This must be your favorite thread, Mrs. Mopar!! hahah

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Jeff Gordon -- Should-be 6-time Nextel Cup champ :]
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Ryan Newman, Daytona 500 Champion!!
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Press release

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (December 7, 2007) -- Penske Performance has appointed Jonathan Gibson as Vice President of Marketing, a newly created position within its organization. "I am pleased to have Jonathan join our team," said Tim Cindric, President of Penske Performance. "Jonathan brings a tremendous amount of brand, product and overall marketing experience along with critical knowledge of the motorsports industry to our teams. We know he will be a huge asset to our company." In this role, Gibson will oversee the sponsorship management, media and public relations, licensing as well as other marketing functions for Penske Performance, which includes its teams in NASCAR, the IndyCar Series and the American Le Mans Series. "Jonathan has extensive experience across marketing and sales disciplines including client acquisition and sponsorship management, development and retention," said Bud Denker, Senior Vice President of Penske Corporation. "His understanding of Penske Performance and many of our sponsors makes him uniquely qualified to join our organization and provide the strategic marketing direction that is important to our sponsor partners, our drivers, our race teams and our company.” Gibson was most recently Vice President for Pierce, a sports marketing and experiential marketing division of Omnicom's, The Radiate Group. Formerly, he led the Miller Lite brand's sports marketing investments, which included its long and prosperous relationship with Penske Racing. "I am very excited to join this remarkably talented team," said Gibson. "After working with Penske Racing over the past eight years, I deeply respect the integrity, innovation and value they bring to their sponsors and to motorsports. I'm eager to build upon their success and continue to elevate the impact that our partners receive from their investment." Gibson will report to Bud Denker. He received an undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia and a graduate degree from West Virginia University and resides in Charlotte, North Carolina.

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Ryan Newman, Daytona 500 Champion!!
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By JENNA FRYER
AP Auto Racing Writer

NASCAR has approved Penske Racing's request to transfer the owner points from Kurt Busch to Sam Hornish Jr., a move that locks the three-time IndyCar Series champion into the first five races of next season.

Hornish publicly thanked Busch for giving him the points at the Penske holiday party on Friday night. Bud Denker, senior vice president of Penske Corp., confirmed Saturday that the team would swap the points with NASCAR's approval.

Robin Pemberton, NASCAR's vice president of competition, said the sanctioning body had signed off on the transfer.

"This would obviously help Sam as he prepares to run the first five races instead of prepares to qualify for the first five races," Denker said. "With a champion like Kurt Busch and the opportunity to utilize (the points), anyone would be foolish to not take care of the situation."

Hornish, a former Indianapolis 500 winner, is leaving that series for NASCAR next season. But his No. 77 Dodge won't be one of the 35 cars locked into the first five races of the year. As the 2004 series champion, Busch has a provisional position that he could fall back on should he fail to qualify on speed.

Penske said last month that he had not decided if he would give Hornish the points Busch earned because the focus was not on the first month of the season.

"This isn't all about the first five races," Penske said at Phoenix International Raceway. "This is about a long career for a great race car driver and someone who has delivered for us for a long time at Penske Racing."

But not taking the points put Hornish at risk of not making early races, and a failure to qualify could cripple his first full Sprint Cup season. Of the five new teams that started last season outside of the top 35, all missed early races, fell into a deep hole and never recovered.

This swap will prevent that for Hornish, who failed to make the first six races he attempted to qualify for last season. He finally made it into the field at Phoenix and Homestead, Fla., and finished 30 and 37th in his only two starts.

Locking him into the field will give Hornish an edge on former open-wheel drivers Jacques Villeneuve and Patrick Carpentier, who will not be in cars guaranteed a starting spot. Reigning IndyCar Series champion Dario Franchitti, however, will enter the series locked into the top 35.

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Ryan Newman, Daytona 500 Champion!!
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I can't wait to hear what Kurt has to say if he doesn't make 1 of the first 5 races of the year
.

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Just when I think you said the stupidest thing ever .....You keep talking
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Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service


Kurt Busch doesn't mind being a team player -- as long as he has a safety net.

Even before team owner Roger Penske pulled the trigger on the points switch that guarantees rookie Sam Hornish Jr. top-35 status and a starting spot in the first five NASCAR Sprint Cup races of 2008, Busch expressed his willingness to do what was best for the organization as a whole.

It took conversations with Miller Brewing and Mobil (the respective sponsors of Busch's and Hornish's cars), along with approval from NASCAR, before the owner points that had accrued to Busch's No. 2 Dodge could be transferred to the No. 77 Hornish will drive in 2008.

As the 2004 Cup champion, Busch won't have to worry about qualifying, either. The past champion's provisional provides a security blanket in case the unexpected happens -- a spin or parts failure during a qualifying run.

"We talked with the Mobil executives as well as the Miller executives (as to) what can be a win-win for everybody involved," Busch said. "I'm a team player."

Qualifying, of course, hasn't been a problem for Busch, who started from the front row five times in 2007, with one pole and four second-place efforts in time trials. His average start was 13.7, fourth best.

"It's been good to us lately, but you never want to put yourself in a position to not make a race, and right now, with the champion's provisional, we'll be guaranteed a spot," he said.

As to Hornish, who failed in his first six attempts to qualify for a Cup race, Busch expects his new teammate to experience the highs and lows of a typical rookie season.

"I think he's going to have some great races," Busch said. "I think he's going to have some struggles. That's what all rookies do. One week they're on fire; the next week you're putting out the fire."

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Ryan Newman, Daytona 500 Champion!!
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Ryan Newman, Daytona 500 Champion!!
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By DAVID POOLE
The Charlotte Observer

Chris Carrier was named Friday as crew chief for the No. 77 Dodges to be driven by Sam Hornish Jr. in the 2008 Sprint Cup season.

Carrier, 47, comes to Penske Racing from Morgan-McClure Motorsports, where he was crew chief for Ward Burton on the No. 4 Chevrolets and also directed the team's Cup and Busch series programs.

"I know there are a lot of good, talented people at Penske Racing and ... I plan to take full advantage of their knowledge and resources while also giving as much as I can back to the team," Carrier said.

David Ellenz has also been named team engineer for Hornish, a former Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar Series champion who moves full time to stock car competition next season.

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Ryan Newman, Daytona 500 Champion!!
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