Okay, so I fully understand that Roger Penske is a very smart guy. He’s been extremely successful as both a business man and a race team owner. I also know that I’m just a lowly tire changer, and if I really knew what I was talking about, I probably wouldn’t be here writing this blog post. But this situation with Sam Hornish is really starting to make me wonder about his decision making. Hornish has done absolutely nothing in his five years of NASCAR competition to suggest that he deserves another chance. And yet, Penske confirmed to Lee Spencer this weekend that Hornish will run in at least 10 Nationwide Series races this season.
Hornish’s skills in open wheel racing are irrefutable. He’s one of the most successful and decorated drivers in the history of the sport (3 championships, 19 wins, Indy 500 winner). Those skills however have not translated over to stock car racing. Since coming into NASCAR in 2006, Hornish has two top five and nine top ten finishes in 128 starts across the Truck, NNS, and Cup Series.
And now, instead of giving Justin Allgaier or Parker Kligerman more opportunities to learn and gain experience, Penske will waste at least 10 starts on a hopeless Hornish. For what?
Just so we are clear on what Penske let walk out the door when he released Allgaier, through two full years of NNS competition, Allgaier amassed one win, 11 top five, and 32 top ten finishes to go along with three poles and two top six points finishes. And Kligerman’s NNS statistics are also better when compared to Hornish’s, and he was in sub-par equipment on many occasions.
It is almost unfathomable to me to think that with two young, very talented drivers in the pipeline, Penske continues to give Hornish opportunities. I realize that Allgaier was let go due to the loss of Verizon as a sponsor, but there is no way that Hornish is more marketable to potential sponsors then Allgaier or Kligerman. Any name recognition Hornish had from his IndyCar days has long since been killed by his mediocre Cup career.
In a time when it appears as though we could go a few years (starting with the 2010 season) without a solid Cup rookie class, it’s very frustrating to watch talented young drivers get pushed aside for someone who has already proven they don’t have what it takes.
Mr. Penske, you’ve done a lot of great things in your career, but you’ve officially botched this one.
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Roger Penske may have yet another star in the making in the person of young Parker Kligerman. While everyone focuses on the continued presence of Cup drivers in Nationwide, and other prospects like Trevor Bayne, Kligerman has been quietly racing and finishing well.
So far this season, Kligerman has only seven starts in the Nationwide Series although he has attempted ten races. He’s driven for underfunded Smith Ganassi Racing and gotten a few starts in Penske equipment masked as K-Automotive #26 Dodges. While the three early season DNQs certainly don’t look good on his resume, his last four starts (Daytona, Chicago, Bristol, Montreal) all turned into very impressive runs. After finishing 13th at both Daytona and Chicago, Kligerman has cracked the top ten in his last two races with a ninth at Bristol and an eighth at Montreal. Not bad considering he was up against Cup regulars at Bristol and a slew of road course aces at Montreal.
Kligerman signed on as a Penske development driver for the 2009 season, and then spent the rest of the year dominating the ARCA RE/MAX Series. He brought home nine wins and lost the championship battle to Justin Lofton by only five points. His very good ARCA season earned him the opportunity to run two races for Penske in the Nationwide Series towards the end of ’09, and Kligerman again didn’t disappoint. In his first ever NNS attempt, he sat on the pole, led laps, and brought his car home with a top 20 finish.
For 2010, Kligerman has been running a limited NNS schedule on very little support, but he is starting to make a very solid case for why Roger Penske & Co. should find a more permanent home for his future. The young driver from Connecticut has been overshadowed this season by his Penske teammates Brad Keselowski and Justin Allgaier, who currently sit first and fourth in the NNS championship standings, but his future appears to be no less bright.
Let’s hope a full slate of Nationwide races in a fully supported Penske car await Kligerman for 2011.
(Do you like the consonance?) From auto dealerships to Super Bowl XL, Roger Penske finds success in just about everything he does.
His Penske Automotive Group, with 253 dealerships, is the second largest auto dealer group in the world.
His Penske Truck Leasing manages more than 200,000 trucks around the world.
And Penske is a self-made billionaire. Forbes ranks him as the 773rd richest man in the world and 296th richest man in America.
In open wheel racing Penske’s teams have won 13 championships and gone to victory lane a total of 141 times, including 15 Indianapolis 500 wins. He is one of the most prolific owners in open wheel racing.
Despite his success in business and on that side of racing, in 27 years of fielding a car in NASCAR Penske hasn’t been able to push his teams across the threshold and become a championship winning owner (though he came very close in 1993 and has 62 race wins). That may soon change.
It was only a matter of time before the man affectionately known as ‘The Captain’ once again positioned his NASCAR team to be as consistently competitive as any other organization in the sport.
With the announcement last week that Shell/Pennzoil would join the team in 2011, Penske (the organization) showed their strength not just as a racing organization, but as a business entity. The team and the larger Penske Corporation is able to provide sponsors with so much more than just an on-track presence. With big sponsors in short supply, this type of thing is vital.
On track, the team has Kurt Busch (a championship winning veteran), Brad Keselowski (an eager rookie), Sam Hornish (a developing, championship winning race car driver), and strong prospects in Justin Allgaier, Parker Kilgerman and Dakoda Armstrong.
Armstrong, running full time in the ARCA Series, won his first race this past weekend. And Allgaier scored his first win at Bristol earlier this season and has shown marked improvement. To his credit, Parker Kilgerman was running well this past weekend before getting caught up in a wreck.
While there is still work to be done at Penske, they are well positioned for the future. They have veteran talent, great sponsors and the willingness to nurture the Penske stars of tomorrow. Those are all factors that could one day soon combine to give Roger Penske that elusive NASCAR championship.
After the 2008 season, we decided to look back over the season and see how we did in terms of reporting on rumors and breaking some news. In the end, we got eight correct, had two pushes, screwed one up, and had three rumors outstanding. With 2009 behind us, I thought it would be fun to again do the same thing. I’m going to start with the three bits we had outstanding, and then we’ll move into 2009.
Fastenal to RCR: After the info we heard, we thought this one was in the books. Even Jayski reported at one point that this was going to happen, even mentioning a driver lineup. But in the end, Fastenal ended up at JR Motorsports for the ‘09 season. Scratch this one.
Rule Changes Coming to the Truck Series: NASCAR did indeed make changes to the Truck Series rules for 2009, and we were close. We first reported they were only going to allow only four crew members over the wall and that they would initiate a hard card limit. They did indeed limit both, but we missed the crew limit by one. It was five members over the wall and not four. I’m still giving us the point here. Plus one for the Insiders.
BDR Employees Laid Off: This indeed was true, and what was left of BDR was turned into Triad Racing Technologies. TRT supplies teams with Toyota engines, chassis, and some other services. Plus one for the Insiders.
First Crew Member Tests Positive: In my post following the Daytona 500, I let you know that I’d heard NASCAR had caught it’s first offender of the new substance abuse policy. We found out a short time later that it was a Mayfield Motorsports employee, and he was suspended indefinitely from NASCAR. It was strange foreshadowing for the summer to come and drug testing. Plus one for the Insiders.
RMM Cuts Salaries: Early in the season, we heard that Randy Moss Motorsports had cut it’s employees salaries by as much as 35%. While no official announcement was ever put out, this was indeed true. The budget for the #5 Tundra for Mike Skinner was limited at best, which led to the cuts. Plus one for the Insiders.
Trouble At Trail: 2009 was supposed to be the first season for minority owned Trail Motorsport. But what started off with much fan fare and press, fizzled before it ever got started. We first told you in April about the problems internally at Trail. On it’s own, the team never fielded a race car at a Truck Series, Nationwide Series, or Cup Series event. Plus one for the Insiders.
Kyle Busch, Team Owner in 2010: We were the first to tell you about Kyle Busch’s plans to start his own NASCAR team for the 2010 season. In July, we reported that construction was ongoing on a new race shop for Kyle and that he, Johnny Benson, and Brian Ickler may drive for the new team. Busch will indeed have a team in 2010, with two full time trucks. One for himself and Brian Ickler, and another for Tayler Malsam. If sponsorship can be found, Benson may run a third truck. Plus one for the Insiders.
Parker Kligerman, Wyler Racing, & Michael McDowell: In September we told you that ARCA driver Parker Kligerman would run some NNS races for Penske, that Wyler Racing may be closing up shop, and that Michael McDowell would run at New Hampshire for Thorsport Racing. Kligerman ended up running at Kansas and Homestead for Penske Racing. Wyler did make it to the end of the season, but from what we know just barely. As of today, there is no word on Wyler Racing’s 2010 plans. And finally, McDowell did run at NHMS for Thorsport. He ran the #98 truck, that was painted up like a police car. We will call that plus two and minus one for the Insiders.
Your Favorite Team and a Funded Driver: While we did write a post mentioning a rumor, we wrote the post more as commentary then actually reporting the rumor. The post itself was about John Wes Townley and his impending move to Richard Childress Racing. Townley will indeed race for RCR in 2010, and will compete full time in the NNS in the #21 Zaxbys Chevrolet. Since we didn’t call the driver out, nor did we get anything wrong, I’ll give us a push.
Rick Ren Gone from KHI: We told you before Homestead that Kevin Harvick Inc. crew chief Rick Ren was leaving at the end of the season, possibly to take a managerial role at Kyle Busch’s new team. This rumor was actually denied publicly by Kevin Harvick, but in the end turned out to be true. Ren will serve as the Director of Operations for KBM this season. Plus one for the Insiders.
Eric Phillips to KBM: To add to this stout lineup for 2010, we were the first to tell you about Eric Phillips leaving Randy Moss Motorsports for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Phillips will serve as crew chief for the #18 truck piloted by Busch and Brian Ickler for this season. We were certainly all over the KBM stuff in ‘09. Plus one for the Insiders.
Biffle and Baker Curb: And last but not least, after it was reported by SceneDaily.com that Baker Curb was working on a deal with a Cup driver for the 2010 NNS season, we told you that Cup driver was Greg Biffle. Biffle will pilot the #27 Red Man Ford Fusion for Baker Curb this season in an undetermined number of races. Plus one for the Insiders.
Looking back over all the rumors, I think we had another pretty good year. We got eleven right, missed two calls, and had one push. So over the last two years, that makes us 19-3-3 on the scoreboard. We certainly don’t know it all or hear it all, and we also won’t report every rumor we hear. But I think this shows that when you hear a rumor from TNI, odds are pretty good it’s true. What do you think?
We’ve still got a ways to go before the Sprint Cup season has ended and we crown our champion, but never fear if you’re looking for a good conclusion to a motorsports season we’ve got three this weekend.
The ARCA Re/Max, IndyCar, and Grand-Am seasons all come to an end this weekend; and all three are locked into tight battles between the top two or three teams. If you’ve been watching any of them this season you know what I’m talking about.
IndyCar Series
Wrapping up at Homestead-Miami Speedway this weekend, the IndyCar Series has been one to watch this season.
True the battle is between just two teams and three drivers, but it’s still been exciting.
The Target Chip Ganassi teams of Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti sit one, two in the points and have been that way for most of the season. In fact the two swapped points every week there for several weeks. They have a combined nine wins this season (Dixon leads with five) and are only five points apart, with Dixon in the lead.
Despite Dixon’s lead Franchitti has the better average finish of 4.9.
The only driver who has been able to keep up with those two is Ryan Briscoe over at TCGR rival Penske Racing. Briscoe has four poles and three wins on the season with an average finish of 5.6. He’s only eight points out of the lead.
Long story short it’s all going to come down to who finishes ahead of who. Considering the dominance of all three of these teams it is sure to be an exciting finish to the season. Check it out Saturday at 4 p.m. on Versus.
Grand-Am
Also closing out their season at Homestead-Miami this weekend is the Grand-Am Series. There’s not much of a points race going on in the Grand Touring Series, but the Daytona Prototype Series is a squeaker.
Reigning champs Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas are just 10 points back from leaders Jon Fogerty and Alex Gurney in third. Eight points back in second are Brian Friselle and Max Angelelli.
The CGR team of Pruett and Rojas has been solid this season leading a total of 406 laps, but they only have two wins to the Gainsco team’s four. The Suntrust Team of Angelelli and Friselle have a similar record to Ganassi and also have two wins.
Given that these three teams finished 1-2-3 in order the last time they raced, and all of these drivers are very competitive with each other, Homestead is sure to thrill. Check it out Saturday at 1 p.m. on Speed.
ARCA
Finally if you’re not into sports car or open wheel racing the ARCA Re/Max Series season also comes to a close this weekend at Rockingham Speedway.
Penske development driver Parker Kligerman and Eddie Sharp Racing’s Justin Lofton have been battling all season for the championship trophy.
Kligerman has eight wins, including a string of four in a row between Michigan and Kentucky earlier this year and last week at Kansas. He has an average finish of 5.2 this season and sits just 15 points behind Lofton.
Lofton has six wins this season, most recently at Salem Speedway. He was looking to make it seven last week, but Kligerman, who was in second snookered him on the restart. He has an average finish of 5.3 and has led an astounding 1,005 laps.
There are no guarantees we’re going to see a repeat of last season (Ricky Stenhouse wrecks, either on purpose or accidentally depending on your view, Scott Speed; Speed then wrecks Stenhouse; Justin Allgaier wins the championship), but this is another one that looks to be a great battle. These are two very talented, intense young drivers and it will be exciting to see what happens. Check this one out (not live) at 10 p.m. Sunday on Speed.
I hope you enjoy your weekend of racing. Oh and don’t forget there’s a Cup and Nationwide race this weekend too.
…nothing other than they’re all in my weekend notes (lame I know).
Saturday was a good day to be 19. Well a good day to be 19 if you happened to drive in the Nationwide Series.
In his first career NASCAR appearance on Saturday, 19-year-old Parker Kligerman scored his first career pole. Then 19-year-old Joey Logano went on to win the race, battling his teammate Kyle Busch down to the wire.
Back to Kligerman though. The kid looked impressive. Starting next to veteran Kyle Busch, Kligerman was able to keep the lead for seven laps and even bested Busch on the start. The team battled some handling issues throughout the race, but Kligerman was able to finish a respectable 16th.
While I know Kligerman wasn’t happy with the finish, a pole and 16th place finish in his first ever major NASCAR event is not anything to sneeze at. Look for Kligerman back in the car at Homestead.
Oh and don’t forget Kligerman’s locked in a championship battle in the ARCA series with Justin Lofton. That wraps up this weekend at Rockingham.
Tony Stewart Back In Victory Lane
There were some that thought Jimmie Johnson would take his momentum from last week and begin his championship charge at Kansas. I thought there was a good chance.
In the interest of a compelling championship race though it was good to see Tony Stewart pull out the win.
There is now just more than 100 points separating first from seventh.
The Hendrick cars definitely look good as they have in years past but don’t count out the Penske, EGR or Gibbs cars. They’ve all been running very consistently and one win from any of them could change the tide.
I know a lot of you are critics of the Chase, but it makes the racing more exciting and the mistakes more devastating.
I’m looking very much forward to the coming weeks.
Nelson Piquet Jr.? In the Truck Series?
He wouldn’t be our first F1 convert; but he would be the first with a cloud over his head.
Soon after being released from his Renault team earlier this year, it came to light Piquet wrecked himself at last year’s Singapore Grand Prix so his teammate Fernando Alonso could win.
The scandal, better known as ‘crash-gate,’ has brought a ban and a suspension for two Renault F1 officials. Piquet won’t face any sanctions, but likely won’t be able to live down the stigma associated with the scandal.
I suppose he figures NASCAR fans haven’t caught wind of the firestorm. He may or may not be right.
Whatever the case SPEED is reporting Piquet will test in a Red Horse Racing truck on October 12th with “an eye towards a future in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series with in two years.”
It’ll be interesting to see how he performs.
Hendrick’s (Almost) Failed Inspection
Talk about a bad deal. Hendrick got busted for not breaking the rules?
While they passed post race inspection, the bodies on both the #5 and #48 were so close to being outside the tolerance they were warned by the sanctioning body not to cut it so close.
With the black helicopters circling above and the scent of the Carl Long affair still hanging in the air (remember this was a body not the motor), many loyal conspiracy theorists are coming out of the woodwork. Hendrick paid off NASCAR (I’m sure, I said sarcastically).
The fact is they didn’t break the rules, NASCAR sent it’s message and the crew chiefs were doing what they were supposed to. Working in those gray areas is what those guys get paid to do and if you’re not pushing it, you’re not doing your job.