Carl Edwards gets a new crew chief, AJ Allmendinger gets a new drug test date...and Chad Norris quips are rampant

Crew chief Bob Osborne (L) and Carl Edwards

   By Mike Mulhern
   mikemulhern.net


   It's not much of an 'off-week' for NASCAR racers:
    -- AJ Allmendinger says he was to have another drug test next week Tuesday July 24th, and it's unclear if results could be released in time for team owner Roger Penske to make a call about his driving in the Brickyard 400.
    -- Carl Edwards, who hasn't won on the tour in nearly a year and a half, and who is on the verge on not making this season's playoffs, is getting a new crew chief. Chad Norris is taking over for veteran Bob Osborne.
    -- Richard Childress is losing long-time business partner/investment firm Chartwell, and that means a significant, though minority, share of Childress' racing empire is now up for sale.
   
   Allmendinger's 'B' sample test by NASCAR's drug tester Aegis has been expected. His A sample was positive, NASCAR said, for some still unnamed banned substance; the sample was taken at Kentucky Speedway three weeks ago
   Team owner Roger Penske says Allmendinger will be back in the Shell-sponsored Dodge for the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis next week, if the second test clears him. It is unclear who would be in the car at Indy if Allmendinger is not cleared. Allmendinger insists he did not knowingly take any banned substances; he says the test proved positive for some unnamed 'stimulant,' and there has been speculation it could have come from some dietary supplement, which many drivers routinely take.

  AJ Allmendinger (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)

   However the Edwards-Osborne split was not expected. The two have been teammates, and highly successful teammates, for years. Last season in fact Osborne and Edwards had by far the best average finishing record for the entire season, though losing the championship on a victory tie-breaker to late charging Tony Stewart.
   Edwards, before signing a new contract with Jack Roush last summer, toyed with moving to the Joe Gibbs team.
   This season Edwards and Osborne have performed fitfully, well at time Daytona two weeks ago was their first top-10 since May.
   The two most visible issues: Edwards is not leading laps (only two of the year's 19 races) and is not qualifying well.
   In contrast Edwards' two teammates, Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle have shared the lead in the Sprint Cup point standings in 18 of the year's 19 events....while Edwards has been mired deep in the standings all year.
 
   Osborne will remain with the Roush organization. During his nine years with Edwards, the team finished second in the championship race twice and won 18 tour events.
    "At this time in my life concerns with my health have necessitated I change my role within the organization," Osborne says.
   "This transition is not an easy one, but I'm thankful to have the full support of Jack, Carl and the entire organization.
    "I also have every confidence in Chad Norris, and I look forward to working with him as we continue to pursue a championship in 2012.
     "I also appreciate the privacy and respect that the community will give me and my family during this difficult time."

   New crew chief Chad Norris (L), here with Rick Stenhouse (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)

   Despite their problems this season, there was no indication of such a dramatic change coming. The two have been like brothers during their time together, and the one time Roush decided to split the two, a few years back, the split didn't work well at all.

   Edwards calls Osborne "one of the smartest guys in the sport.
   "I cannot say enough good things about Bob Osborne.
    "I'm so thankful for what he's done for me as a driver."
    Now the job is Norris', and he's got seven races -- Indianapolis, Pocono, Watkins Glen, Michigan, Bristol, Atlanta, and Richmond -- to get the team into the chase.
     "We've got our work cut out for us over the next seven races," Edwards says. "And I've got every confidence Chad can lead our team to where we need to be."

   Norris, a Roush veteran for more than seven years, has been working this season with Ricky Stenhouse in his few Cup rides and with Trevor Bayne in his few Nationwide rides.
   Roush himself insists he's still hopeful of Edwards making another run at the title. "And this restructuring of Bob's role and the introduction of Chad Norris as the crew chief will put us in the best possible position for these final seven races before the chase."

  Jack Roush (R) and Carl Edwards (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)

   Car owner Roger Penske, on the other hand, is still up in the air on his next moves in the Allmendinger controversy.
   Tara Ragan, who runs Allmendinger's personal company, said Tuesday his next drug test would be in Nashville at the Aegis Analytical Laboratories at 9 a.m. ET.
    "Pursuant to the 2012 NASCAR Rulebook and in line with the procedures, we have elected to have a designated independent toxicologist present on AJ's behalf, she said. 
    "Along with everyone else, we are looking forward to hearing the results as quickly as possible.
    "AJ and all of us have truly appreciated the outpouring of support from our fans, partners, and colleagues. It has meant a lot to us during this difficult time.
     "We are also grateful to Mr. Penske and his management team for their patience and respect of the process we are going through."

   In a side note, Penske announced that Dave Blaney's son, Ryan Blaney, 18, has been signed to run several Nationwide races, beginning with the Iowa race Aug. 4th.
   Ryan's seventh at Richmond earlier this year was promising.
 

  Dave Blaney (L) and son Ryan (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)

   THE NASCAR NOTEBOOK

   Is new crew chief Chad Norris related to martial arts legend Chuck Norris?
   Consider the quips flying around, following Chad Norris' promotion to crew chief for Carl Edwards' Sprint Cup team:

   Chad Norris once ran a lap at Michigan International Speedway of over 210 mph. Then, he attempted it in a race car.

   Chad Norris once changed all 4 tires, added 2 cans of fuel, ate a sandwich, bag of chips, and drank a Pepsi in 13 seconds.

   Chad Norris counted to infinity - twice.

   Chad Norris does not sleep. He waits

   Chad Norris and Chad Knaus combine to form Chad Knorris - a crew chief who will bend the rules, but break your face.

   Chad Norris once overturned a John Middlebrook ruling.

   Safer barriers at race tracks aren't there to protect the drivers, they are there to protect the walls from Chad Norris.

   Chad Norris ground down the banking at Bristol with his teeth.

   Chad Norris quiets Darrell Waltrip.

   Chad Norris is the only person who can remember every one of Carl Edwards' sponsors.

    On Nov. 30 at the NASCAR banquet Chad Norris will announce that he has single-handedly stopped the Mayan Apocalypse.

    Chad Norris makes the Honey Badger pee himself in fear.

    Chad Norris will wear a tank-top on the pit box at Indy with no fear of a sunburn - That would be foolish of the sun to do

   Chad Norris makes tires by grabbing rubber out of the groove and smashing it together

    Chad Norris makes Kurt Busch want to kick the s*** out of himself.

    Chad Norris is Chuck Norris's bodyguard.

    If at first you don't succeed, you're not Chad Norris

    Chad Norris once lifted the 99 hauler with one hand to retrieve Jack Roush's hat.

    Jimmy Hoffa is buried in Chad Norris' back yard.

    Chad Norris will use Nationwide's vanishing deductible to make Danica disappear

    Chad Norris doesn't mow his lawn. He just stands there and dares the grass to grow.

    Unlike Carl Edwards, Chad Norris doesn't need to back-flip. He simply hops in the air and the universe revolves around him.

    Chad Norris once went up Niagara Falls. Without a barrel.

    Chad Norris puts the five lugnuts in his mouth, spits them onto the tires and they tighten themselves.

    NASCAR once contemplated replacing the catch-fence at Talladega with Chad Norris.

    Chad Norris is the only person in the garage Kevin Harvick is afraid to fire.

   Once Chad Norris made an engine swap....with his bare hands.

   Chad Norris taught Amanda Beard how to swim.

   Chad Norris doesn't need a wind tunnel. He can see air.

   There is no known discipline in the universe that will refrain Chad Norris from beating the s*** out of you

   Chad Norris is the only person in the garage Kurt Busch has never called "#$%&*.

   Jell-O doesn't jiggle. It shakes out of fear from Chad Norris.

   Chad Norris was not born. He was racing the placenta off of pit road.

   Chad Norris doesn't coil-bind springs. Springs collapse out of fear of Chad Norris.

   Chad Norris doesn't need a radio on the pit box, he reads the minds of drivers, all of them.

    Chad Norris creates his own wind tunnel, merely by exhaling.

   When Chad Norris takes a big swing at a car during a pit stop, the car always ducks in fear.

   Chad Norris goes two rounds down on the track bar with his mind. Chad Norris can fuel a race car with both dump cans at once.



  Chuck Norris' bodyguard (Photo: Autostock)