SILLY SEASON 2018

Rick Hendrick on Kasey Kahne’s future: ‘Our plans are not set for the No. 5 car’

“There’s nothing concrete or done, and that hasn’t changed,” Hendrick said. “We’ll see how things shake out the rest of the year. There’s a lot of things involved, sponsors and a lot of things we look at. We’re going to try hard. But there’s no decisions made at this time.”


Xfinity Series rookie William Byron, who is under contract to Hendrick, would be an option for the No. 5 Chevrolet, but Hendrick said “we’re not ready to cross that bridge yet” when asked about Byron’s Cup future.

http://nascar.nbcsports.com/2017/07...uture-our-plans-are-not-set-for-the-no-5-car/
 
Rick isn't the smartest man in Nascar but when Gordon talked him into JJ, he became the luckiest.
Just think what would/could have been had he said no to Jeff.

Furniture Row needed a driver and there was an average journeyman driver named Truex who became available. They also got a young Canadian who was willing to take a CC job with that lowly team in the hope of getting noticed. So now Furniture Row owner is also a very lucky owner.
Moral of the story is if you have enough money, Lady LUCK will find you.

Hass has the money and is successful in F1 considering he has scored points as a new team.
Not so lucky in Nascar and I say this because SHR is far behind in development and the stable has older drivers. His one top team will be gone soon and without Harvick and his CC they have nothing.
 
I may well be wrong but I have always maintained that KK would finish his contract in the 5 car as it would be easier just to keep him in the seat as opposed to hiring a lame duck placeholder for a year. Of course the caveat is sponsorship and if no sponsor wants to affiliate with KK then it means trouble.
 
Team Penske said:
Hass has the money and is successful in F1 considering he has scored points as a new team.
Not so lucky in Nascar and I say this because SHR is far behind in development and the stable has older drivers. His one top team will be gone soon and without Harvick and his CC they have nothing.
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Good one, right now Stewart Haas has 3 drivers in the playoffs
 
Bowtie3 said:
I think that whoever is in the 5 next year, won this weekend. Which one? I don't know. Nothing against Kahne, but I hope it's Byron. I don't see a need to keep him in Xfinty another year.
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Great way to put it. They both won this weekend, i just caught the irony in that lol
 
Rick Hendrick is just being truthful with the situation with Kane and the 5 car as the car has virtually no sponsors for next year. Maybe there are sponsors willing to sign up if Byron is in the car or maybe not.
 
Why can’t Bubba Wallace get a ride?
http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/...4/Marketing-and-Sponsorship/BubbaWallace.aspx

Bubba Wallace has been dubbed one of NASCAR’s next wunderkinds because of his driving ability, charisma and diversity.

Now if he can only get a ride.

The 23-year-old African-American driver, a product of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program, is a free agent mired on the sidelines without sponsorship, more than midway through the 2017 season. That’s being viewed as a problem not just for Wallace, but the sport overall, as NASCAR attempts to develop a more diverse fan base.

Wallace ran this season in the Xfinity Series for Roush Fenway Racing before sponsorship dried up, and then had a four-race stint with Richard Petty Motorsports’ No. 43 Ford in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series while Aric Almirola was out injured. Wallace has had trouble securing a long-term partner for years and has shuffled through several short-term partners.

As he finds himself out of a race car, Wallace says he’s perplexed as to why he can’t land a sponsor, yet he’s trying to remain hopeful.

“Honestly, it sucks. I’m bored, got nothing to do,” Wallace said. “I find myself kind of twiddling my thumbs at home trying to find a ride that won’t take us back a couple steps but will keep us going or relevant, so it’s been a tough battle so far.”

Wallace said his management team, Fuel Sports Management Group, is “still making phone calls and trying to set up meetings to get things rolling for next year or even this year.”

Wallace scored five wins in the Camping World Truck Series in 2013 and 2014. He has yet to win in the Xfinity Series after 84 races, but has 34 top-10 finishes. In his four Cup Series races for RPM this season, he scored consecutive top-15 finishes, with a best of 11th.

The inability of Wallace to secure sponsorship isn’t a good look for NASCAR’s diversity efforts, but his agent, Fuel SMG principal and CEO Rod Moskowitz, said a perfect storm has led to this situation. There are widespread challenges in NASCAR to secure long-term sponsors, and Wallace hasn’t been in victory lane recently for myriad reasons. At times he’s raced in less competitive equipment and also has battled for the spotlight as Monster Energy Cup Series drivers moonlight in the Xfinity Series.

Patrick Rogers, managing director of driver marketing services at NASCAR, said his team is assisting efforts to keep Wallace top of mind in the industry, find him sponsorship and provide counsel. Rogers said he had lunch with Wallace last week and underscored patience to the driver. Rogers said he’s confident that elusive long-term deal for Wallace is coming.

Fuel SMG and NASCAR are setting up events for Wallace to attend in the coming weeks to keep him in front of the industry and prospective sponsors. Possibilities include an appearance for NASCAR at a diversity conference in New Orleans; an appearance for Nickelodeon; an appearance for an undisclosed race sponsor at an upcoming event; and even work with NBC Sports as a guest reporter or analyst.

Said Rogers, “It’d be easy to crawl off, sit there, wait, not be excited about the opportunities, so our advice is, ‘We’re going to work with your team at Fuel, bring a lot of opportunities to the table; certainly you don’t have to do everything (in terms of off-track appearances) — do what feels right to you.”

RPM has expressed a desire to field a car with Wallace in next year’s Cup Series if it can land sponsorship. RPM executives were impressed with Wallace during his recent stint and think he can be a star.

“Bubba proved to us that he had a lot of talent,” Richard Petty, co-owner of RPM and a NASCAR Hall of Famer, said in a prepared statement. “Not only did he show speed in qualifying, he proved to me that he can race with the best in the sport. He handled all the pressure outside the car well, and he was impressive behind the wheel, too.”

Sean Downes, chief revenue officer of RPM, said he’s chasing three major categories around Wallace: quick-service restaurants, consumer-packaged goods and technology-based brands.

“We absolutely want to be that team that gives Bubba his first full-time Cup ride,” Downes said.
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So RPM brings back the 44 next year perhaps?? I can't believe some of the guys in the lower series that have full sponsorships while this guy struggles to find someone - makes 0 sense.

Also, Kenseth has been running really really well since he let the cat out of the bag and got that off his chest. He's got plenty left in the tank.
 
Kes extends his contract.



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Skoalbandit33 said:
It would be interesting to see what kind of concessions BKez had to agree to in order to get things done. Perhaps his contract is more incentive laden.
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I think he will be alright. I suspect this had more to do with everything included in this agreement. Meaning sponsors, CC, truck team and the Xfinity ride. Either way this young poor boy won't be hurting for money anytime soon.
 
Team Penske said:
I think he will be alright. I suspect this had more to do with everything included in this agreement. Meaning sponsors, CC, truck team and the Xfinity ride. Either way this young poor boy won't be hurting for money anytime soon.
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I agree as I bet BKez won't have to downscale his lifestyle. All the same though it would be interesting to get an idea of the impact that the new reality is having on drivers and team employees compensation.
 
Skoalbandit33 said:
I agree as I bet BKez won't have to downscale his lifestyle. All the same though it would be interesting to get an idea of the impact that the new reality is having on drivers and team employees compensation.
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In this case it may be a thank you for getting us a championship.
 
IMO there will be a lot of nebulous statements like "well into the future" regarding Nascar drivers contracts as with sponsors signing short term, cutting back or leaving altogether well into the future probably means "as long as we have adequate funding."
 
being about a million bucks light with the truck team and trying to cover it, I would say Kez and Ford were trying to work that out.;). The big three all have their toe in the truck series.
 
StandOnIt said:
being about a million bucks light with the truck team and trying to cover it, I would say Kez and Ford were trying to work that out.;). The big three all have their toe in the truck series.
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What ever happened to the crate motor talk? Thought that was supposed to be an option by this point in the season. Once they go that route, Toyota will be gone. I promise.
 
Revman said:
What ever happened to the crate motor talk? Thought that was supposed to be an option by this point in the season. Once they go that route, Toyota will be gone. I promise.
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Last I heard they are using the "Delta" engine in the series for a while It's a buy or lease engine. I don't know who is using it. Nascar has allowed crate engines in the K&N series since 2006 before "your Toyota's" were around. They have been an option for years. I don't know where you are coming up with the gone deal.
 
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Revman said:
Speculation was that he wanted Ford support for his Truck team (think Kyle Busch's deal with Toyota here). Betcha there is some meat to that.
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For the sake of the Truck Series, I hope they were able to work something out.
 
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