Lots going on in Las Vegas from Dale Jr. to Tony Stewart-Juan Pablo Montoya to what Jimmie Johnson did on The Strip on Thursday and such, so let’s get to it.

 

 

Dale Earnhardt Jr. says he’s worried about the sponsorship status for his Nationwide program at JR Motorsports and does not have enough sponsorship to run a car for the entire season about 70 days before the season opener in Daytona.

 

 

 “We’re struggling as a company,’’ Dale Jr. said Thursday, noting that the 88 car with Kelly Bires has sponsorship to run only half a season so far. “We’re having a hard time finding our sponsors for next year. We have some great partners that have returned to fund part of the 88 Kelly Bires deal but not all of that. We’ve got irons in the fire but … I’m a little worried. I’d like to run that car full season next year. I think the Nationwide series is better with that car running full season. The possibility of that happening does not look very good right now.

 

“We’ve met with over a half dozen drivers in the last six months to try to find packages and potential and not only in talent but sponsor money to keep the 100-plus employees employed throughout next season. It’s a lot bigger than the Danica Patrick discussion and everything else that has happened the last several weeks. It’s a dire situation. It’s like this every year for our company and other companies. That’s our focus. My main concern is giving the individuals inside the shop that are there every day security in next season.

 

 

            As for Danica, Dale Jr. said that negotiations continue between his sister, Kelley, who runs the team, and Danica’s folks. No deal yet. He says he doesn’t know where things stand. He’s staying out of it.

 

 

Dale Jr. also says that his sister Kelley and former crew chief Tony Eury Jr. have bought into JR Motorsports and are part owners of the team. Dale Jr. and Rick Hendrick had been 50-50 partners in the team. Dale Jr. said the percentage in ownership now changes but wouldn’t reveal who owns how much with the addition of Kelley and Eury.

 

 

             As for his Cup program, Dale Jr. says there have been some personnel changes made. He didn’t want to get too deep into but changes have been made the engineering and shock area _ two critical areas for a team to run well.

 

 

“I feel great about the changes,’’ Dale Jr. said. “We started working with some of these guys at the tail end, the last two or three races. I hope it makes us better. It should make us better. I think as an entire unit the 88 car could have been stronger. We had the resources but there was a broken link here and there. Hopefully, we’ve got that fixed.’’

 

 

Also, Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the NMPA Chex Most Popular Driver award for the seventh consecutive season. Here’s what he said about that:

 

 

“There’s a big sense of did I earn this and did I deserve it because of my family name?’’ Dale Jr. said. “My father gave me a hell of a gift in popularity. There’s a lot of emotions that run through when I accept the award. There s big sense of responsibility with the Earnhardt name. …There’s no way to thank the fans for what they put themselves through to enjoy our sport. What they go thru financially and with travel. What I can do is go back to the race track and drive my tail off and give them reasons to be excited.’’

 

 

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Tony Stewart and Juan Pablo Montoya are not showing any signs that their Homestead tit-a-tat will carry over to next season. They’ve been joking around this week in Las Vegas.

 

On Thursday during a media event at The Venetian, Montoya came over to Stewart to straighten his tie and they laughed. Backstage at the Myers Brothers Award on Thursday, they were both together before Stewart was to receive an award in regards to leading laps and Montoya joked that Stewart should thank him for being an inspiration to run out front so often. Stewart did just that in his acceptance speech. Montoya later said backstage that he was surprised Stewart did it, noting “it took balls.’’

 

 

As for Stewart, here’s what Montoya said:

 

 

“I was talking to Tony (Thursday) about it and we were laughing about (the Homestead incident),’’ Montoya said. “It wasn’t the first time we’ve gotten together. It’s like when it happened (when Montoya went into the wall at Homestead after racing Stewart), he knew it (retaliation) was coming. Come on.’’

 

 

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It’s been a fun time for many this week in Las Vegas with the banquet moving here for the first time. Yesterday, drivers roasted Jimmie Johnson and the comments got raunchy, not your typical vanilla stuff that many fans complain about. Too bad it was before a limited crowd. Lot of it can’t make the family newspaper. Or family newspaper web site. Sorry.

 

 

 Thursday, the Chase drivers did their parade down the Strip and Johnson blew his car’s engine during a burnout. I’m sure a lot of fans were thinking if only that could have happened during the season. Oh well, there’s next year.

 

 

Also Thursday was the Myers Brothers Awards program at The Venetian. Several awards were presented. The main award, the Myers Brothers is for brothers Billy and Bobby Myers, who raced in the Carolinas and Virginia until their deaths 11 months apart in the late 1950s. The award is for outstanding contribution to the sport. As President of the National Motorsports Press Association, I got to present the award. It went to MRN’s Barney Hall, who has been broadcasting racing for 51 years. A gentleman certainly worthy of the award.

 

 

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            Talked to Denny Hamlin for a few minutes on Thursday. The talk turned to rivalries and I asked him if he had to wreck Keselowski at Homestead after calling the shot at Phoenix as much to maintain his credibility in the garage.

 

 

            “Yes,’’ Hamlin said. “Without a doubt. Other drivers expected it. I had my birthday that week and I went out to dinner with my parents and my dad says, “You understand that I’ve taught you when you say something, you have to do it.’ I’m a person of my word. I’ll always be that way. I wasn’t trying to gain credit, but I was just trying to ensure that I was a man of my word.’’

 

 

            Hamlin hasn’t talked to Keselowski since the end of the season but isn’t worried about racing him next year.

 

           

            “It’s all fresh once the year is over with,’’ Hamlin said. “To be honest with you, I think that whole episode will probably change how he drives a little bit. I think he’ll be a little bit more reserved from here on.’’

 

 

            Also in regards to Hamlin, he gave out four tickets for each race to this season. All fans had to do was go to his website (www.dennyhamlin.com/seats) and explain why they should get his tickets for a particular race. Hamlin said the web site got more than 20,000 entries. He said he will continue to offer tickets to fans again next year. He also says that some tracks are joining in and matching or adding to Hamlin’s gift to fans.

 

 

 

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            Tony Stewart on the difference a year makes. A year ago he was in the shop late during Thanksgiving after taking over partial ownership of what was then called Haas CNC Racing and renamed to Stewart Haas Racing. This year, Stewart was in the shop on Monday after Homestead but then could go relax for a few days.

 

 

            “It’s a lot more calming feeling after knowing what the product is,’’ Stewart said. “At this time last year, we were getting ready to go into a season that was an unproven product. This year, we’ve got that first season under our belt and know what to expect. It’s just a matter of refining it and trying to figure out how to make it better.’’

 

 

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# Greg Biffle will be competing in his first off-road race when he competes in Saturday’s Henderson Fabtech Desert Classic sanctioned by the Best in the Desert Racing Association. Biffle will share driving duties in that race and is scheduled to start the race.

 

# Joey Logano was honored Thursday as Rookie of the Year. During his acceptance speech he noted his hero and mentor Mark Martin and said he will be Martin's age in 2040. Wow!

 

 

# The banquet will be shown live at 9 p.m. Eastern on Speed Channel on Friday. Brooks & Dunn will perform at the beginning. Enjoy the show.

 

# Tommy Baldwin Racing announced that Mike Bliss will be its driver next season.

 

 

# In the Camping World Truck Series, Kevin Harvick Inc. announced it has parted ways with crew chief Rick Ren. He leaves the team of series champion Ron Hornaday Jr. to pursue management opportunities within the sport.

 

# OK, I think that will do. I’ve been in this restaurant/bar on The Strip too long working (and am on my second battery for my computer).

 

 

Enjoy the banquet.