To quote the great Yogi Berra, “It’s Deja Vu all over again!”
NASCAR put out a news release on Monday pointing out that “Andy Lally, unless something unforeseen occurs, will be the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year.”
This is, unfortunately, becoming a familiar story.
Prior to the 2010 season there was talk that there wouldn’t be a class. Then Kevin Conway showed up with sponsor money. That money bought him a partial season with Front Row Motorsports – until his sponsor quit paying Front Row – and then a few races with Robby Gordon – until his sponsor quit paying Gordon.
I think Conway was the only one truly thrilled with winning an award for which he was the only competitor.
This season started with similar talk about no class. Then Brian Keselowski threw his hat in. He ran at Daytona, and has attempted five other races, but funding has kept the team from doing much of anything. Eventually it was Andy Lally who took over the #71 at TRG and has all but walked away with it.
And yet again we find ourselves with just one true competitor for the Rookie of the Year award.
Now don’t get me wrong, Andy Lally is an accomplished racecar driver and someone who has had respectable forays into NASCAR. And TRG, though underfunded, is not a bad organization.
This situation though speaks to a larger issue for NASCAR. Sponsorship dollars are hard to find, and teams are less willing or able to take risks on younger drivers. Hence a lack of ROY competitors.
Obviously the time will come when teams will have no choice but to start developing talent or risk running out of it – I think we’re getting to that point. We have some great young drivers in the pipeline and we’ll have some good ROY classes in the seasons to come, but is it time NASCAR looks at other ways to honor rookies? Or just gets rid of the award? There is no longer a sponsor. And when you just have one person competing for an award, what’s the point?
I understand the award is meant to reward the best rookie driver of that season and when there is only one, they are technically the best rookie driver and the rightful winner of the award. But does that mean it should be kept around? I’m just not sure.
What I do know is that when we have seasons like we’ve had this year and last, the ROY begins to lose some of its significance and that’s unfortunate.
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At the beginning of the last two years since we opened TNI, we’ve done a rumor scorecard for the previous season. (See the ’08 and ’09 scorecards here and here.) With 2010 now officially behind us, I figured it was time to grade ourselves and our reporting for the year. Before I do though, let me just point out that for 2008 and 2009, our record is 19-3-3 (19 correct, 3 wrong, 3 pushes). Here we go…
Marc Davis To Race At Vegas: Our first rumor of 2010 was that Marc Davis would run the NNS race at Las Vegas. The deal was 99% done we’d heard (he was even on the entry list), but ended up falling apart at the last minute. Davis didn’t end up racing. We’ll call it minus one for the Insiders.
Another New Crew Chief for Robby Gordon: We heard in March that after starting the season with Iain Watts as crew chief, newly hired “consultant” Larry Carter would be taking over as crew chief for RGM. We know for certain that he did call some races for the #7 team, but whether or not he was ever actually officially the crew chief is unclear. Carter was one of several to call a race for RGM in 2010. We’ll call this a push.
NASCAR Considering Eliminating Catch Can Man: With the Truck Series as a test bed, we told you early in April that NASCAR was considering eliminating the catch can position and having both the Cup and Nationwide Series use the new self-vented fuel can. Over the course of the year, NASCAR listened to feedback on the rule change from many in the sport, and in the end, the rule was implemented. The official announcement was made just a few short weeks ago. Plus one for the Insiders.
Front Row Penalized Over Bleeder Valves: After Pocono in June, we were the first to tell you about a possible penalty coming from NASCAR over Front Row Motorsports’ possible use of illegal bleeder valves. We heard a short time later that NASCAR was preparing to hand down their biggest penalty for cheating ever. In the end however, Front Row was penalized but it wasn’t a record sanction. Before the penalty was announced, one unsubstantiated rumor we’d heard was that FRM owner Bob Jenkins actually privately pleaded with NASCAR to levy a smaller fine and points penalty, as anything larger would have put him out of business completely. Obviously, there was no way of knowing if that was actually true or not. We’ll call this plus one, and minus one for the Insiders.
Billy Johnson To Drive for RFR at Watkins Glen: We were the first to tell you that GRAND-AM driver Billy Johnson would be making his NNS debut for Roush Fenway Racing at Watkins Glen. Johnson started ninth in RFR’s #6 Ford, but was caught up in a wreck and finished 36th. It was his only NNS race of 2010. Plus one for the Insiders.
TJ Bell Racing with “Green” Sponsor: In August, we reported that T.J. Bell would be racing at Darlington with a new sponsor, Liberty Tire Recycling. Bell went on to make two starts for MAKE Motorsports with Libery on board. Plus one for the Insiders.
Rumors After Watkins Glen: After the NNS race at the Glen, we reported via Twitter that we’d heard NASCAR had taken a box of lugnuts from Marcos Ambrose’s team that they suspected were illegal. The bit was confirmed later by Scene Daily’s Kenny Bruce, but NASCAR ultimately decided there was no issue. In the same post, we told you that Kevin Conway’s days at FRM were numbered. The team had grown tired of his poor performances, and they were looking to bring in another driver. Following denials by his sponsor Extenze (they emailed us specifically), it was announced five days later that Tony Raines would replace Conway for the race at Michigan. We also added that we’d heard Aric Almirola was a candidate for a Cup ride at RPM. Almirola didn’t end up at RPM, but it was reported by both Fox Sports and ESPN that he’d had discussions with the team. We’ll call that plus three for the Insiders.
Darnell & Kenseth To Run RFR NNS Cars: We told you late in August that Roush Fenway would add Erik Darnell and Matt Kenseth to the round robin of drivers getting starts in their NNS cars. Darnell got three starts (Richmond, Dover, Texas), and Kenseth ran at Atlanta to go with two NNS starts he made earlier in the year. Plus one for the Insiders.
RMM Shuts Down #81 Team: Following the Bristol Truck Series race, we told you that Randy Moss Motorsports was shutting down the #81 team of David Starr. RMM did indeed close down their second team, but Starr never missed a beat. After being let go from the #81, he moved over to SS-Green Light Racing and finished the season. RMM would later run a second truck for Tayler Malsam in four races. Plus one for the Insiders.
Turner Motorsports & Marc Davis: While we weren’t the first to report on the possible sale of Braun Racing to Steve Turner, we were the first to tell you it was a done deal and we gave you the first picture of what the new Turner Motorsports would look like. Todd Braun did end up selling his team, and the new Turner Motorsports will have three NCWTS teams and four NNS teams. They will also run Chevrolets. And after a failed attempt to race at Las Vegas earlier in the season, we told you that Marc Davis would be running for R3 Motorsports at Dover. Davis started 30th and finished 23rd. Plus two for the Insiders.
Johanna Long & Tayler Malsam to Trucks: In September, we reported that both Malsam and Long would be making attempts in the NCWTS race at Las Vegas. Both did race at Vegas, and they both ran more races towards the end of the season. Plus two for the Insiders.
Trevor Bayne To RFR: We were the first to report that Bayne to Roush Fenway was a done deal, and that his new team would run a fifth NNS car for him at Kansas in October. Bayne finished out the season with RFR, and is prepared to run a full NNS schedule in 2011, along with an unspecified number of Cup races. Plus one for the Insiders.
Josh Wise To Drive At Charlotte: Josh Wise spent 2010 driving for several different organizations, and we reported in October that he would race at Charlotte for a team backed by veteran tire changer D.J. Copp. Wise started 39th and finished 18th. Plus one for the Insiders.
KHI, Elliott Sadler, RFR Trucks: Later in October we heard that KHI was putting together the personnel for a second full time Nationwide Series team, and that Elliott Sadler may run some races for them. Both turned out to be true, as it was later announced that Sadler will run the full 2011 schedule for KHI with sponsorship from CitiFinancial. We also told you that there were rumors that Ron Hornaday was shopping for a new NCWTS ride. We’d heard he had conversations with several organizations, but he ended up re-signing with KHI. The last bit we gave you was that Roush Fenway was working on resurrecting their Truck Series program. This story has cooled way down since then, but there is still a small chance it could happen. I’ll give us plus one, a push, and leave the RFR bit as still pending.
Caitlin Shaw To Race At Phoenix: In November we told you about yet another female driver who would be racing in 2010. Caitlin Shaw, after making one start in 2009, returned to the Truck Series in a truck prepared by Mario Gosselin’s DGM Racing at Phoenix. She started 33rd and finished 30th. Plus one for the Insiders.
Skinner Out? Kvapil In?: Our most recent rumor for you, we reported that Mike Skinner was likely out at Randy Moss Motorsports, and that the team would replace him with Travis Kvapil. Skinner won’t talk, and no official announcement has come from the team, so we’ll leave this one pending.
As you can see, we had a busy year reporting on the happenings in NASCAR. Our scorecard for the year looks like this: we had 17 correct, two wrong, two pushes, and still have two rumors pending. Adding up all three seasons worth of news and rumors, that makes us 36-5-5. We prove yet again that if you hear it from us, odds are pretty good that it’s true. Our solid track record doesn’t do much to prove that we are who we say we are, but at the very least we are very well connected janitors…
Kevin Conway doesn’t have a ride. And his season up to this point has been… well not good. Despite the less than impressive stats and a now unclear future, Conway will very likely go into the NASCAR record books as the best rookie of 2010 – the Raybestos Rookie of the Year. Unfortunately, the winner by default.
Conway started 2010 driving the #37 for Front Row Motorsports – his home until last week. His competition through the first 10 races of this season for the ROY was Terry Cook. Cook qualified for just three of ten races he attempted in a very underfunded Whitney Motorsports ride before he and the team parted ways.
That left just Conway, the only full-time competitor, competing for ROY honors this season. For his part, Conway has said he is excited about winning his race of one.
For me, all of a sudden my hard work created some opportunities and now to find myself in the middle of the Rookie of the Year championship in the Sprint Cup Series is beyond comprehension in many ways
Nevermind it was clever maneuvering of points, and start-and-parks that kept Conway going for as long as he did. Through 21 races he had an average start of 40th, and average finish of 31.6 – he finished on the lead lap in just three of those races at Daytona, Watkins Glen and Sonoma.
For all intents and purposes though Conway is the best rookie of this season. Though I don’t know if I’d be too stoked about winning a competition where I was the only competitor, I guess it’s something.
Going back to late last season the talk was how there might not even be a rookie class in the Cup Series. While that didn’t occur, we did end up with the weakest class since perhaps 1958 (I say that only because the winner, Shorty Rollins, was the lone competitor).
Now thanks to a bad economy, an increasing lack of sponsor interest in funding development drivers and plethora of other reasons, we now find ourselves in the same situation we were in last year – the prospect of a season without a ROY participant in the Cup Series.
While it really isn’t that big of a deal, it’s kind of sad to not see a competition for an award whose winners include the sport’s greatest drivers. The award deserves better than this. The sport deserves better than this. But it is what it is.
According to NASCAR’s official Twitter page, Kevin Conway has been replaced on the entry list by Tony Raines in the #34 Front Row Motorsports Ford. This confirms our information from Monday’s blog post in which we told you that Conway’s job was in trouble. This news also comes after sponsor Extenze put out a press release denying Conway was being replaced.
No official announcement has come from either the team or the sponsor about the move or whether Raines will continue driving.
The Watkins Glen road course provided some great racing this weekend, but while the action on track was interesting, so were some of the rumors floating around the garage. We heard a few different bits this weekend that we wanted to share, and I figured I’d weigh in on them with some of my own thoughts.
First up, we reported on Twitter (follow us @nascarinsider) yesterday that we’d heard NASCAR took a box of lugnuts from Marcos Ambrose’s Nationwide Series team during the race. Word is that they were illegal in some way. Don’t be surprised if the team is penalized this week. I don’t expect NASCAR will take the win away however. Quick Update: Scenedaily.com’s Kenny Bruce reported via his Twitter page that NASCAR did indeed take lugnuts from the #47, but later decided there was no issue.
The most ridiculous rumor that we’ve heard on a few different occasions recently, is that Red Bull Racing is shutting down at the end of the season. I know the team’s performance has been abysmal this season, and question marks surround both of the team’s normal drivers, Brian Vickers and Scott Speed, but this is one I just don’t believe. There was even a report late this evening that Red Bull may be where Kasey Kahne ends up for the 2011 season. Some major changes are probably in order for this team internally, but don’t expect them to close down any time soon.
While Red Bull’s future is probably safe, we have heard that Kevin Conway’s days might be numbered at Front Row Motorsports. It sounds like the team has grown tired of Conway’s poor performance, and this group will struggle mightily to make races if the #34 falls out of the top 35 in owners points. They are currently 35th in the standings, only 182 points ahead of 36th. A few more bad finishes, and Conway will be on the outside looking in. To this point in the season, Conway has had a guaranteed starting position in every race, due to some fancy number wrangling by owner Bob Jenkins. With one team already outside the top 35 however, thanks to the tire debacle at Pocono earlier in the year, Jenkins can’t afford to have another team fall out. Word is that Extenze would continue sponsoring the team, but another yet-to-be-named driver would be brought in.
Richard Petty Motorsports officially announced on Friday that AJ Allmendinger had signed a multi-year agreement to remain the driver of the #43 Ford. With that settled, a number of other questions still plague this organization; namely sponsors and other drivers. With the rumblings that Paul Menard is taking his family sponsor to RCR, Kahne’s known departure for Hendrick, and Elliott Sadler’s apparent dissatisfaction, Allmendinger is short a few teammates for 2011. We are still hearing that Ambrose will probably end up in either the #9 or #19 next season, and a deal may be close between the two parties, pending sponsorship. Another name that has popped up as a potential replacement for RPM next season is Aric Almirola. Almirola has revived what appeared to be a fading career this season with a strong NCWTS campaign to this point that currently includes two wins. The young driver also impressed folks a few weeks ago with a third place finish at ORP driving for JR Motorsports #88 NNS team. If the team can find sponsorship, Almirola would be a decent addition.
Like I wrote on Friday, it’s certainly been a crazy Silly Season, and there are still plenty of dominoes left to fall. It will certainly be fun to see what plays out.
As Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick battle for the points lead and the Gibbs cars make their performance surge, a story few have been talking about is the race at the other end of the point standings – that is the race to stay in the top 35 in the owner standings.
For most of the last 11 weeks as NASCAR has traversed the country and this season’s plot lines have developed and grown, Front Row Motorsports (collectively) and Robby Gordon have been trading that dreaded 36th spot in the points standings.
Front Row Motorsports for its effort has three drivers – Travis Kvapil, David Gilliland and Kevin Conway - that it’s been attempting to keep in the top-35 and locked into races. With a limited budget, and old Roush-Yates motors, the team has performed admirably. The story of Bob Jenkins and his little team that could has been one of the feel good stories of the year.
The team’s main goal has been to keep the fully sponsored, but struggling Kevin Conway with a guaranteed starting spot. Conway has traded his number/team with teammate David Gilliland twice now. Though it’s purely a surface thing (the team even changes the number on the hauler), it’s worked. Conway hasn’t missed a race. Perhaps more remarkably, neither has Gilliland.
Front Row’s main foe this season has been the independent Robby Gordon. Gordon, like Front Row, faces some adversity – he’s under-funded and under-supported- still Gordon has been able to fight against the start-ups and even Front Row’s three car assault and keep his team in the top-35 (most weeks).
Gordon though may or may not compete the whole season. And this week’s penalty didn’t help him in his bid to keep his team with a guaranteed starting position. After losing 25 points for unapproved additional door braces, Gordon is now just 18 points ahead of David Gilliland and that 36th place position.
As these teams fight to maintain their very valuable points positions every little mistake will be amplified and every position will count. As we continue through the summer and the season (barring anyone falling way behind) this will one fight to keep your eye on.
When the Cup Series heads to Bristol this weekend, it marks the fifth race on the 2010 schedule. It will be the final race that the top 35 in the owners standings from 2009 will have a guaranteed starting spot. The following weekend at Martinsville, the 2010 owners points will decide who is in and who is out. Bristol will be crucial for those who are floating right around that 35th spot in the standings.
Those who are on the outside looking in right now include Kevin Conway, Boris Said, Robby Gordon, and Max Papis. A good run at Bristol for any of these drivers could mean the difference between racing and going home at Martinsville and beyond. For Said, Gordon, and Papis who all have limited sponsorship, the idea of not having a guaranteed starting spot could drastically affect the health of their race teams and their ability to continue competing.
The drivers who are in currently, but are dangerously close to being out, include Mike Bliss, Travis Kvapil, Brad Keselowski, David Gilliland, Sam Hornish, Bobby Labonte, Ryan Newman, and Marcos Ambrose. A bad finish at Bristol, combined with some good runs by the competition, could knock any of these drivers out of the top 35 and that vital guaranteed starting position.
Two drivers who stand to benefit following Bristol are Mike Bliss and Scott Speed. Speed is very solidly in the top 35 (currently 12th) after a difficult 2009 season left him having to race his way in to the first five of 2010. But his team has rose to the occasion this season, and their performance has improved markedly. Bliss currently sits in the final guaranteed spot in 35th, which, if he could keep it would be a huge boost to his Tommy Baldwin Racing team. This team continues to run severely underfunded, but a locked in spot in every race could help this team secure more sponsorship.
Bristol is always an exciting race anyway, filled with drama from start to finish. And this season’s spring stop in Thunder Valley will be no different. But if the usual story lines don’t grab you, take a look down the leaderboard a ways. You will definitely find a tension filled race for many teams./
All three series have one more trip out West for the year. While the haulers make the long trek to Phoenix, we’ve got another question and answer post for you. If you don’t know what this post is, until further notice, we will be answering any and all reader questions every Wednesday, right here. So if you’ve got one, click on the ”Ask the Insiders” tab at the top of the page and send one to us. On to the questions…
1. From Savannah:
Hey Guys, does the COT become airborne in accidents more than the old style car? In several wrecks, the cars seem to be flipping more than the older car. Does the wing on the back of the car cause it to loose the downforce and then the flipping starts? I am just curious. I apologize if you have already responded to this type of question in the past.
I’ll be honest with you, I can’t really give you a great explanation of this. Diandra over at Stock Car Science though does have a good explanation of why this is occurring with seemingly more frequency. By the way Stock Car Science is a great blog; the woman who writes it, wrote The Physics of NASCAR. – Journo
2. From Doug in CA:
I was reading about tire testing at Daytona. How much tire testing goes on? Do Cup drivers participate in most? Very little? It seems to me that there are plenty of drivers out there who don’t have rides (Blaney, Riggs, Raines etc.) who would appreciate picking up a few bucks for running laps for Goodyear. Why do busy guys like Johnson or Busch do this job?
It happens a few times a year. Goodyear will pick certain tracks they need to work on, and go from there. Tire testing happens for the Cup cars the most, but it does happen for the other series too. The thing to remember about driver participation, is that Goodyear doesn’t supply the cars. Teams show up with all of their own equipment, So out of work guys wouldn’t really do Goodyear any good. Guys like Jimmie and Kyle will do it because it allows them to learn, and to help their teams learn. Especially now with the testing ban, any extra track time is a huge positive for a team and driver. – T.C.
3. From Blair:
Sitting here watching the race and though I’m a little tickled at the fact that Jimmie Johnson is stuck in the garage it has made me wonder. As far as the car goes, what all can be changed during the race as far as engine pieces and all that? Obviously you can’t change the original chassis but what all can you change? Or maybe the easier list would be what can’t you change? Thanks guys! Love reading your blogs!
Outside of replacing the car (chassis) and engine, everything is pretty much fair game. Rear ends, suspension, body, really anything else is okay to work on. – T.C.
4. From Scott:
Hey Guys, following Jimmy Johnson’s big wreck on Sunday his crew really pulled together and did great work to get his car back out there. Clearly this shows part of the reason that he is in position to win another championship and highlights the team aspect of NASCAR, which I don’t think gets enough coverage. However, with all the parts being changed I was wondering about a couple of things. I heard during the race that you can change just about everything except the motor and NASCAR lets you back on the track for your attempt to get back up to speed. What I’m wondering is this, what allowances does NASCAR provide for how the car measures up in post race testing? While its doubtful that after that type of crash a car would havea competitive downforce advantage is this something NASCAR checks? As always, great website, great columns and commentaries, love Ask Wednesdays, keep up the great work!
Post race inspection usually only happens to the top five (I think) and a random. So unless NASCAR decided to be ridiculous, a team in a situation like Jimmie’s won’t have to go through tech after the race. There is no point in checking a team for cheating when they were a few seconds off the pace, 120 laps down. – T.C.
5. From windowlicker:
Hey guys. During the Busch race at Texas, a car (I think it was Justin Allgaier) came out after a wreck with no front end. NASCAR black flagged him for not maintaining minimum speed. He went back in they did something & he came back out & finished the race. I thought once you got black flagged for not maintaining speed, NASCAR parked you. You didn’t get a second chance.
I think that was his one chance. The car comes out of the garage, NASCAR sees it doesn’t make minimum speed, then you are allowed one chance to make it right. That is how I always understood it. When a car is wrecked and comes out of the garage, the team doesn’t really know what it has to work with. If the rule is as I understand it, NASCAR gives the driver and team one chance to feel it out and make the car better. – T.C.
6. From J and D:
After seeing some of the recent wrecks in NASCAR races, we got to wondering: when a car is torn up badly but still able to finish a race, how on Earth do they pass post-race inspection? We’ve seen some cars with no front ends, jacked-up rears and much more. What’s left to measure?
Like I said above, unless a wrecked car finishes top five, they won’t be inspected after the race. Once a car is wrecked and goes many laps down, there really is no point in inspecting them. – T.C.
7. From Red Kneck:
Why does Marcos Ambrose’s 47 car have yellow rookie stripes but is not listed in the Rookie of the Year Standings?
It’s because he ran too many races last season to run for the Rookie of the Year Award (11 in 2008), but he is still considered a rookie (hence the rookie stripe). – Journo
8. From Michael:
I know racing in general money is money no matter the funding entity. However, do guys like Conway, Nemechek (Extenze) & Martin (when he was sponsored by Viagra) face much ribbing in the garage area?
Yes, absolutely. I would say the crew guys are the ones that face the majority of the ribbing though. Can you imagine walking around the garage with Extenze or Viagra on your chest? I’m just glad it’s not me. – Journo
9. From Christopher:
During the Texas Sprint Cup race, we all saw the shots from the hour or so the 48 team was re-building Johnson’s car. It seemed that Jimmy stayed in the car the entire time. Is this normal? Is there any reason- knowing it was going to take awhile- that Jimmy wouldn’t have gotten out? Maybe to help- or at least take a stretch?
In this situation I think Jimmie was trying to make a point that he was committed to going back out. Likewise he was still very much in that zone, so I think he wanted to avoid distractions like the media. Generally, I would say whether or not a driver stays in the car depends on the driver and the situation. -Journo
And that brings yet another “Ask The Insiders Wednesday” to a close. Thanks to everyone who sent in questions. And remember, if you’d like to be a part of next week, click on the ”Ask the Insiders” tab at the top of the page and send your question in!