Now that we know Carl Edwards is returning to Roush Fenway Racing next season, expect the rest of the Silly Season dominoes to start falling quickly. But even though the Edwards drama is over, there is an aspect of the rumored move by Edwards to Joe Gibbs Racing that seems to have been overlooked by some folks. If Edwards did indeed end up taking over the #20 Home Depot ride, there was talk that JGR would start a fourth team with sponsorship from NAPA. That sounded a little unbelievable considering NAPA currently has a deal with Martin Truex Jr. and Michael Waltrip Racing through 2012. But in a recent article by Lee Spencer over at FOXSports.com, J.D. Gibbs admitted that NAPA had submitted an RFP to JGR regarding sponsorship. So while they may have a contract with MWR through 2012, it appears the auto parts retailer could have an out in their deal and are exploring their options.
A possible reason why NAPA could be looking at other teams to sponsor for 2012 and beyond is the performance of MWR and Truex’s #56 team. Since coming to MWR following the 2009 season, Truex’s results have been disappointing. In 56 races, the #56 car only has one top five and thirteen top ten finishes. This lack of performance led MWR to replace crew chief Pat Tryson in June (we questioned the move then), but a big turnaround has yet to happen. Truex’s average finish in the seven races with new crew chief Chad Johnston has improved from 19.7 to 18.4, but the team has actually dropped two spots in the points. And after nearly two seasons together, NAPA may have seen all they need to see.
Besides a possible fourth JGR entry, there are plenty of top tier teams in need of backing for 2012 and beyond. Of the four Roush Fenway cars, only one (Greg Biffle’s #16) has sponsorship for next season. Clint Bowyer appears to be on the cusp of re-signing with Richard Childress Racing, but sponsorship for his #33 has yet to be announced. We’ve heard RCR might be close to locking down funding for Bowyer, and it’s not unrealistic to think NAPA could be in play here. There could also be a million other possible combinations with Stewart-Haas needing more funding, drivers like Mark Martin and Brian Vickers available, or the possibility of a deal with a young driver (Trevor Bayne & Ricky Stenhouse Jr. come to mind). The point being that NAPA has plenty of options.
Whether NAPA actually makes a move remains to be seen, but their availability could add a new wrinkle to what’s left of the Silly Season. If they’ve already submitted an RFP to JGR, we’ve got to believe that they’ve inquired with other teams as well. And like we mentioned on Twitter earlier today, don’t believe anything (like denials in this case) until a deal is actually done.
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Michael Waltrip Racing announced Tuesday Pat Tryson would be replaced this weekend as crew chief for Martin Truex Jr. The team’s lead engineer Chad Johnston will take over. The organization said Tryson’s contract would be honored and he would be “redeployed” – what exactly that means, not even Tryson knows.
The #56 team has struggled this season, and last, to be anything but mediocre. In the last 39 races Truex has 1 top-five and 10 top-tens, and is averaging about a 19th place finish. He finished the 2010 season 21st in points. Even with the team’s struggles over the last two seasons, is Tryson really the problem? Truex’s and MWR’s stats suggest otherwise.
After winning two Nationwide Series championships in 2004 and 2005 – his first and second full Nationwide Series seasons – Truex was moved up to the Cup Series full time in 2006. With 202 career Cup Series starts under his belt Truex has one win, 14 top-fives and 47 top-tens. His average start? 19.6.
Through five full seasons his points finish are: 19, 11, 15, 23 and 22. He’s currently 21st in the points. With a career that has spanned stops at three different race teams and two great crew chiefs, there is a very clear trend that emerges – mediocrity.
The other half of the equation is of course Michael Waltrip Racing. Their head of competition, Steve Hallam, is a guy with a stellar open wheel background, but no stock car experience to speak of. The team’s other driver, David Reutimann has shown flashes of brilliance, but has struggled to be consistent.
To his credit Reutimann has been with MWR since the move to the Cup Series which includes a disastrous first full season, and has scored two wins, 11 top-fives and 24 top-tens. Like Truex though, he has average race finishes in the last four full seasons of 30.4, 23.3, 16.4 and 18.1; and points finishes of 39th, 22nd, 16th, and 18th. Again, mediocre.
The fact is there are performance issues at Michael Waltrip Racing. Add to that Martin Truex’s lack of a stunning Cup Series career and you’ve got a tough situation for Pat Tryson. Could he have done more with the team? It’s possible. Is he the sole problem or even the biggest problem? I don’t think so. But he is the easiest one to blame.
“Somebody always has to be that guy,” Tryson told ESPN.com. “I wouldn’t say I was part of the problem. As a company we aren’t running well. It’s a strange deal. I really can’t say much.”
Truex said in the team’s statement about new crew chief Chad Johnston: “The communication between he and I is impressive and we just click.” It’ll be interesting to see how his tune changes if and when performance doesn’t pick up.
Maybe he’ll prove me wrong.
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?
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Jenna Fryer at the AP first reported this weekend that Pat Tryson, crew chief for Kurt Busch has been effectively shut out of the Penske shop because of his announced defection to Michael Waltrip Racing next season.
The story quotes Penske VP of Operations Mike Nelson as saying “It really breaks down to 2009 vs. 2010. He’s not there for the discussions that we have about 2010. That’s a lot of what we’re doing at the shop right now.”
Essentially Tryson is relegated to performing his duties through e-mail and phone calls, though he is allowed at Penske’s Tuesday morning meetings.
Personally I have all the respect in the world for Penske Racing. I think it’s a great organization with a lot of smart people in charge. This move boggles my mind though.
This move says to me: “we’re more concerned about what happens next season than our chance to win a championship this season.”
Certainly the #2 crew is capable of handling everything that needs to be done before races. Car Chief Jeff Thousand is a NASCAR veteran, with experience as crew chief for Rusty Wallace. He is largely credited with the team’s increased performance this season. So by all means leadership is not an issue.
What this does do is throw off the team’s flow. They are used to working with and communicating to a certain person and now that is limited. Let’s be honest there is only so much you can do telecommuting. Being the leader of the team from your living room is not easy.
Certainly I understand the position Penske is in. They have a team leader leaving and he will take with him the knowledge he has accumulated at the organization. If that includes information for next season that could be a detriment to them. I guarantee the non-disclosure he’s signed will do little to keep information from passing on.
All that being said, I think there should have been a greater effort made in closing him out of discussions and work for next year (at least some of which he is probably already aware of), while keeping him at the shop. The other option was just releasing from his contract. A change in leadership at this point in the year could be bad for performance, but this move wasn’t a whole lot better.
I believe Tryson is committed to the team, but now he can only do so much.
500 Posts!
On a completely unrelated subject, this marks our 500th post! As always thank you for all your support. We wouldn’t have made it this far without you. Here’s hoping for another 500.