Notes: Merger not official, but drivers act accordingly

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The merger of Richard Petty Motorsports and Yates Racing still hasn't been officially announced. But with two of its drivers, Paul Menard and A.J. Allmendinger, meeting media and fans during the weekend at the Preseason Thunder Daytona Fan Fest at Daytona International Speedway, things got more clear.

"Lots of changes [but] it's been good," said Menard, who last season drove for Yates. "I thought it would be more of a struggle than it was with the transition. Yates was based in Concord [N.C.], where RPM ultimately is going to be based. Right now we have to re-do the shop, so we're out of Statesville [N.C., RPM's location].

"Everything is a recipe for things not getting done, but things are getting done. I was at the shop for about five hours [Friday] and just amazed at how well everybody is mixing together, the Yates people and the RPM people combining. From what I can see, there's no egos getting involved and everybody is working hard with the goal of getting cars ready for Daytona and Fontana and Atlanta and Vegas and start out the season right."

Menard already has started working with his new crew chief, Slugger Labbe, who came from TRG Motorsports after last season. And Menard also will run the full Nationwide Series schedule, in a No. 98 Roush Fenway Racing Ford. There he'll work with crew chief Matt Puccia, with whom he did 16 races in 2009.

"Last year it opened my eyes [how] racing on Saturday is going to help you on Sunday, driving and understanding what the tires are doing, what the tracks are going to do -- just general racing stuff," Menard said. "So this year we put together a deal to run the whole year. Roush Fenway has got fast cars and I get to keep pretty much the core group of guys that we had part time last year."

Allmendinger, who last year drove RPM's No. 44 Dodge but this year steps into the legendary No. 43, which will carry Ford's blue oval for the first time since Richard Petty used Fords in 1969, also is enthused.

"I'd be lying if I said we were ahead of schedule [but] definitely everybody is working hard in the shop, my Daytona cars are about done and they're working on the process of getting the next group of cars in.

"I think as hard as they're working, I haven't seen that much excitement from the guys in a long time. I think that's the coolest thing is the fact that everybody knows the opportunity we have, being a part of Ford and working with Roush Fenway, having that relationship and trying to use the knowledge."

Allmendinger said the group was scheduled to test at New Smyrna Speedway, just down the road from Daytona in Samsula, Fla., on Monday.

Harvick looking to have fun

Kevin Harvick, the 2007 Daytona 500 winner who hasn't won in three seasons and is about to enter the final year of his current contract with Richard Childress Racing, refused to be drawn into any discussions about that subject. Harvick said he had only two goals for 2010.

"I'm not getting in the middle of [contract discussions] -- there's enough people that can handle all that stuff," Harvick said. "When it all boils down to it, it's all about winning races and that's all I care about. We're going to come into the season and we're going to race a lot this year, and we're going to have fun.

"That's my main goal for the year is to have fun. How it all plays out, I couldn't tell you. It's just up to all the -- I'm not going to get into all of that right now. We haven't even got on the track. And we're going to come to Daytona and race, and we're going to have a good time this year."

Harvick also plans to race his own vehicles in the Nationwide and Camping World Truck series.

Speed diversifies, and talks Danica

Former Formula 1 driver Scott Speed seemed disgruntled to not have any definite opportunities to race anything besides his No. 82 Sprint Cup Toyota for Red Bull Racing Team, but he was enthusiastic about having a full year of experience in stock cars -- and being more familiar with the NASCAR culture, even if he wasn't totally comfortable with it.

Asked what he'd done in the offseason Speed, who according to Clint Bowyer had been very quiet in the "green room" where the drivers waited for their various media opportunities and discussed a variety of hunting trips, said "I didn't go hunting, I'll tell you that. That's not normal."

Speed did expand on what another open-wheel veteran, Danica Patrick, can expect when she makes her stock-car debut in the Speedweeks 2010 ARCA opener at Daytona.

"She'll have the same exact [awakening] that Dario Franchitti got and I'm getting," Speed said with his typical chuckle. "I want to compare everything to Dario because he's the champion of that [IndyCar] series that she's racing in, and what he's experienced coming over is probably going to be very similar -- minus all of the media attention that's going to come with her that doesn't come with most people."

Reutimann looking to get dirty

David Reutimann, despite living relatively close to East Bay Raceway, a popular west Florida dirt oval located in Gibsonton, said his dirt car forays wouldn't be many this season. But that doesn't mean he won't be involved, as Reutimann is heavily involved in fielding dirt modified cars for his dad, dirt short-track legend Buzzie Reutimann.

"The dirt program is really good right now, other than the fact that we don't have any sponsorship for it and I'm paying the bills for everything," Reutimann said, smiling. "That's not looking so good. We've got the new car done and [Buzzie's] going to start like the 24th or 25th of this year at East Bay Raceway.

"So all that stuff is coming together, though I won't get to drive any of it. I just will get the obligation to pay for it and fix it when it's tore up and pay for the tires and the fuel and entry fees and all that other stuff that I guess Rick Hendrick has to worry about, too."

Reutimann did say he'd enjoy the chance to race at Ocala Speedway, a north central Florida dirt short track at which he'd previously enjoyed some success, but wasn't sure when.

"I'm finding out that team ownership is not exactly for me, but as long as the old man wants to keep racing, we'll keep at it."

Bowyer's happy and sad, at once

Clint Bowyer missed the Chase as a rookie in 2006, but then finished in the top five in the points the next two seasons. So despite having a new team at Richard Childress Racing last season when RCR went to four teams, to say Bowyer is pleased to contract back to three cars this season is an understatement.

"You know, I truly am excited [because] face it, when we put all three cars in the Chase -- when we put all of our cars in the Chase -- there was three of them," Bowyer said of those two years, when he, Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick all made the Chase. "I like my teammates, I like Jeff and Kevin and I think we work well together. Casey [Mears] was a great teammate -- you couldn't ask for a better guy to race alongside.

"Very unfortunate [lack of sponsorship forced RCR to drop the team]. I hate that for him. But selfishly, just looking at our program, we ran our best when we had three cars. I don't know why. I don't know the answer to that. But we did.

"The people that we hired for that fourth team were basically my guys, so I was basically the fourth team. [Mears] fell into my own 07 crew and we had the new team. So you can't say that it was poor people that we hired for that fourth team is why it didn't work.

"I just think that circumstances were not good right then, and our program, our direction of our program wasn't good. You know, for whatever reason, whether it was management or whatever else, I just have a good, strong feeling that three cars are going to be better for our organization."

Related:
• Tweets from Fan Fest