Zippadelli will join SHR as competition director. There was speculation during the season that Zipadelli would join SHR as Stewart’s crew chief, as the two won two Sprint Cup championships together. But, following the firing of Darian Grubb, Stewart chose Steve Addington to sit atop the pit box. Grubb joined JGR as crew chief for Denny Hamlin, with Mike Ford getting released.

JGR confirmed Zipadelli’s release. No word on who will replace him as crew chief for the No. 20 car.

Update: In another tweet, Utter reported that Jason Ratcliff will serve as crew chief for the No. 20 team. Ratcliff climbed the ranks in the Nationwide Series, working at Sadler Racing and Brewco Motorsports before joining JGR in 2005 as crew chief for JJ Yeley. He then went on to serve as crew chief for Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch, winning the 2009 Nationwide Series championship with Busch.

Update 2: JGR issued a press release indicating the moves.

Dega Wreaks Havoc on Chasers

On Lap 174, Michaeal Waltrip was pushing Bobby Labonte when Labonte lost control of his race car and spun in the middle of the turn.  Kurt Busch had no where to go and drove straight into the side panel of Labonte.  This destroyed the hood of Busch’s race car and ended his day.  The elder Busch brother finished the race in 36th position, 15 laps down.  This did not help his chances for the championship, knocking him down one spot in standings to eighth place, 52 points behind the leader.

Luckily for Kurt Busch, he isn’t the only Chase driver that struggled at Talladega.  Hendrick Motorsports’ Chasers did not finish as expected on Sunday, coming home with 25th (Dale Earnhardt Jr), 26th (Jimmie Johnson), and 27th (Jeff Gordon) place finishes.  All three drivers rode out the race in the back of the pack and just didn’t seem to have the momentum to race towards the front at the end.

Earnhardt remains in ninth position in standings, 74 points behind the leader.  Thanks to others’ misfortune, Johnson moved up one position to seventh place, but is now 50 points behind the leader.  Jeff Gordon also moved up one position; however, he is now 82 points behind the leader.   I would say this is the end of Hendrick Motorsports’ chances to win the title.  Johnson would be the only driver with a chance, but he would need the drivers ahead of him in the Chase to have substantial bad luck to overtake them.

Kevin Harvick came to Talladega only five points behind leader Carl Edwards.  Leaving Talladega, he is in fifth position, now 26 points behind the leader.  Early on in the race, Harvick had a fast car; he even led the race on six different occasions.  But, he fell victim to a large pile-up on Lap 104 when AJ Allmendinger spun on the front-stretch. Harvick finished the race in 32nd position, nine laps down.

Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Joey Logano worked well together early in the race.  On Lap 67, as the duo was attempting to make green flag pit stops, Trevor Bayne cut in front of them, abruptly separating the pair.  This caused Logano to spin his race car and forced Busch to drive down pit road to avoid an accident.  Logano then blew a left-front tire on the backstretch, bringing out the caution. Busch was then sent to the rear of the field for failure to reduce speed while driving down pit road.

Busch was able to recover, leading the race on Lap 90 with help of his teammate, Denny Hamlin.  After the pile-up on Lap 104, however, Busch was unable to race his way to the front and finished the race in 33rd position.  Logano on the other hand, was able to push Tony Stewart to the lead of the race on Lap 136, despite the damage to his race car. Logano finished the race in 24th position.  Busch is now sixth in standings, 40 points behind the leader.

Chase for the Sprint Cup

Carl Edwards remains the points leader after finishing in 11th position at Talladega.  Fellow Roush driver Matt Kenseth sits second, 14 points behind Edwards.  Brad Keselowski gained three spots in the standings, moving to third, just 18 points back.  Tony Stewart moved up to fourth position after finishing the race in seventh place and is now 19 points behind Edwards.

Both Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch dropped positions because of their misfortune and are now in fifth and sixth position.  Rivals Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson are now right beside each other in standings, sitting in eighth and ninth position.  Dale Jr and Jeff Gordon round out the top-10 in ninth and tenth positions, respectively.  Denny Hamlin and Ryan Newman reside in 11th and 12th place, respectively.

Best Efforts of the Race

The Red Bull Racing team of Brian Vickers and Kasey Kahne have to be recognized for their effort on Sunday.  Kahne started 26th, Vickers 30th, and the two pushed their way into the top-five within 10 laps.  They had troubles with the two-car tandem on Lap 159, causing Kahne to spin across the nose of Vickers to bring out a caution.  But with 50 laps to go, the pair had already hooked back up and were headed to the front.  Unfortunately they just couldn’t catch the RCR tandem, but still came home with fifth (Vickers) and sixth (Kahne) place finishes.

Dave Blaney’s third place finish at Talladega represented Tommy Baldwin’s Racing’s best finish yet at the Cup level.  Blaney was in the battle at the front in both the Daytona 500 and the spring race at Talladega this year, but couldn’t get the finishes he deserved.  This is a big step for a small organization with a short history in the sport.  Team owner Tommy Baldwin hopes the Talladega finish is a step in the right direction for a more competitive season in 2012.

Landon Cassill and Casey Mears deserve a shout-out for their strong effort at Talladega.  Before the race had even one lap in the books, Mear’s No. 13 GEICO Camry had moved from its 42nd starting position into 26th.  On Lap 3, Mears paired up with Cassill to head to the front.  They spent most of the race in the Top 5 and Top 10 until lap 174 when Mears lost his drafting partner.  Cassill was collected in a turn two crash involving Bobby Labonte and Kurt Busch, forcing Mears to find another dancing partner.  Although their finishes of 16th and 17th do not represent their hard effort, the fact that they survived Talladega tells the story by itself!

Dollar General will sponsor the No. 20 Sprint Cup Series Toyota and driver Joey Logano for around 10 races next season. Home Depot will scale back its sponsorship next season.

Dollar General will also sponsor the No. 11 Nationwide Series team and driver Brian Scott. The company will also appear as primary sponsor of the Nos. 18 and 20 Nationwide Toyotas in select races.

The sponsor is expected to continue working with Kyle Busch Motorsports in the Camping World Truck Series.

Murstein indicated that RPM is happy with its performance this season with drivers Marcos Ambrose and AJ Allmendinger.

Murstein said:

We are no longer in discussions with [Bowyer]. We just feel that RPM is in a great place today, especially how far we have come since last year. Both Marcos (Ambrose) and AJ (Allmendinger) are not only having career years, but they are both moving in the right directions and improving. … Clint is a great driver and we wish him the best wherever he ends up. For now, we will continue to focus on our two teams and continuing to make great strides as we return the King and his unmatched tradition and legion of loyal fans back into Victory Lane.

Joe Gibbs Racing, Roush Fenway Racing, and Michael Waltrip Racing could be interested in signing Bowyer. But, for JGR, sponsorship is the issue. If Bowyer were to join JGR, it would most likely be in a fourth car, which would mean an additional sponsor would need to be found. Joey Logano was rumored to be on the hot seat, when the Carl Edwards rumors were circulating. That doesn’t seem to be the case with Bowyer, though.

Roush Fenway Racing would have to release a driver to accommodate Bowyer, which is unlikely. Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, and Greg Biffle are all secure at RFR, and David Ragan, with his win at Daytona International Speedway (and almost victory in the Daytona 500) this season, may have secured his place at RFR, despite UPS cutting back its sponsorship schedule.

Bowyer was touring MWR last week. If he were to join the team, it would be in a third car, which again means an additional sponsor would need to be found.

In beating Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Joey Logano to the checkered flag in a near dead heat (.019 seconds), Busch won his 50th race in NASCAR’s Nationwide Series, breaking a tie with 52-year-old Mark Martin for the top spot on the career victory list.

The margin of victory was the smallest for a race at Bristol since the institution of electronic timing and scoring in 1993.

“It’s awesome,” Busch said of the 50th win, his 23rd in his last 51 Nationwide starts. “We had Mark with us there in Loudon (when Busch tied the record July 16), and it was a phenomenal way to win 49 races and tie Mark Martin. And then to come here and to be able to beat his record here at Bristol, one of my favorite places and one of the team’s favorite places, it was certainly an awesome race.”

Behind Busch and Logano, Clint Bowyer ran third, followed by Carl Edwards and Aric Almirola.

“I don’t know where he (Logano) came from,” said Busch, the first driver to win three straight Nationwide races at the .533-mile track. “He had a rocket ship there at the end. I just kept getting a little bit looser and a little bit looser the more we ran there.

“I thought maybe the top (lane) was going to win the thing, and I was just trying to pinch him down a little bit—he used me up.”

On pit road after the race, Logano eyed Busch’s celebration in victory lane with envy.

“I did everything I could possibly do, looking back at it,” said Logano, whose ploy to stay out on old tires during the final caution nearly paid off with a win. “I did everything I could have done besides wrecking him, but that ain’t the right thing to do when he’s your teammate—so we did everything we could do.”

Michael Annett, Jason Leffler, Elliott Sadler, Parker Kligerman and Brian Scott completed the top 10. Sadler trimmed the series lead of 11th-place finisher Ricky Stenhouse Jr. to five points.

Busch led the first 112 laps of the 250-lap race, until Bowyer passed him in traffic for the top spot on Lap 113. Bowyer was still out front when Jeremy Clements’ blown tire brought out the second caution of the race on Lap 124. That gave Bowyer and Busch, who had not yet pitted, a chance to come to pit road for tires and fuel on Lap 127.

Bowyer led the field to a restart on Lap 132, but three laps later, Kenny Wallace blew a tire in Turn 3 and smacked the outside wall to cause caution No. 3. It was the second of three quick yellow flags, the last of which was for Kligerman’s spin in Turn 2 on Lap 145.

Bowyer again led the field to green on Lap 151, but Busch powered past Bowyer’s No. 33 Chevrolet at the start/finish line on Lap 163. On Lap 187, Bowyer retook the lead but surrendered it two laps later. The top two cars ran side by side until David Starr plowed into the Turn 1 wall on Lap 191 to force the fifth caution.

Busch, Bowyer and Edwards all came to the pits for tires on Lap 193, while Logano, Leffler and Sadler stayed on the track and inherited the top three positions for a restart on Lap 198. Logano grabbed the lead on the restart, with Busch surging into second behind him. Those two cars pulled away, with Bowyer in pursuit.

Busch soon dispatched Logano, and the top three drivers—Busch, Logano and Bowyer—opened a wide gap over Leffler and Edwards in fourth and fifth, respectively.

This time, though, the rumors have Home Depot headed to RFR and the No. 99 Ford Fusion. At this point, these are just rumors.

RFR owner Jack Roush said:

We saw great potential in Carl a decade ago, and it’s been a thrill to watch him grow into one of the sports’ premier drivers behind the wheel of the No. 99. We didn’t take our past success for granted when we sat down with Carl to talk about his future. As an organization, we approach each week with an intense focus on being successful in the race to come. Carl’s position atop the points is a testament to that diligence.

Edwards added:

I sincerely appreciate the amazing opportunity that Jack Roush has given me in this sport and am honored to race for him. As an organization, Roush Fenway provides the resources I need to win, and as a driver, that’s the most important thing. We’re having a fun season on the race track as we’re leading the points and in great position for the Chase. That’s the result of a lot of hard work from the men and women at Roush Fenway, Ford Motor Company and Roush Yates Engines. I really enjoy competing with this group and looking forward to continuing that relationship into the future.

In June, rumors started to circulate that Edwards was being heavily courted by Joe Gibbs Racing to take over driving duties of the No. 20 Home Depot Totoya. There was even a rumor recently that NAPA would leave Michael Waltrip Racing and move to JGR as a sponsor for a fourth team, allowing Edwards to move into the No. 20 car and Joey Logano would move to the fourth car with NAPA as the sponsor.

Those rumors were proven to be false, as Edwards has re-upped with RFR.

Logano would move to a fourth JGR Toyota with NAPA as sponsor. When asked about the rumor a team principal said that NAPA’s contract with MWR runs through 2012 and the auto parts maker is committed to that contract.

Danica Wows at Daytona

Danica Patrick raced her tail off and tried her best to get the win Friday night in the Subway Jalapeño 250.  Though she didn’t win the race, she proved that she belongs in the Nationwide series.

She started her GoDaddy.com Chevy in seventh place and finished in 10th place.  Patrick led many laps and worked well drafting with Tony Stewart and Aric Almirola.  However, on the last lap Mike Wallace attempted to block her and caused a multi-car pile up that resulted her 10th place finish.  Leave it to a veteran to cause “the big one” at Daytona.

Patrick handled the incident well and kept her cool.  “It looked like Mike Wallace was like a fish out of water at the end,” Patrick said. “He was high, he was low and then he was high into me. It was just a cluster.”

Although the No. 7 JR Motorsports team did not get the finish they hoped for, the team was very excited about how well they ran and the progress they achieved.  “Hopefully I earned people’s respect out there some more,” said Patrick. “That’s what it’s going to take – whether you’re a girl or a boy, or young or new, you’ve got to earn the respect of your peers. That’s what I try to do every weekend.”

She seems to have the drafting aspect of it down.  Now she has to work on her intermediate and short-track skills.  When she came into the sport she had no idea how to communicate with crew chief Tony Eury Jr in NASCAR lingo.  She is quickly picking that up, helping Eury Jr get the car to her liking.  The cars are getting faster and the results are getting better for this JRM team.  She still has a lot of learning to do, but I am very excited to see how she does in the future.  I hope she will soon make the switch full-time to NASCAR so we can have a competitive female racer in our sport.

Turner Motorsports Success

Turner Motorsports is taking the Nationwide Series by storm.  Following the Subway Jalapeño 250, they now have all three drivers in the top 5 in points.  Reed Sorenson is the series point leader with one win under his belt.  Justin Allgaier and Mark Martin have also each gotten a win for the team this year.  Turner Motorsports is now the team to beat.  Reed Sorenson, Justin Allgaier, and Jason Leffler all have a legitament chance to win the Nationwide title.  Not to mention, all three drivers finished in the top 5 at Daytona this weekend and ranked fastest on the restarts.

Sorenson also won the Nationwide $100,000 ”Dash for cash” reward, given to the highest finishing young gun in the race.  Don’t underestimate this team; they only get better every week!

Joey Logano Finally the Bride

Joey Logano finally became the bride at Daytona. Logano held off hard-charging Jason Leffler to get his first win of the season for Joe Gibbs Racing.  He only led the last half mile of the last lap, but thankfully for him that’s all that counts.

Logano had help from his JGR teammate Kyle Busch to push him to the lead.  “Usually, I’m the guy that’s finished second – unfortunately — but this time I am the winner, so I’m pretty pumped up about that. This is a huge win for me for a lot of reasons,” Logano said.  I’m still not sure where Joey came from on that last restart, but congratulations to him on his long awaited win.

As the action in Turn 4 on the final lap unfolded behind him, Logano surged into the lead and held off a charge from Jason Leffler to win his first Nationwide Series race of the season and the ninth of his career.

Logano took the checkered flag as many of the cars that had led into the final turn—including those of Danica Patrick, Aric Almirola, Tony Stewart and Elliott Sadler—wrecked behind him.

Leffler ran second followed by series points leader Reed Sorenson, who also claimed a $100,000 prize as the highest finisher among four drivers eligible for Nationwide’s Dash 4 Cash program.

Kyle Busch came home fourth, Justin Allgaier fifth and Michael Annett sixth. Kenny Wallace skated through the infield grass and took the checkered flag in seventh position, ahead of the wrecked cars of Sadler, Almirola and Patrick, which slid across the finish line in positions 7-10, respectively.

Logano got a push from Busch to hold off Leffler as the cars approached the stripe. He finished .040 seconds ahead of the runner-up.

“Any time we’ve hooked up like that we’ve been pretty successful,” Logano said of his pairing with Busch, his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate. “Usually, I’m the guy that’s finished second—unfortunately—but this time I am the winner, so I’m pretty pumped up about that. This is a huge win for me for a lot of reasons.”

Struggles in the Sprint Cup Series and whispers that his job might be in jeopardy haven’t escaped Logano’s notice, but he has tried to keep those concerns in the background.

“Those aren’t things that make the car go faster,” Logano said in explaining why he can’t afford to worry about them.

The lead-lap cars made their final pit stops under caution for Clint Bowyer’s hard Lap 80 crash into the backstretch wall off the bumper of teammate/owner Kevin Harvick. Patrick and Almirola were dicing with Sadler and Stewart for the lead positions when caution flew for the sixth time on Lap 90.

On a Lap 94 restart, Sadler led Stewart, Patrick and Almirola to the green flag. Patrick was in the mix to the end, but after getting separated from Almirola briefly on Lap 99 of 100, she dropped back before trying to work her way through traffic with Almirola pushing.

The JR Motorsports tandem got a run to the outside through the final two corners but tangled with Mike Wallace and Sadler off the last turn.

“Very small holes that I was taking,” Patrick said of the last-lap run. “That’s pretty much what I saw. Man, it looked like Mike Wallace was a like fish out of water there at the end … it was just a cluster.”

Note: After a hard crash in Turn 1 on Lap 44, Eric McClure, driver of the No. 14 Chevrolet, was taken to the infield care center, then to a local hospital for further evaluation. McClure had walked away from the wreck.