2021 Silly Season

Joker said:
Lol it has nothing to do with race. I can't really think of anyone better than Bubba that would deign to drive for RPM. He's way outperforming his car.

I'd love to see him in the 14 if Clint goes into the booth next year.
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This. times 100. In fact put him in any of the SHR cars not numbered 4.
 
Joker said:
He can't disappoint me any worse than Cole has so far, lol.
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Cole has gotten off to a very slow start.

I'm surprised he and Bell have struggled so far, but everyone learns differently. It goes to show the limited time in Cup was pivotal for John Hunter's quick adjustment to the series and had an opportunity to wrap his head around driving these Cup cars.
 
If Noah keeps running like this I think he may be the best option for the 48 if they can't get Brad.

After watching the trucks and Xfinity races this year I think CGR has to put Ross in the 42 or risk losing him to someone else. I don't think he's in the best equipment, but he's always hanging around the top of the leaderboard

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wi_racefan said:
If Noah keeps running like this I think he may be the best option for the 48 if they can't get Brad.

After watching the trucks and Xfinity races this year I think CGR has to put Ross in the 42 or risk losing him to someone else. I don't think he's in the best equipment, but he's always hanging around the top of the leaderboard

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I think Erik Jones should be the leading candidate for the 48. I would much rather have him than Gragson
 
If Preece continues to underperform, I would put Gragson in the 37 with the alliance JTG has with HMS to give him a season to get adjusted.

Honestly, Preece has had crap luck this season as well. I'm thinking aloud, but it will give him that season before moving up to something like the 48.

I don't see Jones leaving JGR either. None of the younger JGR drivers are even remotely close of being ready.
 
Kiante said:
If Preece continues to underperform, I would put Gragson in the 37 with the alliance JTG has with HMS to give him a season to get adjusted.

Honestly, Preece has had crap luck this season as well. I'm thinking aloud, but it will give him that season before moving up to something like the 48.

I don't see Jones leaving JGR either. None of the younger JGR drivers are even remotely close of being ready.
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Toyota/Gibbs seems determined to put Bell in a JGR car sooner rather than later. I think/hope Hendrick knows this, and will snatch Jones away from the 20 car
 
Kiante said:
If Preece continues to underperform, I would put Gragson in the 37 with the alliance JTG has with HMS to give him a season to get adjusted.

Honestly, Preece has had crap luck this season as well. I'm thinking aloud, but it will give him that season before moving up to something like the 48.

I don't see Jones leaving JGR either. None of the younger JGR drivers are even remotely close of being ready.
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I don't think HMS has much say as to who's in that car like JGR does with LFR. JGR is bankrolling part of that car, while JTG is paying HMS as part of the alliance

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gnomesayin said:
This is like a broken record with Jones, year after year. They haven't called him family yet, so he still has a chance.
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Interesting that the NBC Sports article says Christopher Bell is in "the first year of a multiyear contract." Last fall, they reported that Gibbs unilaterally exercised a team option to extend Bell's deal, which otherwise was expiring.

Pure speculation: During the off season, The Athletic prognosticated that Gibbs would retain both Jones and Bell for 2021 and beyond, and would boot Denny Hamlin, or possibly Martin Truex, after 2020 to make room for Bell in the mothership. Their logic was that Gibbs had been stung by the blunder of booting out Joey Logano prematurely, and wouldn't risk a repetition. Also, it is known that Toyota has invested over $24 million into bringing Bell's career along.

[Question: What's worse than pure speculation about silly season? Answer: Pure speculation that's six months old.]

Data analytics: Data guru David Smith has long been a staunch supporter of Erik Jones as an extraordinary talent. He has referred to Bell as a "generational prospect," whatever that means. Data driven metrics such as PEER and Central Speed get funky when based on just twelve races. But FWIW, here is a snapshot based on 2020 heading into Talladega. I'm also including B Kez because (a) he is another prominent free agent and (b) I like posting his rank as #1 in PEER in Nascar, so sue me...

PEER NumberPEER RankCentral Speed
Keselowski4.37517
Hamlin4.12538
Busch Kyle2.75059
Truex2.00095
Jones1.2081612
Bell0.8332023
 
LewTheShoe said:
The Athletic prognosticated that Gibbs would retain both Jones and Bell for 2021 and beyond, and would boot Denny Hamlin, or possibly Martin Truex, after 2020 to make room for Bell in the mothership.
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Truex is like Bowyer, very sponsor friendly, and with a better record to boot. Is anyone beating down the door to sponsor Bell?
LewTheShoe said:
[Question: What's worse than pure speculation about silly season? Answer: Pure speculation that's six months old.]
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:D
LewTheShoe said:
Their logic was that Gibbs had been stung by the blunder of booting out Joey Logano prematurely, and wouldn't risk a repetition.
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Joey wasn't a good fit a Gibbs, the same way Shrub wasn't a good fit at Hendrick. The blunder would have been keeping him.
 
Snappy D said:
Well Erik hasn’t been told he’s family yet I don’t think. This is all interesting... I wish there was a way to get Jones at HMS, I think he’s a future champion
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I guess if I were JGR unless Jones sets the world on fire in the next couple of months its probably time to cut ties with him. Its his 4th season in cup with 2 full seasons at the mother ship and he hasn't done much compared to everyone around him.

Lets face it everyone else is winning multiple races a year and contending for championships and here he is struggling to win one race a year and is out after the 1st round of the playoffs.

Hopefully he'll be like Joey and find more success after leaving
 
I don't think Denny is going anywhere, he's having a great season. Think he retires a Gibbs driver, too much history there.

Blaney signed an extension, but could have pictured him jumping ship to teammate up with Chase at Hendrick.

the 48 possibles imo (Kez, JHN, Gragson, Bell, Jones). I think Ross is 100% going in the 42 next year.
 
Turtle84 said:
I don't think Denny is going anywhere, he's having a great season. Think he retires a Gibbs driver, too much history there.

Blaney signed an extension, but could have pictured him jumping ship to teammate up with Chase at Hendrick.

the 48 possibles imo (Kez, JHN, Gragson, Bell, Jones). I think Ross is 100% going in the 42 next year.
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If Kenseth doesn't make the playoffs I could see Chip putting Ross in the end of this year to get going for next year.
 
kkfan91 said:
If Kenseth doesn't make the playoffs I could see Chip putting Ross in the end of this year to get going for next year.
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I don't see anyone besides Matt in the 42 this year. Too many sponsor obligations and Ross is committed to going for the championship in the Xfinity series. So putting Ross in the 42 late in the season is in direct opposition to that

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I think Brad would be lethal at HMS however is he your lead car or would the 9 still be? That’d be interesting to me
 
I doubt very much "The Captain" is going to let Brad get away this early in his career.
The winning record at Team Penske is Brad's record.
 
If Denny goes, Gabehart would have to go with him. Conceivable to me that Denny would bolt with the Driver Development noise all of the time, but it would be hart for me to think that he would leave Gabehart. No way Gabehart goes. Contrary to popular belief, people like to work at JGR. @StandOnIt Make Kenseth reference in 3-2-1.....
 
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