Ford does it again

Once again Ford has let a gem slip away only to come back and haunt them for an entire career. Glad Bill at least tried to get some help for Ford.
 
Ford should do pretty well with Kes and Logano for the foreseeable future. Hopefully Blaney becomes something special as well.
 
what did you expect ford to do?? This decision was made back when chase hadn't even started nationwide yet. he ran a few truck races and I don't think anyone in their dreams thought he would be this successful. they put a last minute deal together and put him in a JRM car, which I might add also could very well been as a result of martin truex and the issue at richmond that year. ford wasn't going to make a move on anyone that honestly at that time had shown nothing. Another issue is jack was scrambling for sponsorship as it was and also even now. jack roush wasn't even in a spot to do anything about the situation. He is scrambling to keep the cars he has running. kenseth and carl edwards left because roush is having issues putting sponsorship packages together. Its starting to also hurt the performance of the company. I think biffle at one point was gone last year reports were to MWR, I think and this is me guessing. They were working on a deal to move 3m with biffle over to MWR. instead 3m was lured by HMS and is now going to the 24 car. JRM and the elliots were a perfect fit. they had the cars they planned to run fully sponsored and were not still piecing this or that together, napa had just left the cup series. piggyback that with I am sure bill elliott agreeing to do some commercials along with dale jr. you have a funded ride and a deal put together.

That is an interesting story I read about jeff gordon and jack roush. I am actually pretty surprised thats how it shook down. who hangs up on jack roush when they don't currently have a cup ride?!?!? Who hangs up on any team owner for that matter even if you do have a cup ride. I can't believe they didn't at least have a sit down conversation and talk about everything. If someone feels they want a certain crew chief, by all means air it out and explain the reasons why. That didn't even happen. I haven't been a jack roush fan probably because of his approach to situations just like this.
 
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hidesert cowboy said:
what did you expect ford to do?? This decision was made back when chase hadn't even started nationwide yet. he ran a few truck races and I don't think anyone in their dreams thought he would be this successful.
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How do you expect them to get better if they're more comfortable looking for middle aged veterans? Part of wanting to be successful means taking risks.

Sure you can go for the "proven" top 10 guy but chances are that he'll only give you 2, 3 years of good result while someone like a Chase would give you 20 years worth of success.

I just done get what motivates Ford to turn down young talent like this.
 
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You make some good points. Maybe I am a bit delusional but I would think with all "the good press" the 16 time most favorite driver could bring to Ford
it may have been advantageous for them to at least make an attempt at exploring his potential. They did have Ford Trucks under BKR and they did have a new Ford leader in Roger Penske that possible could have led to a great ride in Xfinity.
Of course I have no idea what attempts were made so it is all speculation on my part.
 
Team Penske said:
You make some good points. Maybe I am a bit delusional but I would think with all "the good press" the 16 time most favorite driver could bring to Ford
it may have been advantageous for them to at least make an attempt at exploring his potential. They did have Ford Trucks under BKR and they did have a new Ford leader in Roger Penske that possible could have led to a great ride in Xfinity.
Of course I have no idea what attempts were made so it is all speculation on my part.
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its just the way it worked out. deals get done sooner than most people think normally. Roger until recently hasn't been a driver development type guy. its not how they have run their team in the past. instead its pay big name veteren drivers big money to drive his cars. That kinda changed with brad k, but at that time penske was at a different point. the performance of the cars weren't that great and honestly I think most would agree they were behind HMS, gibbs, roush and at the time even RCR. Roger had to take what he could get with brad that was his best option at the time. its paid off big time. now in recent years penske has expanded their nationwide effort which was largely put in place for brad. So now roger is in a better driver development spot.

Jack on the other had until recent years said lets find a driver that shows promise. put them in one of our nationwide cars and see if they can show more promise. If they do give them a cup ride shot. the thinking was develop them as a franchise type driver. kinda like a team focusing on a draft pick. That way they can bring up a driver under the system and at least in the beginning pay them alot less money. jack roush couldn't afford carl edwards, but they can afford trevor bayne. he is probably making half what carl was. so much is about timing and what fits at that time.
 
Congratulations to Ford on finding successful alternatives. Cause NASCAR has been frustrating for them. Sponsoring the events at Homestead to insure that they are relevant on championship weekend is another wise move toward deflecting from the history of underachievement.

Brad sure was a lot more fun in a Mopar, looked smarter and required less hankies. A blue deuce driver in a Mopar transformed to a blue douche in a Ford.

It was the realization that he was going to have to drive a Ford in 2013 that drove him to drink after the 2012 finale (the event were he won the title in the mopar).
Brads loss was Fords gain, at least it allowed them to parade a Defending champion during the 2013 season.

Time-line: Get a title in the Mopar, yes even the defunct racing group could do it.
The get stoned because tommorow it is to that championship killing blue oval.

Thats what it was.
 
Greg said:
Congratulations to Ford on finding successful alternatives. Cause NASCAR has been frustrating for them. Sponsoring the events at Homestead to insure that they are relevant on championship weekend is another wise move toward deflecting from the history of underachievement.

Brad sure was a lot more fun in a Mopar, looked smarter and required less hankies. A blue deuce driver in a Mopar transformed to a blue douche in a Ford.

It was the realization that he was going to have to drive a Ford in 2013 that drove him to drink after the 2012 finale (the event were he won the title in the mopar).
Brads loss was Fords gain, at least it allowed them to parade a Defending champion during the 2013 season.

Time-line: Get a title in the Mopar, yes even the defunct racing group could do it.
The get stoned because tommorow it is to that championship killing blue oval.

Thats what it was.
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Well said again Greg. :XXROFL:
 
Greg said:
Congratulations to Ford on finding successful alternatives. Cause NASCAR has been frustrating for them. Sponsoring the events at Homestead to insure that they are relevant on championship weekend is another wise move toward deflecting from the history of underachievement.

Brad sure was a lot more fun in a Mopar, looked smarter and required less hankies. A blue deuce driver in a Mopar transformed to a blue douche in a Ford.

It was the realization that he was going to have to drive a Ford in 2013 that drove him to drink after the 2012 finale (the event were he won the title in the mopar).
Brads loss was Fords gain, at least it allowed them to parade a Defending champion during the 2013 season.

Time-line: Get a title in the Mopar, yes even the defunct racing group could do it.
The get stoned because tommorow it is to that championship killing blue oval.

Thats what it was.
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We gotta get you your own column. :D
 
FoMoCo, you're killing me. You passed up a driver with the potential to be a bigger star than his father. You let perhaps the greatest marketing gimmick of all times slip through your fingers,especially if you were able to get the #9 back. Can't you see it, Ford, Elliott, and the #9, together again. Let the magic begin.
 
Zerkfitting said:
I don't think Ford has much to do with who the team owners pick for their drivers.
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When Carl signed his last contract with RFR, I thought Ford stepped up to the plate and sweetened the pot for him to stay. Not possessive about that.
 
Ford really has been star-crossed over the last 25 years or so when you really look back at it: Allison and Kulwicki died tragically in their prime, they missed the opportunity to sign Gordon, Ernie Irvan never was the same after his accident at Michigan, Mark Martin finished 2nd in points 4 times in a Ford, Kenseth wins a championship in a Ford then the chase is introduced, KuBu wins a championship then parts with Roush after the next season, Edwards ties Tony at Homestead and loses the championship on wins, etc. No wonder GM has won 33 of the last 39 championships.
 
I don't think Roush has the time to groom and develop a ''young and upcoming driver''. He needs results yesterday, his organization is slipping. He may have been Ford's go to guy at one time but no more. My 2¢
 
Bobw said:
I don't think Roush has the time to groom and develop a ''young and upcoming driver''. He needs results yesterday, his organization is slipping. He may have been Ford's go to guy at one time but no more. My 2¢
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Penske is the big dog in the Ford camp now, Roush-Fenway feels more like Ford's version of RCR.
 
ToyYoda said:
Penske is the big dog in the Ford camp now, Roush-Fenway feels more like Ford's version of RCR.
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I think so to. Do you know if Petty is going to join Wood Brothers or is he under contract to RFR?
 
hidesert cowboy said:
what did you expect ford to do?? This decision was made back when chase hadn't even started nationwide yet. he ran a few truck races and I don't think anyone in their dreams thought he would be this successful. they put a last minute deal together and put him in a JRM car, which I might add also could very well been as a result of martin truex and the issue at richmond that year. ford wasn't going to make a move on anyone that honestly at that time had shown nothing. Another issue is jack was scrambling for sponsorship as it was and also even now. jack roush wasn't even in a spot to do anything about the situation. He is scrambling to keep the cars he has running. kenseth and carl edwards left because roush is having issues putting sponsorship packages together. Its starting to also hurt the performance of the company. I think biffle at one point was gone last year reports were to MWR, I think and this is me guessing. They were working on a deal to move 3m with biffle over to MWR. instead 3m was lured by HMS and is now going to the 24 car. JRM and the elliots were a perfect fit. they had the cars they planned to run fully sponsored and were not still piecing this or that together, napa had just left the cup series. piggyback that with I am sure bill elliott agreeing to do some commercials along with dale jr. you have a funded ride and a deal put together.

That is an interesting story I read about jeff gordon and jack roush. I am actually pretty surprised thats how it shook down. who hangs up on jack roush when they don't currently have a cup ride?!?!? Who hangs up on any team owner for that matter even if you do have a cup ride. I can't believe they didn't at least have a sit down conversation and talk about everything. If someone feels they want a certain crew chief, by all means air it out and explain the reasons why. That didn't even happen. I haven't been a jack roush fan probably because of his approach to situations just like this.
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Could you expand on the last paragraph about Jeff Gordon hanging up on Jack Roush? Sounds interesting, never heard this one before.
 
sdj said:
Could you expand on the last paragraph about Jeff Gordon hanging up on Jack Roush? Sounds interesting, never heard this one before.
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Long story short, Roush wanted Gordon when Gordon was racing for Bill Davis in the Busch series. The deal breaker was that Roush wanted to pair a crew chief up with Gordon, while Bickford (Gordon's step father) said that Evernham/Gordon was a package deal - period. Bickford hung the phone up on Jack several times, made a deal with Rick Hendrick and the rest is history.
 
ToyYoda said:
Penske is the big dog in the Ford camp now, Roush-Fenway feels more like Ford's version of RCR.
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Roush-Fenway may be closer to Robert Yates Racing than RCR in a year or 2. Biffle doesn't light it up, Stenhouse and his 2 career top 5's has shown nothing and Trev probably is better suited for the pulpit.
 
Team Penske said:
When Carl signed his last contract with RFR, I thought Ford stepped up to the plate and sweetened the pot for him to stay. Not possessive about that.
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I believe this to be true, but thats only part of the story. Roush had to have a package of sponsors in order to pay carl because ford wasn't going to pay for everything. This time around roush didn't have the lucrative sponsors anymore to afford carl. They sold discounted piece meal deals as it was the last year or 2 with carl, same thing happened with matt kenseth. When you see ecoboost on the car that is a last minute basically take what you can get sponsorship.

I still can't believe jeff gordon's dad would hang up the phone on jack roush, with or without a cup ride. I wonder if jeff's dad had heard about jack and had some notions of the guy beforehand . in the end it ended up being the right choice in the end as we all know.
 
I wonder what his career would have been like had HMS offered more money and NO CC.

Then again I wonder about JJ if he didn't have CK
 
I am not ready to say chase is going to set the cup series on fire just yet. however he did beat some veterens at some tuff tracks. when you beat kevin harvick in the same equipment, thats saying something. go back and watch chase's darlington win. he flat out just drove around some pretty tuff drivers. a guy that knows how to win at the end of the race, is going to win alot of races. some drivers up their game when it counts chase appears to be one of them
 
hidesert cowboy said:
I am not ready to say chase is going to set the cup series on fire just yet. however he did beat some veterens at some tuff tracks. when you beat kevin harvick in the same equipment, thats saying something. go back and watch chase's darlington win. he flat out just drove around some pretty tuff drivers. a guy that knows how to win at the end of the race, is going to win alot of races. some drivers up their game when it counts chase appears to be one of them
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For somebody so young he really knows how to take care of his car and finish the race. I think his dad had a lot to do with that.
 
Johali said:
For somebody so young he really knows how to take care of his car and finish the race. I think his dad had a lot to do with that.
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You can't win if your not running the final lap. I think Childress is trying to instill the same thoughts in his grand kids.
 
Yeah well, they all said that Jeff Gordon wouldn't last one season. Rick and Ray were about the only one's who believed in him. So go figure.
 
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