Notes: Wimmer keen for new season with RCR

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- More than anything, Scott Wimmer thought he wanted to run a full Nationwide Series schedule this season with Richard Childress Racing, but on the eve of 2008, Wimmer's satisfied to defend Childress' owners' title in what was previously the Busch Series.

Wimmer got his season in RCR's No. 29 Chevrolet off to a healthy start by turning the seventh-best single-car lap in the Nationwide Series' Preseason Thunder session at Daytona International Speedway, which ended Tuesday.

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Wimmer said he lobbied to do his 23 races in the 29, teaming with his 2007 co-driver, Jeff Burton, and doing the other 12 Nationwide events "in another RCR car, but we just really couldn't get the right situation put together."

Wimmer said he's hoping to get some starts in RCR's fourth Sprint Cup team, the No. 33 Chevrolet that may appear at Speedweeks in the hands of former RCR crew chief Kirk Shelmerdine.

"Richard's [Childress] talking about running that fourth Cup car quite a bit," Wimmer said. "So I think he kind of wants to start building a team for that instead of sinking a lot of time and effort into another [Nationwide] Series program.

"Either way I'm excited, because he always has a pretty good plan worked out for me and has a lot of interesting things going on, but right now it looks like I'll just be running 23 Nationwide races and hopefully I can talk him into running a bunch of Cup races, because I think it's real important to have four teams."

Wimmer is enthused about possibly defending RCR's owner title, but he's most enthralled with his veteran teammate, who won five times last season.

"To be teamed up with Jeff Burton and to be running with him again is huge," Wimmer said. "Last year was the first time I've had a teammate, in the six or seven years I've been in NASCAR, so it was a big help for me and hopefully I can learn a lot more from him this year and maybe move into a full-time deal in '09.

"It's a really exciting year for us [but] it's going to be a tough one because there's a lot of great teams out there. David [Reutimann] is coming back and running a full season, along with [2007 champion] Carl Edwards and Clint Bowyer [plus David Ragan].

"There are a lot of great race teams, so it's going to be tough to repeat that [owners' championship], but hopefully me and Jeff can get started out here at Daytona well and finish strong all year long."

ESPN's TV gang on the prowl

Rusty Wallace was only one member of ESPN's 2007 TV crew that participated in the network's return to live NASCAR broadcasting last season who was at Daytona for Nationwide Preseason Thunder.

Wallace, who owns a two-car team in the series, was partly on hand for two days for that purpose, but he also said he was scouring the garage doing research for his work with the network that will again broadcast the entire Nationwide schedule.

"Right now, I can't talk about what we'll be doing," Wallace said. "But I'm also down here for ESPN, going around observing and getting used to all the new faces and names. [Allen] Bestwick was here [Sunday] afternoon and I think [Dale Jarrett] was walking around [Sunday] afternoon."

ESPN spokesman Andy Hall confirmed that Bestwick and Jarrett, who were used in a variety of roles by the network last season, were at the track as were pit reporters Dave Burns, Shannon Spake and Mike Massaro; and that Hall thought Brad Daugherty would be down, as well.

Wallace said the crew was aware of fans' criticisms of certain aspects of the broadcasts.

"Right now we're just trying to make everything better for the whole entire team," Wallace said. "We've listened to what the fans have said and we're trying to make the pit studio real strong and we're just trying to do the best we can.

"All I can tell you is we sit and listened to what everybody said, and with all the talent that we've got, moving people around and adjusting and trying to get to be the best we possibly can [be]. ... It's all good, I know that."

Pearson back, with Barrett

Veteran Busch Series crew chief and former two-time champion chief mechanic Ricky Pearson confirmed at Nationwide Preseason Thunder that he would be involved in both that series and a limited number of Sprint Cup races with team owner/driver Stanton Barrett.

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Pearson was with Barrett for both sessions in which he participated, the second Sprint Cup test and the first Nationwide session. Pearson's schedule was freed up when owner John McGill opted to put his No. 36 team in mothballs for the season while he searched for sponsorship to return to the series in 2009.

"He's got a tentative schedule of 17 [Nationwide races], or maybe even more than that," Pearson said. "And then he's going to attempt as many as four, beginning with the Daytona 500, on the Cup side.

"I'm pretty excited because I've worked with Stanton before, in the past when he drove our car at McGill's for two-thirds of a season [in 2005], where it was a lot of success for us, with the amount of sponsorship we had to spend."

Pearson said the full-time Hollywood stuntman, who has a passion for racing, might open some eyes this season.

"I think he's got a lot of talent and he's in his prime right now," Pearson said. "I watch him all the time when he runs and I think he's turned into a real competitive driver, and I think we can run in the top 10."

Leffler likes teamwork

David Reutimann and Jason Leffler were the only two drivers who last year fielded Toyota Camrys full time in the Busch Series, and they finished second and third, respectively, in the standings.

So they're enthused to be joined by several other full-time Toyotas in the inaugural Nationwide Series season, particularly two cars from Joe Gibbs Racing and another from Germain Racing.

"The fact that we have more Toyotas in the field is definitely going to help," Leffler said. "Getting Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing together is a win-win for everybody -- it's certainly good for Toyota, and certainly good for JGR [and] any information that trickles down through TRD [Toyota Racing Development] will help everybody.

"It will also help from a morale standpoint. We're looking forward to this season, especially having Nationwide come on board. I think everybody is pretty pumped up about that."

Gale fast again

Cale Gale, a former Alabama Late Model racer who once stepped up and built shocks for his owner Kevin Harvick's Busch Series teammate Scott Wimmer at Memphis last season, once again was fastest in Daytona's morning session, on the final day of Preseason Thunder. Gale was quickest Monday morning, but that session was ruled a "drafting practice" because team's were allowed to run in packs; but on Tuesday morning Gale set the five-day test's second-best single-car lap, 50.023 seconds, an average speed of 179.917 mph, in his No. 77 Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet. (speeds)

In the afternoon, when only six cars remained at the track to keep running, David Stremme had the fastest lap in his No. 64 Rusty Wallace Inc. Chevrolet. Two teams, those of Kertus Davis and Brian Vickers, ran for the first time on Tuesday, making a total of 40 Nationwide teams that tested.

Miller sets up for Kahne

For being a development driver who will handle a part-time Nationwide schedule in 2008 -- splitting time with Gillett Evernham Motorsports Sprint Cup teammates Kasey Kahne, Elliott Sadler and Patrick Carpentier -- Georgian Chase Miller sounded like a confident veteran after he finished three days of set-up work for the No. 9 Dodge that Kahne will race during Speedweeks 2008.

After posting the 15th-fastest time among 45 cars during his first single-car session Sunday, Miller took his Charger steadily through the speed charts in both single-car runs and drafting sessions. He improved to 10th during his first-day drafting practice and was ranked in the top three in the ensuing three sessions, including the second-fastest time Tuesday morning with a lap of 49.864 seconds, an average speed of 180.491 mph.

"We're good," Miller said." I wish I was racing in this one. Kasey's going to be in the car at Daytona and we've got a good car for him. I think he'll contend for the win."

Miller ran in six events last year for GEM and impressed with an outside pole at Kentucky Speedway in only his second race.

A character builder

Michael Waltrip Racing teammates Michael McDowell and David Reutimann agreed during the second session of Preseason Thunder that Daytona's surface was certainly interesting.

McDowell said his season plans with MWR would be announced Wednesday evening on the Sprint Media Tour presented by Lowe's Motor Speedway; while Reutimann will race full time in both Sprint Cup and the Nationwide Series.

"This place is so much different than Talladega because of the bumps," McDowell said of Daytona. "The car really has to be working good here. I don't have a whole lot of experience here -- just one race in the ARCA car [so] I'm just running out there trying to get comfortable, just trying to figure out what the car wants and get comfortable in the draft."

As far as the difference in the two cars he'll race, Reutimann said Daytona really pointed it out.

"Here, they drive a little bit different," Reutimann said. "In the Cup car, you're down on the bump stops for the most part, so the ride is not exactly what you call smooth -- but Daytona is not a really smooth place -- it's got character [and] that's what makes it Daytona.

"It's not that much of an adjustment here as it will be at some other places."