Silly Season 2025

Lol no, they don't. They deserve a paycheck for services. Nothing more, nothing less. Every single one of them is free to start a race team any time they want. But until they put millions of dollars and all the risks that come with it into the game, they don't deserve anything other than what's agreed to in an employee contract. It's not a great situation for them, no doubt. But businesses go out of business every single day of the year. And, for the most part, people land on their feet.

SHR has been a pretty unique place ever since Tony joined in that they truly operated like two companies - Tony's and Gene's. Especially once Gene funded a 4th car for Kurt, which was a pretty obvious "F you" to Tony who went out and got injured. They really don't share much between the 4 cars - data, setups etc. Especially when Kevin was in the 4. That car was kept pretty tight lipped. I have no idea what it's like there now. But the idea that they might be calling it quits in Cup is really not very surprising. I don't think the leadership has ever been a healthy one. The two partners really didn't partner much together, and the highest ranking non-owner was trying to move mountains for his son. Not exactly a recipe for success!
Briscoe has a contract specifically prohibiting him from talking to other teams and nobody will tell him anything. SHR's dysfunction should not be in play here or with any other employee that has the same agreement with SHR. What can they do? Nothing has been said about dissolving SHR or continuing at this point.
 
Lol no, they don't. They deserve a paycheck for services. Nothing more, nothing less.

I will have to respectfully disagree. When that paycheck feeds your family, you deserve to know what may interfere with it. I think it’s callous to just say “lol they don’t.”

Tony and Gene may have put up the money, but the employees gave their labor and you need both to have a successful business.
 
I will have to respectfully disagree. When that paycheck feeds your family, you deserve to know what may interfere with it. I think it’s callous to just say “lol they don’t.”

Tony and Gene may have put up the money, but the employees gave their labor and you need both to have a successful business.
Employees without a contract are what is called a voluntary work force. If the company dissolves they get unemployment. On the other hand, independent contractors under contract and with an agreement to refuse to talk to other opportunities have a right to know what is happening and have a pretty good case in the courts if they can prove damages if they aren't informed so they can make other plans for next year.
 
Employees without a contract are what is called a voluntary work force. If the company dissolves they get unemployment.

Unemployment compensation in NC maxes out at $350 per week, not nearly enough to support anyone.

I believe in treating people well and helping them land on their feet. I’ve had family members who have gone through unexpected layoffs and it can take years to financially recover from that. My dad got laid off when I was a kid and it took him years to pay off the debt he accumulated while trying to keep a roof over our head and food on the table during the year he was out of work.

I don’t have sympathy for people in Tony and Gene’s spot, they’ll cash out. There are employees who won’t be so lucky.
 
I will have to respectfully disagree. When that paycheck feeds your family, you deserve to know what may interfere with it. I think it’s callous to just say “lol they don’t.”

Tony and Gene may have put up the money, but the employees gave their labor and you need both to have a successful business.
We can agree to disagree, but I don't think it's callous at all to say they don't "deserve" anything. They don't. Literally. And the labor is in exchange for money. That's the deal.

Having said that, there are great owners and not so great owners of businesses. I've worked for both. Some are pretty transparent in sharing what's going on with the business, some are not. But at no point did I ever think I "deserve" to know what direction a business is going in. That's the right of an owner who assumes all risk. And there are obvious risks to sharing information like that. Suppose Gene called all the employees together and said "many of you will not have a job at the end of this season." How do you think the rest of the season will go for SHR? Would people be giving 100%? Or would they all have one foot out the door and turn the next few months into a circus? Is that fair to the people putting up the money? Sponsors? People staying with the company? Owners? Look at the Red Lobster example mentioned earlier. Suppose corporate knew the restaurants would be closing six months prior. What would have happened if they had announced that to all the employees? They would have been out of business much sooner than in 6 months, that's for sure!!!

But if you ask me the reality of the situation...I honestly don't think the future is certain yet. So what is there to even tell?
 
How do you think the rest of the season will go for SHR? Would people be giving 100%? Or would they all have one foot out the door and turn the next few months into a circus?

The vast majority of people will want another job in the industry and their performance will dictate their ability to do so. No worker who actually wants a future in their field and cares about their job is going to slack off when their employer is going out of business.
 
The vast majority of people will want another job in the industry and their performance will dictate their ability to do so. No worker who actually wants a future in their field and cares about their job is going to slack off when their employer is going out of business.

If SHR goes away, whoever buys the charters will be looking for help. Plenty of opportunities out there for anyone losing their jobs without them having to relocate
 
The vast majority of people will want another job in the industry and their performance will dictate their ability to do so. No worker who actually wants a future in their field and cares about their job is going to slack off when their employer is going out of business.
Well I 100% respectfully disagree with this. The workers who actually want a future in their field will be spending a significant amount of time trying to secure their future in the field. Time, effort, emotional energy and brain power they could be putting into SHR performance. It has nothing to do with "slacking off" and everything to do with focus and attention. Put another way...there will be a SIGNIFICANT increase in people calling in sick (interviewing).
 
SHR has been a pretty unique place ever since Tony joined in that they truly operated like two companies - Tony's and Gene's. Especially once Gene funded a 4th car for Kurt, which was a pretty obvious "F you" to Tony who went out and got injured. They really don't share much between the 4 cars - data, setups etc. Especially when Kevin was in the 4. That car was kept pretty tight lipped. I have no idea what it's like there now. But the idea that they might be calling it quits in Cup is really not very surprising. I don't think the leadership has ever been a healthy one. The two partners really didn't partner much together, and the highest ranking non-owner was trying to move mountains for his son. Not exactly a recipe for success!
This entire last paragraph legit blew my mind.
 
Well I 100% respectfully disagree with this. The workers who actually want a future in their field will be spending a significant amount of time trying to secure their future in the field. Time, effort, emotional energy and brain power they could be putting into SHR performance. It has nothing to do with "slacking off" and everything to do with focus and attention. Put another way...there will be a SIGNIFICANT increase in people calling in sick (interviewing).

Allen I’ve always found your information thrilling when we get a chance to hear from you, we all saw Hocevar the other week mention Rockingham is coming back in 2025, any truth to this or was he just blowing smoke?


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Allen I’ve always found your information thrilling when we get a chance to hear from you, we all saw Hocevar the other week mention Rockingham is coming back in 2025, any truth to this or was he just blowing smoke?


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I honestly don't know, sorry. It would be cool though!
 
KFB will be riding around in decent cars until he decides he’s had enough.
 
We can agree to disagree, but I don't think it's callous at all to say they don't "deserve" anything. They don't. Literally. And the labor is in exchange for money. That's the deal.

Having said that, there are great owners and not so great owners of businesses. I've worked for both. Some are pretty transparent in sharing what's going on with the business, some are not. But at no point did I ever think I "deserve" to know what direction a business is going in. That's the right of an owner who assumes all risk. And there are obvious risks to sharing information like that. Suppose Gene called all the employees together and said "many of you will not have a job at the end of this season." How do you think the rest of the season will go for SHR? Would people be giving 100%? Or would they all have one foot out the door and turn the next few months into a circus? Is that fair to the people putting up the money? Sponsors? People staying with the company? Owners? Look at the Red Lobster example mentioned earlier. Suppose corporate knew the restaurants would be closing six months prior. What would have happened if they had announced that to all the employees? They would have been out of business much sooner than in 6 months, that's for sure!!!

But if you ask me the reality of the situation...I honestly don't think the future is certain yet. So what is there to even tell?
If Gene and Tony were actually going broke, I would tend to agree with your position. The fact that neither one will be missing any meals says to me that they can do a LOT better by their employees than leaving everyone in suspended animation. Tony in particular has been on all sides of this coin. I'm truly disappointed that he seemingly has so little empathy for the people who helped build this little empire and to which a charter sale will most likely mean a substantial return on "investment" for him.
 
If Gene and Tony were actually going broke, I would tend to agree with your position. The fact that neither one will be missing any meals says to me that they can do a LOT better by their employees than leaving everyone in suspended animation. Tony in particular has been on all sides of this coin. I'm truly disappointed that he seemingly has so little empathy for the people who helped build this little empire and to which a charter sale will most likely mean a substantial return on "investment" for him.
Can you prove that statement? What exactly would you like him (or them) to tell people? Daily briefings of uncertainty while they figure out details of things? The company is clearly losing money, but yet Gene & Tony continue to pay these people out of their pocket...that's not enough?

I've derailed this thread enough, so won't comment on what management should or shouldn't do anymore (I already know a few people there working on securing different jobs, so I know not EVERYONE will be surprised or left out to dry). It's just weird how this country seems to hold contempt for successful people. Like working hard, being smart (or talented in Tony's case) and taking many risks to achieve the American dream somehow makes your money less valuable than someone else's money. Every single person in this country has the ability to go out, start a company, make millions, and then do whatever they want with it. But rather than have the balls to do it, they just want to sit and tell the people who did how to act.
 
Can you prove that statement? What exactly would you like him (or them) to tell people? Daily briefings of uncertainty while they figure out details of things? The company is clearly losing money, but yet Gene & Tony continue to pay these people out of their pocket...that's not enough?

I've derailed this thread enough, so won't comment on what management should or shouldn't do anymore (I already know a few people there working on securing different jobs, so I know not EVERYONE will be surprised or left out to dry). It's just weird how this country seems to hold contempt for successful people. Like working hard, being smart (or talented in Tony's case) and taking many risks to achieve the American dream somehow makes your money less valuable than someone else's money. Every single person in this country has the ability to go out, start a company, make millions, and then do whatever they want with it. But rather than have the balls to do it, they just want to sit and tell the people who did how to act.
Again if certain people have contracts that forbid talking to others that is a problem. The rest? that is what unemployment insurance is for to help the transition if they can't find a job quickly. That is our system. It isn't perfect but nothing is.
 
If the employees at SHR can't read the writing on the wall without gene or tony telling them then they aren't very bright and I wouldn't want them on my race team.
 
If the employees at SHR can't read the writing on the wall without gene or tony telling them then they aren't very bright and I wouldn't want them on my race team.
I wouldn't go quite that far but yeah, if we're aware of it here, you can bet they know more than we do and knew about it before the Internet did.
 
It's just weird how this country seems to hold contempt for successful people. Like working hard, being smart (or talented in Tony's case) and taking many risks to achieve the American dream somehow makes your money less valuable than someone else's money.
Check the Rushville Social Register for those deep-pocketed Stewarts. Dairy Queen has a couple of copies on hand.
 
I wouldn't go quite that far but yeah, if we're aware of it here, you can bet they know more than we do and knew about it before the Internet did.
Are they closing up shop or just sending feelers out to see what the waters are if they decide to go that way. Of course here with the R-F team experts it's a done deal and they are taking the cash and going down the road.
Many times a stock will rise dramatically when rumors of a split are in the air. I can't see the charters doing any differently if the interest is there.
 
Every single person in this country has the ability to go out, start a company, make millions, and then do whatever they want with it. But rather than have the balls to do it, they just want to sit and tell the people who did how to act.

I own a business and work for myself.

I still think you should treat the people whose labor makes you money with respect.
 
Really hope briscoe, Berry and Noah land on their feet. I like preece but he belongs in a modified or xfinity ride.


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Why are the 4 careers over? I'd think that they can continue driving post SHR. 3 of them will most likely continue driving in cup.
Reality is that the top teams are trying to hire all of the top guys who are working at SHR because those guys are in demand. Gragson and Briscoe for sure and probably Berry will find work. We'll be hearing about it. Some drivers aren't going to be around to make room for them.
 
Another Toyota Driver Development grad lands a ride....while Tony ironically **** cans four careers. Ironic....indeed.
Toyota Driver Development live action photo.
 

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I guess strike while the iron is hot, but from a competition standpoint this one doesn't make a lot of sense to me unless they're bringing in an investor. They clearly don't have the capital to run 2 cars competitive on a regular basis right now.
 
I guess strike while the iron is hot, but from a competition standpoint this one doesn't make a lot of sense to me unless they're bringing in an investor. They clearly don't have the capital to run 2 cars competitive on a regular basis right now.
Not sure about this, they are consistently running well now in days. Now with SHR dissolved, that will mean more resources for the likes of FRM, Penske, RFK, and Rick Ware.

McDowell consistently runs well and Todd continues to improve. I think FRM is doing it right, honestly.
 
Remember, FRM had three charters when Tifft was driving for them. They also had a technical partnership with the Roush at that time. Then they downsized, almost down to one car and then JHN drove that one season for them in the 38.

Taken their time has slowly built themselves up into a playoff caliber organization, maybe not on a consistent basis, but they have shown it is possible. Zane Smith and Gilliland have been impressive in their respected rides, even Herbst has looked sporty in his limited starts.

I'm curious to see how they look moving forward without McDowell, in all seriousness.
 
Remember, FRM had three charters when Tifft was driving for them. They also had a technical partnership with the Roush at that time. Then they downsized, almost down to one car and then JHN drove that one season for them in the 38.

Taken their time has slowly built themselves up into a playoff caliber organization, maybe not on a consistent basis, but they have shown it is possible. Zane Smith and Gilliland have been impressive in their respected rides, even Herbst has looked sporty in his limited starts.

I'm curious to see how they look moving forward without McDowell, in all seriousness.
Jenkins is on the job, he's a racer. I was glad he bought a charter, he will do something with it. It will be interesting to see who he gets to put in the seat. Ford losing 4 cars will have them putting some of their spotlight on FRM to take up the slack.

The growth of the organization for 2025 follows the Tier-1 status it gained with Ford this season. Front Row Motorsports also has a technical alliance with Team Penske.
 
Why are the 4 careers over? I'd think that they can continue driving post SHR. 3 of them will most likely continue driving in cup.
Tongue in cheek......there careers aren't any more ruined than a TD2 driver looking for a ride......but Tony.
 
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