Two years ago Brad Keselowski, seeing that his opportunities were limited, left his Nationwide ride at JR Motorsports, for a full time Cup ride at Penske Racing. The move was met with mixed reviews.
And in his first full season in 2010, Keselowski struggled. The team averaged a 22.4 finish and scored just two top-10s. They finished the year 25th in points. It was a disappointing way to start out a new partnership.
2011 looked to be shaping up much the same for Keselowski despite a change at crew chief in the off-season. In the first nine races of the year the team didn’t have a finish better than 18th and found themselves mired back in 28th in points. It was a rough start.
Then came Darlington – ten weeks in and the team finished third. It took just two more weeks for Keselowski to win his first race of the season. Since then, there have been some rough patches here and there, but for the most part, the #2 team has been surging.
In the 11 races since that first win, Keselowski has had seven top-10s, four top-fives and two more wins. The team couldn’t have timed their jump in performance any better. With two races to go until the start of the Chase, Keselowski sits 11th in the points with three wins.
In addition to strengthening his chances at a berth, Keselowski’s surge also provides another interesting dynamic to the Chase race. If he can make it into the top-10 – and with his recent performance that is not at all out of the question – one of those two wild card spots open back up. Right now Denny Hamlin, with one win, gets one of the Chase spots and Paul Menard, 20th in points, gets the other. Chasing Menard is David Ragan in 21st and Marcos Ambrose in 22nd.
For Keselowski though, what looked to be a season of struggle, has turned into a season of triumph. The sky’s the limit for team team #2 – if/when he makes the Chase, Keselowski will be tied for second in the points with Kevin Harvick. That is nothing short of impressive, considering even after his first win, Keselowski was beyond the requisite 20th in points.
In the weeks to come this Penske team is definitely one to watch. Competing in and qualifying for the Chase is all about momentum and right now Brad Keselowski has it – perhaps more than any other. Stay tuned.
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Danica Patrick officially announced Thursday she would make a full-time move to NASCAR beginning in 2012. The move puts her in a Nationwide Series car for JR Motorsports for the whole of the season and select Cup races with Stewart Haas. She’ll She may make her Cup debut at next year’s Daytona 500. The announcement ended years of speculation about the driver who has made a name for herself on and off the track.
Patrick’s career has spanned much of the last two decades and has included stints in everything from go-karts to stock cars. While she’s certainly been competitive in everything she’s done, the mystique of Danica has been much more about her packaging than her talent. From racy GoDaddy.com commercials, to spreads in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition, it’s no wonder Patrick has been accused of exploiting her looks to get ahead.
After saying he respected her for not letting “boyfriends” or wanting to start a family get in the way of her pursuing a racing career, Brad Keselowski tweeted today:
“Essentially she has opened a pandoras box for all female racers. If she doesn’t succeed, no female will get a chance for years to come.”
This assumption that Patrick’s singular ascension to the heights of NASCAR and whether or not she has success is somehow the determining factor for other female drivers is laughably absurd.
Danica Patrick, of course, no more represents all female race car drivers than Brad Keselowski represents males.
Keselowski in prior tweets criticized Patrick’s choice of self-promotion, saying it:
only serves to undermine the future credibility of female racers who wish to make it based on skill, mental toughness and a never give up attitude. That to me is wrong.
It is incredibly unfair to suggest Patrick does not have “skill”, “mental toughness” or a “never give up attitude” all because she is occasionally seen in a bikini.
I don’t mean to just call out Keselowski’s comments (though he did make himself an easy target) because these thoughts are not just isolated to him – we’ve heard them from a lot of people over the years. His thoughts though are representative of a shortsighted belief and point to the hypocrisy of the society we live in.
We want female athletes who are talented and winners, but we want them to be attractive and marketable (how does an attractive, young female athlete market herself today? See Lindsey Vonn, Hope Solo and Danica Patrick). Yet when these women get ahead and take advantage of their good genes, they’re chastised. They’re damned if they use what they have and they’re damned if they don’t.
Patrick, like her contemporaries, is simply using her assets to get the resources she needs to do what she wants.
To be fair, I don’t think what she has done from the business side, is any different than Keselowski getting a makeover to make him a little more camera friendly, or any number of funded drivers using their family’s resources to find a ride. They’re all playing the game.
And I can’t fault anyone for that.
Patrick’s decision to come to NASCAR full-time should provide an interesting storyline and dynamic in 2012. Looks or no looks, I’m interested to see what the race car driver is capable of with the right resources and time. At the end of the day, that’s where our focus should be.
Filed under: Nationwide Series, FanHouse Exclusive, IRL, Danica Patrick, NASCAR
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In the current climate of funded drivers and retreating sponsorship dollars, it’s very uncommon for a young driver without his own money to get a second chance. What we are seeing with Aric Almirola though, goes against all of that. JR Motorsports announced on Wednesday that Almirola had signed a multi-year agreement to drive the team’s #88 car in the Nationwide Series.
After getting high profile gigs at Joe Gibbs Racing, Ginn Racing, Dale Earnhardt Inc., and finally Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, it appeared Almirola had washed out. Once at EGR, his #8 team was shut down only seven races into the 2009 season due to lack of funding. Through those seven races however, Almirola hadn’t exactly set the world on fire. His average finish was 32.8 and his best finish was a 21st at Atlanta. Before that, Almirola was best known for his Nationwide Series “win” at Milwaukee in which he started the race, but was pulled part way through and replaced by Denny Hamlin who went on to score the victory.
After leaving EGR in 2009, Almirola spent the rest of the season making sporadic starts for Phoenix Racing, Key Motorsports, Smith Ganassi Racing, and Billy Ballew Motorsports across all three major NASCAR series. He was one of a small group of drivers who turned to some of the lower seriesto advance his career and get more experience. And as it turned out, the 16 starts Almirola made for Billy Ballew in which he led 98 laps and had six top five finishes, would turn into a full time Truck Series ride for the 2010 season.
Fast forward to this season, Almirola has two Truck Series wins and sits second in the Truck Series points. His strong CWTS runs led to him being the backup driver for both Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon while they were on baby watch, plus he was given the chance to run JRM’s #88 at ORP. Almirola didn’t disappoint there either, finishing third behind Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards. All of this led up to JRM signing Almirola for the 2011 season and beyond.
Before this deal came about, we’d heard (along with others) that Almirola was a candidate for some Cup organizations, including Richard Petty Motorsports. Almirola even admitted to ESPN that he’d been offered Cup deals (see the link above). With that said, I think it’s interesting that he decided to take the Nationwide deal with JRM. It would seem that in a situation like Almirola’s, especially with his stock being high, that he would have wanted to capitalize fully and take a Cup deal. Instead, he will continue to have to prove himself and his ability in the NNS with JRM.
If Almirola continues to progress, and has continued success in the future, this should help serve as a lesson to owners about driver development. Instead of rushing these kids along, and giving them a season or two to prove themselves, why not keep them in lower series longer? Let them develop their skills, then bring them along slowly. Almirola is extremely lucky that he’s been given the chances to show that he can improve, and hopefully he will parlay those chances into more success on the track.
Filed under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Nationwide Series, NASCAR
And by “she,” I mean Danica Patrick.
This post serves as your official 10 day hype warning. You’d better enjoy the nice, quiet, normal Nationwide Series coverage this weekend on ESPN, because it will be the calm before the storm. Danica returns to the JR Motorsports #7 on June 26th at New Hampshire.
Through the first three Nationwide Series races of the season, you may not have even realized there were 42 other drivers in the field. Or really, you may have thought Danica was the only NASCAR driver there was. Danica Mania hit NASCAR hard, with constant coverage of her during the races, and plenty of stories about her to read about online. Since her last race at Las Vegas in February however, the hype has died down.
The hype is about to get shocked back to life.
While she’s been away from NASCAR, Danica has been busy working on a very mediocre Indy Car season. Through seven races this season she has one top five and three top ten finishes. She currently sits 11th in the points standings, and her average finish is the worst she’s had since her rookie year in 2005. Some have gone so far as to suggest that her foray into NASCAR has taken something away from her open wheel skills this year.
The Danica haters have been quieted a little in recent weeks, as she finished sixth at Indianapolis, and then followed that up with a second at Texas on June 5th. Jumping back into a Nationwide Series car right when it appears she has the open wheel ship righted might not bode well for her, however. Couple that with the fact that her summer NNS starts are coming at New Hampshire, Chicagoland, Michigan, and Dover, and it might be a tough summer for Ms. Patrick.
After her Loudon start, Hurricane Danica will reappear in NASCAR once a month through September, and then starting October 9th at Auto Club Speedway, Danica will run the final six NNS races.
So now that you’ve been warned, you have plenty of time to go buy canned goods, flashlights, batteries, and other necessities. Also, don’t forget to board up your windows and batten down the hatches. Looks like Hurricane Danica could be a CAT 5.
Lost amid the Talladega chaos was the story of JR Motorsports newest driver, Steve Arpin. On Friday, Arpin went out and promptly put his Chevy in the second row during qualifying. Not bad for a kid who’d never driven an NNS car before. Once the race got started, the young Canadian ran as high as second, but was caught up in the last lap “big one” and finished 26th. He will again pilot the #7 Chevy for Dale Jr. on Friday night in the BUBBA Burger 250 at Richmond, a race that will put his skills to the test.
A racer from a young age, Arpin excelled in go carts and dirt late models. In 2008, he also won Rookie of the Year in the USAC Silver Crown Series driving for Carl Edwards. For 2009, Arpin moved into stock car racing, where he competed full time in the ARCA RE/MAX Series for owners Eddie Sharp and Bill Venturini. In 21 starts, he had four top five and eleven top ten finishes in route to finishing seventh in the final points standings.
A successful rookie campaign afforded Arpin the chance to again run for the full ARCA season with Venturini Motorsports. Through five races this season, Arpin already has two wins, Salem and Texas, and is second in the points standings.
Arpin’s success this season and last attracted the attention of JR Motorsports, and after Kelly Bires was released earlier in the year, JRM brought Arpin aboard. JRM is looking for a driver to fill open slots in both its #7 and #88 cars for later in the season, and if all goes well, Arpin might get more races.
While he proved at Talladega that he isn’t afraid to get up on the wheel and drive, his real test will be this weekend at Richmond. Anymore, doing well at ‘Dega is more about luck (see Johnny Borneman) and having a good car than it is about real driving skill. Richmond will test even the best drivers’ abilities.
Different at both ends, success at Richmond is determined by how well a team and their driver can get their car handling. In this week’s Chevrolet pre-race notes, Jeff Burton said:
“Richmond is one of the places where handling means everything. The key factors in running well is getting through the center of the corners and throttling up without losing rear grip. It sounds simple to do, but the one that wins did it the best.”
Besides having a good handling car, a driver must avoid the carnage that comes with short track racing at Richmond, and get to the finish.
If Arpin is able to communicate what he needs to crew chief Tony Eury Jr., and make it to the finish on Friday night, we just might be witnessing a star in the making. A solid top 20 finish would go a long way in getting him more races in 2010.
I don’t understand JR Motorsports. They spend an awful lot of time complaining about their money situation. Dale Jr. advertised how much the wrecks cost him at Daytona; and they seem to constantly be advertising their struggle to find sponsorship (welcome to the club). And lest you think otherwise their team spokesman is more than willing to underscore how much Jr. is putting into the team out of his own pocket. So what do they do? They decide they’re going to run a car full time that they don’t appear to have fully funded. What!?
Apparently it was just too good of a team not to run full-time. And That’s fine. I’m happy for Scott Wimmer. Certainly Wimmer is a proven winner in the Nationwide Series and he’s a little easier sell to sponsors. When he’s in good equipment he’s shown he can be competitive. But why the sudden change in rhetoric?
Maybe they do have money lined up for this team. Maybe this weekend is a way for them to cement some deal. Or perhaps they lined something up for the #88 and had enough money from another deal to keep this thing going. I don’t know.
If they don’t though I hope for their sake they’re not going to try the ‘let’s run well and hope we impress a sponsor strategy.’ We saw how well that worked for Ganassi, not once but twice. Ask Aric Almirola and Dario Franchitti (and all the people who got laid off). Or how about RAB Racing, a team that really doesn’t have any money, trying to make a go at a full-time run this season with Scott Riggs (right now their asking fans to help sponsor their ride). This strategy generally has one certain result: lost money.
Unfortunately waiting and hoping you can quickly put a deal together just isn’t very realistic, especially in the Nationwide Series. You can get away with running a competitive truck team (and not lose your ass) by piecemealing different small deals; it’s substantially harder in the Nationwide Series (unless Junior is willing to lose some money).
It’s fine if they want to run a team full-time without full funding. I don’t care. But quit talking about your money issues and how much everything is going to cost you. We get it at this point.
So get this, JR Motorsports has three drivers. I know, it’s almost hard to believe.
In all seriousness, this week has got to be the pits for Kelly Bires. He started the month hopeful he’d be making his JR Motorsports debut at Daytona with Dale Earnhardt Jr., only to find out he was being booted from the ride in favor of Danica Patrick.
Now Danica is obviously an easy target. It looks pretty bad for her that Kelly Bires is now out of a ride (for Daytona). In one breath she says she’s got to consider he’s running for a championship and in the next she says “I want more racing.” While it’s a safe bet to start the blame game here I would caution you to wait.
As for Jr.’s ride in Daytona, the sponsor obligations were in place long ago. No matter what happened with the #5/#7, he was going to be in the #88. Why doesn’t Jr. just pony up the money you might ask? Again, while it might be easy to go here, this is not the problem (Click here for a response to that question and others).
You might be asking, who then is to blame? The long and short of it is the front office, though not the part you might think. The part I’m talking about is the part responsible for selling the team to corporate America. Through a tough economy and an inability to close any big new prospects (other than Danica and GoDaddy), the team finds itself short on sponsors; and as we know sponsors make the world go round.
I say this not suggesting that selling multi-million dollar deals is an easy thing. It most definitely is not. I do struggle though to understand how they were never able to lock everything up for Bires, when others have been able to. They even lost a sponsor in Fastenal. Mind you, Roush is notorious for undercutting other teams’ offers (they then are notorious for driving sponsors out of the sport, or out their front door); but that still isn’t a great excuse.
Roush was able to re-sign Conway Freight with Colin Braun this season, and last season Penske brought on Verizon (without logos in the Cup Series) to sponsor David Stremme and Justin Allgaier. While these situations certainly vary, they all lack the fundamental strength of JR Motorsports – Dale Earnhardt Jr.
I can’t say why JR hasn’t been able to sign any big new sponsorships. They could be asking for too much money, or they might not be offering enough support, who knows. What I do know is, is a team that operates as a satellite of Hendrick Motorsports and is owned by the most popular driver in the sport shouldn’t be struggling on the sponsorship front like they are.
So don’t blame Danica. She brings with her money and star-power and an existing commitment to run races with a partner she brought.
As we say here so often, this is a business, and this situation is a great example of the reality of that.
As the Danica Patrick bandwagon steams toward the Daytona Nationwide Series race next weekend, don’t worry about saving me a seat just yet. Finishing sixth in her first ever stock car event is commendable, but I think it’s a bit early to crown her the next big thing.
In case you missed it, Patrick recovered from a late race spin through the tri-oval grass at Daytona to finish sixth in her debut race in the ARCA Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200. She kept her nose clean, didn’t give up, and brought home a car with all the fenders still on it. Which in itself is quite an achievement in the ARCA Series. But lets try and remember what she was up against.
Stop by Jayski’s story links page for February 7th and you will find no less then 15 articles about Danica’s debut. Most of which contain quite a bit of praise for the 27 year old driver, some of which she deserves, and some she doesn’t.
Danica took on the ARCA Series at Daytona in an ARCA car powered by Hendrick and put together by JR Motorsports. She had a veteran crew chief on the box (Tony Eury Jr.) and had a combination of JR Motorsports Nationwide Series guys and Hendrick Motorsports Cup guys working on and pitting her race car. Not a bad way to start off a stock car career.
And not to knock the ARCA Series, as it’s a great place to gain valuable experience on bigger tracks, but this is the same series that David Stremme once won a race at Michigan by lapping the entire field once, and up to ninth place twice.
So before we crown her and heap a ton of ridiculous expectations on her, let’s allow her to run a few races and gain some experience against some tougher competition. I think it’s only fair.
And just as a side note, I know there is a certain motorsports writer (ahem Jeff Gluck) who, before the season started, posed an interesting question and bet to his readers and Twitter followers. He wanted to know who would outperform the other this season, John Wes Townley or Danica Patrick. Give round one to Townley, who followed up a fourth place run in last year’s ARCA opener with a third place run this year.