Looking To NASCAR 2007: 21 To Go

[Hache Man]

Looking to 2007: 21 to go
During the off-season, Rotoworld.com keeps you up-to-date on what's happening with NASCAR. Looking to 2007 gives a snapshot of driver moves, new teams, new sponsors and other general NASCAR news.
With 21 days to go until the 2007 season-opening Daytona 500, here are some recent updates.


Cup team updates:
Petty Enterprises signed a two-year contract with Marathon Oil to sponsor the #45 Marathon American Spirit Motor Oil Dodge, driven by Kyle Petty, for 14 races in both 2007 and in 2008.

Ginn Racing will field a 4th entry (with the #01, #13 and #14) for Regan Smith to make his Cup debut in the Daytona 500. It was announced earlier that Smith will ride-share Ginn's #01 Chevrolet with Mark Martin. His first Cup start in that car is scheduled for Bristol in March. He'll drive the #39 Chevrolet in the season-opening Daytona event and in other races when Martin is in the #01.


Busch Series team changes:
Casey Mears will be sponsored by the Army National Guard, his Cup sponsor, in 22 Busch Series companion events. He'll pilot the Hendrick Motorsports #24 National Guard Chevrolet in those events.

Kyle Krisiloff will drive for the newly formed Haas-Carter Motorsports #14 Ford team. Carl A. Haas, co-owner of the Newman/Haas Racing Champ Car Team and former partner with Travis Carter in Haas-Carter Motorsports have reunited in the Busch Series in 2007.

Penske Racing's #12 (#39 in 2006) Mobil 1/ALLTEL Dodge will be entered in 23 races this season. Sam Hornish Jr. will drive in eleven races, Ryan Newman in seven and Kurt Busch will take the other five.

Jason Keller will share driving with Ward Burton in the Brewco Motorsports #27 Kleenex Ford. Burton will drive 20 races and Keller is in for the remaining 5 events.

Kevin Harvick and Timothy Peters will ride-share the Richard Childress Racing #21 AutoZone Chevrolet this season.

The Joe Gibbs Racing #18 Chevrolet will have several drivers in 2007. Kevin Conway will drive eight races for sponsor Z-Line Designs. Brad Coleman will drive 17 races for Carino's Italian Grill. JGR drivers Tony Stewart and Aric Almirola complete the driver lineup for the #18.

Jay Robinson Racing has aligned with Haas CNC racing for their #28 Chevrolet team. They will run the full season with cars prepared by Haas CNC and have Haas's Cup drivers, Jeff Green(#66) and Johnny Sauter(#70), split the #28 ride with Robert Richardson. Richardson tested the #28 Chevrolet in preparation for a debut with the team in the season-opener at Daytona.

Ganassi Racing has hired 18-year-old Bryan Clauson to ride-share their #41 Memorex Dodge beginning in August 2007 at Bristol. The car will be sponsored by Wrigley's up until that event. Driving duties on the #41 will be split between Clauson and Ganassi teammates, Reed Sorenson and David Stremme.


Craftsman Truck Series team changes:
Key Motorsports hired former CTS champ Mike Bliss to drive the #40 Chevrolet in four races this season. They were outside the top 30 in points in 2006 and not guaranteed a starting position in this season's first race. Bliss gives the team a past champion's provisional. No word yet on who will drive the remaining races in the #40.


This is the NEXTEL Cup lineup for 2007:

2007 NEXTEL Cup Lineup(Tentative)
Car	Driver	Sponsor	Make	Owner
#00	David Reutimann	Burger King/Domino's	Toyota	Michael Waltrip
#01	Mark Martin	U.S. Army	Chevr	Ginn Racing
#01	Regan Smith	U.S. Army	Chevr	Ginn Racing
#03	Todd Bodine	???	Toyota	Germain
#07	Clint Bowyer	Jack Daniel's	Chevr	Richard Childress
#1	Martin Truex Jr.	Bass Pro Shops	Chevr	Dale Earnhardt Inc.
#2	Kurt Busch	Miller Lite	Dodge	Penske Racing
#4	Ward Burton	State Water Heaters	Chevr	Morgan-McClure
#5	Kyle Busch	Kelloggs	Chevr	Hendrick
#6	David Ragan	AAA	Ford	Roush
#7	Robby Gordon	Harrah's	Ford	RG Motorsports
#8	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Budweiser	Chevr	Dale Earnhardt Inc.
#9	Kasey Kahne	Dodge Dealers	Dodge	Evernham
#10	Scott Riggs	Valvoline	Dodge	Evernham
#11	Denny Hamlin	FedEx	Chevr	Joe Gibbs
#12	Ryan Newman	ALLTEL	Dodge	Penske Racing
#13	Joe Nemechek	???	Chevr	Ginn Racing
#14	Sterling Marlin	Waste Management	Chevr	Ginn Racing
#15	Paul Menard	Menard's	Chevr	Dale Earnhardt Inc.
#16	Greg Biffle	Ameriquest	Ford	Roush
#17	Matt Kenseth	DeWalt Tools	Ford	Roush
#18	J.J. Yeley	Interstate Batteries	Chevr	Joe Gibbs
#19	Elliott Sadler	Dodge Dealers	Dodge	Evernham
#20	Tony Stewart	Home Depot	Chevr	Joe Gibbs
#21	Ken Schrader	Little Debbie	Ford	Wood Brothers
#21	Jon Wood	Little Debbie	Ford	Wood Brothers
#22	Dave Blaney	Caterpillar	Toyota	Bill Davis
#23	Mike Skinner	???	Toyota	Bill Davis
#24	Jeff Gordon	DuPont	Chevr	Hendrick
#25	Casey Mears	Army National Guard	Chevr	Hendrick
#26	Jamie McMurray	Crown Royal	Ford	Roush
#29	Kevin Harvick	Shell/Reeses/GM	Chevr	Richard Childress
#31	Jeff Burton	Cingular	Chevr	Richard Childress
#33	Scott Wimmer	Holiday Inn	Chevr	Richard Childress
#36	Jeremy Mayfield	360 OTC	Toyota	Bill Davis
#37	Bill Elliott	????	Dodge	R&J Racing
#38	David Gilliland	M&M's	Ford	Robert Yates
#39	Regan Smith	????	Chevr	Ginn Racing
#40	David Stremme	Coors Lite	Dodge	Ganassi
#41	Reed Sorenson	Target	Dodge	Ganassi
#42	Juan Pablo Montoya	Texaco/Havoline	Dodge	Ganassi
#43	Bobby Labonte	Cheerios	Dodge	Petty
#44	Dale Jarrett	UPS	Toyota	Michael Waltrip
#45	Kyle Petty	Wells Fargo/Marathon Oil	Dodge	Petty
#48	Jimmie Johnson	Lowe's	Chevr	Hendrick
#49	Mike Bliss	WhatsOnline.com	Dodge	BAM Racing
#55	Michael Waltrip	NAPA	Toyota	Michael Waltrip
#58	Damon Lusk	???	Chevr	Hylton
#60	Boris Said	SOBE	Ford	No Fear
#66	Jeff Green	Best Buy	Chevr	Haas CNC
#70	Johnny Sauter	???	Chevr	Haas CNC
#72	Brandon Whitt	Dutch Quality Stone	Chevr	CJM Racing
#74	Derrike Cope	Sundance Vacations	Dodge	McGlynn
#78	Kenny Wallace	Furniture Row	Chevr	Furniture Row
#83	Brian Vickers	Red Bull	Toyota	Red Bull
#84	A.J. Allmendinger	Red Bull	Toyota	Red Bull
#88	Ricky Rudd	Snickers	Ford	Robert Yates
#96	Tony Raines	DLP HDTV	Chevr	HOF Racing
#99	Carl Edwards	Office Depot	Ford	Roush