Budweiser staying on with Earnhardt Jr.?

David Poole, dpoole@charlotteobserver.com

Thursday, Jul. 12, 2007

ESPN.com's sources say Budweiser knows it won't be on Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s cars next year at Hendrick Motorsports, and that it looks like some sort of sponsorship deal with a Pepsi product (or products) is likely for him.

Terry Blount and David Newton got further down the road with sources than I have. Nothing they wrote conflicts with what I've been trying to nail down. But all anybody with official ties to Pepsi or Budweiser or the teams will say for the record is they don't comment on speculation.

One source I've trusted for a long time tells me that AMP, an energy drink Pepsi markets under the Mountain Dew umbrella, will factor in the deal for Earnhardt Jr. at Hendrick. Jeff Gordon and the Hendrick folks have a deal with Pepsi that stretches through 2010. Pepsi also is ending its contracts with International Speedway Corp. One reason could be that money's going into the Hendrick-Earnhardt Jr. basket.

ESPN.com also said Kasey Kahne is on Budweiser's short list should the beer company lose Earnhardt Jr. Some things about that might be complicated -- Kahne has a sweet deal with Allstate, and you wonder if that and a beer sponsor could co-exist. But, on the other hand, Evernham Motorsports' impending deal with George Gillett might really work with Bud. Gillett has his hands in a lot of professional sports enterprises, and when he and Ray Evernham get together, having Budweiser as a sponsor in NASCAR could open a lot of interconnecting doors.

Observations

• Let's note one more time that Kyle Busch's team in the Busch Series was cleared of any problems with the front springs NASCAR took back to its research and development center in Concord. The combined rate on both springs had to be at least 3,000 pounds, and the equipment NASCAR had at the track showed they were close.So NASCAR went back and measured them carefully, and the springs were found to be OK. It would have been a bigger deal if they hadn't, so it's only fair to make it clear the winning car checked out.

• Gordon could finish 19th in the next eight races and make the Chase for the Nextel Cup. And A.J. Allmendinger, Ward Burton, Jeremy Mayfield and, yes, Michael Waltrip are mathematically eliminated from contention.

• In all seriousness, it looks like the "magic" number for making this year's Chase is going to be about 3,000 points. Earnhardt Jr. is 12th at 2,040, an average of about 113 points a race. To be safe, 3,100 or 3,200 would be a good 26-race goal. Last year, Carl Edwards had 3,011 after 26 races and was 13th. • Scott Knox of Cornelius won the legends pro division feature Tuesday night in Round 6 of the 10-race Summer Shootout Series at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord. Dennis White of Pineville won in the masters division, Steven Ross of Stanfield won in semi-pro and Trevor Farbo of Concord won in young guns. Thomas Van Wingerden got his fourth straight thunder roadster victory. Bandoleros winners were Kyle Plott of Marietta, Ga., in bandits; Kendall Sellers of Kannapolis in outlaws and Dylan Pack of Stanfield in young guns.

• Brian Roseman of Conover won the Ford Micro-Sprint Classic Saturday at East Lincoln Speedway in Stanley, picking up the $1,000 prize for his third feature win of the season. Blane Huffman of Denver, N.C., was a first-time winner in late model modified sportsman.

• Bill Cassavaugh held off a late charge from Alli Owens to win the 75-lap limited late model feature Friday night at Tri-County Motor Speedway in Hudson.

• L.W. Miller won Friday at Caraway Speedway in Asheboro for the fourth straight time when the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour visited the track. He leads Junior Miller by 21 points in the series standings.

USG Sheetrock 400, Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet, Ill., 4 p.m. Sunday

News and Notes

NASCAR suspends Fike, fiancée indefinitely

NASCAR indefinitely suspended Truck Series driver Aaron Fike and his fiancée, Cassandra Davidson, on Wednesday after their arrests last weekend on drug charges.Fike had been driving Red Horse Racing's No. 1 Toyota and was eighth in points. The team has put David Green in the truck for this weekend's race at Kentucky.

Both were suspended for "actions detrimental to stock car racing," a NASCAR release said. Davidson was listed a member of the No. 1 team's crew.

Fike and Davidson were released Tuesday after spending the weekend in the Warren County Jail in Lebanon, Ohio.

Fike and Davidson, both of Cornelius, were arrested Saturday in the parking lot of Kings Island amusement park north of Cincinnati after security officers observed suspicious activity in Fike's sport utility vehicle and found syringes and a brown substance believed to be heroin, police said.

Both were charged with drug abuse, a felony, and possession of drug paraphernalia, a misdemeanor. They had their initial court appearance Tuesday in Mason Municipal Court.

Fike's trial on the misdemeanor charge was scheduled for Aug. 28, and a preliminary hearing on the felony charge was set for July 19. The same dates were set for Davidson. -- JIM UTTER

Gordon says atmosphere is up to Busch

Jeff Gordon said it's mostly up to Kyle Busch to determine Busch's relationship with his Hendrick Motorsports teammates for the rest of this season.

"I think that it's really in Kyle's court," Gordon said. "He is the one who's going to control it (with) how he handles things. And he's got a lot on his plate, I'm sure."

Busch complained after losing Saturday's Pepsi 400 by an eyelash to Jamie McMurray that he didn't get much help in the Daytona draft from Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Casey Mears. Those drivers are Busch's teammates until the end of the season, when he will leave and Dale Earnhardt Jr. will come over.

"He's a young guy, he's vibrant. He gets excited, and sometimes the heat of the moment gets the best of him," Gordon said of Busch. "I think a lot of it had to do with being frustrated.

"He just said some things that, you know, that really didn't add up. He has been in every team meeting. There has not been one conversation about him not being in team meetings."

Brian Vickers was excluded from some Hendrick team meetings last year after he announced he would be leaving to drive a Toyota for Team Red Bull in 2007.

Busch said that when he said something to Gordon after Saturday's race Gordon "blew him off" on pit road. Gordon said that's not what happened.

"I was doing an interview, he came by and kind of grabbed me on the shoulder and said, `Good race,' or something," Gordon said. "I gave him a thumb's up. So I'm not exactly sure where that came from." -- DAVID POOLE

Auxiliary plans October concert

Montgomery Gentry is scheduled to headline the Women's Auxiliary of Motorsports' first WAM JAM concert for charity Oct. 20 at Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium in Kannapolis.Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday and can be purchased at waminc.org or at www.intimdatorsbaseball.com. Tickets will be $25 in advance and $32.50 on Oct. 20. A supply of 500 diamond seating tickets will be available for $49.50. -- D.P.

Briefly

• The episode of "PINKS: All Out" that was filmed in April at Rockingham Dragway will air at 8 and midnight tonight on Speed. A field of 350 amateur drag racers competed for a $10,000 prize. " `PINKS' generated more excitement than the Metallica concert we had several years ago," track owner Steve Earwood said. -- D.P.

• Budweiser donated $100,000 to the Special Operations Warrior Fund after Earnhardt Jr. ran a camouflage paint scheme in the Coca-Cola 600 and a red, white and blue car Saturday at Daytona. -- D.P.

Short Tracks

• Scott Knox of Cornelius won the legends pro division feature Tuesday night in Round 6 of the 10-race Summer Shootout Series at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord. Dennis White of Pineville won in the masters division, Steven Ross of Stanfield won in semi-pro and Trevor Farbo of Concord won in young guns. Thomas Van Wingerden got his fourth straight thunder roadster victory. Bandoleros winners were Kyle Plott of Marietta, Ga., in bandits; Kendall Sellers of Kannapolis in outlaws and Dylan Pack of Stanfield in young guns.

• Brian Roseman of Conover won the Ford Micro-Sprint Classic Saturday at East Lincoln Speedway in Stanley, picking up the $1,000 prize for his third feature win of the season. Blane Huffman of Denver, N.C., was a first-time winner in late model modified sportsman.

• Bill Cassavaugh held off a late charge from Alli Owens to win the 75-lap limited late model feature Friday night at Tri-County Motor Speedway in Hudson.

• L.W. Miller won Friday at Caraway Speedway in Asheboro for the fourth straight time when the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour visited the track. He leads Junior Miller by 21 points in the series standings.

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