmons & Kelly Hull) performing a song from their new live album "Where the Metal Meets The Grass" called "Anatomy." I shot the video using my personal digital camera and was impressed how well it came out (even if the drums sorta make it hard to hear everyone else).

Long time, no post

Been a little bit since my last post, so I figured I'd throw one up here.

Things have been interesting lately over in little 'ole Polk County, where I make the drive from every day to come here to The Star. Let me sum up things just a bit.

Last Sunday on my way home I passed 6 cop cars with someone arrested and bent over the hood of a car. We NEVER see that many cop cars at that time of night unless something serious happened. So, I kept an ear out to see what had happened. Well the next day as I was making a run to the grocery store I passed a small trailer park less than a quarter mile from my house. It was taped off with Police tape and a firetruck and two cop cars were parked outside. This led to me guessing that the trailer had been a meth lab. My mom didn't think so, but I disagreed and said it probably was. I didn't see any fire damage and saw no reason for the police and firemen to be hanging out there.

A few hours later I get a phone call. Sure enough I was right. It turns out in fact that the 6 cars I saw the previous night were directly related. Apparently the police had gotten a call about three suspicious people walking down the road and when they stopped them that led them to the trailer on our road. Bingo, they found the meth lab. Go figure.

And oh yeah, a local Pastor's home caught on fire last night. I was going to the grocery store to get my mom some milk and I turned around and saw a flame coming up over the trees. The fire apparently started in an upstairs bedroom but was snuffed out pretty quickly once all the firemen got on the scene. Luckily no one got hurt.

News just likes to happen around me. I don't know why.