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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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.
The business end of NASCAR is finally starting to turn around, and we saw proof of it this last week. On Tuesday, Farmers Insurance announced a three year deal to sponsor Kasey Kahne’s #5 Chevrolets at Hendrick Motorsports. Farmers will be the primary sponsor for 22 races each season, and will get “prominent brand placement” in all other events. While Hendrick still has races to fill for the #5, Farmers represents new money into NASCAR, and that’s a good sign for everyone.
It seems that over the last few seasons, we’ve seen many sponsors move from one team to another, but we haven’t seen a ton of new sponsors coming in. The downturn in the economy and NASCAR’s attendance and ratings struggles have been the main reasons. It’s certainly not a bad thing when sponsors move teams, just as long as they stay involved in the sport. But over time, it’s unrealistic to think that all current sponsors will stay involved. Agendas will change and companies will leave. It’s important to the future health of the sport that teams are able to attract sponsors that have never been involved in NASCAR before.
Farmers’ deal with Hendrick is part of a broader plan by the insurance provider to increase consumer awareness. They’ve also signed recent deals with the PGA Tour and the proposed NFL stadium in Los Angeles. (If you’re a Sports Business Journal subscriber, see recent article about Farmers here.)
Along with the good news from HMS, we heard from FOX this week that the overall TV ratings for their 13 events were up 9% over 2010. As NASCAR rights deals edge closer to expiring, numbers like this will be very important in the renegotiation process. They also help teams in selling sponsorship deals like Hendrick did with Farmers.
As the year progresses, hopefully we will see a few more deals like this one emerge. There are plenty of teams still looking to lock down sponsorship for 2012 and beyond, including RCR’s #33, and maybe Farmers will help open up a flow of new money.
If there is one thing Red Bull Racing has shown over it’s short time in the sport, it’s that they have yet to create a decent strategy for properly developing racing talent. AJ Allmendinger was bounced right as it appeared he was making strides, and the team is currently embroiled in a lawsuit with Allmendinger’s replacement, Scott Speed, over his ouster from the team. Journo wrote recently about RBR’s driver situation for 2012, and whether or not young Cole Whitt might be next in line for a Cup ride when Kasey Kahne departs. But recent comments from Whitt show that Red Bull may not be doing everything necessary to give him the best chance to succeed.
On March 29th, NASCAR.com ran an interview Joe Menzer did with Whitt as he competes in his first full season of the Camping World Truck Series. Menzer covered a few different topics with Whitt, but one of the questions and the subsequent answer has to be a bit disconcerting if you are a RBR fan:
Q: Have you been able to interact with some of the veteran drivers from Red Bull and elsewhere? Whitt: Not too much, really. We’re all kind of off doing our own thing. I didn’t even get to talk to Kasey at Darlington, and our trucks were lined up starting right next to each other. I’ve pretty much been doing it by myself, I guess.
Q: Have you been able to interact with some of the veteran drivers from Red Bull and elsewhere?
Whitt: Not too much, really. We’re all kind of off doing our own thing. I didn’t even get to talk to Kasey at Darlington, and our trucks were lined up starting right next to each other. I’ve pretty much been doing it by myself, I guess.
What?! How is this even possible?
When a team has drivers like Kasey Kahne and Brian Vickers on their roster, how are they not facilitating time for these guys to mentor a development driver? You would think the insight and advice that these guys could offer would be huge for a young driver like Whitt. And you have to think it would help Whitt’s confidence to know that if he ever had a question, he’s got two solid resources that will be available to him.
What’s worse, is if this is how they are approaching Whitt’s development, you’ve really got to wonder if they did everything they could for ‘Dinger and Speed. Maybe if they would have done more with the drivers they had, they wouldn’t be in situations where they become desperate enough to take on lame duck drivers. There is just too much at stake with these kids to not do everything possible to help them be the best they can be.
Hopefully it’s not too late for RBR’s management to rectify this situation, and get these guys involved with bringing Whitt around. Because I know that if it was me that was in charge over there, I’d have this kid hanging around the drivers and teams as much as possible at the track and at the shop. I’d tell him to pay attention, listen to everything, and not be afraid to ask questions. Whitt appears to have a ton of talent and potential, and if Red Bull plays their cards right, he could be the face of their race team well into the future.
As is usually the case with Martinsville races, there was definitely no shortage of story lines after Sunday’s race. There was the usual Martinsville bumping and grinding, a ton of lead changes, some hard hits, and a near miss for Dale Jr. In the end though, Kevin Harvick made another late race move and won his second straight race.
Truex Not Happy With Team Over Hung Throttle A hung throttle was the culprit behind the scariest wreck of the day at Martinsville that involved Martin Truex Jr. and Kasey Kahne. Truex got under Kahne into turn three part way through Sunday’s race but, unable to slow his car down, Truex got into Kahne sending them both hard into the turn three safer barrier. Following the incident, we heard that Truex was none to pleased with his team over the problem and he made sure crew chief Pat Tryson was aware of his displeasure. Why? Because this isn’t the first time Truex has been affected by this issue with MWR. If you’ll remember back to qualifying last fall at Richmond, Truex was the victim of a hung throttle during qualifying that forced the team to a backup car for the race. And while sometimes caused by mechanical failures, hung throttles can also be caused by issues with the preparation of the car back at the shop. Hopefully the #56 team is able to rectify any issues they may have.
NASCAR Maybe Looking At Fueling Heads There was some talk in the garage this weekend that NASCAR may begin taking a closer look into the fueling systems used by the Cup Series teams. As you’ve heard repeatedly all season, the teams are using a new style self-vented fueling system this season with the elimination of the catch can man. NASCAR’s rules for the new system, which was developed by Schultz Products, allow for some modifications to the components. And besides making changes to pit stop choreography, many teams have spent a lot of time trying to find ways to make fuel flow faster with the new equipment. It sounds now as if NASCAR wants to see what they’ve been able to accomplish.
I’ll now turn this post over to you. What were your thoughts on the Martinsville race? Have you enjoyed the season up to this point? Could Harvick be showing he’s the guy to beat for the championship? Is Dale Jr. finally turning a corner?
Filed under: Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick, Chase for the Sprint Cup, NASCAR
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Filed under: Kasey Kahne, FanHouse Exclusive, NASCAR
Filed under: Brian Vickers, Kasey Kahne, NASCAR Rumors, Sprint Cup, Red Bull Racing, NASCAR
Filed under: Kasey Kahne, NASCAR
Just as I was about to complete and publish a post on Wednesday night about Kasey Kahne and his lame duck situation, the story broke that Kahne had been released from Richard Petty Motorsports. And just like that, my 600 word post was out the window. Oh well. I then spent the next 30 minutes or so watching the story develop on Twitter (follow us @nascarinsider - shameless plug over), along with all the reactions from fans, media, and the like. And what I’ve decided, after all that has transpired this season and over the last four days specifically, is that Kahne’s release needed to happen as soon as possible.
What I had written about in my other, now defunct, post for Thursday was that in a nutshell, Kahne brought this lame duck situation on himself. His days as the top driver at RPM were over the second he announced his intentions to leave. He was still going to get good stuff, but the full brunt of RPM’s resources would now be focused on their future. If that angered or frustrated him, he really had nobody to blame but himself.
With that said, I understand his frustration over part failures and bad performance. He wants to run well, and from his perspective, the cars were not letting him do that. I would have been mad too.
But, even with how the season has gone and knowing what transpired at Charlotte, I have to say this: you absolutely never quit on your team. His guys have been behind him all season, and to quit on them in a moment of anger is a complete slap in the face. I don’t care if he was sick or not. Kahne is a very talented driver and has a very bright future with Hendrick, but in this case he was wrong. And it was his refusal to get back into the car after it was wrecked that sealed his fate at RPM.
In the end, this move benefits all parties involved. RPM is rid of an unhappy driver who wanted out anyway, and Kahne gets to make his move to Red Bull early (which we all expect will happen at any second).
What will be interesting to see now is just how well Kahne is able to perform in the Red Bull equipment. They have struggled all season with their own performance woes, and now Kahne will have just a few races in 2010 before taking over for another lame duck season in 2011. Not exactly a positive combination of factors.
In the end, for me personally anyway, I will remember this situation more for Kahne’s antics at Charlotte than for RPM releasing him early. If a driver wants his guys to fight for him every week for 36 weeks, he must do the same for them. It’s this ability to fight through adversity that separates the good drivers from the great drivers.