As we approach the final stretch run of the 2010 Nationwide Series schedule, expect there to be more driver shuffling within Roush Fenway Racing’s NNS program. We’re hearing that both Matt Kenseth and Erik Darnell will get starts in the team’s #16 Fords in the upcoming races. Kenseth ran two NNS races for this team early in the season, and Darnell hasn’t made any starts in 2010.
We’ve talked quite a bit about the RFR Nationwide teams this season (here and here), because of the team’s commitment to developing drivers and because of the team’s turmoil. What were supposed to be full seasons for both Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Colin Braun, have since turned into partial seasons. A rash of bad luck, torn up equipment, and opportunities to run other drivers were the reasons why. We’ve seen no less then five drivers make starts in the #6 and #16 (Stenhouse, Braun, Kenseth, Brian Ickler, and Billy Johnson), and Darnell will make it six.
If you’ll remember, Erik Darnell has been with the Roush organization since the 2004 season. He was the winner of Roush’s famous “Gong Show” in 2005, which was televised that year and put on the Discovery Channel as “Driver X.” Darnell then ran full seasons in the Truck Series for Roush from 2006 to 2008. For the 2009 season he moved up to the Nationwide Series and split the #6 ride with driver David Ragan. In 16 starts he earned two top five and five top ten finishes and had one pole. He was also given the opportunity to run seven Cup Series races for Yates/Hall of Fame Racing in the #96 in place of Bobby Labonte, getting a best finish of 29th at Kansas. A lack of sponsorship dollars has forced him to sit out much of the 2010 season.
Going forward, many questions still plague the RFR Nationwide program for the 2011 season. We’ve heard that as of right now, the team may only run two cars next season, with Carl Edwards comitting to another full schedule. The team will suffer with the loss of Paul Menard and his money to RCR/KHI for next season, and the struggles for both Braun and Stenhouse will probably mean the second car may be driven by a round robin of Cup and development drivers.
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The struggles for the Ford teams have been well documented this season. There is even a tidbit on Jayski’s Cup Series page right now about how this is Ford’s longest winless drought to start a season since 1983. And those struggles haven’t just been on the Cup side. Roush Fenway’s Nationwide Series program hasn’t been as strong this season as they’ve been in past years. Carl Edwards has led the way, but for a time, two of the other RFR teams were outside the top 30 in points. The #16 team has since raced their way back in, but the #6 team remains 102 points out of a guaranteed starting spot. The one Ford team that did have a moderate amount of success over the first part of the season, especially with limited resources, was Baker Curb Racing’s #27 team with Greg Biffle.
After Eddie Pardue was dismissed as crew chief of RFR’s #16 a few weeks back, Ben Leslie took over as the interim boss. It was announced this week however, that starting at Road America the #16 team would have a new leader; none other then Baker Curb’s Ricky Viers.
With Red Man tobacco on the hood, Greg Biffle behind the wheel, and Viers calling the shots, Baker Curb’s #27 was the best running Ford in several races this season. They managed to finish second twice, just missing wins at Las Vegas and Richmond.
A new FDA regulation that basically ends tobacco advertisements curtailed Red Man’s sponsorship, and with the team’s future in jeopardy, Roush took the opportunity to bring Viers on board. Who better to help turn around your company’s NNS program then the guy who’s been beating you all season?
Viers joins Drew Blickensderfer, Matt Puccia, and Mike Kelley as crew chiefs at Roush Fenway, and the pressure is on these four to slow down Joe Gibbs Racing’s dominance of the series.
Besides hopefully helping the whole program, Viers is tasked with making contenders out of Roush prospects Colin Braun and Brian Ickler. Braun and fellow Roush young gun Ricky Stenhouse Jr. have both struggled mightily in their first full seasons, and those struggles have led to their schedules being cut. Ickler was brought in from Kyle Busch Motorsports to strengthen Roush’s driver development program and fill those holes in the schedule.
The NNS teams tested at Road America today in advance of Saturday’s race, and things may already be looking up for RFR. Ford drivers were first and second fastest in both sessions, and the combo of Viers and Braun was good for fourth quick. With Braun’s road racing background, this might be just what this team needs to turn the season around.
We’ve all heard the saying “if you can’t beat them, join them.” In the ultra competitive world of NASCAR, it becomes “if you can’t beat them, steal what makes them better then you.”
A few months ago I wrote a post lauding Roush’s developmental commitment even through sponsorship adversity. I said Roush’s commitment to Colin Braun and to Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was evident in its continued support of two underfunded teams. And I applauded the man (Jack Roush) and the team (Roush Fenway) for giving chances to those who couldn’t necessarily fund their own rides.
About a month later though Roush booted Colin Braun from the ride full-time in favor of a split schedule with other drivers. This wasn’t good for my argument – that is that Roush was a bastion for the development driver. As the picture became clear and the weeks have progressed though, Jack Roush has, in my mind (for what that’s worth), continued to demonstrate the importance of young and developmental drivers to his organization.
Roush, for his part, gave Colin Braun two full seasons in the Truck Series and some random Nationwide starts. Despite being one of the best funded teams led by a very good crew chief (Mike Beam) Braun was only able to score one win and finish 13th and fifth in the points in his two Truck campaigns. This season Braun wrecked (or was involved in wrecks) in five of nine races he competed in. Jack Roush, rightfully so, had seen enough.
While Braun’s days with the team appear to be numbered, he was given a reprieve by his sponsor Conway Freight, despite its discontent with the situation.
Where one driver appears to have run his course though, another has gotten an opportunity. Roush Fenway signed Brian Ickler to run at Charlotte – and from what we’re hearing beyond. The young driver has been able to put together limited deals throughout his career and is getting his opportunity to excel in top-notch equipment.
With Braun in just 14 more races this season that leaves plenty of opportunities for Ickler to get seat time. And we’re hearing in addition to this weekend’s race at Charlotte, Ickler will also run at Daytona and Kentucky in the coming weeks.
Adding Ickler to a stable that includes Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and young Chris Buescher (check out TC’s post from yesterday) further adds to a portfolio of great potential talent. While certainly driver development isn’t an exact science (Roush has proven that), committing to building the stars of tomorrow continues to be a priority for this organization – and for that I continue to commend them.
After the 2008 season, we decided to look back over the season and see how we did in terms of reporting on rumors and breaking some news. In the end, we got eight correct, had two pushes, screwed one up, and had three rumors outstanding. With 2009 behind us, I thought it would be fun to again do the same thing. I’m going to start with the three bits we had outstanding, and then we’ll move into 2009.
Fastenal to RCR: After the info we heard, we thought this one was in the books. Even Jayski reported at one point that this was going to happen, even mentioning a driver lineup. But in the end, Fastenal ended up at JR Motorsports for the ‘09 season. Scratch this one.
Rule Changes Coming to the Truck Series: NASCAR did indeed make changes to the Truck Series rules for 2009, and we were close. We first reported they were only going to allow only four crew members over the wall and that they would initiate a hard card limit. They did indeed limit both, but we missed the crew limit by one. It was five members over the wall and not four. I’m still giving us the point here. Plus one for the Insiders.
BDR Employees Laid Off: This indeed was true, and what was left of BDR was turned into Triad Racing Technologies. TRT supplies teams with Toyota engines, chassis, and some other services. Plus one for the Insiders.
First Crew Member Tests Positive: In my post following the Daytona 500, I let you know that I’d heard NASCAR had caught it’s first offender of the new substance abuse policy. We found out a short time later that it was a Mayfield Motorsports employee, and he was suspended indefinitely from NASCAR. It was strange foreshadowing for the summer to come and drug testing. Plus one for the Insiders.
RMM Cuts Salaries: Early in the season, we heard that Randy Moss Motorsports had cut it’s employees salaries by as much as 35%. While no official announcement was ever put out, this was indeed true. The budget for the #5 Tundra for Mike Skinner was limited at best, which led to the cuts. Plus one for the Insiders.
Trouble At Trail: 2009 was supposed to be the first season for minority owned Trail Motorsport. But what started off with much fan fare and press, fizzled before it ever got started. We first told you in April about the problems internally at Trail. On it’s own, the team never fielded a race car at a Truck Series, Nationwide Series, or Cup Series event. Plus one for the Insiders.
Kyle Busch, Team Owner in 2010: We were the first to tell you about Kyle Busch’s plans to start his own NASCAR team for the 2010 season. In July, we reported that construction was ongoing on a new race shop for Kyle and that he, Johnny Benson, and Brian Ickler may drive for the new team. Busch will indeed have a team in 2010, with two full time trucks. One for himself and Brian Ickler, and another for Tayler Malsam. If sponsorship can be found, Benson may run a third truck. Plus one for the Insiders.
Parker Kligerman, Wyler Racing, & Michael McDowell: In September we told you that ARCA driver Parker Kligerman would run some NNS races for Penske, that Wyler Racing may be closing up shop, and that Michael McDowell would run at New Hampshire for Thorsport Racing. Kligerman ended up running at Kansas and Homestead for Penske Racing. Wyler did make it to the end of the season, but from what we know just barely. As of today, there is no word on Wyler Racing’s 2010 plans. And finally, McDowell did run at NHMS for Thorsport. He ran the #98 truck, that was painted up like a police car. We will call that plus two and minus one for the Insiders.
Your Favorite Team and a Funded Driver: While we did write a post mentioning a rumor, we wrote the post more as commentary then actually reporting the rumor. The post itself was about John Wes Townley and his impending move to Richard Childress Racing. Townley will indeed race for RCR in 2010, and will compete full time in the NNS in the #21 Zaxbys Chevrolet. Since we didn’t call the driver out, nor did we get anything wrong, I’ll give us a push.
Rick Ren Gone from KHI: We told you before Homestead that Kevin Harvick Inc. crew chief Rick Ren was leaving at the end of the season, possibly to take a managerial role at Kyle Busch’s new team. This rumor was actually denied publicly by Kevin Harvick, but in the end turned out to be true. Ren will serve as the Director of Operations for KBM this season. Plus one for the Insiders.
Eric Phillips to KBM: To add to this stout lineup for 2010, we were the first to tell you about Eric Phillips leaving Randy Moss Motorsports for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Phillips will serve as crew chief for the #18 truck piloted by Busch and Brian Ickler for this season. We were certainly all over the KBM stuff in ‘09. Plus one for the Insiders.
Biffle and Baker Curb: And last but not least, after it was reported by SceneDaily.com that Baker Curb was working on a deal with a Cup driver for the 2010 NNS season, we told you that Cup driver was Greg Biffle. Biffle will pilot the #27 Red Man Ford Fusion for Baker Curb this season in an undetermined number of races. Plus one for the Insiders.
Looking back over all the rumors, I think we had another pretty good year. We got eleven right, missed two calls, and had one push. So over the last two years, that makes us 19-3-3 on the scoreboard. We certainly don’t know it all or hear it all, and we also won’t report every rumor we hear. But I think this shows that when you hear a rumor from TNI, odds are pretty good it’s true. What do you think?
I apologize for the delay in getting this post up. We had some Internet connectivity issues last night that prevented me from posting. Thanks!
There are some drivers out there, who no matter what they drive, always seem to not get enough racing. A name that comes to mind is a guy like Ken Schrader. He would race in the Cup Series on a Saturday night, fly somewhere and maybe race an ARCA race on Sunday, fly somewhere else and race a dirt latemodel race on Monday. It doesn’t matter what it is, Schrader just wants to race.
We saw a few more examples of drivers like Schrader this weekend. The 42nd Annual Snowball Derby took place at Five Flags Speedway down in Pensacola, FL. The Derby is a four day long event which concludes with a 300 lap super latemodel race on Sunday that draws drivers and cars from all over. This year’s entry list for the Sunday race was around 60 cars.
And if you watched any NASCAR coverage this year, you’ll recognize some of the entrants: Kyle Busch, Brian Ickler, David Stremme, Steve Wallace, Ryan Seig, Shane Sieg, Brian Scott, Cale Gale, and James Buescher.
The racing also featured some young up and comers like Johanna Long, Ross Kenseth, and Chase Elliott.
In the end, Kyle Busch triumphed for his first Snowball win, but from what I understand it wasn’t easy. The entire field was only separated by a few tenths in qualifying and some bigger names, like James Buescher, went home.
With the NASCAR schedule being so grueling, from February to November, you’d think most drivers would want a break from being at the race track. But not these guys. Less then two weeks have passed since the end of the season, and these guys have already found their way to a race track.
Regardless of what you think of a driver, you almost have to automatically have respect for guys like this. To them, it isn’t about the money, the big sponsors, or the TV time. All they want to do is get in a car and go door to door with the best in the country. It’s about the racing and being able to compete.
And I think, as long as there are always guys like this in the top tiers of NASCAR, the future will be very bright.
*For more coverage on the 42nd Snowball Derby, stop by Speed51.com