2021 Silly Season

Formerjackman said:
Hamlin was not a Toyota development driver either. He logged 79 Cup races in a Chevy before he crossed over to the dark side.
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Sure it wasn't a JGR Pontiac?
Formerjackman said:
Because he HAD to know that Bell was their new golden boy and that he was the fifth man at what is ultimately a four person table. At the VERY LEAST, he should have known the minute the rumors of the 95 team closing down or being sold that he was in REAL trouble, because if we understand it correctly, Toyota was contractually obligated to Bell. You don't have to be Einstein to figure out what was going to happen next.
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He may have just been listening to what his business agent was telling him instead of reading this forum.
 
No, it was a Chevy. JGR was a Chevy team from 2003-2007. IF his agent didn't figure out what was happening, he had better find a new agent, regardless of their other credentials. Those guys get PAID to figure this stuff out.
 
Formerjackman said:
No, it was a Chevy. JGR was a Chevy team from 2003-2007. IF his agent didn't figure out what was happening, he had better find a new agent, regardless of their other credentials. Those guys get PAID to figure this stuff out.
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How would an agent be privy to what the Levine Family decided to do because of the effects of the COVID?? If JG was still negotiating in good faith with Jones's Agent, why would they suspect Toyota was going to step in and change everything.
This really tells me that JGR may run parts of their business BUT Toyota has final say.
 
Well, as I said, it's these guys jobs to pretty much know what is going on, and I refuse to believe that the Leavine deal was a total shock to those in the garage area. I also believe there was a good chance of a swap being made even if Leavine stayed open. I could EASILY see Toyota moving Bell to the mother ship for 2021 and giving Jones the option to take the 95 or move on down the road. I'm sure a lot of other people here had the same thoughts, so there is NO WAY Jones should have been totally caught out in left field by this. Surprised, MAYBE, but shocked, well no. The simple fact is that when you are the distant fourth best driver on a four car team, even if you are doing OK, you're ALWAYS going to be vulnerable. Look at all the talk that has been following Clint Bowyer and recently William Byron. They are in a similar position, and unlike Byron and perhaps even Bowyer, if you aren't bringing any money to the table, you're even MORE vulnerable.
 
Formerjackman said:
Look at all the talk that has been following Clint Bowyer and recently William Byron. They are in a similar position, and unlike Byron and perhaps even Bowyer, if you aren't bringing any money to the table, you're even MORE vulnerable.
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Clint is a "has been" and has had years to improve which he hasn't. Byron hasn't been in cars very long and I Believe he definitely has the wrong CC.
IMO HMS has always stayed with CC's and changed drivers instead. In Nascar today the combination of Driver/CC can most times be the difference instead of the car itself.
Penske has been promoting drivers and when possible kept the CC they had that got them to that point.
 
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Team Penske said:
Byron hasn't been in cars very long and I Believe he definitely has the wrong CC.
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I agree.

Chemistry can be the most important piece of the puzzle when it comes to Cup teams... just pairing talented person ‘X’ with talented person ‘Z’... isn’t always how champions are made

Hendrick DEFINITELY needs to change that 24 team... move the CC’s around... something... especially if they are going to really shake things up, possibly dropping a team or bringing in a new driver... would be the best time to consider it.

I don’t see William taking off in his current team setup. It’s just not clicking.
 
Isn’t Chad Knaus William Byron’s crew chief?

The guy who got Chimmie all those rings?
 
Spire is expanding to two cars next season:


Oh boi. They bought Leavine's charter. Jeff Dickerson's comments the purchase and charter system:
 
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Kiante said:
Spire is expanding to two cars next season:


Oh boi. They bought Leavine's charter. Jeff Dickerson's comments the purchase and charter system:
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I can’t hate what Spire is doing, we all wonder where our next owners and teams are coming from because RCR, Hendrick, Roush, Gibbs, Penske (well maybe) and Ganassi can’t go forever. I admire that Spire is building slow and I hope they eventually become competitive, all great teams have to start some where right? We should be rooting for this team to make it, we will eventually need more cars on the grid.
 
Snappy D said:
I can’t hate what Spire is doing, we all wonder where our next owners and teams are coming from because RCR, Hendrick, Roush, Gibbs, Penske (well maybe) and Ganassi can’t go forever. I admire that Spire is building slow and I hope they eventually become competitive, all great teams have to start some where right? We should be rooting for this team to make it, we will eventually need more cars on the grid.
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The problem is they are not even trying to compete.
 
Snappy D said:
I can’t hate what Spire is doing, we all wonder where our next owners and teams are coming from because RCR, Hendrick, Roush, Gibbs, Penske (well maybe) and Ganassi can’t go forever. I admire that Spire is building slow and I hope they eventually become competitive, all great teams have to start some where right? We should be rooting for this team to make it, we will eventually need more cars on the grid.
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Got to start somewhere. Sounds like a lot of the owners are banking on 2022 with the new car.
 
wi_racefan said:
Actually the problem is right now the business model is broken. You can't run a competitive team at a profit.
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When was that ever really NOT the case? There are exceptions, but they are few and far between. The period between roughly 1990-2005 was an anomaly, likely to never be seem again. What we have now has generally been the rule rather than the exception over the entire history of NASCAR.
 
wi_racefan said:
Actually the problem is right now the business model is broken. You can't run a competitive team at a profit. Either you run mid pack or you run up front with money coming from ownership
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It's been said before, a renegotiation is needed if we're to have a more competitive field.
 
So he was going to jump ship. I actually think JGR really wanted to keep both Jones and Bell. Just boxed into a corner being limited to 4 cars.
 
I really hope Jason Radcliff can come along with Bell. I want to see a ‘refresh’ to some degree with this Cup 20 team.

but Jason and Christopher have done very well together so far.

Been thinking about this the last couple days...
 
Turtle84 said:
So he was going to jump ship. I actually think JGR really wanted to keep both Jones and Bell. Just boxed into a corner being limited to 4 cars.
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Well if it was THAT big of concern to them, TRD/Gibbs COULD have helped keep Leavine afloat, or transferred their deal to a new owner that could have kept one or the other in the Toyota camp. A LOT of things matter until it comes time to write a check.
 
Turtle84 said:
So he was going to jump ship. I actually think JGR really wanted to keep both Jones and Bell. Just boxed into a corner being limited to 4 cars.
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Bell, man.

You can sniff it, can't you? He's gonna last at JGR a long time, his personality is a fit.

Just wait, 5 years from now, he will be one of the villains of NASCAR.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
 
Turtle84 said:
So he was going to jump ship. I actually think JGR really wanted to keep both Jones and Bell. Just boxed into a corner being limited to 4 cars.
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The full quote is:

At the time, it’s either the 20 car (at Joe Gibbs Racing) or I’m done with Toyota. There’s no other options. It was very scary. I didn’t want that to end.
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This is an acknowledgement from him that it was the only realistic option, not a threat. From what has been reported, he is under contract with TRD, but they have contractual obligations to provide him a Cup seat with certain requirements. They could be done with him at a moment's notice, but he wasn't free to just leave, nor did he want to.
 
gnomesayin said:
The full quote is:



This is an acknowledgement from him that it was the only realistic option, not a threat. From what has been reported, he is under contract with TRD, but they have contractual obligations to provide him a Cup seat with certain requirements. They could be done with him at a moment's notice, but he wasn't free to just leave, nor did he want to.
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Bell also said that if TRD (factory) dropped him he would be sponsorless looking for another ride. They kept Kenseth's sponsors when they got rid of him, and used them to finance Jones. Edwards's sponsors bailed at the first excuse with Suarez. That one didn't work as well. Edwards had to make an appearance or two to satisfy his sponsors which he either did as a favor, or a deal was made. They starved both Barney and Leavine out. They got all of the cream from Barney, Truex and Pearn and they lost a competitor. That isn't looking so golden when Pearn bailed. There wasn't much left after Barney was gone, they had what they thought they wanted with the exception of a loose string they were afraid to loose that could come back and bite em and that is Bell. Much easier and cheaper to cut Jones out of the herd than to finance Bell a decent ride. The bottom line is Toyota hasn't lifted a finger to help keep their car counts up. All of them can say what they want and lay it off on whatever, they have been chopping heads off for a long time. I don't think Bell will get a long term contract until he has a year in with JGR and he is showing that he is the next thing since sliced bread.
 
Formerjackman said:
Well if it was THAT big of concern to them, TRD/Gibbs COULD have helped keep Leavine afloat, or transferred their deal to a new owner that could have kept one or the other in the Toyota camp. A LOT of things matter until it comes time to write a check.
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Yes, if they really wanted to they could have found a way. Jones needed to be having a stronger season to put pressure on them, operating outside the cutline in JGR equipment made it easy, even if they originally wanted to keep him. They chose to consolidate over keeping both in the pipeline.
 
Now wait just a darn tootin' minute:


I have a feeling its a throwback announcement, but I'm curious!
 
ChexOrWrex said:
Carl Edwards throwback?
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good catch! Looks like it should be that. That’s Carl’s car from Richmond 2013 when he won. I don’t know if they got particular with what photo they chose, or just being general with it...
 
aunty dive said:
Isn’t Chad Knaus William Byron’s crew chief?

The guy who got Chimmie all those rings?
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But the Chad of today is not the same Chad who won all those championships.
Back then he was first to the shop and last to leave. Now he doesn't go to the shop at all.
Besides the cars today are not the same. Most people my age can say "what worked yesterday means nothing today".
 
Team Penske said:
But the Chad of today is not the same Chad who won all those championships.
Back then he was first to the shop and last to leave. Now he doesn't go to the shop at all.
Besides the cars today are not the same. Most people my age can say "what worked yesterday means nothing today".
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You and Chad aren’t the same age.
 
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