Hewn from the finest ones and zeroes on the market today:

• Racin’ Today: Smashed Guitar Strikes Sour Chord In Music City
  Yeah, all those quotes about Sam Bass being okay with Kyle Busch smashing his guitar? Yeah, not as much as the press-release-prepared quotes from Saturday. Also unhappy: Nashville Superspeedway and race sponsor Federated Auto Parts. (Not to mention Jimmy Spencer and Kyle Petty who both kind of tore him a new one during prerace shows at Pocono.) It’s also worth mentioning that Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing haven’t said a single word about it in their releases, which screams, “we’re hoping this goes away quietly.”
• AP: RPM lets 9 employees go and cuts salaries
  Speaking of RPM, they’ve had to let nine employees go and have had salary cuts across the board. Apparently this is tied to the comments from Petty earlier this season about how Chrysler’s Chapter 11 filing has disrupted the financials of the organization. The rumors being floated are that RPM is in serious trouble and considering suspending a team to stay afloat. In addition, since this is the final year of their contract with Dodge, they could be considering making the leap to Toyota. Speaking of which…
• NASCAR.com: Petty, Braun teaming up for five Nationwide races
  Braun Racing has worked out a deal with Richard Petty Motorsports to give Elliott Sadler and Kasey Kahne a few races in the Nationwide Series. Sadler will run for Braun at New Hampshire in a few weeks while Kahne will run four races starting at Daytona in July. Braun already fields the 38 car for Jason Leffler, the 32 car for Burney Lamar and Brian Vickers and the 10 car, which has split time between David Reutimann, Kelly Bires, Brian Scott and Marc Davis. They haven’t specified which car will be fielded for RPM, but it’s probably going to be that 10 car.
• The NASCAR Insiders: Is MWR The Best Place For Truex?
  The biggest early silly season rumor that’s been floating for months, it seems like, is Martin Truex, Jr. going to Michael Waltrip Racing, possibly to replace Michael himself in the 55 car. NASCAR Insiders evaluates the move from a strategic perspective and considers it more of a “lateral” move. And in the interim, I can’t say I disagree. However, EGR is really a team that feels like it’s treading water, the increasing improvement of Juan Pablo Montoya being the lone bright spot of late. Whereas MWR feels like a team that will be getting better in the next few years (look at the progress they’ve already had this season). Not to mention the TRD support that MWR gets will keep making those Toyotas a lot better.

Tags: Braun Racing, Brian Scott, Brian Vickers, Burney Lamar, David Reutimann, Daytona International Raceway, Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, Elliott Sadler, Jason Leffler, Jimmy Spencer, Joe Gibbs Racing, Juan Pablo Montoya, Kasey Kahne, Kelly Bires, Kyle Busch, Kyle Petty, Marc Davis, Martin Truex Jr., Michael Waltrip, Michael Waltrip Racing, mini, Nashville Superspeedway, Nationwide Series, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Pocono Raceway, Richard Petty, Richard Petty Motorsports

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 9th, 2009 at 8:46 am and is filed under NASCAR Link Roundup. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.