2022 Silly Season

Gosh I just had an idea. I know the internet loves the Burrito and that’s great....But The Captain always is two steps ahead....I say Cindric still gets the 21 but what if Roger signed Erik Jones or Tyler Reddick to take over the 2? What a line up that’d be, you have your championship anchor in Logano, the young veteran ready to take the championship step in Blaney and your young gun that never really had consistent success but just needs a good program around him in Reddick or Jones? I hope The Captain goes this route
 
hmmm298 said:
I posted this in another thread, but while it's definitely possible, I remember lots of similar rumors with Bubba last year (but for different teams). That being said it does seem like Roush is improving a lot this year, and they could be banking on the new car evening things up next year. Also Brad closed his truck team a few years ago because of costs. Will he be in a better position to afford ownership at the cup level now?

What happens to the 2 if Brad leaves? Cindric is already signed for the 21 next year. Does Matt D move to the 2, or is there another up and coming driver ready that I am forgetting about? Do they move Blaney to the 2 and go down to two cars until Cindric moves over, choosing to focus more one quality instead of quantity for next season?
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One more thought to add, it should be interesting seeing how working with a driver of Brad's caliber and learning from him helps the team to improve overall (and specifically Buescher).

As far as the 2, maybe since Newman started with Penske maybe he could return for his a year or so until they find a long term replacement and retire there. That would bring things full circle for Newman.
 
kkfan91 said:
Everyone wants to be Tony Stewart or Alan Kulwicki but you could just as easily be a Bill Elliott. Imagine how many more wins Bill could of had if he had 1995-2000 back
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This is not like Bill starting from scratch and Bill was a one man show.

Stewart brought in Newman for a reason when he started out at Haas.

Roush is already established and everything, its literally changing the name and possibly brining in different personnel. Brad could add his own twist with feedback and possibly bring in people he's comfortable with. It's a mid-field team and a turn-key operation.

Still have to wonder if guys like Jimmy Fennig will stick around. He and Jack have been tied to the hip since Roush started.
 
Kiante said:
This is not like Bill starting from scratch and Bill was a one man show.

Stewart brought in Newman for a reason when he started out at Haas.

Roush is already established and everything, its literally changing the name and possibly brining in different personnel. Brad could add his own twist with feedback and possibly bring in people he's comfortable with. It's a mid-field team and a turn-key operation.

Still have to wonder if guys like Jimmy Fennig will stick around. He and Jack have been tied to the hip since Roush started.
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Yea this is different than starting from scratch. I posted earlier today everything is there for Brad. I believe he’s gonna bring in his own people (Paul Wolfe maybe?), some more sponsorship money and maybe let some of the old guard go over there. I think this is a slam dunk deal for Brad, I’m excited to see yet another owner/driver give it a go
 
Snappy D said:
Yea this is different than starting from scratch. I posted earlier today everything is there for Brad. I believe he’s gonna bring in his own people (Paul Wolfe maybe?), some more sponsorship money and maybe let some of the old guard go over there. I think this is a slam dunk deal for Brad, I’m excited to see yet another owner/driver give it a go
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I was just going to say this. I imagine there's a lot more moving pieces to this puzzle than just Brad. I would have to think he'd either be bringing people along or bringing people in. Let's be honest changes need to take place at RFR to become a consistent contender

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wi_racefan said:
Until more comes out "ownership stake" is pretty vague. Remember Bubba supposedly had a stake in RPM and see how that turned out.

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It could have turned out alright for Bubba, he just decided his current owners was the right path for him.
 
It makes sense Keselowski wants to leave since he can't get a long-term deal with Penske. I think is apart of a group of 6-7 drivers that would win wherever they went. Newman retires and Brad takes over to help revitalize Roush-Fenway. Cindric/Matty D situation is unclear, as Penske likes Matty D quite a bit as well.
 
If this all works out I see happening with
1. Newman Retiring or leaving and Brad taking over the 6 or whatever number he uses
2. Buescher stays in the 17
3. DiBenedetto stays in the 21 while Cindric takes the 2
 
What was the supposed deal that Bill Elliott had going around the time he set out on his own? I swear I was googling to see what happened to his original wife (Martha) and daughter (Star) and came across an article about him being rumored to be going to a new team with Coca Cola as sponsor. Guess it's back to the ole Google...

Not trying to derail, just going off the posts above
 
kkfan91 said:
Everyone wants to be Tony Stewart or Alan Kulwicki but you could just as easily be a Bill Elliott. Imagine how many more wins Bill could of had if he had 1995-2000 back
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Ricky Rudd did okay. Not Alan K-level okay, but definitely better than most other driver's single-car, start-from-scratch teams.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
Ricky Rudd did okay. Not Alan K-level okay, but definitely better than most other driver's single-car, start-from-scratch teams.
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Six wins in five years, for an independent team that's honestly great.

Only if Ricky decided to stay with a growing Hendrick Motorsports... Or more accepting of teammates, but hindsight is 20/20.
 
Do you guys think Almirola's sponsors will keep backing him up even with his poor performance this year? I think Dibenedetto should replace him in the #10 next year,
 
Brad K has been "my driver" since 2011, and I track news about him about as closely as anyone here at R-F. But this report coming yesterday caught me completely by surprise. Bob Pockrass seems to think it's close to a done deal, so it probably is.

A lot of people are placing very big bets that the Next Gen car will actually deliver on its promise of greater parity in hardware between the richest teams and the other serious competitors, as well as its promise of significantly lower costs. Trackhouse and 23XI and Spire and Kaulig... and now Brad Keselowski it seems. I hope they are right, but I dunno...

I think it boils down to the future of cheating with the Next Gen car and its extensive list of controlled spec components. Will the spec parts actually be the same for everyone, as intended? Or will it simply raise the bar on cheating to the point that only the richest teams with unlimited R & D budgets can conceal what they are doing to "improve" those spec parts? Do we really think no team will modify those spec body panels to gain aero advantages, just because the rulebook says you can't modify them?

If the Next Gen philosophy actually works as intended, Kez moving to Roush Fenway with an ownership sweetener could prove to be a brilliant career strategy. If Next Gen doesn't work as intended, if the cost of staying a step ahead of the inspection team rises to F1-type R & D levels, then Brad can kiss that second championship goodbye... :idunno:

BTW, there was a column published three weeks ago at Frontstretch.com titled "Is Ownership the Future for Brad Keselowski, NASCAR's No. 1 Free Agent?" Written by someone named Michael Massie, and without a hint of actual sources or inside knowledge, the piece speculates that Brad may leave Penske this year to take up an ownership role at several possible teams... the first of which is Roush Fenway. It feels like another example of a blind squirrel finding a nut...

www.frontstretch.com

Fire on Fridays: Is Ownership the Future for Brad Keselowski, NASCAR's No. 1 Free Agent?

By winning at Talladega Superspeedway on April 25, Brad Keselowski might've moved into a tie for the second most wins at the track. But he also solidif ...
www.frontstretch.com www.frontstretch.com
 
LewTheShoe said:
Brad K has been "my driver" since 2011, and I track news about him about as closely as anyone here at R-F. But this report coming yesterday caught me completely by surprise. Bob Pockrass seems to think it's close to a done deal, so it probably is.

A lot of people are placing very big bets that the Next Gen car will actually deliver on its promise of greater parity in hardware between the richest teams and the other serious competitors, as well as its promise of significantly lower costs. Trackhouse and 23XI and Spire and Kaulig... and now Brad Keselowski it seems. I hope they are right, but I dunno...

I think it boils down to the future of cheating with the Next Gen car and its extensive list of controlled spec components. Will the spec parts actually be the same for everyone, as intended? Or will it simply raise the bar on cheating to the point that only the richest teams with unlimited R & D budgets can conceal what they are doing to "improve" those spec parts? Do we really think no team will modify those spec body panels to gain aero advantages, just because the rulebook says you can't modify them?

If the Next Gen philosophy actually works as intended, Kez moving to Roush Fenway with an ownership sweetener could prove to be a brilliant career strategy. If Next Gen doesn't work as intended, if the cost of staying a step ahead of the inspection team rises to F1-type R & D levels, then Brad can kiss that second championship goodbye... :idunno:

BTW, there was a column published three weeks ago at Frontstretch.com titled "Is Ownership the Future for Brad Keselowski, NASCAR's No. 1 Free Agent?" Written by someone named Michael Massie, and without a hint of actual sources or inside knowledge, the piece speculates that Brad may leave Penske this year to take up an ownership role at several possible teams... the first of which is Roush Fenway. It feels like another example of a blind squirrel finding a nut...

www.frontstretch.com

Fire on Fridays: Is Ownership the Future for Brad Keselowski, NASCAR's No. 1 Free Agent?

By winning at Talladega Superspeedway on April 25, Brad Keselowski might've moved into a tie for the second most wins at the track. But he also solidif ...
www.frontstretch.com www.frontstretch.com
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There hasn't been one report of anybody being able to alter the composite bodies of the Xfinity cars, so I don't see that happening on the Cup side. Hard to say about the other, spec parts, because their isn't any experience in that area. I haven't heard any restrictions on how much caster or camber that teams can adjust to with the 4 wheel independent suspension or what would be the advantage of altering suspension parts when they can already adjust away without restrictions. I think they can block off the heck out of the air in the front of the car, but they lose inportant downforce when they do. I think Nascar has plugged quite a few holes with the new car. Time will tell for sure though.
 
JJ_14 said:
Do you guys think Almirola's sponsors will keep backing him up even with his poor performance this year? I think Dibenedetto should replace him in the #10 next year,
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I don't see Almirola going anywhere. He has solid sponsorship and is normally very consistent, and I see him as a good veteran driver to lead the organization whenever Harvick retires. Everybody has an off year sometimes, and SHR as a whole is struggling a lot this year.
2 Sweet said:
Has there been any talk about potentially expanding to 40 charters? And then have a few "open" spots for non-chartered teams? It would be nice to get back to 43-car fields at some point
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They'd be better off to get rid of charters entirely, but I doubt that's very realistic. So, as things stand now, if Rick Ware sold a few of his, at least we'd see a higher number of quality teams on the grid. (Unfortunately, that's probably not very realistic, either.)
 
2 Sweet said:
Has there been any talk about potentially expanding to 40 charters? And then have a few "open" spots for non-chartered teams? It would be nice to get back to 43-car fields at some point
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IIRC, they contractually can’t under the charter agreement unless a new OEM comes on board, in which case they could release a few new ones to help them get started up.
 
hmmm298 said:
I posted this in another thread, but while it's definitely possible, I remember lots of similar rumors with Bubba last year (but for different teams). That being said it does seem like Roush is improving a lot this year, and they could be banking on the new car evening things up next year. Also Brad closed his truck team a few years ago because of costs. Will he be in a better position to afford ownership at the cup level now?

What happens to the 2 if Brad leaves? Cindric is already signed for the 21 next year. Does Matt D move to the 2, or is there another up and coming driver ready that I am forgetting about? Do they move Blaney to the 2 and go down to two cars until Cindric moves over, choosing to focus more one quality instead of quantity for next season?
Click to expand...
I hope history repeats itself and The Captain signs a young driver ready to take the next step like he did with Joey. Erik Jones or Tyler Reddick get my vote for the 2.
 
I think it is likely Matty D gets a shot at Penske for a season tbh.
 
Snappy D said:
I hope history repeats itself and The Captain signs a young driver ready to take the next step like he did with Joey. Erik Jones or Tyler Reddick get my vote for the 2.
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RCR has no one in line to replace Reddick.

I still think its far too early in Reddick's Cup career for Childress to give up or let go. They'd be foolish to, honestly.

I still say Kurt should be considered due to his Monster money and experience to replace Brad, at least as a stop gap for about two years. Cindric can go into the 21 for those two years.

Matt D is a good, veteran driver that would be solid anywhere, for any team. He's close friends with Denny, maybe he might be considered if 23XI expands? IMHO, I think Matt D stepping down to Xfinity and taking the reigns of the 22 program would be a smart option as well. Go with a front running car and go try to win the Xfinity championship.

That's if Penske keeps that program open.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
Jayski says Reddick's contract status is unknown. "If you like it then you should have put a ring on it."
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my thoughts exactly. I thought I read Reddick is in a contract year. RC can have all the plans and want to to resign Reddick, if he doesnt have the money and if Reddick gets a better off what can he do? For the record, I hope Reddick stays at RCR he is legit the best prospect they've had since Harvick, someone you can build an organization around. I think so much of his talent, that it was my BOLD PREDICTION that Tyler Reddick wins his first Cup Race in 21, I still think that BTW.
 
cheesepuffs said:
@Kiante Kurt Busch probably isn't even allowed through the front gate at Team Penske. His time there was not good for either party and there's no way he ever drives for The Captain again.
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This isn't the same Kurt from 2006-11 though.

Kurt was a big hothead back then, but now I think he's just as good as he's ever been. I'd personally like to see him in Penske as this mellowed out version of himself.

You're probably right though, bridges can be burned entirely.
 
Kiante said:
This isn't the same Kurt from 2006-11 though.

Kurt was a big hothead back then, but now I think he's just as good as he's ever been. I'd personally like to see him in Penske as this mellowed out version of himself.

You're probably right though, bridges can be burned entirely.
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He's not the same Kurt, but a problem in this scenario is that a lot of the Penske partners are the same now as they were back then, like Shell for example. Good luck convincing them that Kurt coming back to the team in any capacity is acceptable after the things he said to reporters while wearing their brand on his firesuit.
 
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