NASCAR 2008 Team Capsules, Part 3

Here are the next set of team capsules for the 2008 NASCAR season. This set runs from Jeff Gordon's No. 24 to Bobby Labonte's No. 43.

Car No.: 24
Driver: Jeff Gordon
Sponsor: DuPont
Car Make: Chevrolet
Owner: Rick Hendrick
Chase Outlook: Highest
Summary: Probably the most frustrated man at the end of the 2007 season was this man. Gordon dominated the 2007 Sprint Cup campaign, notching a modern era record 30 top 10’s and six victories, yet he still came home second to teammate Jimmie Johnson thanks to the Chase points system. All that does is motivate Gordon to come out and dominate again in 2008 and frankly I wouldn’t bet against him.

Car No.: 26
Driver: Jamie McMurray
Sponsor: Crown Royal/Irwin Tools/Sharp AQUOS
Car Make: Ford
Owner: Jack Roush
Chase Outlook: Fair
Summary: McMurray had a fairly decent season in 2007. He picked up his second career win in dramatic fashion at the Pepsi 400 and notched nine top 10’s while coming home 17th in the points standings. With just a little more consistency and patience I wouldn’t be shocked to see this man fighting it out in the Chase in 2008.

Car No.: 27
Driver: Jacques Villeneuve (ROTY)
Sponsor: Unconfirmed
Car Make: Toyota
Owner: Bill Davis Racing
Chase Outlook: Slim to None
Summary: Welcome to the world of stock cars Jacques, prepare for a bumpy ride. The 2008 season is not going to be an easy one for this career open-wheel racer, who in 2008 begins his first full season in NASCAR. I can’t imagine this team, formally the No. 36 driven mostly by Jeremy Mayfield in 2007, will be that competitive even with Villeneuve behind the wheel next year. Lets not forget that this team also lacks a sponsor, so that could put a major damper on Villeneuve’s first full season.

Car No.: 28
Driver: Travis Kvapil
Sponsor: Unconfirmed
Car Make: Ford
Owner: Yates Racing
Chase Outlook: Mild at best
Summary: Formally the No. 88, this is a former championship winning team. However, the years of Dale Jarrett and the blue and red No. 88 are long gone, and so are this teams championship and Chase hopes. Kvapil returns to the Sprint Cup series after spending most of 2007 driving a Roush owned Craftsman Truck. All this team can really hope for is a decent season, with a handful of top 10’s, and a decent sponsor to come along and help these guys out. Otherwise this could be the swan song for a once mighty NASCAR franchise.

Car No.: 29
Driver: Kevin Harvick
Sponsor: Shell/Pennzoil
Car Make: Chevrolet
Owner: Richard Childress
Chase Outlook: Higher
Summary: The 2007 Daytona 500 champion is back, and he isn’t gonna take it anymore. Ok, enough of the bad song references. Harvick and his No. 29 team have something to prove in 2008. After winning the Daytona 500 last year they didn’t win another race all year. While some would say if they had to win one they won the right one, being competitive in NASCAR is about more than just one race. So if Harvick really wants to be a stronger threat for the championship, he’d better start picking up a few more victories.

Car No.: 31
Driver: Jeff Burton
Sponsor: AT&T Mobility
Car Make: Chevrolet
Owner: Richard Childress
Chase Outlook: High
Summary: I sense bad things on the horizon for this team and driver. He’s got that Mark Martin aurora about him. Nice guy, good team, but never quite enough to take home the big paycheck at the end of the season. He’s come close, but he’s never quite got there. I suspect 2008, much like 2007, will be a decent enough season with a win or two and a probable Chase berth. The championship, however, may just be a bit to far for Jeff Burton to reach.

Car No.: 34
Driver: Unconfirmed
Sponsor: Unconfirmed
Car Make: Chevrolet
Owner: Front Row Motorsports
Chase Outlook: NONE
Summary: Say hello to the ever-present field filler. Problem is, the Sprint Cup has way too many fulltime teams as it is. With that being said, this team, which lacks a driver and a sponsor, would probably be best served to just shut down and focus its efforts elsewhere, like the Nationwide Series. They are at least planning to field a car for Eric McClure in the 2008 Daytona 500. Odds of them making the race? 1 Billion to 1.

Car No.: 38
Driver: David Gilliland
Sponsor: Unconfirmed
Car Make: Ford
Owner: Yates Racing
Chase Outlook: Mild at best
Summary: This is Yates Racing best hope for survival in the future. David Gilliland has all the skills to become the future of this race team and he just needs the equipment to get it done. He showed last year he could race with the big boys, sitting on the pole and finishing 8th in the Daytona 500. I wouldn’t put it past this team to pull of a huge shocker and steal the Daytona 500 from some of the more established teams.

Car No.: 40
Driver: Dario Franchitti (ROTY)
Sponsor: Unconfirmed
Car Make: Dodge
Owner: Chip Ganassi
Chase Outlook: Fair
Summary: NASCAR welcomes the 2007 IndyCar Series Champion to the Sprint Cup in 2007 and if any of the open-wheel converts is going to have success in 2008, Franchitti is the one. He’s got years of experience racing on several of the same tracks that NASCAR has seen for years and he is certainly no slouch behind the wheel. The only question at this point is sponsorship, which has yet to be announced. Rumors have several groups, including Canadian Club, Energizer and Tums coming on as the sponsor but none have come even close to being confirmed.

Car No.: 41
Driver: Reed Sorenson
Sponsor: Target
Car Make: Dodge
Owner: Chip Ganassi
Chase Outlook: Fair
Summary: The funny part about the three Chip Ganassi drivers is Reed Sorenson, the youngest driver of the three employed by Ganassi, is the most experienced in a stock car. Reed however is still struggling to find an identity on a team chock full of open-wheel experience. Reed’s come close to some big ones in the last year or two, is 2008 the year he finally breaks out and creates his own legacy?

Car No.: 42
Driver: Juan Pablo Montoya
Sponsor: Texaco/Havoline
Car Make: Dodge
Owner: Chip Ganassi
Chase Outlook: Fairly High
Summary: If anyone on the Chip Ganassi team is going to make the Chase, Montoya is the man to do it. The biggest obstacle is going to be his lack of experience on the oval tracks in a stock car though. Before he can even dream about making the Chase he has got to improve his oval finishes. Winning both road course races does not a champion in the Sprint Cup series make (just ask Robby Gordon).

Car No.: 43
Driver: Bobby Labonte
Sponsor: Cheerios
Car Make: Dodge
Owner: Petty Enterprises
Chase Outlook: Fair
Summary: I want to like this team. I really do. The biggest problem is the more seasons that go by the less likely it seems, to me at least, that Bobby Labonte is going to return Petty Enterprises to the dominance that it once saw years ago with Richard behind the wheel. While I won’t put it past Bobby to pick up a win somewhere, maybe Atlanta or Martinsville, I don’t expect him to turn this team into the monster that it once was. At least, not anymore I don’t.