2010 NASCAR Season

[dfwabel]

Is it too much to ask Jr has one year where he is a Top 5 points driver, but for all the sponsors he has there is no way else to describe him as a major disappointment.

He is the sport's most popular driver and companies know that, thus he gets paid the most. Companies still believe that their return on investment is good enough (for now). His Hendrick teammates Gordon and Johnson are the 2nd and 3rd highest paid drivers according to Forbes. Plus, which other NASCAR driver is popular enough be on "Handy Manny"?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKyeeIOiq2Q

[Gary]

Is it too much to ask Jr has one year where he is a Top 5 points driver, but for all the sponsors he has there is no way else to describe him as a major disappointment.

Not a Jr fan, but 2 top 5 finishes, 4 top 10 finishes, 6 top 15 finishes, he's not so much a major dissapointment as he makes alot of money with the merchandise a year

[infrared41]

Is it too much to ask Jr has one year where he is a Top 5 points driver, but for all the sponsors he has there is no way else to describe him as a major disappointment.

How exactly does sponsorship translate to him being a disappointment? Sponsors buy ads where they get the most exposure. Jr.'s sponsorships have nothing to do with his performance on the track.

[NJTank]

Call me old fashioned I think that sponsorships should come to the most successful drivers.

[infrared41]

Call me old fashioned I think that sponsorships should come to the most successful drivers.

You might call that "old fashioned" but everyone else will call it bad marketing. Sponsorships go to the places that get the most exposure for the buck. Popular means exposure. Why do you think Michael Waltrip had NAPA for all those years? It's not like he was a great driver.

[dfwabel]

Call me old fashioned I think that sponsorships should come to the most successful drivers.

You might call that "old fashioned" but everyone else will call it bad marketing. Sponsorships go to the places that get the most exposure for the buck. Popular means exposure. Why do you think Michael Waltrip had NAPA for all those years? It's not like he was a great driver.

Call me old fashioned, but times were (and still are) that you as a driver, have to come with sponsors before one gets a ride at ANY level of motorsport.

[infrared41]

Call me old fashioned I think that sponsorships should come to the most successful drivers.

You might call that "old fashioned" but everyone else will call it bad marketing. Sponsorships go to the places that get the most exposure for the buck. Popular means exposure. Why do you think Michael Waltrip had NAPA for all those years? It's not like he was a great driver.

Call me old fashioned, but times were (and still are) that you as a driver, have to come with sponsors before one gets a ride at ANY level of motorsport.

Huh? What racing series are you watching dude? The lower divisions of NASCAR have more than their share of unsponsored cars. There are trucks in the Camping World Series and cars in The Nationwide Series running without any sponsors. Come to think of it, there was a car in The Cup Race in Bristol last Sunday running "bare." Seems to me that rides are given out without sponsors all the time. A.J. Allmendinger was signed by RPM last season without a sponsor. Brad Kesolowski didn't bring his own sponsors to Penske. Joey Logano... I could go on an on...

And we haven't even talked about ARCA or the weekend warriors that run at the local tracks all over the country.

[dfwabel]

Call me old fashioned I think that sponsorships should come to the most successful drivers.

You might call that "old fashioned" but everyone else will call it bad marketing. Sponsorships go to the places that get the most exposure for the buck. Popular means exposure. Why do you think Michael Waltrip had NAPA for all those years? It's not like he was a great driver.

Call me old fashioned, but times were (and still are) that you as a driver, have to come with sponsors before one gets a ride at ANY level of motorsport.

Huh? What racing series are you watching dude? The lower divisions of NASCAR have more than their share of unsponsored cars. There are trucks in the Camping World Series and cars in The Nationwide Series running without any sponsors. Come to think of it, there was a car in The Cup Race in Bristol last Sunday running "bare." Seems to me that rides are given out without sponsors all the time. A.J. Allmendinger was signed by RPM last season without a sponsor. Brad Kesolowski didn't bring his own sponsors to Penske. Joey Logano... I could go on an on...

And we haven't even talked about ARCA or the weekend warriors that run at the local tracks all over the country.

Glad you mentioned ARCA, because that is where I have seen it first hand since '94 when I went to a race with a family friend. The crew chief was my former college roommate, his uncle was the driver. When they were not working on the car, they were looking for sponsorship in the off season even when you privateer.

If drivers have less talent, but have backing, then they get rides, be it F1, NASCAR (Paul Menard), or even in the AMA. When you have backing, your changes for getting a ride at any level increases. Sorenson does not have backing, therefore Reed does not race. Same issue with Graham Rahal in IndyCar. No sponsor, no ride.

[infrared41]

If drivers have less talent, but have backing, then they get rides,

Sure they do. Paul Menard is the perfect example of that. Up until this season, the guy was a back of the pack guy but his family owns Menard's so he never had trouble finding a ride. Having a sponsor certainly helps but bringing your own sponsorship is hardly a requirement for getting a ride.

[rvrdgsfn]

Looks like Denny Hamlin can't hold off his surgery anymore, he's scheduled for Monday & Casey Mears is his standby.

[NEW.ERA]

Kasey Kahne signs Multi-Year Deal with Hendrick Motorsports.

Kahne will be in the 5 car as soon as next season but Mark Martin is signed through 2011, So until then Kahne could be housed at Stewart-Haas Racing for 2011 then move into the #5 come 2012.

But this makes HMS even more powerful once Kahne steps in.

[BrySmalls]

I'm late on this, but congratulations to Ryan Newman for breaking a 77 race winless drought and beating out Jeff Gordon at Phoenix:

[oddball]

Kasey Kahne signs Multi-Year Deal with Hendrick Motorsports.

Kahne will be in the 5 car as soon as next season but Mark Martin is signed through 2011, So until then Kahne could be housed at Stewart-Haas Racing for 2011 then move into the #5 come 2012.

But this makes HMS even more powerful once Kahne steps in.

Kahne won't go to Stewart-Haas at all. He will replace Jr. This is Rick Hendrick saying, "Boy, you don't fit here and you suck and you're fired." This is equal to the obligatory GM saying the coach is fine and then firing him two weeks later. Jr doesn't and has never fit at Hendrick and will be gone after this year. He won't bring that average at best organization called JR Motorsports to Cup, because without Crapolowski the past couple years, it'd be a very bad Nationwide team. What I see happening is one of two things, Jr heading to RCR and taking his sponsors with him to run the 3. I'd say that's about a 30% chance, or where I feel he will go and this will tick-off Jr fans, but I see him in a Toyota next year. Nope not at Gibbs, but with Michael Waltrip Racing. Why? Because he'd be the big fish in the small pond, and he's worked with both Mikey and Truex before and there's a comfort zone for him there which he doesn't have at Hendrick and he won't have running the 3. If you think there is pressure on the boy to win now, just think what kind of pressure there'd be on the boy if he ever drove the 3. We'd probably see him implode by the 600. We can't have that. I honestly think he'd thrive at MWR with Mikey and Truex and it's not like Mikey's got a start and park team anymore, it's pretty good equipment.

[infrared41]

Kasey Kahne signs Multi-Year Deal with Hendrick Motorsports.

Kahne will be in the 5 car as soon as next season but Mark Martin is signed through 2011, So until then Kahne could be housed at Stewart-Haas Racing for 2011 then move into the #5 come 2012.

But this makes HMS even more powerful once Kahne steps in.

Kahne won't go to Stewart-Haas at all. He will replace Jr. This is Rick Hendrick saying, "Boy, you don't fit here and you suck and you're fired." This is equal to the obligatory GM saying the coach is fine and then firing him two weeks later. Jr doesn't and has never fit at Hendrick and will be gone after this year. He won't bring that average at best organization called JR Motorsports to Cup, because without Crapolowski the past couple years, it'd be a very bad Nationwide team. What I see happening is one of two things, Jr heading to RCR and taking his sponsors with him to run the 3. I'd say that's about a 30% chance, or where I feel he will go and this will tick-off Jr fans, but I see him in a Toyota next year. Nope not at Gibbs, but with Michael Waltrip Racing. Why? Because he'd be the big fish in the small pond, and he's worked with both Mikey and Truex before and there's a comfort zone for him there which he doesn't have at Hendrick and he won't have running the 3. If you think there is pressure on the boy to win now, just think what kind of pressure there'd be on the boy if he ever drove the 3. We'd probably see him implode by the 600. We can't have that. I honestly think he'd thrive at MWR with Mikey and Truex and it's not like Mikey's got a start and park team anymore, it's pretty good equipment.

That's a pretty reasonable theory except for one thing; Jr. is not going to run the #3 car. Ever. It would be a disaster and everyone knows it. The kid already has the pressure of living up to his Dad's career. Putting him in that 3 car would be a huge mistake. Let's say for a second that stupidity actually prevails and RCR puts Jr. in the 3 car. What happens if he runs like he has for the past few seasons? I can tell you. It will be every variation of "he's disgracing the car, his Dad's name, RCR..." etc.

I realize that talk of the 3 car makes for great internet fodder but we all know that actually resurrecting the 3 car is nothing but a recipe for certain disaster. It's the equivalent of letting someone wear #23 with The Bulls or #3 with The Yankees. It simply can't be done. The 3 car isn't coming back any time soon. Especially not with Jr. behind the wheel. Jr. isn't that stupid, Richard Childress isn't that stupid, NASCAR isn't that stupid. Fans may think they want to see it but after a few 18th place finishes they'll be bitching about what a bad idea it was.

Other than that, I can see everyone of your scenarios as a real possibility.

[NEW.ERA]

Dusting the old bottle off.

Down to the final two races of the season and JJ isn't leading the points. Denny Hamiln leads Johnson by 33 and Harvick by 59.

Also Kyle Busch gave the finger to a Nascar official and Jeff Burton and Jeff Gordon got into a scrap all of this and more in a great Texas race.

[RyanMcD29]

*sigh* I know it's not over yet, but oh what could've been for Harvick. He's been running very consistently all season long (would've clinched the championship already with the old points format), but the fact of the matter is Hamlin and Johnson have too this Chase, so he's really had no opportunity to move up. If he can win at Phoenix that would give him a better shot at it, but the fact remains that the 11 and 48 really took advantage of the points reset that has really negated Harvick's consistent top 10 finishes.

On that note, better Hamlin than Johnson I guess.