Christmas list for NASCAR teams
Many of the NASCAR's Sprint Cup drivers turned in their Christmas Wish List to Santa, in hopes of getting that one missing gift needed for success during the upcoming 2008 season.
Here's a look at some of the items on those lists.
Jimmie Johnson: An extended shelf for the championship trophy won in 2007, as well as those certain to come in the future, and that lifetime contract that team owner Rick Hendrick keeps talking about.
Jeff Gordon: The 78 points he lost to Johnson at season's end that kept him from overtaking his protégé for his fifth-career championship.
Clint Bowyer: More victory lane celebrations, as seen at New Hampshire last September. His RCR Enterprises team would also love to collect the 2008 Sprint Cup title.
Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart: Magical Toyota Camrys that perform flawlessly in their first Sprint Cup season at Joe Gibbs Racing.
Matt Kenseth: A crew chief that can give him as much success as Robbie Reiser, who is now general manager at Roush-Fenway Racing.
Carl Edwards: A championship run better than fifth, more victories and a COT race car chassis from which to practice his back flips.
Jamie McMurray: Consistency enough to find victory lane on the short tracks, intermediate tracks and superspeedways.
Casey Mears: The ability to win with the blue and yellow colors and the No. 5 that Kyle Busch used to win with Hendrick Motorsports in 2007.
David Ragan: More top-five finishes, such as the third-place finish he enjoyed at Richmond last September, as well as that first win under the direction of crew chief Jimmy Fennig. And a trash can for his yellow rookie stripe of 2007.
Rookie Aric Almirola and veteran Mark Martin: To continue the winning tradition of the No.8 Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolets.
Kasey Kahne: The tremendous fan following and seas of red T-shirts that Dale Earnhardt Jr. enjoyed when he had the Budweiser sponsorship.
Ryan Newman: To find victory lane again in 2008 after a long winless drought.
Travis Kvapil: To return Yates Racing to winning form in the No. 28 Ford, as did the late Davey Allison from 1987 to 1993.
Jeff Burton: To find enough consistency to challenge in the top-three in championship points all season in his RCR Chevys, as well as victories for his beloved Duke basketball team.
Richard Childress: All three of his Sprint Cup teams battling in the top-three for the Sprint Cup championship come November, as well as record sales at the winery.
Bobby Labonte and Kyle Petty: To begin a winning tradition out of their new shops in Mooresville, as has been enjoyed on the hallowed grounds of Petty Enterprise in Level Cross.
Michael Waltrip: No worries about qualifying in 2008, unlike what occurred during the majority of the schedule in 2007.
Sam Hornish: The confidence to race the heavier stock cars and create a career just as successful as what he's enjoyed in the open wheel Indy Car Series.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Immediate success with Hendrick Motorsports, beginning with the Daytona 500 on Feb. 17, as well as the victories that have been missing in recent years.
For all race fans who read this column: A very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Ben White is the motorsports columnist for The Dispatch.
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