Change in the air at PPI

S

stridsberry

Guest
Charpentier tapped as crew chief at PPI
By Dave Rodman, Turner Sports Interactive
November 24, 2003
2:15 PM EST (1915 GMT)
HICKORY, N.C. -- NASCAR team owner Cal Wells has hired Dave Charpentier as the new crew chief of PPI Motorsports' No. 32 car and Mike Beam to head the team's competition department.


Cal Wells Credit: Autostock
Beam, who engineered Ricky Craven's first Cup victory as crew chief at PPI in 2001, has returned to Wells' operation to serve as competition director. Charpentier, a U.S. Navy veteran who most recently served as Dale Earnhardt Inc.'s engineering manager, assumes the first full-time crew chief's role of his career.

Beam, 47, worked as crew chief on Richard Childress Racing's No. 30 Chevrolet this season, but left RCR immediately after the Nov. 16 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

He began his second stint with Wells, preparing for a changeover in the off-season to Chevrolets, the week of Nov. 17, a PPI spokesman said. The pair's assignment is to return Craven to the competitive level he was at earlier in 2003.

In his first two years at PPI, Beam was responsible for both Craven and Wells' first Winston Cup victory, at Martinsville Speedway, three Bud Poles and seven top-five finishes. Craven improved from 21st in the championship in 2001 to a career best 15th last season.

With first-year crew chief Scott Miller, Craven won at Darlington in March of this year, but struggled in the second half of the season. The No. 32 Tide Pontiac team finished 27th in the standings, Craven's worst championship finish in the six full seasons he's attempted in Winston Cup.

More

I'm glad to see that Cal's finally making some changes after such a sharp 2nd-half decline. I bet these hirings will help immensely with the changeover to Chevrolet.
 
Thing might be moving around to make room for another car with a certain driver who just happens to be one of my favorites.
Big rumor on JB's and Cravens board is that JB will be driving the #34 PPI Subway/USPS Chevy, IF the sponsorship package gets finished soon. It is also rumored that the #10 crew that JB has been with for years will move over with him including James Ince
 
i guess our fingers crossed did not work :(

It looks like JB will not be in the Nextel Cup next year?

Wells said that the second team will not run next year :(

I wonder if JB still does not have a ride after the season starts if Cal will JB in part of the season.

Only ride that is still left is the 43 but sounds like Richard wants Green back in the car, but yle said it was GM decision????
 
I really like JB and do NOT understand why nobody is offering him a ride. :(

Jeff Green just doesn't fit there, IMHO he should go back to BGN.
 
I'd like to see Johnny Benson, James Ince and the 10 crew back together at PPI! Lets hope for the best! I can't understand why MB2 wanted to dump all those folks for Riggs! I guess time will tell and we will see how it all works out!
 
It just looks like the major push is for the teams to hire young drivers these days.
Seems to be the thing to do. Youth and exuberance are trying to replace
older age and treachery; isn't that how the old cliche goes???
I hate to see good drivers like JB shoved aside, same way with Kenny Schrader.
I sure agree with the Jeff Green statement about letting him go back to BGN, that is really
where he belongs. And I feel it is too soon for Scott Riggs to be coming up to NC.
Ah well, my opinion and $1 might get ya a cuppa coffee too. LOL
 
well >>> but then you have guys like good old BILL at 47 still winning races!!!


Rudd and Rusty aren't so bad either!!
 
Originally posted by dragonlady424@Nov 28 2003, 07:57 PM
It just looks like the major push is for the teams to hire young drivers these days.
Seems to be the thing to do. Youth and exuberance are trying to replace
older age and treachery; isn't that how the old cliche goes???
I hate to see good drivers like JB shoved aside, same way with Kenny Schrader.
I sure agree with the Jeff Green statement about letting him go back to BGN, that is really
where he belongs. And I feel it is too soon for Scott Riggs to be coming up to NC.
Ah well, my opinion and $1 might get ya a cuppa coffee too. LOL
Click to expand...
The youth movement is there, but Scott Riggs is 32 (will be 33 by the time the season starts). Not a youngster by today's standards...he's over a year older than Matt, seven months older than Jeff Gordon & 4 1/2 months older than Tony Stewart.
 
The drivers who have been in the series for more than three years are considered "old" by todays standards, regardless of age.
Age is only part of the criteria to be one of the "young guns" as evidenced by the chronological ages of Stewart, Gordon , Kenseth and now Scott Riggs in comparison to the time differential spent within the NASCAR series.

The newer drivers have a tougher road to travel since they must perform fairly quickly or they will be discarded to the pile of "wannabes, hasbeens, shouldahappened and if-only" drivers.

Not that long ago a driver needed talent or a sugar daddy.

Now they need talent, a sugar daddy, good looks, able to be a sponsor ship / marketing representative, and have team communication and cooperation necessary to win.
The combination is harder to complete than a five thousand piece picture puzzle of nothing but blue sky.

The fun is going out of the series for the lesser teams and being replaced by the big spenders and high rollers.

I recall vividly the days when the difference between winning the pole and last starting spot was five seconds. Second place finisher might have been two or more laps down. The fans of today would vacate the stands if this were the norm rather than the past and Dale Earnhardt would have been, Dale who??

Like every sport NASCAR is taking the high road to succeed and thier success has come at a price. But no matter how much I complain, grumble and gripe, it is still the best show in town. :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom