Submitted from Freshrubber.com

Dale Earnhardt Inc. has reached a verbal agreement with Regan Smith to drive the No. 01 in the Nextel Cup series next season, a NASCAR source told ESPN.com on Wednesday. Smith will fill the car driven this season by Mark Martin and Aric Almirola, who will split the 2008 season in the No. 8 currently being driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr.

He will have a one-year deal with an option for a second year.

An official announcement of the entire DEI lineup with sponsor plans is expected next weekend at Richmond International Raceway. Smith, splitting time with Martin, drove the No. 01 in six Cup races this season for Ginn Racing before its merger with DEI. His best start was 10th at Watkins Glenn and best finish was 24th at Talladega.

Submitted from NASCAR Eclectic

It all started a few months ago when a filling in my #14 molar fell out. My stubbornness and dislike of dental work kept me from doing the right thing. Soon I developed the occasional night time toothache, which would go away. Then on this past Monday morning it hit hard and stayed basically knocking my 6′ 1″ 180 lb. frame to my knees. Yesterday a dentist discovered a massive infection and today I am on a regimen of Penicillin and pain killers. I’m sitting here now with a throb that brings tears to my eyes, but it has moved to the more localized area, while before it was the whole left side of my jaw. It’s been the worst pain I’ve ever felt… I’ve put a nail into my hand with a nail gun… put on a band-aid and kept working… sliced myself with utility knives, saw blades and splinters are a daily occurrence. I’ve dislocated shoulders, broken ribs, and suffered back injuries from my days as a competiton water skier and downhill racing and nothing compares what this one little tooth has done.

Moral of the story… go to the damn dentist bucko!!

In NASCAR… I was in the dark about the Gene Haas investigation, so the recent guilty plea and probable 2 year stint came by surprise. It wasn’t long ago I wrote a post about him and his innovative robotic business as well as the state of the art 40 mil wind tunnel he had plans to build… almost the amount he has been charged with. Well, 24 months is short… he’ll be back in time for the opening of the new NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte in 2110.

Submitted from NASCAR Ranting and Raving Blog

Jacques Villeneuve has finally gotten his feet wet in NASCAR after completing his 2 day test in a BDR truck at Chicagoland Speedway with still unemployed Slugger Labbe as his acting crew chief.

Jacques tried to get into NASCAR with Jack Roush earlier this year, but no deal was struck and now he is trying to get a foot hold in NASCAR with the ailing BDR race team. Plans have him running the last 6 Truck races of the season with a ‘possible’ foray into Cup for a as of yet to be determined date. Could we see him in that green coloured car currently driven by the soon to be unemployed Jeremy Mayfield? Maybe baby.

“I needed to do something in racing that was at an extremely high level, which NASCAR is, but something different,” said Villeneuve.

“I didn’t look at IRL (or Champ Car); I only concentrated on NASCAR. After Formula 1, when you want to carry on racing, you want it to be at a top level. And in North America, the top level is NASCAR. And I was missing the ovals also, so it sounded like a great challenge.”

We’ll see if he is up to the challenge. A lot has been said in the past about his lack of commitment to his team, so we’ll just have to wait and see if those rumours are just that, rumours, or in fact truth. I would imagine that with the race schedule that NASCAR drivers and their teams face day in and day out we will find out early in the season next year if Jacques has what it takes or not. I hope he does, as I just might end up cheering for someone on a more regular basis.

I hope really does make it, if for no other reason then to tick off the Kansas City Star!

Photo Credit: tsn.ca