CUP: Road Course Ringers Ready

Sprint Cup

CUP: Road Course Ringers Ready

This week’s race at Infineon will focus the spotlight on new drivers that have made their careers road racing...

Tom Jensen | Posted June 18, 2008 Sonoma, Calif.

Fans watch the action at Infineon Raceway on June 24, 2007 in Sonoma, California. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images for NASCAR)

This week’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. will focus the spotlight on a host of new drivers and ones who normally don’t get much media attention: road-course specialists, guys who have made their careers road racing in other series.

And they are lined up for their big shot this weekend.

One of the favorites on Sunday will be Ron Fellows, who has won NASCAR Nationwide and Craftsman Truck Series road-course races already and come close in Cup before. This weekend, Fellows will be wheeling the No. 01 Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolet Impala SS normally driven by Regan Smith.

Fellows, who last year was behind the wheel for Hall of Fame Racing in this event, feels like he can get it done this year with DEI, a team he’s driven for in the past. “I want to win a Cup race before I'm done,” said Fellows, who has a best Cup finish here of seventh. “We've had some good opportunities and the best opportunities I've had to win have been with DEI. There are some people at DEI who were there when we had a pretty dominant car in 2003-2004. The stars were not aligned, and that's exactly what it takes. You can have a fast car and a great crew, but the stars have got to be aligned.”

Max Papis, who has spearheaded the development of the road-course version of NASCAR’s new-generation race car for Hendrick Motorsports, will pilot a Haas-CNC Racing Chevy this weekend at Infineon. He, too, is stoked about his chances. “If what I learned in all of the days of testing with Hendrick translates to the race, it will make me a better test driver when I go back because I will have a clear idea of what the car needs in the race,” said Papis. “The Haas team is part of the Hendrick family, it's almost like having a live test session.”

Page 1 of 2

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tom Jensen

MORE BY THIS AUTHOR

AUTOS: Score One For Cadillac
Cadillac has truly knocked it out of the ballpark with the stunning…
CUP: Dover Power Rankings
Despite a rare and costly mistake, Jimmie Johnson holds onto the…
CUP: Dover Sunday Notebook (Update 10)
Tony Stewart wins at Dover International Speedway...