We got another stark reminder last week about how a weak economy and soft sponsorship market are affecting NASCAR teams. UPS announced they would be moving from full primary sponsorship at Roush Fenway to one race as a primary sponsor with a full season as an associate sponsorship. Ouch.
The move likely means just three teams for RFR in 2011 – and David Ragan out of his ride. Add to their woes the closure of Kevin Harvick Inc., possible downsizing at Turner and Germain, less than full sponsorship for Matt Kenseth and Clint Bowyer and you have a tough market for teams and drivers.
That is, if you’re a driver without money behind you. If you have sponsorship, or dollars to throw around, the world is truly your oyster.
Nelson Piquet, who’s losing his ride at KHI at the end of the year has been on the hunt and talking to multiple potential suitors. He told WSB Radio:
“It’s down to Turner [Motorsports], Penske [Racing], Kyle Busch [Motorsports], and Eddie Sharp [Racing]… Maybe a little bit less Eddie, because he doesn’t have [a] Nationwide [team] and we are planning on doing part of the Nationwide Series next year.”
Not a bad group of teams to be deciding from – especially since they’re courting him, not the other way around. Piquet, a former Renault F1 driver – involved in a 2009 scandal – came to NASCAR in 2010. The driver has quickly acclimated, scoring three top-tens in five starts during the 2010 Truck Season and four top-fives and eight top-tens so far this season.
Piquet is a good prospect. Even better, he brings money with him. Truly a win-win for any team.
Consider too Brendan Gaughan, the son and grandson of legendary Las Vegas casino owners. The Gaughan’s have a lot of money and just like Piquet, Brendan’s pretty good.
According to internet reports Gaughan has been in negotiations for a ride with Richard Childress Racing. The team is competing for a championship in the truck series and will have a renewed Nationwide Series program next season. RCR has, of course, made recent forays into the pay-to-play side of NASCAR with Paul Menard, Tim George Jr., John Wes Townley and Joey Coulter, so this isn’t completely surprising. This potential deal gives Gaughan his best opportunity for success since he left Penske years ago.
It’s truly a buyers market right now. If you can bring money to the table and you have signs of talent (and in the case of some drivers a personality that can be managed) where you end up is up to you.
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It was announced on Wednesday that starting in 2012, Kevin Harvick Inc.’s Nationwide Series program would be “merged” with Richard Childress Racing. Effectively, what this “merger” means, is that KHI’s #2 and #33 NNS teams will now be run out of RCR’s shop in Welcome, NC. Elliott Sadler will continue piloting the #2 and a round robin of Cup drivers will drive the #33. This announcement, combined with the recent rumors of the demise of KHI’s Truck Series program, really make me wonder if after ten years in existence we aren’t seeing the end of what Kevin and Delana built.
If you might remember, it hasn’t quite been a year since RCR announced it would no longer field it’s own NNS entries, and that it would combine it’s efforts with KHI. Now the move is being reversed.
Why Kevin and Delana are getting out now is unclear, but what is certain is why RCR is interested in having a Nationwide program back under it’s roof: Richard’s grandsons Austin and Ty Dillon. Austin is currently in his second season behind the wheel of RCR’s #3 truck, and appears set to join the Nationwide Series full time for 2012. Taking control of two established teams gives RCR a leg up in giving Austin what he needs to be successful next season and beyond.
Brother Ty, who is currently rolling over the competition in ARCA (he currently has a 405 point lead in the standings), would be in line to take over the #3 truck from Austin. And it won’t be long before Ty is himself running NNS races.
Something else to consider, is if this move might be an indication that Clint Bowyer could actually be departing RCR at season’s end. We’ve heard that if Bowyer does leave, there is a good chance that the #33 Cup team will be shut down. Taking on multiple NNS entries would be a replacement for that team, and would allow RCR to hang on to employees they might otherwise let go.
Harvick is scheduled to address the media on Friday at Richmond, where he will hopefully shed some more light on what the future looks like for KHI. But after it appeared he could be on the road to being the next owner/driver in the Cup Series, it now looks like KHI is being dismantled.
When it came time this year during the annual media tour for NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France to address the gathered crowd at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, he made a very unfortunate flub – he called the Camping World Truck Series the “Craftsman World Truck Series”. This slip was, in hindsight, foreshadowing for a season that’s been a little forgettable so far.
It took four weeks for a series regular to win a race – which meant, for three weeks we had a points leader who had no wins. Between the top four drivers in the points, there are only four top-fives to go around. 357 of 647 total laps (about 55%) have been led by guys who can’t win the championship. And half the wins this season have come from Kyle Busch owned trucks (don’t worry, he’s only taken one of the wins).
The trouble this season hasn’t been fields dominated by Cup regulars, but a few good Cup regulars in great equipment. And they’ve all been good for the most part.
To their credit, the Thorsport trucks have been regular contenders (in fact Johnny Sauter became just the second non-Cup winner of the season along with Trevor Bayne – he’s the only one in the Nationwide and Truck Series). And we’ve seen some young talent show up out of nowhere – does the name Cole Whitt ring a bell?
Ron Hornaday Jr. has been back in old form, three top-tens in four races, and immediate past champion Todd Bodine is looking ok. Austin Dillon’s been competitive too.
The Randy Moss Motorsports trucks, or I’m sorry, truck, has been terrible with a new engine builder – a real disappointment with series vet and past champion Travis Kvapil. And the Turner Motorsports teams have been hit or miss. I still can’t believe James Buescher missed a race.
This series is always the most enjoyable to be around and watch. It’s been good to see some lesser funded teams actually competing this year. But lately it’s been lacking that tough trucks, tough racing mentality that always produces solid events.
All the above said, I’m optimistic the season will rebound. Hopefully that starts this weekend at Nashville.
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…
I fully understand the idea behind putting the best face on something. It’s in the best interest of companies, and in our case race teams, to make sure they’re portrayed in the best light possible. With the uptick of “funded drivers” in recent years though this desire to put the best light on things has taken a turn toward the laughable.
Consider the announcement this week that Nelson Piquet Jr. is joining Kevin Harvick Inc. to run the full truck schedule in 2011. In this case it wasn’t the team – their release was actually pretty moderated – but the driver himself that left me shaking my head.
Piquet said, talking about where he was at and where he wanted to be in the future:
“I want to get there because I deserve it and because of wins and because teams want me to be there, not because I’m going to bring a sponsor.”
Now don’t get me wrong, it’s great he wants to move through the ranks of NASCAR based on merit, not on money. That said, I have a hard time believing his hire at KHI is a purely charitable move on the team’s part.
Coincidentally, Piquet settled a libel suit with Renault just last week regarding comments they made about Piquet following his involvement in the now infamous “Crashgate”. No figure was announced, but it was said to be “substantial damages.” I honestly don’t think the two are directly connected – you don’t generally get a contract worked out in seven days. I digress.
This rosy picture people like to paint though gets to be a little much. Remember last season when Richard Childress said at a press conference John Wes Townley had a lot of “talent”? He then cut Townley after five races – like he didn’t know what he was getting into. Apparently by talent, he meant money.
Or how about Brian Scott? After signing the young driver to run for his family owned team in 2011, J.D. Gibbs said:
We’ve done this enough to know we’re never going to do a deal just to do a deal. We learned in the past the hard way. Unless you have a guy there that you think can win races, win championships and compete week in and week out, it’s not worth doing. So, our guys really kind of got together a while ago and figured, ‘Hey, Brian is one of those guys when you see what he’s done in just a really kind of a short career span,’ and I think that’s really going to bode well for us.
Overly optimistic and rosy? Perhaps. I think the truth is, he’s a pretty competent driver and he brings with him a lot of money. Did they sign him because he was the best candidate to bring Gibbs another Nationwide Series championship? I doubt it.
I write this not to bring any of these guys down. I really do hope for their sake, and the sake of the sport they’re successful in their endeavors. I just wish we could come to a point when we can call an orange an orange, and not try to make it the apple that it will never be.
This year has been a particularly brutal one for car counts in the Camping World Truck Series. While there usually is a full field, many teams choose to start and park. Looking at 2010 though things are looking up for the truck series.
Richard Childress Racing is expected to field at least one team in 2010 for team owner Richard Childress’ grandson Austin Dillon. The last time RCR fielded a full time truck series team was 1999. There have also been rumblings that Tim George Jr. will drive a second truck for RCR. As the original championship team in the series, it is exciting to see RCR make a return.
Newcomer organization Turner Motorsports (they will make their debut this weekend) also has plans to run one full time and one part time team in 2010. Ricky Carmichael has said he will jump from Kevin Harvick Inc. to the team to run the full season. In addition to running the #1 car in the Nationwide Series, James Buescher is also expected to run at least 19 races for the team.
And then there’s Kyle Busch Racing (or whatever it’ll be called). While nothing has been announced they are rumored to be running at least two teams in 2010. We’ve heard they might also field a third part time truck for Kyle. With some of the talent they are rumored to be bringing in, this team could be a force very quickly.
In addition to the above teams, Mario Gosselin has said he will run the full 2010 schedule with sponsorship from MyTireMonkey.com. Gosselin’s a two time USAR Pro Cup Champion. This year’s ARCA Re/Max champion Justin Lofton has also said he will go truck racing full time next season with primary sponsorship from his father’s cattle company.It’s uncertain where he’ll end up.
Most existing organizations while not necessarily locked up for 2010, are expected to maintain their truck counts. Just to name a few, Randy Moss Motorsports has said they will be back with Mike Skinner in 2010 and they hope to continue fielding a second truck. Kevin Harvick Inc. has said they will return next season with one full time and one part time truck. And Thorsport has re-signed Johnny Sauter for 2010 and will return with Matt Crafton as well.
Uncertainty does still remain with a few regulars though. Wyler Racing needs to find sponsorship to run the full 2010 schedule; something Stacy Compton says they’re still $500,000 short of. Circle Bar, which will lose James Buescher this year, may be down to just one team next season if a funded driver is not found. At Red Horse Racing the number of teams also looks heavily dependent on sponsorship. Team owner Tom DeLoach has said Timothy Peters will be back though.
Obviously the loss of Roush Fenway is difficult for the series. 2010 will be the first time since its’ inception that Roush won’t compete. Their scaled back efforts this season though made the loss, less difficult to deal with.
Perhaps this post is coming a little too early because there are still quite a few guys who don’t have anything locked up yet, but I’m optimistic 2010 will be a strong year for the series. With ratings up and competition consistently good, I’m looking forward to next season.
Rick Ren Leaving KHI?
We’ve been hearing quite regularly for the last few weeks that crew chief Rick Ren will leave Kevin Harvick Inc. at the end of the season. He’s rumored to be heading to Kyle Busch’s new team to serve in a general manager type role.
As we first reported in July Kyle Busch is expected to start a team fielding two or more Camping World Truck Series teams and possibly a Nationwide Series team in 2010.
Rick Ren joined KHI in 2007 after a stint with Johnny Benson at the now defunct Bill Davis Racing. Since joining the team, he and Ron Hornaday Jr. have racked up 16 wins and one championship (a second looks inevitable this season). He has more than 30 years experience in NASCAR.