I'll take Wimmer over Raines anyday

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"It's all fun and games until somebody wrecks a racecar" Larry McRenyolds


Will race for nothing just give me a car

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If You Wont Stand Behind OUR TROOPS please feel free to stand in front of them


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The JACK CREW!!!

please mean Chrissy

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"It's all fun and games until somebody wrecks a racecar" Larry McRenyolds


Will race for nothing just give me a car

Labonte, General Mills to RCR
By Bob Margolis, Yahoo! Sports
Apr 1, 12:36 pm EDT

Richard Childress Racing will field a fourth car in 2009 with sponsorship from General Mills, and Yahoo! Sports has learned that Bobby Labonte, the 2000 Cup champion, will be the driver.

Labonte, who has spent the past two-plus seasons driving for Petty Enterprises, will drive the No. 33 car.

Yahoo! Sports originally reported in February this exact story – that Labonte would be the driver of a fourth RCR car, with sponsorship from General Mills. At that time, Richard Childress acknowledged that he would field a fourth car, but denied Labonte would be the driver.

“No, no, no,” Childress told Fox Sports.

But sources close to the negotiations continue to confirm to Yahoo! Sports that a deal between Childress and Labonte is done.

Rumors of Labonte’s move to Childress began at the start of the 2008 season when Labonte signed to drive the No. 21 Nationwide car for Childress. It is expected the majority of the No. 21 team, headed by crew chief Shane Wilson, will move up to work on the new Sprint Car team.

Petty Enterprises had hoped signing a past champion like Labonte would help return the organization to respectability. It hasn’t worked out that way.

Since joining Petty Enterprises, Labonte has scored just 11 top 10s and no wins in 78 races.

A move to Childress would be a shot in the arm for Labonte’s career. One only has to look at how the move to RCR has helped the career of current points leader Jeff Burton, who since joining RCR has won at least one race in each of the past three seasons after going winless the previous four driving for Jack Roush.

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Just when I think you said the stupidest thing ever .....You keep talking
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AWESOME! GOTTA LUV IT!

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Auto racing, bull fighting and mountain climbing are the only real sports... the rest are just games........ Earnest Hemmingway

It should be an easy decision for Bobby. I mean would you rather race for a top team like RCR or a team like Petty?

Biffle is just about done with his contract with Roush. He is not going anywhere for now.

I think we will probably see Scott Wimmer in the 33 next year. I think that would be the best option if Labonte doesn't come over. What other past champion is there that is good and doesn't have a good ride?

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Biffle Doesn't Consider Childress a Future Option: Greg Biffle, a sought-after Sprint Cup star in a contract year, doesn't foresee the recently announced #33 Richard Childress Racing Chevys as an option for his future. Biffle, who last week said he was "90 percent" sure he would sign a contract extension with his current team, Roush Fenway Racing, for 2009 and beyond, cited the fickle nature of the top-35 rule as a key deterrent from considering Childress' fourth car. "I don't really see that being an alternative for me," Biffle said. "The one thing a guy's got to look at is, I'm third in points [now] and have a chance to make the Chase right now, and I'm running fairly well. And to go to a team that has no points and try to qualify for the Daytona 500, and go to Las Vegas and try to qualify, and California, on time, and dodge rainouts -- we see all these teams struggle to get in the top 35. I don't see that as a smart career move for myself."(ESPN.com)(4-5-2008)

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Auto racing, bull fighting and mountain climbing are the only real sports... the rest are just games........ Earnest Hemmingway

#


# Petty Enterprises don't expect to lose Labonte: Petty Enterprises lost the sponsor of its famed # 43 car to Richard Childress Racing on Tuesday, but officials don't expect the driver to follow. STP was the sponsor of the #43 car that Richard Petty drove to 200 victories. Now with General Mills moving on, the car needs a sponsor again. Robbie Loomis, the vice president for racing operations at Petty Enterprises, said the organization is in the final stages of negotiating a deal that would keep 2000 Sprint Cup champion Bobby Labonte there for the remainder of his career. He said losing General Mills, the current sponsor of Labonte's car, will have no bearing on that. "I'm not worried about that at all," Loomis said of losing Labonte to RCR. "I feel as good about it as anything I've felt about in a long time." (ESPN.com)(4-5-2008)

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Auto racing, bull fighting and mountain climbing are the only real sports... the rest are just games........ Earnest Hemmingway

Edwards, Biffle on RCR's dream list for 4th ride
by Lee Spencer
Lee Spencer is a senior NASCAR writer for FOXSports.com.
Updated: April 5, 2008, 3:10 PM EST 153 comments
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FORT WORTH, Texas - Richard Childress refused to start a fourth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team until sponsorship was well in hand. But with the announcement that General Mills was coming on board last week, the driver search can now begin.



According to RCR sources, five drivers were offered up to the sponsor including Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards, Ryan Newman, Martin Truex Jr., and initially Bobby Labonte. Casey Mears has been another name mentioned if a driver change occurs with the No. 5 Chevrolet at the end of the season.

"We've looked at everything," Childress said. "We've got our eye on what we want to do and we'll go from there. Right now we're not going to be in a big rush because most of the drivers are under some sort of a contract."

Childress added that he's "not at liberty to discuss" whether he's been in contact with UPS, a company that has been under the gun to hire a driver with star power — or at least the talent equal to rival FedEx racer Denny Hamlin. UPS made a run at Kasey Kahne before signing with Michael Waltrip Racing two seasons ago, but Dodge retained title sponsorship on the car. Although UPS had a history with Dale Jarrett, signing with MWR was more a gift of charity for the popular veteran than an expectation of winning. Certainly, MWR's Michael McDowell could evolve into that rockstar driver that UPS hopes to bank on, but it's likely that racer already exists at Roush Fenway Racing, Dale Earnhardt Inc., Gillett Evernham Motorsports or RCR.

"I think all three of ours (drivers) are rockstars," Childress said. "They are in my eyes. A guy that can go out and win, represent a sponsor, has a little attitude and gets the job done for you — that's what you want.

"The key to it is to have someone that's going to fit in. You have a great company like General Mills and we want to make sure we have the right combination."

Jeff Burton could also be a factor in the mix. With the AT&T sponsorship expiring at the end of 2008, the No. 31 will have its naming rights up for bid. Between Burton's talent, outspoken demeanor and family man image, he could fill the wish list of many sponsors in the garage or potential sponsors looking to be coddled through the initiation process. Burton, the current point leader, can now laugh about his former employer feeling he was not marketable and washed up at 36, although it wasn't amusing at the time.

As the senior Childress driver, Burton, 40, hopes to acquire a fourth driver who is as committed to building RCR as he and his teammates are determined to do.

"We need a guy that is willing to commit whatever time it takes to be successful and not worry about what time we're going to get home from a test or worry about what we're going to get done while we're at the test," Burton said. "We need a guy that's willing to get in there and not just show up and be a driver. We need a guy that's going to get in, invest the time and energy and help be part of making RCR better — and bring his opinions and spend the time to research what's going on, spend time figuring out how, for us to be better, pick an area of the company he feels like he's knowledgeable about, get into that, and bring information.

"We want a hungry guy that wants it and understands that he's got to have help to do it. It's not just about his team. It's about the company in general. The stronger we are as a company, the better each individual team will run. We have to have that understanding. I'm sure those things will be required."

Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer share that sentiment. Whether the driver devotes his time to the research and development end of the sport like Burton, runs his own Nationwide teams and brings additional data to the company such as Harvick, or tests at a moment's notice like Bowyer, each of these drivers at very different stages of their careers contribute something to the mix.

At the end of the day, the driver equation will also come down to talent. However, that doesn't necessarily mean that the racer has to be fully developed for RCR to make the investment.

"The level of experience is of great debate," Burton adds. "There's been a lot of drivers that have come into the sport that could be successful immediately. There's been a lot that took a while to be successful. There's talented drivers out there that a lot of people look at and say, 'Why'd we'd pick him?' It's because nobody's ever given him a chance.

"There's also talented drivers that are available that have proven they can do it right now. We're going to have to find the right mix of that. It's hard to get a driver that's driving for a top company to want to leave. We've got to do a great job of recruiting. We've got to explain to the person why he's going to be better off with us than with somebody else. The other option is to give somebody a shot. Either way can work."

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Auto racing, bull fighting and mountain climbing are the only real sports... the rest are just games........ Earnest Hemmingway