With the announcement last week that Red Bull was ceasing its NASCAR operations at the end of the season, the 2011 Silly Season went into full overdrive. While the number of available rides just potentially got cut by one, the number of unanswered questions increased. Can Red Bull find investors? What will Brian Vickers do next season?
Along with those unanswered questions about Red Bull are the drivers and teams who find themselves without a solid deal for 2012. Still what are the realistic opportunities for movement before next season.
Carl Edwards is in the final year of his deal with Roush Fenway Racing and easily finds himself as the hottest prospect. He’s the current points leader and a 19-time winner in the Cup Series.
Edwards has been the subject of a rumored move to Joe Gibbs Racing. While a fourth car at Gibbs is the best option available to Edwards, is it really better than his current position with Roush Fenway? I think, at best, it represents a lateral move for the driver.
The rumors of an Edwards to Gibbs move no doubt came from either Gibbs or Edwards – either way it strengthens Edward’s negotiating position at Roush, which, I think, was the purpose of the rumors. We’ll see what happens, but I think the driver will more than likely stay where he is; despite his potential to bring money wherever he goes.
Clint Bowyer is in the final year of his contract with Richard Childress Racing and has been the subject of a rumored move to Red Bull Racing (that is, before Red Bull announced they were leaving the sport). Bowyer has had success at RCR but has played second fiddle to Kevin Harvick. With a move to Red Bull now out of the question, Bowyer is also very likely to stay where he is.
Brian Vickers finds himself in a worse position than the other two drivers mentioned. He has been with Red Bull Racing since the team began in 2006, leaving Hendrick Motorsports for the opportunity. With a severe lack of opportunities, he doesn’t have many better options but to stick it out with Red Bull and hope Jay Frye can put together investors capable of keeping the team alive.
Mark Martin is a man toward the end of his career who is not ready to end his career. With Kasey Kahne moving into Martin’s spot at Hendrick Motorsports when Martin’s contract ends at the end of the year, Martin is a wild card. Excluding unsubstantiated rumors that he would be investing in Red Bull Racing, Martin’s future remains very murky. He and Jay Frye have a relationship from Martin’s time at Ginn Racing and it wouldn’t be surprising, if Frye can put the investors together, that Martin ends up in a Frye car. We’ll see what happens, but that may be the only Cup opportunity available to the 52-year-old driver.
Danica Patrick, while maybe not the most sought after driver, is perhaps the most intriguing driver of this Silly Season. She is in the final year of her deals with Andretti Autosport in the IndyCar Series and JR Motorsports in the Nationwide Series and brings with her big sponsorship and endorsement deals. Her realistic available opportunities include a continued role at JR Motorsports and perhaps a third team at Stewart Haas Motorsports. Both are of course contingent upon the money she brings, but she can no doubt bring the money. We’ll see if she brings her talents to NASCAR.
What are your thoughts on the current Silly Season, these drivers and others? Where do you think these drivers will end up? Talk amongst yourselves.
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The recently announced Farmers-to-Hendrick deal for Kasey Kahne has spawned some discussion and speculation about the future of UPS’ NASCAR sponsorship. Apparently some felt that UPS was a candidate to adorn the hood of Kahne’s future ride at HMS, but the Farmers deal seems to signal that that now won’t happen. UPS’ current deal with Roush Fenway and David Ragan is up at the end of this season, and you can be sure they will be exploring all options.
The first time – and so far only time – we saw Kahne and UPS mentioned in the same sentence publicly was in a recent post from Scene Daily’s Bob Pockrass. Pockrass speculated about where UPS could end up, and mentioned Carl Edwards and Clint Bowyer as possible candidates if they decide to leave Ragan’s #6 car. But as we saw back in 2008, drivers of that caliber may be out of reach for UPS.
It is believed that the current UPS deal with RFR pays somewhere around $17-$18 million per season, and the reason the shipper ended up with Ragan back in ’08 was because that wasn’t enough to lock down a big name like Edwards for a full season. Barring a major shift in strategy and budget from UPS, numbers in that neighborhood don’t appear to be enough this time around either. Sports Business Journal’s Tripp Mickle says Farmers is paying HMS $17.6 million a season for partial sponsorship of Kahne’s car, and that might be a big sign that UPS could again be priced out of the game for upper tier drivers.
Pockrass does mention that a partial deal with UPS and Edwards might be a way for Roush to keep Big Brown. For that to happen though, UPS would have to agree to share a driver with another sponsor(s), which is something we haven’t seen them do in the past. I’m not saying it can’t or won’t happen, but it would certainly be a departure from their past deals.
With Ragan much improved this season, UPS may just end up re-signing. But there is still so much up in the air for RFR, it may be some time before we know anything definitive. If 2008 was any indication though, expect UPS to be linked with everyone and their dog for the duration of the summer.
It’s always nice for the teams when we get to this part of the schedule, because with all three series racing in Charlotte, it means most get to sleep in their own beds. But a crowded weekend schedule, along with a trip to Iowa for the Nationwide cars, means some will have a very busy couple of days.
As we’ve talked about here many times before, there are some individuals and some full crews that pit race cars across multiple series. A few do it within their own companies, and others pit cars for many different race teams. You’d think Charlotte races would make for an easier weekend, but that isn’t necessarily the case.
Consider this example. The five guys that pit Trevor Bayne’s Cup car are also the same guys that pit Carl Edwards’ NNS ride. With their commitments between both cars, they will be pitting race cars four straight days. The Daytona 500 win made Bayne eligible for the All Star race, and his crew eligible for the Pit Crew Challenge. So his guys will spend Thursday at Time Warner Cable Arena for the Challenge. Then, they will head out to Charlotte Motor Speedway on Friday because qualifying for the All Star race includes that all important pit stop. On Saturday, the team will be busy working the All Star race. And they will close out their weekend with a nice short trip out to Iowa to pit Edwards’ Mustang on Sunday. Whew, I’m tired for them.
Besides this group, there are other guys and crews who will work Friday night’s Truck race, Saturday’s All Star race or Showdown, and then fly out to Iowa for the NNS race. The backup teams for the likes of Red Bull Racing and Hendrick Motorsports will have weekends similar to this. And many of these guys will be right back to their shop or other jobs on Monday morning.
Thanks to weekends like this, it isn’t uncommon for some guys to pit race cars in 70+ races a year. It can be extremely grueling and tough on the body over the course of a 10 month season. But for those that are willing to hustle, there is experience to be had and some nice money to be made.
Sunday’s Cup Series race at Dover was the perfect example of good strategy overcoming speed and handling shortcomings. Matt Kenseth did not have the best race car over the course of the race, but the right call by his crew chief at the right moment put him in position to win. And Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson are left wondering “what if.”
When the cars come to pit road following a shorter than normal run, crew guys know that anything is possible. Crew chiefs can call for anything from four tires, to fuel only. And often times you won’t get more than a few seconds warning. The crew chief will start counting the driver into the stall, and then make a last minute audible. For many teams on Sunday, that’s exactly what happened. Guys like Johnson, Edwards, and Clint Bowyer who had been the cars to beat all day, were neutralized by two tire stops.
Besides the winning Kenseth, good pit strategy was the key to good finishes for Mark Martin, Marcos Ambrose, and Brian Vickers. Martin stayed out, and Ambrose and Vickers both got two tires.
Along with the late race pit strategy, another surprising element of Sunday’s race was the lack of cautions. Dover isn’t referred to as the “Monster Mile” for nothing, but there were shockingly few on track incidents. Compared to both the CWTS and NNS races the previous two days, the Cup race was tame. Especially on a day when track conditions were treacherous (see track rubber issues).
Finally, I was really disappointed to see how sparsely attended the weekend’s races were. I know a constant threat of rain probably turned off some fans, but to see entire sections of grandstands completely devoid of spectators was sad. Dover always puts on great shows, and there are plenty of largely populated areas nearby to draw from. Hopefully TV ratings were up.
Now it’s your turn. Feel free to weigh in with your thoughts on the weekend’s action. I heard a late race move by FOX to show commercials in a split screen was quite the hit…
We entered this season with a lot of great drivers at the end of their contracts. Among them were Greg Biffle, Brian Vickers, Carl Edwards and Clint Bowyer. Biffle has already re-signed with Roush Fenway, but the other three are still without contracts for next year and beyond.
While they hold out to weigh their options, I suspect they’re not finding a whole lot out there. The issue isn’t whether there are seats available but if there are seats available that improve upon the drivers’ current situations.
The prospect of a fourth car at Gibbs, and a third car at Penske and maybe even Ganassi or Stewart Haas exists; all though are very dependent on sponsorship. And while a big name driver helps in securing that all important support, there are no guarantees.
Another option is Red Bull Racing that, at the moment, doesn’t have a single driver signed up for 2012. The problem with this team though is that its performance doesn’t come close to matching that of rival organizations. It’s very much a downgrade for top prospects Edwards and Bowyer.
Even with Gibbs, Penske et al., the best Bowyer and Edwards can hope for is a lateral move (which is why neither will go anywhere). They’re both currently driving for two of the top teams in the sport. Vickers can look around, but I doubt he’ll find any opportunities for improvement.
For Edwards, his is very much the A-team at Roush. Though he has been looking, is he going to improve upon that position somewhere else? I doubt it.
While Edwards and anyone else who may be playing the field might not be going anywhere, what talking to others does do is improve their position with their current teams. Create demand for yourself and you’ll get what you want. I’m sure it will work beautifully for Edwards.
So the long and short is, if you’re looking to move, lots of luck this year. There are no dominos to fall and no blatantly open rides to fall into. It’s just not a good year to be a free agent in NASCAR.
With all eyes focused on the Montoya/Newman feud and Trevor Bayne’s health this weekend, you may have missed a NASCAR Series Director admitting they made an officiating mistake. Crazy, but true.
Nationwide Series Director Joe Balash said that penalizing Carl Edwards for “servicing outside the box” in Friday’s race wasn’t correct because Edwards was within the three stall limit of his box even though he was past the end of pit road. Though the rule says you can’t push a car beyond the end of pit road, Balash said they need to give those teams who have stalls at the end of pit road, the benefit of the doubt.
Now that is refreshing. Balash said they looked at the penalty and it wouldn’t have made a difference anyway, but the sanctioning body admitting it’s not infallible says a lot.
In an age where everyone is a loveseat official and DVRs allow for instant playback (as if the playback the networks do isn’t enough), analyzing penalties, and then disagreeing with them has become a favorite past time of fans and journalists alike (we’re certainly guilty). This was a situation where there really wasn’t much controversy and Balash still admitted the call wasn’t right. You may not respect them all the time, but that you’ve got to respect.
This obviously didn’t get much run this weekend, but I think it’s a story worth repeating. NASCAR has a credibility issue with a portion of its avid fan base and I think moments like these can do a lot to restore that credibility. I personally think they get it right most of the time. Just like you and me though even the most informed people are capable of making a mistake every now and then. The important thing is admitting when those mistakes are made.
I know I’m probably going to get called out for being a “NASCAR homer” on this one, but I see a sanctioning body that’s moving into an era of openness. Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR VP of Racing Operations, is on twitter and we’ve seen him regularly answering questions and interacting with people. Even NASCAR as an entity is doing a fabulous job of talking to people on twitter. Never before have fans had this kind of access – and you certainly don’t get that from other major leagues or sanctioning bodies.
To quote English poet Alexander Pope, “to err is human, to forgive divine.”
Burnouts, victory laps, doughnuts. Boring, seen it, yawn.
But have no fear race fans! There are a few select drivers that have the cure for the common victory celebration.
Think back to your early days as a race fan. What’s the first unique celebration you remember? For me it was Alan Kulwicki’s Polish Victory Lap. After a win (and his 1992 championship), Kulwicki would turn his car around and drive around the track backwards so he could salute the crowd. Since then, quite a few drivers have borrowed Kulwicki’s invention and it’s become common place.
Moving ahead to modern times, a couple of drivers have moved to the head of the class with their original celebrations.
Love him or hate him, Kyle Busch can flat drive a race car. He currently has 93 wins across the Truck, Nationwide, and Cup Series. And when you win that many times, you have plenty of opportunities to perfect your celebration technique. For KB, usually after a preliminary burnout, he’ll stand on the door and give the booing crowd a bow. Or sometimes two. A perfect way to salute (or patronize) the fans who love to hate him.
One of Busch’s biggest rivals, and a driver who he’s had a recent dustup with, is none other than Carl Edwards. Being the serious athlete that he is, Edwards is known for a unique victory celebration that not too many drivers would even attempt. I’m referring of course to the flip. After winning his first ever Truck Series race in 2003, Edwards did a backflip off the side of his truck on a whim. And it’s stuck ever since. But Edwards has added a twist to his celebrating of recent wins. Now, after the flip, he grabs the checkered flag and heads into the stands to greet the fans. Pretty cool if you ask me.
The last celebration I want to point out involves Smoke. Yep, I’m talking about Tony Stewart’s famous fence climbs. Nothing like jumping out of your car after a win and scaling a 20 foot tall chain link fence. It’s been a while since we’ve seen Stewart do this though, so lets hope a future big win will inspire him to do it again.
What’s your favorite victory celebration? If you were a driver and won a race, what crazy thing would you do?
Coming off of a season that saw a pot hole mar the opening race and then rain and other issues combine to make for a less than stellar start, 2011 has been nothing short of a breath of fresh air in the Cup Series. And consider this, with Jimmie Johnson’s come from behind win Sunday in Talladega this season has produced seven different winners in eight different races – not a bad start to the season.
Add to that solid start four different championship points leaders and six different lead changes and you’ve got a season that hasn’t really had a stand out driver or team through the first portion.
Our current top-ten in points have had some good stats to back them up – all have at least four top-tens, and with the exception of Kurt Busch, all have at least two top-fives. Half of them have wins. All – with the exception of Kurt Busch – hold the distinction though of having at least one finish of 24th or worse. Some have finishes a lot worse.
The only guy to score repeat wins? Well so far, Kevin Harvick has a DNF at Daytona and two sub-17th place finishes on top of that. His season has so far been a bit of a roller coaster.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the only drivers to have any measure of consistency are the top-three. Carl Edwards is averaging a finish of 8.2 (with blemishes at Phoenix and Martinsville); Jimmie Johnson is averaging a finish of 8.9 with one bad run at Daytona; and Dale Earnhardt Jr., though he is winless, is channeling that classic Steve Letarte consistency, averaging a 10th place finish with just one DNF (a 24th place finish) at Daytona.
Even with the brighter spots in the top-ten, the points are still close enough for drivers to have big swings in and out. Both Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth jumped five spots (in opposite directions) this past weekend.
The fact is, and I think this speaks to the level of competition we have right now in the sport, there just isn’t a dominate team. Going into race nine, it gets harder to turn seven out of eight into eight out of nine, but with the way this season has gone, anything could happen.
So what do you think? Has anybody stood out to you? Who’s most likely to make an early run?
As rumors have started to float around about where Carl Edwards could end up for 2012 and beyond, we asked our Twitter (@nascarinsider) followers last week if they’d be surprised if he left Roush Fenway Racing. The answers were pretty mixed, but our question seemed to spawn another question from many: where would he go? There are certainly going to be plenty of options, and it sounds as though he’s going to take all the time he needs to make a choice.
As Edwards begins to explore his options, lets take a look at where he could realistically end up. Outside of the RFR/Richard Petty Motorsports bubble, Hendrick and RCR are out, because they have signed drivers and no room to expand. Of the upper tier teams, that leaves the likes of Penske Racing, Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing, Joe Gibbs Racing, Red Bull Racing, Michael Waltrip Racing, and Stewart-Haas Racing. All either have drivers leaving, the ability to expand, or both.
In Edwards position, I’m not convinced that if he does actually leave RFR, it will be about money. The driver who serves as his own agent is already making some serious coin in his current spot, and the current economic climate may limit his earning potential somewhat. I’ve got to believe that Edwards wants to be where he has the best chance to win races and ultimately, championships.
Of the available teams, I’m not sure the argument could be made that any of them provide Edwards with a better situation than does Roush Fenway. A possible fourth team at JGR would probably be the closest option, but they’ve had their struggles in this young season and would he really gel as a teammate to Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch?
Another curious option is Red Bull. Owner Dietrich Mateschitz has the seriously deep pockets needed to bring in a driver like Edwards and they will be looking to replace the departing Kasey Kahne. But barring some sort of dramatic turn around, RBR doesn’t yet have the competitive pedigree necessary to attract a driver like Edwards.
Edwards’ recent comments to ESPN about not being in a hurry to get a deal done probably isn’t a great sign for RFR. With the future of his career at a serious crossroads however, it’s hard to blame Edwards for taking some time to explore all of his options. The question still remains though, would he really leave Roush?
Filed under: Carl Edwards, Kurt Busch, Sprint Cup, NASCAR
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