2022 Silly Season

OldTimer said:
Ty doesn't have the connections with Penske. Would not be surprised to see Derek Kraus moved up from the truck series, but Toyota has been wine and dining him heavily in the last couple of months. He started the season on the down stroke and the Ford guys seemed to lose interest, but over the last four-five races coupled with his extra curricula activities the 'yot people have been seen in his pits.
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Burton didn't have a connection with Ford or Penske
 
StandOnIt said:
I think the last time a driver got a years notification was Kasey Kahne driving for Hendrick. These are both blue chip owners and for Matt to be trashing Penske/Woods is pretty stupid. They are well respected in the racing community. He should have been grateful for the opportunity.
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Matt has started to believe the hype. He feels entitled to a quality ride because so many in the media are in love with him and say he deserves one. Why wouldn't they be? Other drivers who shall remain nameless make the media's job really hard....Matt makes it easy with accessibility and demeanor. As @aunty dive noted....he appears to be a good young man, but not an elite driver.
 
Revman said:
Matt has started to believe the hype. He feels entitled to a quality ride because so many in the media are in love with him and say he deserves one.
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When has he ever said this, or even leaned into this?

The closest he has ever gotten is saying “I believe my time will come” and “I believe I can win in the Cup series”.
 
ChexOrWrex said:
When has he ever said this, or even leaned into this?

The closest he has ever gotten is saying “I believe my time will come” and “I believe I can win in the Cup series”.
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How many tear jerking videos do you need? I think the fanfare has distracted him. He always has an out when he loses....make another video. It's old. If the pressure and heartache are too much, grocery stores are hiring. He works the passive....How can a nice hard working guy with a wife in tears not have a ride? thing.....Again, I hope he is the person he seems to be, but at some point....look in the mirror, acknowledge that you have not performed, and move on.
 
Revman said:
You are talking about the car that could have won Bristol, right? Funded enough.
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He had a “stronger” season the following year at Penske, albeit only by 4 more top 10s than 2019 and finished top 15 in the points. Kinda obvious Matt was over driving what the #95 car would allow at the time, and Christopher Bell didn’t do any better than Matt did at Leavine even with JGR fully backing the car in 2020.

Coming down hard on Matt for what seems to be no reason at all other than unrealistic expectations.
 
Revman said:
How many tear jerking videos do you need? I think the fanfare has distracted him. He always has an out when he loses....make another video. It's old. If the pressure and heartache are too much, grocery stores are hiring. He works the passive....How can a nice hard working guy with a wife in tears not have a ride? thing.....Again, I hope he is the person he seems to be, but at some point....look in the mirror, acknowledge that you have not performed, and move on.
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You want drivers to have personality but when it’s not the personality you agree with, you **** all over them for leaving their emotions on their sleeve for the public to see. You do realize that Matt putting himself out there is exaclty what has elevated him to this point right? Dale Jr and Denny Hamlin have both said that Matt isn’t an elite driver, and most drivers aren't, but Matt is the kind of guy that just makes the whole shop better. He’s not there just to drive the car and go home, he sets the standard for optimism and fighting through ups and downs for the entire team. Sometimes the big name teams just don’t work for guys like that, take a look at Trackhouse as a prime example.

Matt will find his way.
 
ChexOrWrex said:
He had a “stronger” season the following year at Penske, albeit only by 4 more top 10s than 2019 and finished top 15 in the points. Kinda obvious Matt was over driving what the #95 car would allow at the time, and Christopher Bell didn’t do any better than Matt did at Leavine even with JGR fully backing the car in 2020.

Coming down hard on Matt for what seems to be no reason at all other than unrealistic expectations.
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You can't compare Bell's seasons to Matt's...Bell was a rookie. Again, the 95 was good enough to put Matt in a position to win, but he didn't. He had his shot. I don't think I am coming down on him at all. He has had his shot, and I have seen him cry more times than any other driver in the series. By whatever metric you choose, Matt has not performed well enough in the car to maintain his ride. Outside of the car, he is the heartthrob of the media core. Jaimie Little still has snot on her sleeve from his blubbering. I think that perhaps you see me "coming down on him" because he has your heart as well.
 
Revman said:
You can't compare Bell's seasons to Matt's...Bell was a rookie. Again, the 95 was good enough to put Matt in a position to win, but he didn't. He had his shot. I don't think I am coming down on him at all. He has had his shot, and I have seen him cry more times than any other driver in the series. By whatever metric you choose, Matt has not performed well enough in the car to maintain his ride. Outside of the car, he is the heartthrob of the media core. Jaimie Little still has snot on her sleeve from his blubbering. I think that perhaps you see me "coming down on him" because he has your heart as well.
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You still havent shown any time when he’s said that he is entitled to a quality ride. Probabaly because you are terribly misinterpreting his videos, or only watching the ones where he talks about his own failures.
 
ChexOrWrex said:
You want drivers to have personality but when it’s not the personality you agree with, you **** all over them for leaving their emotions on their sleeve for the public to see. You do realize that Matt putting himself out there is exaclty what has elevated him to this point right? Dale Jr and Denny Hamlin have both said that Matt isn’t an elite driver, and most drivers aren't, but Matt is the kind of guy that just makes the whole shop better. He’s not there just to drive the car and go home, he sets the standard for optimism and fighting through ups and downs for the entire team. Sometimes the big name teams just don’t work for guys like that, take a look at Trackhouse as a prime example.

Matt will find his way.
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When have I ever said that I want drivers to have personality? In fact, if you have been reading, I have said that I detest hearing their personal stories, and I typically am amused by what they do in front of the camera. Who have I **** all over for putting their emotions out there? ....and how do you know that he is that team player you need him to be? We make that assumption because he appears to be a nice guy....it fits the narrative, but how do you know? Conversely, how do you know that KFB isn't the nicest guy in the shop? Because of what you see on TV? How about our drivers drive the damn cars, and if they aren't successful, just shut up and keep working as hard as a guy like Matt tells us he does? I mean, like hard in the race car.....because I know he works hard in the gym because he is always talking about it, and showing his biceps on TV when he isn't asking for a Kleenex.
 
ChexOrWrex said:
You still havent shown any time when he’s said that he is entitled to a quality ride. Probabaly because you are terribly misinterpreting his videos, or only watching the ones where he talks about his own failures.
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Why is he making the videos? We have heard what he says in situations like this repeatedly. He does it IMO because he feels sorry for himself. Why? Because he feels that he has been wronged and deserves more. That's entitlement IMO. Doesn't mean that he is a bad guy. It's just that he knows he has a fan base that will wait for these videos. I promise you that if he perceived that it was hurting his rep, he would stop doing it. At the moment, this is his only path to relevancy.
 
Revman said:
At the moment, this is his only path to relevancy.
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Quite obvious you haven’t been paying attention. He’s mentioned a few times that he feels like the team is finally gelling and they’ve rattled off two top 10s in a row. His path to relevancy is to keep rattling off those kind of results, and thats the only thing he’s talked about being focused on since day 1.

Man, when someone jumps off the Toyota ship you go hard.
 
"Kurt Busch top candidate for 23XI Racing as long as team gets charter and expands; Chastain leading candidate for Trackhouse opening. Nothing finalized. Everyone else is more TBD waiting how charter situations/sponsorships work out." - from Bob Pockrass on Twitter

 
ChexOrWrex said:
Quite obvious you haven’t been paying attention. He’s mentioned a few times that he feels like the team is finally gelling and they’ve rattled off two top 10s in a row. His path to relevancy is to keep rattling off those kind of results, and thats the only thing he’s talked about being focused on since day 1.

Man, when someone jumps off the Toyota ship you go hard.
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Gelling isn't the issue. He has been on the path the relevancy for 3 years. Great guy, but I don't think it is happening. Let's hope he doesn't head for the booth like so many others and make an ass out of himself.
 
Revman said:
Gelling isn't the issue. He has been on the path the relevancy for 3 years. Great guy, but I don't think it is happening. Let's hope he doesn't head for the booth like so many others and make an ass out of himself.
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I mean you can take the word of the driver of the team and they have backed it up with results, or you can go with your own fantasy. I hope he has more good results today.
 
ChexOrWrex said:
I mean you can take the word of the driver of the team and they have backed it up with results, or you can go with your own fantasy. I hope he has more good results today.
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Okay, fantasy....right. Gotcha. I hope he has good results today, but refrains from the "I told you so" video that is inevitable in this circumstance.
 
Revman said:
Gelling isn't the issue. He has been on the path the relevancy for 3 years. Great guy, but I don't think it is happening. Let's hope he doesn't head for the booth like so many others and make an ass out of himself.
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Why do people always assume lately that every single driver wants to or is destined to head to the broadcast booth? The amount of drivers that land in the booth after they hang up the steering wheel is a very small and exclusive group.
 
cheesepuffs said:
Why do people always assume lately that every single driver wants to or is destined to head to the broadcast booth? The amount of drivers that land in the booth after they hang up the steering wheel is a very small and exclusive group.
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Has he even done any broadcasts? I don't remember him doing any

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On the thoughts of drivers becoming commentators: I will really miss Jeff Gordon in the booth. I was expecting him to do well, but he did so much better than I imagined.
 
cheesepuffs said:
Why do people always assume lately that every single driver wants to or is destined to head to the broadcast booth? The amount of drivers that land in the booth after they hang up the steering wheel is a very small and exclusive group.
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Because Jeff Gordon is living proof that any driver could potentially become part of that exclusive group.
 
I don't get the people who are thinking that if Matt D can with wins, or whatever earn a place at Penske? He was told what was going to happen from day one but instead he is whining about getting let go. He agreed to the terms starting out. Grow up. Penske knew what he had, but Menard who at the time was a big money man wanted Matt in the car, so Penske who was put between a rock and a hard place worked the best deal he could.


 
StandOnIt said:
I don't get the people who are thinking that if Matt D can with wins, or whatever earn a place at Penske? He was told what was going to happen from day one but instead he is whining about getting let go. He agreed to the terms starting out. Grow up. Penske knew what he had, but Menard who at the time was a big money man wanted Matt in the car, so Penske who was put between a rock and a hard place worked the best deal he could.


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yeah, I think it was widely known and made clear. I’m not sure why Matt is surprised, they literally told him last season this exact thing was happening
 
If anything I think Matt hurt his stock a little with his video. Like mentioned before he was told he would only be there another year. I mean what did he do that he think he earned to stay?

To me the only sad thing in this deal is that it's pretty clear that Penske is pulling the strings over at WBR

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Might be big problems for Bacon man. Happens all the time when they switch CEO's that race sponsoring dries up. I don't think it makes a dam if he wins or not with some of them. Chances are they aren't racing fans

 
wi_racefan said:
If anything I think Matt hurt his stock a little with his video. Like mentioned before he was told he would only be there another year. I mean what did he do that he think he earned to stay?

To me the only sad thing in this deal is that it's pretty clear that Penske is pulling the strings over at WBR

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I guess you didn't know that Penske rescued the Wood Brothers years ago from a part time team that was going under and has brought them up to a team that is competing for wins (when they have the right driver)?
 
StandOnIt said:
I guess you didn't know that Penske rescued the Wood Brothers years ago from a part time team that was going under and has brought them up to a team that is competing for wins (when they have the right driver)?
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I get that but it's just sad that such a legendary team has become Penske's development team.

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JGR_20 said:
yeah, I think it was widely known and made clear. I’m not sure why Matt is surprised, they literally told him last season this exact thing was happening
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Saw that Matt mentioned in an interview that he understood the circumstances, but thought that they had changed when Brad rumors surfaced. I don't know Roger Penske, but he appears to b a man who would have told Matt that things had changed if they had. Again, Matt comes across as entitled.....maybe in a different way than a rich kid or something, but he does feel that he deserves to stay.
 
wi_racefan said:
If anything I think Matt hurt his stock a little with his video. Like mentioned before he was told he would only be there another year. I mean what did he do that he think he earned to stay?

To me the only sad thing in this deal is that it's pretty clear that Penske is pulling the strings over at WBR

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
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...but you see, I think Matt doesn't get that. He is in rapture over a fan base that thinks these videos are the deal. He has lost his perspective IMO....and Jaimie Little still has snot on her sleeve. It's old.
 
StandOnIt said:
I don't get the people who are thinking that if Matt D can with wins, or whatever earn a place at Penske? He was told what was going to happen from day one but instead he is whining about getting let go. He agreed to the terms starting out. Grow up. Penske knew what he had, but Menard who at the time was a big money man wanted Matt in the car, so Penske who was put between a rock and a hard place worked the best deal he could.


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Sounds like the Captain has had enough. Matt should understand that if this man is good with telling Brad to take a hike when he asked for a piece of The Empire, he would be just fine in telling a 0 win driver to get lost. Roger Penske is a very nice man. However, one would be naive to think that he wouldn't be shrewd when necessary when you look at what he has built. He will be sayin, "Matt who?" in three weeks.
 
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