Pressure is on in '08 for teams like DEI, Evernham

Editor's note: The following is Part II in a series examining the need to step up in 2008. Today, we focus in on teams, manufacturers, groups and other NASCAR entities. Part I featured individual drivers.

Dale Earnhardt Inc.: Sometimes, they say, divorce is good for both parties. Such could be the case for DEI without Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2008. No doubt, the organization is in a period of transition and will face a certain amount of backlash from fans now that the favorite son has left.

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The signature car at DEI will have a significantly different look this coming season. The 8 in '08 will feature two drivers -- Mark Martin and Aric Almirola -- and U.S. Army replaces Budweiser as the primary sponsor. But it's mechanical, not cosmetic, issues that are of a much greater concern to DEI brass.

DEI had 10 DNFs because of blown motors in '07, six of which were as personally frustrating to Junior as Teresa Earnhardt herself. It all became too much, especially when he realized he wasn't going to get control of the organization.

However, Martin Truex Jr. managed to make the Chase despite three of his four DNFs being attributed to engine failure. Paul Menard had only two DNFs in the 30 starts he made. So all is not lost ... yet. And that is the challenge that lay ahead for DEI.

Joe Gibbs Racing: From the "been down that road before" department, this isn't the first time JGR has changed manufacturers. Gibbs has bounced from Chevrolet to Pontiac and back again in its 16-year history. JGR has won driver's championships with both -- two with Pontiac and one most recently with Chevy.

But the switch to Toyota will be a greater undertaking. Toyota struggled mightily, as expected, in its NASCAR debut. Gibbs is expected to bring it the credibility and success it lacked in 2007.

Can JGR be for Toyota what Hendrick Motorsports is, in essence, for Chevrolet? It had the best COT operation of any team outside the HMS stable in '07. That's definitely a plus heading into '08. It also has three of the best drivers currently in NASCAR, which brings forth another question. Can Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch coexist on the same team?

Drivers with similar, aggressive racing styles tend to find one another on the track. Stewart and Busch have had skirmishes before. Chances are good they will bump fenders again. But will they butt heads?

Roush Fenway Racing: Three seasons ago it was Jack Roush's racing team being touted as the dominant force in NASCAR. He had the only five-car organization, and in 2005 all five of his cars made the Chase.

It's been a precipitous drop since. Two of those drivers -- Kurt Busch and Mark Martin -- have left the organization in the past two years, replaced respectively by Jamie McMurray and David Ragan. NASCAR grandfathered in a clause that will limit a team's number of cars to four. Roush cried foul.

Then NASCAR debuted the Car of Tomorrow before Roush was ready. Again the owner cried foul. He also complained about the deep pockets Toyota would bring to the game. So in order to make things fair, at least in his mind, he went out and brought in Boston Red Sox owner John Henry of the Fenway Sports Group as a partner.

Roush Fenway won seven races in '07, second only to Hendrick Motorsports. But it wasn't so much the wins but the consistency that has proved lacking. Roush has had just four cars make the Chase the past two years. The good news is Carl Edwards made the Chase in '07 and won twice in the COT. If the rest of the organization can approach the 99's success in the new car, then Roush Fenway will be back on its game in '08.

Ray Evernham: The man behind Jeff Gordon's Rainbow Warriors is back doing what he does best. It's been 10 years since Evernham won the third of three Cup championships as Gordon's crew chief. And though the Evernham Motorsports boss hasn't been a hands-off owner, he noted a need to get more involved with the competition side of his race team.

The re-organization into Gillett Evernham Motorsports signaled a full-time return to the garage for Evernham, right as his drivers need him most. Including Scott Riggs, the three-car team posted one top-five and just 11 top-10s in '07. For the first time in the four years of the Chase, Evernham failed to put a car in NASCAR's playoffs.

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David Stremme

Out in the cold

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Open-wheeler Patrick Carpentier replaces Riggs, but it's Evernham's other two drivers which need a makeover. After leading the series with six victories in '06, Kasey Kahne fell flat in '07, dropping from eighth in points the previous year to 19th. His top-fives dropped from 12 to one, and his top-10s went from 19 to eight. And he still was the best of the bunch.

Remember Elliott Sadler? Here's a guy who made the Chase its first year in 2004. He had two wins, eight top-fives and 14 top-10s in Robert Yates' 38 Ford. In the three years since, split between the 38 and Evernham's 19 Dodge, Sadler has but two top-fives and 21 top-10s. He's had no top-fives and just four top-10s in 50 starts in the 19. Yep, Evernham has his work cut out for him.

Toyota: The manufacturer's first year in the Cup Series went pretty much as everyone had anticipated, probably even the folks at Toyota (though they would never admit it). Without points in which to fall back, its cars had trouble making races even if their qualifying times would otherwise warrant it.

None of Toyota's seven full-time drivers in '07 qualified for all 36 races. Dave Blaney came close with 33. Blaney had the manufacturer's best finish, a third-place run in the COT race at Talladega. Brian Vickers led Toyota with five top-10s in just 23 starts.

It hasn't taken long for Toyota to become the top manufacturer in the Craftsman Truck Series. It made its debut in 2004 and has won the past two manufacturer championships. It's a much more daunting task, however, for similar success to be reached in the Cup Series.

Joe Gibbs Racing joins the manufacturer in '08 and immediately becomes its flagship organization. Blaney's was the only Toyota to finish in the top 35 in owner points. The real test for the rest will again come in qualifying. If Toyota is to improve, it has to have cars make races.

Car of Tomorrow: NASCAR made it through its first year with the highly anticipated -- in its view, anyway -- new chassis and if 16 races has proven anything it is that the COT hasn't proven anything.

Drivers complained of the handling, the turning, the slower speeds and lack of passing. Crew chiefs were hand-tied -- or suspended. Boring races became the norm for the COT, which ran mostly on tracks of one mile or less in length.

In 2008 it's nothing but the COT. Short tracks, intermediates and superspeedways. Teams still don't know what to expect ... completely. It will be interesting right out of the gate when the COT tackles Daytona for the first time. Then again, it could be uninteresting.

It may take a full year's worth of races to tinker with the COT, to get it right and keep the races exciting. This car has to be right, 'cause it's all NASCAR's got now.

Open-wheelers: They basically have been given a free pass due to their success in other racing leagues. NASCAR has welcomed their vast degrees of origin and originality with open arms. Now they must prove they belong.

Juan Montoya paved the open road with his rookie-of-the-year performance in '07, and much like the Colombian, three '08 Cup rookies have open-wheel championships to their credit -- and a combined total of four starts in NASCAR's top series. Jacques Villeneuve, Sam Hornish Jr. and Dario Franchitti have a lot to learn.

Montoya often ruffled feathers with his inexperience last year; now imagine a handful of stock-car novices together on an already crowded grid. Countrymen, lend me your ears ... they have to be burning.

Other drivers, who have come up through more traditional NASCAR ranks, are looking for rides. Much like the COT, Toyota and other recent changes in NASCAR, the open-wheelers are going to have to win over the fans. The best way to do that is to win races -- or at least not muck them up.

50th Daytona 500: There's just something about the number 50 when it comes to anniversaries. NASCAR ended 2007 with celebrations, first at Homestead and then in New York. It will begin 2008 with another one in Daytona. Much will be made of the 50th running of the Great American Race.

Now all it has to do is live up to the expectations. Too bad 49 isn't as magical a number. Last year's race was one of the best ever at Daytona, February or July. As for a repeat performance, that will be tough.

Perhaps this is not the year to debut the COT at Daytona. Speedweeks should give the drivers some idea of what to expect come that opening Sunday of the '08 season, but the new car hasn't exactly been a recipe for excitement. The last thing NASCAR needs is a 50th Daytona snoozer.

Then there's the buildup to such an event. As often is the case, the event falls short of lofty expectations. NASCAR will try to drum up as much excitement as it can, as if any Daytona 500 isn't enough of a selling point. But put a 50 in front of it, and it becomes so much more.

The opinions expressed are those solely of the writer