Great Clips exercise option to end Kasey Kahne contract early

superchuck500 said:
Not for long at least.

Gotta keep those sponsors happy
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And nothing would make the sponsors happier than Nascar performing to expectations in the 18-34 demographic. When 50% of your fans are 55 and over it presents opportunities but lots of problems too.
 
JBone88 said:
I feel bad for Kasey Kahne. The dude has all the talent in the world. Things just havent panned out at Hendrick like everyone thought. A fresh start would benefit everyone. However, that 5 car is a slug at the moment. They unload slow, and continue to run slow during the race. Same thing with the 88 right now. Doesn't matter who the driver is if the race car is a ****box. CC and engineering changes need to drop alongside the driver changes, or else the Hendrick guys are just spinning their wheels.

The sponsorship thing isn't anyone's fault. There are far more competitive drivers than Kasey losing sponsors. Just the state of NASCAR at the moment.
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I wouldn't say the 88 car has always been slow all year. I think generally the HMS cars are off right now. Chase elliott hasn't really been fast lately either. but at the same time a HMS car should be outrunning danica and front row cars. the 5 car is lucky to do that. Kasey also seems to find trouble on the track too. thats a byproduct of slugging it out for 23rd place.
 
To me this seems like the best time to repeat my call of the last year to #firekeithrodden man can't set up a car to save his life.
 
R Clarence said:
Ain't thinkin' Hendrick (no S) nor Penske is gonna put a team on the show circuit that loses money.

Maybe I shouldah checked with an expert before I posted that but I'm pretty sure it's correct.
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Isn't it Hendrix? I heard he learned to play guitar upside down with his teeth in between sponsor meetings and race recaps.
 
hmm Bowman to a ride for sure

I think there will be a filler for year if sponsor allows till Byron comes, Think Liberty will follow to cup?
 
Personally I'd rather see them cut down to 3 cars than place a journeyman/stopgap or some unproven name in the car. I think HMS would benefit greatly by doing so.
 
He was up for renewal at the end of 2017 probably the sponsor thing was looking good. So Hendrick extended his contract for one more year, Bam... great clips changes CEO drops racing like a hot potato.
 
Byron is gonna be a hell of a driver some day. Go full young guns with Elliot, Byron and Bowman learning from Jimmie for as long as possible sounds like a great strategy to me
 
Like I mentioned above, I would love to see Chris Buescher get a shot at Hendrick. I doubt it'll happen but you never know.....
 
AdoubleU24 said:
Personally I'd rather see them cut down to 3 cars than place a journeyman/stopgap or some unproven name in the car. I think HMS would benefit greatly by doing so.
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I don't disagree with that at all - especially if there isn't a sponsor ready to go. I think Rick would prefer to keep the 5 on the track though (it was his first and longest-running number). He could shut down the 88 and basically just consider that to have been something they did for Dale.

Though ego might keep that from happening (JGR basically has 4 + 2 on the track). And might also depend on Chevy's interests.
 
Mispeedway15 said:
Byron is gonna be a hell of a driver some day. Go full young guns with Elliot, Byron and Bowman learning from Jimmie for as long as possible sounds like a great strategy to me
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With sponsorship dollars drying up most teams will have to cut costs and one way to do that is to bring in a youngster on the cheap to wheel a car. An established vet is probably going to retire before accepting a severe pay cut but a young guy will be on top of the world.
 
hidesert cowboy said:
I wouldn't say the 88 car has always been slow all year. I think generally the HMS cars are off right now. Chase elliott hasn't really been fast lately either. but at the same time a HMS car should be outrunning danica and front row cars. the 5 car is lucky to do that. Kasey also seems to find trouble on the track too. thats a byproduct of slugging it out for 23rd place.
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Elliot's been fast just bad luck. He qualified 3rd for the 600.


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hidesert cowboy said:
Not if there isn't sponsorship. You can run but you can't fly
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That's true, but I don't think Kasey's contract with HMS was contingent on Great Clips. If HMS found a different sponsor and wanted to run the 5 next year, Kasey is still under contract. They would have to release him - but that doesn't happen with Cup driver contracts like it does in other sports. I recall that Evernham tried to release Elliot Sadler from his contract before its term ran and he threatened to sue them. They decided not to release him.

That said, I don't know what performance and buy-out clauses are in Kasey's contract. There might be room for HMS to release him or buy him out based on those provisions.
 
At this point I wish they would just shake things up now and see what happens before they focus on getting another driver. Try a new crew chief or something
 
LouieLouie said:
Just to play devil's advocate here, perhaps what we are seeing is just the bubble popping in NASCAR sponsorship. Maybe sponsors are leaving because HMS is asking for too much money. This certainly wouldn't be the first car to fold in the past few years due to a lack of sponsorship.
I tend to agree with the, Kahne needs a fresh start crowd or else his passion for the sport is pretty much dead, but I think he still has some talent left in him.
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@Allenbaba would likely agree. He wrote a long t time ago the bubble is gonna pop here. the sponsorships are over valued now
 
Kahne just seems like he was worn out at Hendrick Motorsports and him leaving the #5

Bowman to the 88/25 car and Menard to the #5 for a season before Byron takes up the ride is my prediction. As for Kahne, RCR and Chip Ganassi would be good spots for him to land
 
downnice said:
Kahne just seems like he was worn out at Hendrick Motorsports and him leaving the #5

Bowman to the 88/25 car and Menard to the #5 for a season before Byron takes up the ride is my prediction. As for Kahne, RCR and Chip Ganassi would be good spots for him to land
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Yeah I see menard happening, i could see Ty moving to RCR to replace him. I could see Kasey at Germain and JTG even.
 
downnice said:
Kahne just seems like he was worn out at Hendrick Motorsports and him leaving the #5

Bowman to the 88/25 car and Menard to the #5 for a season before Byron takes up the ride is my prediction. As for Kahne, RCR and Chip Ganassi would be good spots for him to land
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One thing about Menard is that he actually becomes more valuable in this sponsor-starved environment. He's got a sponsor built-in. I'm not sure what daddy pays for that deal, but it seems to be pretty strong. If Menard's comes with Menard, but they want a multi-year deal, they might just have the leverage to demand that . . . and someone in the top tier will take that deal.
 
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