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After five years in existence, we learned via Jenna Fryer on Monday that Red Bull Racing will be no more after this season.  There are a lot of rumors and speculation about the future of the organization, but plan A at this point appears to involve manager Jay Frye and the hope of attracting outside investors.  Only time will tell if Frye can actually put a deal together to keep the doors open of their Lakeside shop.

Exactly why Red Bull is getting out now remains a mystery.  Speculation has hinged on everything from their performance issues to business reasons.  NASCAR has struggled in recent years with the key male 18-34 demographic, and that is Red Bull’s target market.  With fewer of their target consumers tuning in, this would seem to be a plausible explanation.  I’m not sure I buy that however.

To me, this move appears to be Red Bull cutting their losses.  They’ve sunk millions into this race team over the last five years and they have very little to show for it.  Brian Vickers has the organization’s lone Cup Series win, which came back in 2009.  At the time, it appeared Red Bull was on their way, but performance has been a disappointment since then.  The outlook for RBR was positive coming into 2011, but the season hasn’t panned out to this point.  Kasey Kahne is currently 19th in the standings and Brian Vickers is 24th.  Kahne is their top threat to win every week, but he’s leaving at season’s end for Hendrick.

It is my belief that regardless of NASCAR’s demographic issues, if Red Bull was winning and a regular contender, they’d stay.  Let me remind you that this is a company that has spent well north of $600 million on it’s Formula 1 teams since 2004.  The difference being that Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber are contenders.

I also want to point out that I don’t think Red Bull’s departure is some sort of drastic sign about the health of the sport.  NASCAR is still a very viable avenue for companies looking to spend marketing dollars, and recent deals like the one HMS struck with Farmers Insurance show that.  It may not happen immediately, but Red Bull’s spots on the grid will be filled.

Moving forward, even though Red Bull appears to be giving up their ownership stake, their NASCAR involvement may not end completely.  Becoming a regular sponsor of either a driver or races could be an option.  Here’s to hoping this is the case.

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I get it.  Kimi Raikkonen is a Formula 1 champion and believes he should be racing with NASCAR’s best.  If there is one thing race drivers are often not short on, it’s confidence in their ability.  It’s commendable that he wants to move up as quickly as possible, but if Raikkonen really wants to succeed, he needs to slow down.  One Truck Series test coupled with a 15th place finish in a truck race does not qualify one for the Nationwide Series.  And at this pace, when is he expecting to make a Cup attempt?  Kansas?

You certainly would have hoped that Raikkonen and his advisers did a little research before they started writing checks.  There are numerous examples over the last several years of other open wheel drivers thinking they can make a NASCAR career happen, only to find out that driving in circles isn’t as easy as it looks.  Jacques Villeneuve, Scott Speed, Dario Franchitti, and Patrick Carpentier are all examples of of guys who’ve come and gone.  And it could be argued that all were brought along too quickly.  Juan Pablo Montoya and AJ Allmendinger experienced similarly quick paths to NASCAR, but it took both several years to be able to run well, consistently.  Hopefully Raikkonen isn’t on his way to being the next flame out.

It’s ridiculous to think that a guy like Raikkonen would be able to come in and immediately be competitive against guys who’ve been on circle tracks their entire lives.  I’m fully aware of Raikkonen’s pedigree, and his immense talent behind the wheel, but it takes a completely different skill set to be successful in a stock car.  Not only that, but it would appear the young Fin isn’t even aware of NASCAR’s rules.  Crew chief Rick Ren had to explain the “lucky dog” rule to him mid-race last Friday night.

I don’t want this post to come off as me hatin’ on Kimi.  Worldwide interest is great for the sport, and drivers like Raikkonen open up NASCAR to new fans.  I think it also helps NASCAR when guys from around the world want to come race here.  It does nothing but add to NASCAR’s legitimacy.  And how cool would it be to see a guy put a Cup Series championship on his resume next to his F1 title?  Raikkonen could be the first.  But it won’t happen if his development is rushed.

A few years back I heard a story about an open wheel driver I won’t name.  In an early test session in his career, this driver supposedly told his guys over the radio that stock car racing was “child’s play.”  Needless to say, he would find out later that this wasn’t the case.  Hopefully Raikkonen isn’t under a similar delusion.  He’s got plenty of talent and the resources to be here for a long time, but Kimi just needs to give himself the chance to learn how to be successful.

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by Geoffrey Miller

Filed under: Other Racing Series

You get the feeling this is kind of what the renegade Formula 1 teams wanted all along.

Wednesday, F1 and FOTA [Formula One Teams Association] announced that plans from last week for the international racing series to split in 2010 had been halted after a deal between the two was struck.

Terms of the deal -- while not completely released -- include plans for Max Mosley, the righthand man for F1 chief Bernie Eccelstone, to take a backseat and leave the sport entirely at the end of his term in October, in addition to plans to scrap the class-creating plans for financial cutbacks.

Mosley Gone as Formula 1 Avoids Split originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Wed, 24 Jun 2009 22:55:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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