NASCAR 2023 Season Thread

[DCarp1231]

3 hours ago, Dalcowboyfan92 said:

Justin Haley is leaving Kaulig for RWR.

 

I'm sad now.

Sure, RWR is aligning itself with RFK next season, but it kinda seems like a step back for Haley.

[dont care]

16 hours ago, DCarp1231 said:

Sure, RWR is aligning itself with RFK next season, but it kinda seems like a step back for Haley.

They already are aligned and renting out shop space at RFK. They are all getting the same cars essentially but still vastly underperforming. I don’t know what’s wrong with that team but it has to be in the personnel there. Thing of note though, Justin Haley’s uncle currently owns the 31’s charter. That could cause some grief for kaulig if he decides to sell his charter now that his nephew is no longer driving it.

[LAWeaver]

27 minutes ago, dont care said:

Thing of note though, Justin Haley’s uncle currently owns the 31’s charter. 

um ACKShually...

 

 

(not saying it isn't true, but Bob's one of the more reliable reporters in the garage area. If he doesn't know, very few do). 

 

My guess is that this is a gateway for Haley to eventually land at RFK, either as Brad's replacement when he eventually retires, or in a third chartered car. For now, he'll be Kaulig's #1 guy and will only have to worry about working with the blue ovals, rather than take Kaulig's team orders (see the Xfinity Atlanta race from a couple weeks ago on how that panned out). 

 

Speaking of Kaulig, Bob believes Austin Hill, one of the favorites for this year's Xfinity title, is the favorite to land the 31 car. 

 

 

 

[DCarp1231]

Once again JRM drivers screwing themselves out of good finishing position.

 

This time, Berry and Mayer having the best chance at finishing 1-2 only for Berry to lose his cool and wreck himself trying to door Mayer, but not before Allgaier slammed into the wall on the final lap.

 

What a miserable team honestly.

 

[GrayJ12]

1 hour ago, DCarp1231 said:

Once again JRM drivers screwing themselves out of good finishing position.

 

This time, Berry and Mayer having the best chance at finishing 1-2 only for Berry to lose his cool and wreck himself trying to door Mayer, but not before Allgaier slammed into the wall on the final lap.

 

What a miserable team honestly.

 

Berry snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. I'm still trying to process how the heck Berry lost that race.

In other news, Denny has officially solidified himself as NASCAR's #1 heel.

[DCarp1231]

1 minute ago, GrayJ12 said:

Berry snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. I'm still trying to process how the heck Berry lost that race.

In other news, Denny has officially solidified himself as NASCAR's #1 heel.

I used to be indifferent on Hamlin, but now he’s the biggest whiner, complainer, and crybaby in the series. He’s borderline insufferable.

 

As Larson put it yesterday “I guess he’s got something to complain about this week on Actions Detrimental”

[Chicageaux]

My biggest issue with Hamlin is not owning what he did & if roles were reversed, he'd be causing such an outcry.

He clearly drove Larson up the track, made contact, and forced Larson into the wall. If you want to use the argument that Larson races others just the same, that's fine, but at least own up to what you did. Even his teammate called him out on the move. I'll even give him the benefit of the doubt when he first got out of the car and said he never touched Larson, gave him room, and Larson wrecked himself. But to go into the media center and double-down is just bizarre to me. Of course, people are going to tune into his podcast so maybe he's playing 3d chess out here.

[GrayJ12]

On 7/20/2023 at 8:42 PM, DCarp1231 said:

Sure, RWR is aligning itself with RFK next season, but it kinda seems like a step back for Haley.

As for the Haley move to RWR (as I have his car as my profile picture)...

I can see why people are seeing this move as a downgrade; RWR is one of the backmarker teams, but I feel like them signing Haley will be a move in the right direction. This means that they can focus on one driver full-time (ideally they would just field one team for Justin), and he brings some good experiences; he's great at superspeedways and has shown that he can hold his own. The RFK alliance will help things as well, and I hope that RFK will put some of their staff over at RWR to help things and to strengthen the alliance.

I really want this to work for Justin.

[Chicageaux]

20 minutes ago, GrayJ12 said:

As for the Haley move to RWR (as I have his car as my profile picture)...

I can see why people are seeing this move as a downgrade; RWR is one of the backmarker teams, but I feel like them signing Haley will be a move in the right direction. This means that they can focus on one driver full-time (ideally they would just field one team for Justin), and he brings some good experiences; he's great at superspeedways and has shown that he can hold his own. The RFK alliance will help things as well, and I hope that RFK will put some of their staff over at RWR to help things and to strengthen the alliance.

I really want this to work for Justin.

I like Justin a lot and he's the reason I find myself rooting for the Kaulig guys. He has specifically said that Keselowski was part of his negotiations so I think the alliance between the two will be pretty strong. I wonder if Keselowski is thinking long-term and wants Haley in the Ford camp sooner than later.

[GrayJ12]

5 minutes ago, Chicageaux said:

I like Justin a lot and he's the reason I find myself rooting for the Kaulig guys. He has specifically said that Keselowski was part of his negotiations so I think the alliance between the two will be pretty strong. I wonder if Keselowski is thinking long-term and wants Haley in the Ford camp sooner than later.

I see some parallels between Kes and Haley; both have a great ability on superspeedways, and Haley has shown that he can contend on road courses as well (just like Kes in his prime).

[Chicageaux]

14 minutes ago, GrayJ12 said:

I see some parallels between Kes and Haley; both have a great ability on superspeedways, and Haley has shown that he can contend on road courses as well (just like Kes in his prime).

He's still so young too! Only 24 years old.

[DCarp1231]

Rumor has it that Brandon Jones is reverting back to JGR at the conclusion of this season.

 

Not surprising, but puzzling considering how certain JGR drivers treated Jones last year.
 

Now JRM may have two open rides for next season. The 8 & 9.

[dont care]

On 7/26/2023 at 11:00 AM, DCarp1231 said:

Rumor has it that Brandon Jones is reverting back to JGR at the conclusion of this season.

 

Not surprising, but puzzling considering how certain JGR drivers treated Jones last year.
 

Now JRM may have two open rides for next season. The 8 & 9.

Or jrm may reduce back to 3 cars with the 8 rotating drivers part time btwn Jr, hendrick drivers, and craftman series drivers

[DCarp1231]

23 minutes ago, dont care said:

Or jrm may reduce back to 3 cars with the 8 rotating drivers part time btwn Jr, hendrick drivers, and craftman series drivers

If they reduce to three teams, I hope they axe the 1 car. Keep the 7, 8, 9.

[Chicageaux]

On 7/26/2023 at 10:00 AM, DCarp1231 said:

Rumor has it that Brandon Jones is reverting back to JGR at the conclusion of this season.

 

Not surprising, but puzzling considering how certain JGR drivers treated Jones last year.
 

Now JRM may have two open rides for next season. The 8 & 9.

And it sounds like Hocevar might be jumping XFINITY and going straight to Cup.

[DCarp1231]

Starting in 2025, the Xfinity Series will be exclusively on The CW for 7 years.

 

Weird choice.

 

 

[GrayJ12]

4 minutes ago, DCarp1231 said:

Starting in 2025, the Xfinity Series will be exclusively on The CW for 7 years.

 

Weird choice.

 

 

It's a headscratcher, for sure. It does have a free, dedicated live TV app though.

[infrared41]

35 minutes ago, DCarp1231 said:

Starting in 2025, the Xfinity Series will be exclusively on The CW for 7 years.

 

Weird choice.

 

 

 

Gotta go where the money is.

[Chicageaux]

Jordan Bianchi tweeted out the rumors that he's hearing in regards to the 2024 season

They include:

- MTJ status is still up in the air for 2024
- If he doesn't return, John Hunter Nemechek is the contigency plan
- Denny will be back with JGR in 2024, just a matter of when the deal is done
- Hocevar has been linked to several Cup and XFinity teams. He's favored to replace Ty Dillon in the 77 Spire Chevy
- SHR sources believe there's a good chance that Almirola retires

-McDowell and Zane Smith are rumor to replace him, but if Smithfield leaves as sponsor, they most likely will go with a driver that brings funding

- Kaulig has 4 different candidates to take over the 31 with Austin Hill being the favorite

- Hill has multiple offers and is 50/50 on whether he will move to Cup or stay in Xfinity for another year.

-  Harrison Burton is expected to return to the 21

- SVG is believed to be coming the NASCAR full-time in 2024, Trackhouse and at least one other team are favored to get him

- Legacy could be replacing Gragson with Nemechek next year

- He gets into Gragson's underperformance not being his fault i.e. rookie, struggling team. But, he mentions sometimes the driver and team just don't mesh well.
 

[dont care]

I don’t see trackhouse expanding to a third full time team especially without a charter. I see SVG going to SHR or McDowell taking loves with him there. Another option for SVG is kaulig and doing double duty in xfinity for them. I don’t see almirola coming back with how much he’s struggled. If legacy drops Gragson I’ll feel bad for him he was my favorite last year in xfinity and I’d feel bad for him if he last his ride after 1 year of struggling as a rookie in subpar equipment.