Prediction: You read it here first!

Any chance Almirola gets the boot next year? DiBenedetto would be a major upgrade over him.
 
Yes ... let's fire a current season race winner for an "upgrade" who has no idea where Victory Lane is.

Anywhere.
Aric is the only driver who has won a race this year at SHR and has full time backing of Bacon....... but lets go ahead and fire him. What is going in this thread? Some of the members here at RacingForums.com love a good firing
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Any chance Almirola gets the boot next year? DiBenedetto would be a major upgrade over him.
I think that win saved his job for next year
 
Yes ... let's fire a current season race winner for an "upgrade" who has no idea where Victory Lane is.

Anywhere.
Not that it is going to happen, but I think at WORST Matt is equal to Almirola, and if Matt was driving that car he would have more wins, and I say this as a guy that has ALWAYS been an Almirola supporter.
 
Not that it is going to happen, but I think at WORST Matt is equal to Almirola, and if Matt was driving that car he would have more wins, and I say this as a guy that has ALWAYS been an Almirola supporter.
Subjective.

Like Penske's appraisal of the young man's performance in the 21.
 
Any chance Almirola gets the boot next year? DiBenedetto would be a major upgrade over him.
Any chance Diburrito is gonna bring 15 Million a year with him? Also, what do all of you know that Penske and the Wood Brothers dont?
 
Any chance Diburrito is gonna bring 15 Million a year with him? Also, what do all of you know that Penske and the Wood Brothers dont?
Smithfield switched CEO's so the jury is out on Almirola if he gets picked up by them or not. If so I would pick Gragson over Almirola, Gragson brings money
 
Penske and the Wood Brothers know that Matt doesn’t bring Dex Imaging like Harrison Burton does
My comment was in reference to the 10 and replacing Smithfield money then part 2 was Penske and the Woods obviously gave Matt a chance and HE DID NOT PRODUCE. Is Burton bringing DEX, how much? Is it Motorcraft money?
 
Penske and the Wood Brothers know that Matt doesn’t bring Dex Imaging like Harrison Burton does
This is lame. Penske's sponsorship relationship with Dex Imaging goes back a number of years, covering both Nascar and IndyCar. Dex was the primary sponsor on one of Penske's IndyCars last weekend in St. Louis.

There are several members here who are having a very hard time accepting that actual team owners have a different opinion about who to hire. They feel compelled to dress it up as something nefarious... the teams are blind; they are stupid; it's all just a money grab; etc. It gets tiresome.

I'm a fan of Matt DiBenedetto and I hoped he would have great success in the Wood Brothers 21. It didn't happen. I was 'praying' for him to get a second year in that car, and he did get it. Now his gig is soon up, and I have to accept that. It didn't work out, the results were disappointing. If he is a great driver like you guys are insisting, why doesn't he have offers? Why isn't he in the second Trackhouse car? Or JTG Daugherty? Or Petty or Kaulig or....
 
Berry is under contract, Gragson appears to be out a JRM.
I'm not surprised. I wonder if his behavior had anything to do with it, or if it's decline in performance compared to when Reddick was in that car.

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If he is a great driver like you guys are insisting, why doesn't he have offers? Why isn't he in the second Trackhouse car? Or JTG Daugherty? Or Petty or Kaulig or....
What an awful take. A third of the drivers in this sport couldn’t drive a wood screw but have rides because their brand brings money to the shop. A portion of this sport is performance based and the other portion is sponsorship based. Acting like it isn’t is ignorant.
 
This entire thread is subjective. Why single this instance out?
Because I was quoting and speaking directly to you. It was the second of two quite civil quote / reply interactions concerning the status and stature of young Matt DiBenedetto.

I’ve done that with other posters in this thread. And I grouped you with Roger Penske. And that is far down this rabbit-hole as I’m prepared to go.
 
I hadnt heard that. I thought Kelly said they more then likely will run 5 cars next year
You could be right but as of last week Gragson was saying they didn't have a deal together. But yeah that doesn't mean he couldn't wind up in a 5th car. But for sure Berry is under contract and Gragson isn't
 
This is lame. Penske's sponsorship relationship with Dex Imaging goes back a number of years, covering both Nascar and IndyCar. Dex was the primary sponsor on one of Penske's IndyCars last weekend in St. Louis.

There are several members here who are having a very hard time accepting that actual team owners have a different opinion about who to hire. They feel compelled to dress it up as something nefarious... the teams are blind; they are stupid; it's all just a money grab; etc. It gets tiresome.

I'm a fan of Matt DiBenedetto and I hoped he would have great success in the Wood Brothers 21. It didn't happen. I was 'praying' for him to get a second year in that car, and he did get it. Now his gig is soon up, and I have to accept that. It didn't work out, the results were disappointing. If he is a great driver like you guys are insisting, why doesn't he have offers? Why isn't he in the second Trackhouse car? Or JTG Daugherty? Or Petty or Kaulig or....
I don't have an opinion about DiBenedetto. He was told this year he was out of a ride, I know that for a fact, Penske said it publicly. There seem to be some that can't accept that reality.
Another confusing phenomena I see is that Matt's recent record is held up for justification that he should have a blue chip ride somewhere. Well, if a person hasn't learned that the world is unfair sometimes and wants to live in a dream world where everybody gets what they want so be it. I'm pretty sure he will get a cup ride somewhere.
Something out of his favor is the coming of the new car. The Penske groups justification for hiring Burton was that a younger less experienced driver to drive the new car could pick it up fast so it was worth the gamble to hire him.
 
What an awful take. A third of the drivers in this sport couldn’t drive a wood screw but have rides because their brand brings money to the shop. A portion of this sport is performance based and the other portion is sponsorship based. Acting like it isn’t is ignorant.
Does AJ Allmendinger bring money to Kaulig’s shop?

I mean ... other than the winning races thing.
 
All I’m saying and I’m sure one of you will have a snarky remark, but ever since he said things were clicking and turning around for the team, he’s had a worse finish of 11th. So everyone who’s talking about how he threw the team under the bus when he talked about it’s performance, I mean looks like Matt was telling the truth.
 
I don't have an opinion about DiBenedetto. He was told this year he was out of a ride, I know that for a fact, Penske said it publicly. There seem to be some that can't accept that reality.
Another confusing phenomena I see is that Matt's recent record is held up for justification that he should have a blue chip ride somewhere. Well, if a person hasn't learned that the world is unfair sometimes and wants to live in a dream world where everybody gets what they want so be it. I'm pretty sure he will get a cup ride somewhere.
Something out of his favor is the coming of the new car. The Penske groups justification for hiring Burton was that a younger less experienced driver to drive the new car could pick it up fast so it was worth the gamble to hire him.

I don't have any trouble accepting it, I just disagree with it. As far as a blue chip ride, I don't consider the 21 a blue chip ride. I consider it on par with where Matt should be at this point in his career. Yes, life is unfair. That doesn't give people a free pass to do things and then justify their actions with BS explanations. If the Penske people actually said the last part, that goes beyond BS. That's just pulling crap out of your backside and seeing what sticks to the wall. There is NO WAY they or anybody else can determine at this point who will or will not excel in the new cars. If they wanted to get rid of Matt for the money or for a younger driver, or because they don't like him, then man up and SAY it. Don't imply this is somehow a performance based decision when it clearly is not.
 
I don't have any trouble accepting it, I just disagree with it. As far as a blue chip ride, I don't consider the 21 a blue chip ride. I consider it on par with where Matt should be at this point in his career. Yes, life is unfair. That doesn't give people a free pass to do things and then justify their actions with BS explanations. If the Penske people actually said the last part, that goes beyond BS. That's just pulling crap out of your backside and seeing what sticks to the wall. There is NO WAY they or anybody else can determine at this point who will or will not excel in the new cars. If they wanted to get rid of Matt for the money or for a younger driver, or because they don't like him, then man up and SAY it. Don't imply this is somehow a performance based decision when it clearly is not.

I really wonder what the crawfisher will do after he gets his foot out of his mouth and finishes pulling crap out of his backside.

“With Brad making his move, that kind of changed things,” Eddie Wood said. “So, we all got together, Team Penske, Ford Performance and all of our partners and we decided, with the Next Gen car in mind, and that’s a white sheet of paper for drivers, so we felt that’s a good time to bring in a young rookie.
The Wood Brothers Racing co-owner says rookies will have their best shot against veterans with decades of experience next year because this new car is so radically different than anything they have ever driven.

 
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I don't have any trouble accepting it, I just disagree with it. As far as a blue chip ride, I don't consider the 21 a blue chip ride. I consider it on par with where Matt should be at this point in his career. Yes, life is unfair. That doesn't give people a free pass to do things and then justify their actions with BS explanations. If the Penske people actually said the last part, that goes beyond BS. That's just pulling crap out of your backside and seeing what sticks to the wall. There is NO WAY they or anybody else can determine at this point who will or will not excel in the new cars. If they wanted to get rid of Matt for the money or for a younger driver, or because they don't like him, then man up and SAY it. Don't imply this is somehow a performance based decision when it clearly is not.
I could swear I read where Roger last year around this time said they were giving Matt this year only. Maybe I’m hallucinating though
 
First...Matty D is going to be 30 years old next year.

Second....it would be his 8th full-time season in Cup.

He hasn't put up results his first 237 races. And who knows...maybe he's asking for lots of money...he knows he's a fan favorite and he knows he's a veteran.
 
First...Matty D is going to be 30 years old next year.

Second....it would be his 8th full-time season in Cup.

He hasn't put up results his first 237 races. And who knows...maybe he's asking for lots of money...he knows he's a fan favorite and he knows he's a veteran.
How many of those was he on a team that actually could win? People over look that when talking about “he’s had so and so starts.” When most of those he was in a crap ride, one of which he outperformed the car. He almost won at BRISTOL in the crappy 95 car, and likely would have if not for the contact with Newman. Let’s be real here, the car matters.
 
How many of those was he on a team that actually could win? People over look that when talking about “he’s had so and so starts.” When most of those he was in a crap ride, one of which he outperformed the car. He almost won at BRISTOL in the crappy 95 car, and likely would have if not for the contact with Newman. Let’s be real here, the car matters.

I think in the era of plate racing that argument is out the window...because crappy cars can win now...Brad K, Trevor Bayne, McDowell, Ragan...all guys who jump-started or extended their careers just by winning one stinking plate race.

You could argue the same with road courses...Ambrose, Montoya, and AJ all had mid-pack rides when they won their road course races and it bought each of them a few more years in the series.
 
I think in the era of plate racing that argument is out the window...because crappy cars can win now...Brad K, Trevor Bayne, McDowell, Ragan...all guys who jump-started or extended their careers just by winning one stinking plate race.

You could argue the same with road courses...Ambrose, Montoya, and AJ all had mid-pack rides when they won their road course races and it bought each of them a few more years in the series.
With plate races, that’s four a year.. so still a low number. People act like he’s been in a top ride his whole career. Up til this season we not had many Road Courses either. So my point still stands.
 
I’m not sure Dinger wants a Cup seat.
I think they are looking for more of a funded driver (or multiple) to help patch together the schedule for the second car in its initial season. If all of the pieces were in place for it to happen I don’t see why AJ wouldn’t want another stab at Cup full-time, he would be really valuable with win-and-in and the number of road courses that are run now.
 
All I’m saying and I’m sure one of you will have a snarky remark, but ever since he said things were clicking and turning around for the team, he’s had a worse finish of 11th. So everyone who’s talking about how he threw the team under the bus when he talked about it’s performance, I mean looks like Matt was telling the truth.
Serious question here...is it possible for a Cup driver to step up their game when they know their livelihood depends on it? I seem to recall this happening with him before. Other times it seems during a "contract year" a driver will outperform what they had done prior. By the way, I like Mat, I like the Wood Brothers and I like them together as a team.
 
Serious question here...is it possible for a Cup driver to step up their game when they know their livelihood depends on it? I seem to recall this happening with him before. Other times it seems during a "contract year" a driver will outperform what they had done prior. By the way, I like Mat, I like the Wood Brothers and I like them together as a team.
That is also a very good point. Could be a mix of both honestly, that drive to show you belong really comes out when you have to find a new ride, and could be the team’s actually clicking and improving. Hoping he can pull off a win before it’s over.
 
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