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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I wonder if we will ever quit referring to driver and sponsor movements as the Silly Season. It was initially called that because it referred to a specific part of the season when all this started happening. Now it seems that it starts in February at Daytona. Sorry, I digress…
Has the 2010 Silly Season not been extremely odd? Looking at what we know and still don’t know about who will be where in the future is really interesting. We’ve had all kinds of crazy things happen already, and it’s only August!
Let’s review. First, it was announced in April that Kasey Kahne would leave Richard Petty Motorsports at the end of 2010, and that he’d signed a deal to drive for Hendrick Motorsports beginning in 2012. The move certainly raised a ton of questions, namely, where in the heck Kasey would be driving for the 2011 season. In the four months that have followed, we’ve heard everything from Kasey to Stewart Haas, Kasey to stay at RPM, Martin out at HMS early, and so on and so forth. As it sits today, we still don’t have a single answer about where Kahne will be in 2011. With other teams having open seats, and some considering adding teams, was this move the best for Kahne? Should he have waited to make a move? The ball is in Mr. H’s court.
A few weeks after the Kahne announcement, we learned that Shell-Pennzoil would be leaving the Richard Childress #29 and Kevin Harvick to join Penske Racing and Kurt Busch for 2011 and beyond. It was an interesting move at the time, as trouble was brewing and it appeared Harvick was on his way out at RCR. Besides the chance to sponsor a NASCAR Cup champion, a big reason for the move on Shell’s part was the chance for rights to sell their oil in all of Penske’s auto dealerships. Shortly after the initial announcement however, Harvick won at Talladega, and later decided to re-sign with RCR. Even with the business opportunities for Shell at Penske, this move was still an odd one. You don’t often see a sponsor leave a team at or near the top of the points standings. It may be a little awkward at season’s end if Harvick ends up winning the championship.
The strangest driver change of this season though, just might be the most recent one. On July 27th, Marcos Ambrose announced he would leave JTG Daugherty Racing after the 2010 season. The move ended a five year relationship with team owner Tad Geschickter that took Ambrose from the Truck Series to the Cup ranks. JTG wasn’t driver-less for long, as only a few short days later they announced that Bobby Labonte would replace Ambrose for 2011. What’s odd here though, is Ambrose is now without a ride for the future. We’ve seen plenty of lame duck situations with drivers over the years, but how often has the lame duck driver not had a spot for the next year already locked up when he made his announcement to leave? I can’t think of one off the top of my head. The persisting rumor is that Ambrose is headed over to RPM to replace one of their vacating drivers in either the #9 or #19, but no announcement has come and there are indications that RPM doesn’t have a sponsorship deal lined up. Some have floated that Ambrose may be wanting to return to Australia, but I feel if that were the case, he would have already told us that. He may just be caught in the middle right now waiting for a deal to come together. Either way, the whole situation is very odd.
Besides the situations and questions that I mentioned, there are plenty of other holes to fill for 2011. There are strong indications that Paul Menard is bailing from RPM and taking his family sponsor money to help RCR restart their fourth team for next season. The deal may already be done. If that happens, where does that leave RPM? What happens to Elliott Sadler, who by most indications appears to finally be on his way out? With Brian Vickers health still in question, and Scott Speed’s unflattering 2010 performance, who will drive the Red Bull cars next season? Is Sam Hornish going to be out at Penske at season’s end, or does Roger keep him on? Could Justin Allgaier be bumped up to the third or possibly fourth team for Penske next season?
Where’s the Advil, my head is spinning…
If a certain home improvement store sponsored Chevrolet hadn’t spoiled the show at Bristol, we might have seen a Penske clean sweep of the weekend. But even without the win on Sunday, Bristol showed that the Penske cars have come to play in 2010.
On Saturday at Thunder Valley, Penske’s newly expanded Nationwide Series program stole the show. Sophomore driver Justin Allgaier picked up his first ever NNS win, while teammate Brad Keselowski took the pole, led 72 laps, and finished second. Keselowski looked to be the one to beat, but Allgaier got by him on a late restart and never looked back. Following the race, Keselowski and Allgaier sit second and third in the NNS points, and both trail point leader Carl Edwards by less then 40 points.
After winning the last race at Atlanta, Kurt Busch dominated on Sunday at Bristol, leading 278 laps. A third place finish behind winner Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart was disappointing for the veteran driver, but it appears as though the transition period for Busch and new crew chief Steve Addington is all but over. The blue deuce currently sits sixth in the standings, and this team will certainly be a factor this season.
Besides his strong Nationwide Series runs this season, Keselowski has certainly elevated the performance of the #12 cup car at Penske. Brad K. finished 13th at Bristol after leading a few laps, and was poised for a top five run at Atlanta before the infamous “flip” took him out of the race. The team sits 30th in the standings, but has run better then the results show.
Roger Penske, Tim Cindric, and the management at Penske Racing have made some great moves lately to build a solid foundation with drivers like Keselowski and Allgaier along with Busch and Sam Hornish (if he ever figures stock car racing out). And adding veteran leadership in the likes of guys like Steve Addington, Jay Guy, Chad Walter, and Paul Wolfe have really helped the performance of all the Penske teams.
As the only company-backed team left for Dodge in NASCAR, Penske has done a great job so far this season of carrying the banner. The future certainly looks bright for this bunch, and a pair of championship trophies to add to Mr. Penske’s trophy case is a definite possibility in 2010.
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./