Ford Performance will be under new leadership in 2018

ChexOrWrex said:
Nearly won at Phoenix as a sub driver in an iffy car.
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That, plus a pole, 3 top tens, 6 top 20's an average start of 12.3, running at the finish in 9 and ran better than he finished in most of the races. There was some bad things not of his making that set him back in some of those races also. I think people are underestimating what a challenge it was for to come off the bench, get thrown into the most popular driver's car without warning, and then spend the rest of the platooning with a first ballot Hall of Famer working with a crew chief and crew you have never worked with before, knowing all along that your entire driving future likely rides on how you do. We also don't really know about all of the behind the scenes work he put in working in the shop and in the simulator, something that has taken on a ton of importance in the new world where drivers learn to drive by doing computer games. I find it kind of funny how we always seem to be going around and slamming the silver spooners who bought their way into rides, or because they have a famous dad, but here's a guy that did it the old fashioned way, paid his dues, worked as a grunt in the shop, got a chance as a sub and made the best of it, and people STILL aren't happy. :rolleyes:
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
Byron was with JRM before he was with Toyota.

Toyota is gonna dominate far more than Chevy used to. They're 100 percent committed invested, the others are not.
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I'll start off by saying that I admire what Toyota has done as far as having a farm system to bring up talent and being financially committed to it. I think it WILL provide dividends for them in the future. Chevy has always taken more of a hands off approach, right or wrong, although don't forget that Jimmie Johnson was a Chevy development guy. He likely NEVER even sits in a stock car without Herb Fishel at Chevrolet making things happen. And lets also be honest. As I said, I think Toyota's program will probably bare fruit, likely starting in 2018 with Jones and Suarez, BUT No Toyota development driver has yet to win a Cup race, every significant Toyota driver up to this point in history was developed by others, and ALL of their stars were free agents.
 
Regarding Chevy, I think it's more difficult for them to have a comprehensive development program as they don't really operate under a "One Ford" concept and have two major separate engine builders in Hendrick and ECR. Easier to collaborate and organize when everyone important under your umbrella is running a Roush-Yates or TRD engine.
 
jws926 said:
No kidding :laugh:, so again, I dont understand the love for him came from, it was there before he filled in for Jr

LOL one top 10 and he earned his spot?, wow the bar is set pretty low then.

You will have to excuse me, I did not purchase my ticket for the Bowman bandwagon, sure he did fairly well filling in Jr, I am just really unsure on him, gonna be a fun year watching what he can do.

I hope he has a good first year at HMS.
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I honestly don't remember him getting a ton of hype before then, just that he did alright for driving RAB Racing stuff.
 
FLRacingFan said:
Top 5s count as pretty close, no?
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Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Sometimes you can finish second and never lead a lap or be even close to having a chance to go up and pass the leader. My point being that at no time in his career was Nadeau considered a real threat to win a race. I think he was as surprised when he won that race as everyone else was.
 
aunty dive said:
Perhaps he was just happy to be part of the show on 176 separate occasions.
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Maybe he was. I'm pretty sure enjoyed cashing the paychecks. I imagine he was hoping to stick around long enough to grow into the job. He wasn't able to last at Hendrick, getting shown the door a third of the way through the season. (How many guys have EVER been let go by HMS mid season? As far as I can recall, he was the only one) Maybe he would have rebuilt his career at MB2 had he not been hurt.
 
FLRacingFan said:
I honestly don't remember him getting a ton of hype before then, just that he did alright for driving RAB Racing stuff.
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yep, and when he was in a Jr car or a Hendrick or a Ganassi car, it's a different story. Not worried about Bowman, he is going to surprise a few IMO.
 
StandOnIt said:
yep, and when he was in a Jr car or a Hendrick or a Ganassi car, it's a different story. Not worried about Bowman, he is going to surprise a few IMO.
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Yeah, let's not forget a win in his first start as a one-off in a Ganassi Xfinity car. I'm not saying he will win in 2018, but I will be shocked if his numbers aren't better than Dale Jr. and Kasey were in 2017.
 
jws926 said:
Still don't understand the love he gets, he didnt really set the world on fire so far in the Cup Series, heck, his first top 10 didnt come till he was subbing for Jr. lets see what he can do with a full time ride at HMS
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The reason he gets my love is because I was around him before he went to NASCAR when he was running midgets. He was a teammate to the drivers that I hauled their midget cars to the Chili Bowl. I predicted then when he was running out here on the west coast at Ventura that if he could land a gig with a high budget team he could go far in racing. But, at the time I was thinking the World of Outlaws not NASCAR. But, I'm not really surprised that he did an awesome job filling in for JR. He is a good kid with a level head and he is a good driver and I think he is going to have a long career in racing whether it's pavement or dirt.
 
Nitro Dude said:
The reason he gets my love is because I was around him before he went to NASCAR when he was running midgets. He was a teammate to the drivers that I hauled their midget cars to the Chili Bowl. I predicted then when he was running out here on the west coast at Ventura that if he could land a gig with a high budget team he could go far in racing. But, at the time I was thinking the World of Outlaws not NASCAR. But, I'm not really surprised that he did an awesome job filling in for JR. He is a good kid with a level head and he is a good driver and I think he is going to have a long career in racing whether it's pavement or dirt.
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Thank you for the reply, I am not questioning Bowmans talent , just want to make that clear.
 
FLRacingFan said:
I honestly don't remember him getting a ton of hype before then, just that he did alright for driving RAB Racing stuff.
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There was some that I recall, oh well, moving on, should probably get back to talking about a Ford driver and or team .
 
Nitro Dude said:
The reason he gets my love is because I was around him before he went to NASCAR when he was running midgets. He was a teammate to the drivers that I hauled their midget cars to the Chili Bowl. I predicted then when he was running out here on the west coast at Ventura that if he could land a gig with a high budget team he could go far in racing. But, at the time I was thinking the World of Outlaws not NASCAR. But, I'm not really surprised that he did an awesome job filling in for JR. He is a good kid with a level head and he is a good driver and I think he is going to have a long career in racing whether it's pavement or dirt.
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you called that a long time ago, before many were here to read it. ;)
 
Formerjackman said:
Yes Nadeau won a race, but it was the only time in 177 starts that he ever really even got close to winning.
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He was leading a 2001 Atlanta race and ran out of fuel on the last lap. Your hindsight is clouded.

I will never understand why some seem to enjoy minimizing the efforts and successes, no matter how meager, of people who find a way to the top levels of Motorsport. In 67 years, fewer than 200 individuals have ever won a Cup race.
 
Nitro Dude said:
The reason he gets my love is because I was around him before he went to NASCAR when he was running midgets. He was a teammate to the drivers that I hauled their midget cars to the Chili Bowl. I predicted then when he was running out here on the west coast at Ventura that if he could land a gig with a high budget team he could go far in racing. But, at the time I was thinking the World of Outlaws not NASCAR. But, I'm not really surprised that he did an awesome job filling in for JR. He is a good kid with a level head and he is a good driver and I think he is going to have a long career in racing whether it's pavement or dirt.
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bowman raced on dirt? wonder if he still does chilli bowls...
 
aunty dive said:
He was leading a 2001 Atlanta race and ran out of fuel on the last lap. Your hindsight is clouded.

I will never understand why some seem to enjoy minimizing the efforts and successes, no matter how meager, of people who find a way to the top levels of Motorsport. In 67 years, fewer than 200 individuals have ever won a Cup race.
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It was not my intention to run the guy down, but he somehow managed to work his way into rides that he really wasn't ready for and the results show it. He was clearly not qualified to take the seat in the 25 car, and he's lucky he got another shot after that, win or not. He showed enough flashes of success to indicate that he might become a half way decent driver, but then he got hurt. If you look at his history, he had remarkably little stock car experience before getting his first Cup ride, and he bounced out of two or three rides pretty quickly. His Cup career was likely at a dead end, but somehow Michael Holigan (who proved he didn't know squat about the racing business) became enamored with him, and more or less forced him on Hendrick. His first season at Hendrick showed some promise, but the win in the season finale kind of came out of nowhere. He hadn't finished higher than 10th in the 13 races leading up to it, and his 2001 numbers were only slightly better than 2000. He lasted only 11 races at HMS in 2002, where he had one finish higher than 15th, and became the only non-injured HMS driver to ever get let go in mid-season. As I said, he showed some signs of life at MB2 right up to the day he got hurt. How might the future have been different? We'll never know.
 
Formerjackman said:
No Toyota development driver has yet to win a Cup race
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How long has the Toyota Driver Development Program officially been in existence? A couple of years, right?
 
jws926 said:
Still don't understand the love he gets, he didnt really set the world on fire so far in the Cup Series, heck, his first top 10 didnt come till he was subbing for Jr. lets see what he can do with a full time ride at HMS
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How many top 10's you gonna get in that 7 car? He will impress you, just wait.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Concerns about Ford's competition level as compared to the other manufacturers.....

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Team Penske said:
See you in 2019.
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I sat through '14....always believed that the next race was the race. Made two Driver's Championships and two Manufacturer's Championships in the next three years that much sweeter. Stay with it man.
 
Spotter22 said:
How many top 10's you gonna get in that 7 car? He will impress you, just wait.
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Geebus, does anyone actually read what is posted, I never said he doesnt have talent , oh nevermind, I give up, I cant wait for the green flag to drop on the 2018 NASCAR season, Go Toyota!!!!

I fully expect him to impress.
 
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