Okay, so I never wrote a wrap-up after the season finales at Homestead last month -- sue me. Work has been hectic of late, and let's face it: what more is there to say about Jimmie Johnson winning his third straight Sprint Cup title?
That's what I thought. Moving on ...
In With the New
Jamie McMurray won't be the only driver at Roush-Fenway coming to Daytona next February with a new crew chief. The team announced on Tuesday at the Drew Blickensderfer, who helped Carl Edwards finish second in the 2008 Nationwide Series behind Clint Bowyer, will be Matt Kenseth's new crew chief in the No. 17 in 2009.
This makes Kenseth's third crew chief in the last three years. After running him whole career with Robbie Reiser calling the shots, Kenseth went 2008 with Chip Bolin on the pit box. The team struggled early and never found that consistency, and Kenseth went winless for the first time since 2001.
Though I'm generally one to not change crew chiefs (or head coaches) after just one year, it was clear Kenseth and Bolin didn't have the right mix that translated to on-track success. Edwards, Greg Biffle and even David Ragan outran Kenseth for much of the year, even though Kenseth is the only one in the Roush garage with a Cup title to his name. If Jack Roush felt something had to be done, then let's trust his judgement.
Besides, he could've done much worse than Blickensderfer. Edwards won seven of the last 19 Nationwide races with Blickensderfer calling the shots, nearly overtaking Bowyer for his second straight series title. Blickensderfer also worked with Kenseth in the Nationwide Series, guiding him to three wins before taking over for Edwards mid-season.
All in all, I think this is a good move, and it wouldn't surprise me to see Kenseth back to his competitive, consistent self in 2009. He could even see Victory Lane a few times.
Only Themselves to Blame
While I grant that what's happening to Petty Enterprises is sad, I can't help but only feel but so bad. After all, if the organization hadn't fallen as far behind as it had over the past 15 years, this pending merger with Gillett Evernham Motorsports might not be happening, and 2000 Cup Series champion Bobby Labonte might not be looking for a ride.
The famed No. 43 hasn't won a race since 1999, and the No. 45 is likely a thing of the last -- leaving Kyle Petty's future up in the air. A proposed merger is said to not include Kyle, while Richard Petty -- you know, The King, he of 200 NASCAR wins and seven titles -- will be on board, though no one's sure in what capacity. Sponsorship is an issue (as it is with most teams), but the fact remains:
Petty Enterprises fell behind as Rick Hendrick, Jack Roush, Joe Gibbs and Richard Childress proceeded to take over the sport. People are resources became what defined success in the Sprint Cup Series, and the fact is, Petty fell way behind on that. Now the company's trying to play catch-up, when the nationwide economic crisis is making everything a little tighter for everyone.
I hope Petty can get things right and keep the No. 43 on the track, just as I hope that ride one day sees Victory Lane again. But while everyone looks at that organization as a victim, I see it more as an offender; that company had a chance to change with the times over the past decade, but it didn't.
Petty has no one to blame for this mess but itself.
The Cool Kid
Brad Keselowski is like that kid you knew in high school. You know, the slightly sweeby one who's all cool and respected cause he's friends with the cool kid?
Make no mistake -- I'm not calling Keselowski a dweeb. But he was named the Nationwide Series Most Popular Driver last week, and for anyone who wants to know why, I simply point to his car owner:
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Junior is so popular, fans can buy a plush doll of his black boxer, Killer. It's popularity by association; if you're friends with the cool kid, you're automaticall cool. Keselowski certainly helped himself by winning two races and finishing third in the final series standings -- the highest-finishing Nationwide-only driver -- but in the end, it comes down to the guy signing the checks.
Keselowski is also a humble guy, one who in spite of his success still realizes he's not quite ready to be a full-time Cup driver. He wants to run the full 2009 Nationwide schedule, while racing in select Cup events -- then, when Mark Martin goes to part-time work in 2010, Keselowski's transition to Cup could begin in earnest.
Joey Logano might have all the hype, but Keselowski is the man as far as the fans are concerned.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Nine Down, One to Go: Martinsville, Atlanta, Texas and Phoenix Musings
You gotta give Carl Edwards credit for trying. He finished third at Martinsville, a track he's not that good on, and then won Atlanta and Texas. Edwards even finished fourth at Phoenix on Sunday, putting together a four-race stretch after a disastrous Talladega and Charlotte that would give anyone a boost in the points.
Unless that person was chasing Jimmie Johnson.
Johnson won both Martinsville and Phoenix in dominating fashion, and even rained on Edwards' parade with a late charge to finish second in Atlanta. Not even a 15th-place egg at Texas could bring Edwards within 100 points of the two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion. And unless something completely unforeseen happens Sunday at Homestead, Johnson will become the first driver since Cale Yarborough to win three consecutive Cup titles.
Johnson could easily be working on his fifth straight championship; he's never finished lower than fifth in the season standings in his Sprint Cup career.
If Johnson finishes 36th or better in the Ford 400, he'll clinch the title regardless of what Edwards, 141 points back, does. If Johnson leads a lap, he needs a 38th-place finish; if he leads the most laps, the benchmark becomes 39th. Johnson finished 39th in the Coca-Cola 600 in May thanks to a blown motor, so it is possible.
Just not likely. Like it or not, we can start engraving the trophy now.
Needless Change?
Jamie McMurray will be getting a new crew chief in 2009, but the way he's been running in recent weeks, one might wonder why. McMurray has four Top-10 finishes in the last five races, including three Top-5s. He finished fifth in Charlotte, along with back-to-back third-place efforts in Texas and Phoenix.
He also finished seventh in Atlanta, and McMurray had strong runs at Talladega and Dover derailed by any number of issues.
So ... why is owner Jack Roush getting rid of Larry Carter again? I'll grant that McMurray sits 16th in the point standings and hasn't won a race since July 2007, but is it really that smart to make a change just when things seem to be coming together?
I'll grant Roush normally makes these sorts of moves with a measure of success, but it's no coincidence that Edwards struggled in 2006 when Roush took away crew chief Bob Osbourne. Only once Osbourne returned did Edwards return to his winning and championship-contending ways.
If I'm Roush, I'm not letting Carter go anywhere.
Unless that person was chasing Jimmie Johnson.
Johnson won both Martinsville and Phoenix in dominating fashion, and even rained on Edwards' parade with a late charge to finish second in Atlanta. Not even a 15th-place egg at Texas could bring Edwards within 100 points of the two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion. And unless something completely unforeseen happens Sunday at Homestead, Johnson will become the first driver since Cale Yarborough to win three consecutive Cup titles.
Johnson could easily be working on his fifth straight championship; he's never finished lower than fifth in the season standings in his Sprint Cup career.
If Johnson finishes 36th or better in the Ford 400, he'll clinch the title regardless of what Edwards, 141 points back, does. If Johnson leads a lap, he needs a 38th-place finish; if he leads the most laps, the benchmark becomes 39th. Johnson finished 39th in the Coca-Cola 600 in May thanks to a blown motor, so it is possible.
Just not likely. Like it or not, we can start engraving the trophy now.
Needless Change?
Jamie McMurray will be getting a new crew chief in 2009, but the way he's been running in recent weeks, one might wonder why. McMurray has four Top-10 finishes in the last five races, including three Top-5s. He finished fifth in Charlotte, along with back-to-back third-place efforts in Texas and Phoenix.
He also finished seventh in Atlanta, and McMurray had strong runs at Talladega and Dover derailed by any number of issues.
So ... why is owner Jack Roush getting rid of Larry Carter again? I'll grant that McMurray sits 16th in the point standings and hasn't won a race since July 2007, but is it really that smart to make a change just when things seem to be coming together?
I'll grant Roush normally makes these sorts of moves with a measure of success, but it's no coincidence that Edwards struggled in 2006 when Roush took away crew chief Bob Osbourne. Only once Osbourne returned did Edwards return to his winning and championship-contending ways.
If I'm Roush, I'm not letting Carter go anywhere.
Merger Talks
I realize I'm well behind on following the Chase for the Sprint Cup on this page -- I'll get to that in a bit -- but the big news of the day coming into the NASCAR season's final weekend takes precedence. There have been talks in recent weeks of Dale Earnhardt, Inc. merging with another existing Sprint Cup operation -- Petty Enterprises and Chip Ganassi Racing being the two likeliest candidates -- and as of Wednesday, the talks became reality.
ESPN.com's David Newton reports that DEI will merge with Ganassi for the 2009 season to form Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. As it currently stands, Martin Truex Jr., Aric Almirola and Juan Pablo Montoya will be three of the team's four drivers, while the driver of what is now the No. 41 Dodge has yet to be decided.
A.J. Allmendinger and Scott Riggs are among the drivers slated for that ride. Reed Sorenson, the current driver of the No. 41, will move over to Gillett Evernham Motorsports' No. 10 at the end of this season.
Given both organizations' recent struggles, both on the track and in the bottom line, this move makes sense. NASCAR was already moving toward a competitive climate that would only allow the super teams to flourish, and the economic struggles facing NASCAR and the nation as a whole made such a move even more necessary.
Ganassi and DEI have both struggled for sponsorship dollars of late -- Ganassi had to shut down the No. 40 team in July and lay off 70 employees because of a lack of sponsorship, and of DEI's four cars, only Truex's No. 1 has full funding for 2009. So from an economic standpoint, the merger benefits both teams, even if funding is still needed for Montoya and Almirola. Montoya's car, the No. 42, only has partial sponsorship, while Almirola's No. 8 will lose the U.S. Army as a sponsor after this weekend'd finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Manufacturer details remain to be seen, given Ganassi's contractual obligations to Dodge, but reports have EGR running under the Chevrolet/General Motors brand. There is also the matter of DEI's engine alliance with Richards Childress Racing, though a source told Newton RCR wanted to keep that relationship, even after the merger.
DEI's season has been well-documented, and many attribute much of the team's problems to Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s departure after last season. But DEI's problems started long before NASCAR's most popular driver left for Hendrick Motorsportsl, as evidenced by the team's results each of the last three seasons. While the merger probably won't yield short-term results, if the newly-formed EGR can survive the economic crunch and not give way to the Hendricks, Gibbs and Roushes for the world, this team could be successful in the long run.
I'm just not sure the late Dale Earnhardt ever had anything like this in mind when he founded this company.
ESPN.com's David Newton reports that DEI will merge with Ganassi for the 2009 season to form Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. As it currently stands, Martin Truex Jr., Aric Almirola and Juan Pablo Montoya will be three of the team's four drivers, while the driver of what is now the No. 41 Dodge has yet to be decided.
A.J. Allmendinger and Scott Riggs are among the drivers slated for that ride. Reed Sorenson, the current driver of the No. 41, will move over to Gillett Evernham Motorsports' No. 10 at the end of this season.
Given both organizations' recent struggles, both on the track and in the bottom line, this move makes sense. NASCAR was already moving toward a competitive climate that would only allow the super teams to flourish, and the economic struggles facing NASCAR and the nation as a whole made such a move even more necessary.
Ganassi and DEI have both struggled for sponsorship dollars of late -- Ganassi had to shut down the No. 40 team in July and lay off 70 employees because of a lack of sponsorship, and of DEI's four cars, only Truex's No. 1 has full funding for 2009. So from an economic standpoint, the merger benefits both teams, even if funding is still needed for Montoya and Almirola. Montoya's car, the No. 42, only has partial sponsorship, while Almirola's No. 8 will lose the U.S. Army as a sponsor after this weekend'd finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Manufacturer details remain to be seen, given Ganassi's contractual obligations to Dodge, but reports have EGR running under the Chevrolet/General Motors brand. There is also the matter of DEI's engine alliance with Richards Childress Racing, though a source told Newton RCR wanted to keep that relationship, even after the merger.
DEI's season has been well-documented, and many attribute much of the team's problems to Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s departure after last season. But DEI's problems started long before NASCAR's most popular driver left for Hendrick Motorsportsl, as evidenced by the team's results each of the last three seasons. While the merger probably won't yield short-term results, if the newly-formed EGR can survive the economic crunch and not give way to the Hendricks, Gibbs and Roushes for the world, this team could be successful in the long run.
I'm just not sure the late Dale Earnhardt ever had anything like this in mind when he founded this company.
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