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2007 Silly Season Team/Driver Chart

Shelmerdine to test at Daytona for RCR: Kirk Shelmerdine will be testing the #33 RCR Chevy at the Daytona International Speedway Monday, January 7th and Tuesday, January 8th 2008 in preparation for the 2008 Daytona 500 on February 17, 2008. Kirk Shelmerdine began his career as a Crew Chief and tire changer at the age of 18. Shelmerdine is best known for his record-breaking achievements while working as Crew Chief for Richard Childress Racing. Between 1986 and 1992, he lead Dale Earnhardt, Sr. to four Winston Cup Championships and won honors such as Mechanic of the Year and UNOCAL Pit Crew Race Competitions multiple times. His statistics include 246 top tens, 142 top fives, 14 pole positions and 46 wins. Shelmerdine decided to become a full time Cup driver in 2002. In February 2006 he qualified for the Daytona 500 and finished 20th driving his Kirk Shelmerdine Racing Chevy. With his long history with Richard Childress Racing, Shelmerdine looks forward to driving for his friend and previous boss. 

McDowell to take over #00 after 5 races: Michael McDowell, the 2007 runner-up on the ARCA circuit, will succeed David Reutimann in the #00 Sprint Cup car at Michael Waltrip Racing. McDowell, a 22-year-old native of Phoenix, likely will take over the #00 Toyota in late March at Martinsville, Va., when Reutimann will slide into the #44 car being vacated by the retirement of teammate and 1999 series champion Dale Jarrett [Jarrett will also run the All-Star race in the #44]. A formal announcement is expected later this month. Michael Waltrip Racing officials tested McDowell and Wise repeatedly during the offseason in the hopes that one would be ready to take over the #00 car in 2008. Wise, a two-time U.S. Auto Club champion, likely is bound for a Nationwide Series ride, pending sponsorship 

Latest on the #4 team: With preseason testing beginning next week in Daytona, Sprint Cup teams are finalizing their plan of attack for the 2008 season. The approach at #4-Morgan-McClure Motorsports is radically different. Over the past few weeks, Southwest Virginia’s NASCAR team has lost its crew chief, primary sponsor and driver. "It feels like a hurricane,’’ MMM general manager Larry McClure said. "The way NASCAR has changed, I don’t know if its been good or not.’’ The Morgan-McClure organization, which featured veteran driver Ward Burton last season, has struggled in recent years with lack of sponsorship and driver turnover. Just days before Christmas, McClure learned that State Water Heaters was leaving. According to media reports, the State Water Heaters sponsorship will move to the #66 Haas CNC Racing team with driver Scott Riggs. "I’ve heard the sponsorship went to the 66 car,’’ McClure said "Right now we don’t have a thing.’’ McClure said the agreement with State Water Heaters last year was for 10 races. He was surprised by the change in direction. "It must have been an instant decision because we had no idea it was going to happen,’’ McClure said. "We found out about this before Christmas, then it became official after the holiday. We’ll see how things work out.’’ Lucas Oil will return as an associate sponsor. As for a driver, it appears Burton is gone from the seat of the #4 MMM Chevy. Burton, a former Daytona 500 winner, joined the team with three races remaining in the 2006 season. "[Burton] probably won’t be back,’’ McClure said. "We’re looking at using either Mike Wallace or P.J. Jones for testing next week, then we will go from there. "It’s not going to be hard to find somebody to drive at Daytona. Right now, I’ve got a couple options.’’ One of those options involves a driver bringing a financial package to the team. That step is common in the open-wheel ranks. "We’ve got capable people here for the crew chief role ... the biggest thing we need are sponsorship dollars,’’ McClure said. "We’ve been working on a deal with one of the bigger multicar teams where we could be a satellite team and share some information. That deal is on the table if we get our sponsorship stuff put together.’’ As for the big question of their 2008 schedule, the always-ambitious McClure said to stay tuned. "We’re just going to see how much money we get in the door,’’ McClure said. "We’re not going to race on our own money anymore.’’ On a related note, Abingdon’s Eric McClure plans to runs the Nationwide Series schedule with the Front Row Motorsports team. The Denver, N.C.-based team also plans to field a Sprint Cup car for McClure in the Daytona 500

Elliott to run the #21 at Daytona..after that? Wood Brothers Racing is set to announce driver and sponsor information regarding their #21 Sprint Cup entry for the 2008 Daytona Speedweeks events. Veteran driver Bill Elliott has agreed to once again serve as the driver of the #21 Ford Fusion in this year’s opening event. The team will test with Elliott on January 14-16th of this month. He will compete in all Speedweeks events, which will include the February 9th Bud Shootout, the Gatorade Duels—and the 50th running of the Daytona 500 on February 17th. For the Daytona 500 event, the team will have primary sponsorship from McKee Foods, Little Debbie Snack Cakes Brand. Associate sponsors for this event will again be the United States Air Force and Ford Motor Company’s Motorcraft Brand. Crew Chief Gene Nead will lead all efforts in the Sprint Cup Series.(Wood Brothers/JTG Racing PR), no word on other driver schedules for the team such as Ken Schrader. Marcos Ambrose is scheduled to run 12 races, no schedule announced yet.

 Riggs to the #66; State Water Heaters sponsor...looks like it UPDATE: hearing that State Water Heaters will sponsor the #66 Haas CNC Racing Chevy and that Scott Riggs will drive the car, supposedly Jeremy Mayfield and the #66 crew will move over to the #70 Team. State Water Heaters sponsored the #4 Morgan McClure team and driver Ward Burton in 2007, no word on MMM or Burton's 2008 plans.(1-2-2008)
UPDATE: Scott Riggs told Sirius NASCAR Radio's Sirius Speedway Friday that be will drive the #66 Haas CNC Racing Chevy next season, with the Bootie Barker-led team that worked with Johnny Sauter's #70 car last year. In addition, Riggs confirmed that talks are underway to brng State Water Heaters aboard as sponsor. "We're in negotiations pretty heavy with State Water Heaters, and while the deal is not signed, we're hopeful that we can get it done.