Richard Petty Motorsports Signs Allmendinger

Richard Petty Motorsports extended AJ Allmendingers contract through 2010. Joe Gibbs Racing had been rumored to be interested in picking up Allmendinger for a 4th team.

NASCAR and the race to innovate Motor Oil

The Wall Street Journal had an interesting article this week about Joe Gibbs Racing and their development of motor oil for their NASCAR programs. JGR is reportedly spending around a million dollars a year to perfect and tweak their engine formula; one of the last unrestricted areas for innovation in NASCAR. Over the past decade, JGR has attributed this research to a 10 horsepower increase in their engine program. Although on the surface that may not seem much, it is in fact a 2% increase in power which can give a huge advantage when competition is so close. Its interesting that this story has surfaced, because NASCAR has been adamant about cutting down costs through the ban on testing, Car of Today implementation, and other cost cutting measures. Yet we find that the money saved from these activities is just rerouted to work on something else, motor oil in this case. It seems to prove that no matter how much you say you want teams to cut costs, its ultimately up to them how they are going to spend their money. It will continue to be this way until NASCAR chooses to implement a budget cap like the one proposed by the FIA. However, that doesn't look to happen anytime soon in NASCAR.

McMurray to leave Roush for 2010?

Virginia Pilot recently reported that Jamie McMurray is to be the odd man out at Roush Racing next year when NASCAR implements a four team limit. This comes as no surprise as McMurray has consistently underperformed at Roush although he has been in equipment that his teammates have driven to a plethora of wins and chase berths. It's ashame; McMurray is a likeable character and many, including myself, believed that his move to Roush Racing from Chip Ganassi Racing for the 2006 season was his big chance to have a break out year. This never materialized however and it is uncertain where he would end up if this rumor is to be believed.