SILLY SEASON 2019

Allenbaba said:
I respectfully disagree with much of this. It's easy to look at history and think that Barney did MTJ the favor by giving him a ride, but the reality is it was the other way around. Barney had no driver lined up when MTJ became available. Zero. He made three different offers to other drivers who all turned him down, including Juan Pablo. FRR had no idea what to do in terms of a driver and was in full panic mode. They were literally looking in the Truck series for unsigned guys. Fact. Barney had no sponsor other than himself, and no real money to offer anyone. And FRR still had exactly one win under their belt, the fuel strategy win by Regan Smith. Kurt Busch did incredible things there, but let's please not be revisionists, FRR was not considered a top team. Despite all that, MTJ turned down other opportunities and went to FRR for pennies. They finished 24th that first year (or something like that).

MTJ brought Bass Pro to FRR (big outside dollars, Barney's first) and was able to get them more TRD support (Toyota loves him, as MTJ has given much to them). Cole suddenly had real budgets to work with. And it started paying off. They started really running up front (it was also the Toyota era in NASCAR, so that certainly helped!)

Despite going to TWO final fours at Homestead, winning double digit races, winning a CHAMPIONSHIP, MTJ still made pennies compared to most driver salaries. And despite what the other poster keeps writing, they were not going to run next season unless they found more money (where would they even get their equipment?). That's simply a fact. There was no plan B that anyone in the know was taking seriously. They needed between 5-10 million just to consider keeping it going, and found zero. BUT, just for the sake of this discussion, let's pretend that Barney was willing to cut his budget in half and keep racing. And let's pretend that quality chassis would have appeared out of thin air since there would not be a JGR relationship (he couldn't afford their ridiculous markup). Or better yet, let's pretend that nothing at all changed. FRR was still able to compete at a high level AND retain all their talent. But, MTJ (and Cole for that matter) were still making below average salaries for their positions. At what point is Barney being disloyal to them????

Look, I have had a long standing personal and business relationship with Barney, and I love the guy. He's an incredible human being and a role model. I like MTJ, but in reality I don't really care much about him either way. If I truly believed he was screwing Barney, or being disloyal to Barney, I'd say it in a heartbeat. I have a zillion reasons to defend Barney, and almost no reasons to side with MTJ. But the truth is, MTJ has contributed infinitely more to the "relationship" than Barney has, and as far as I'm concerned owes FRR absolutely nothing.
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Fuel strategy win? Regan held off Carl Edwards who had fresh tires...
 
sdj said:
I have been dealing in business for years and the one you have to watch the hardest in a deal is the one thumping the Bible. Just sayin.;)
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Thieves for the most part need something to hide behind. The bible, corporations, many non profits, etc.
 
Kasey K. Is out this weekend having same issues od Dale Jr. they saying heat from last week but from what I’m hearing it’s more to it they believe.
 
Team Penske said:
And they shall become two just as FRR did.
You may remember Roush racing with 5 or 6 cars.
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Unless JGR takes over the operation of Levine, they won't be anywhere near as competitive as FRR was. Remember the 78 was dominating races already and made it to homestead with RCR equipment. They mostly lacked a decent pit crew to survive the late race debris cautions. They were easily the top tier two team before moving. Levine is a third tier team at best and I'd be shocked if JGR gives them the resources to come anywhere close to the top tier after booting FRR for being too good
 
Charlie Spencer said:
Furniture Row made a point of fielding one competitive car before they bit off a second one. Roush was at the top of field in those days. LFR isn't there.
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LFR in this case would just be an extension of JGR with separate daily management.
Much like the Wood Bros. are for Penske.
 
Team Penske said:
LFR in this case would just be an extension of JGR with separate daily management.
Much like the Wood Bros. are for Penske.
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And this will enable Levine to start 2019 fielding cars performing comparable to Gibbs?

If that was the case, why didn't JGR put Truex over in the #95 and save all the Suarez drama?
 
I like Matt DiBenedetto. I think he is a classy guy, very funny, and a good driver. I'd like to see him get a better ride than the GoFAS 32. Intriguing phrase... "betting on myself to prove" that he is a winning driver. Good luck, DiBurrito.
 
LewTheShoe said:
I like Matt DiBenedetto. I think he is a classy guy, very funny, and a good driver. I'd like to see him get a better ride than the GoFAS 32. Intriguing phrase... "betting on myself to prove" that he is a winning driver. Good luck, DiBurrito.
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Hopefully going back to NXS I hope.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
And this will enable Levine to start 2019 fielding cars performing comparable to Gibbs?

If that was the case, why didn't JGR put Truex over in the #95 and save all the Suarez drama?
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Because he negotiated a deal with JGR. Jones took the deal 1 yr in the 77 and then JGR or he had the option to look elsewhere. That forced Gibbs to terminate Kenseth. The chance to get the whole #78 team was worth loosing Suarez and possible his sponsor.
 
Team Penske said:
Because he negotiated a deal with JGR. Jones took the deal 1 yr in the 77 and then JGR or he had the option to look elsewhere. That forced Gibbs to terminate Kenseth. The chance to get the whole #78 team was worth loosing Suarez and possible his sponsor.
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Where does this put Ryan Preece? Full time rise in Xfinity, maybe some spot stsrts in Cup or is it back to Mods full time?
 
ChexOrWrex said:
Saurez looks to be heading to the #95.

Boy did he get the knife as soon as he was coming into his own.
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Eh. I think it was unfair to release him 2 years into it, but it's not like he was exactly improving compared to the year before either.
 
AuzGrams said:
it's not like he was exactly improving compared to the year before either.
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He has more top 5s this season than last, earned a pole award, and has 5 less laps lead this season and we still have 11 races to go.

We got lucky with drivers like Stewart, Gordon, Johnson, Kenseth and Jr who were outstanding out the gate.

For a sophomore year, Suarez is having a very consistent season with gradual improvement. How much do you want from a very young second year driver?

Kid got the shaft.
 
Deserved another year in the car at least, but his average finish isn't nearly as good. 6 less top 10's with 11 races to go. His best bet is a top tier Xfinity ride or the 95. Maybe the 1 car if McMurray decides to be done or gets released.

The Preacher certainly isn't as good as he claims to be though, so he did get shafted pretty good.
 
Westy said:
Unless JGR takes over the operation of Levine, they won't be anywhere near as competitive as FRR was. Remember the 78 was dominating races already and made it to homestead with RCR equipment. They mostly lacked a decent pit crew to survive the late race debris cautions. They were easily the top tier two team before moving. Levine is a third tier team at best and I'd be shocked if JGR gives them the resources to come anywhere close to the top tier after booting FRR for being too good
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Agree to an extent....Think LFR will be a JGR affiliate/TRD combo platter. They won't get what FRR was getting, but TRD will be filling in more of the gaps IMO. I believe the target result will be MWR when MWR had some speed due to the adoption of TRD processes. I don't think they will have anything for JGR on a regular basis, but they might steal a win after some time to gel.
 
ChexOrWrex said:
Boy did he get the knife as soon as he was coming into his own.
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Who would you rather have in the 19-- a promising young gun or the defending champion and his whole team?
Who would you rather have in the 20-- a superstar in his last years, or arguably the most promising young gun at a fraction of the price?

I know that it is cute an fashionable to criticize Coach for his religious beliefs, and use that as some kind of a lame as claim that he us a hypocrite, but you do realize that he was a football coach, right? You do realize that he sent guys home knowing full well that they wouldn't have a job. So, in this context, would your expectation of Coach be that he keep everybody on the team? You do realize that his beliefs do not prohibit him from making good business decisions, and keeping his race team viable during one of the most horrid periods for the sport, right?
 
Revman said:
Who would you rather have in the 19-- a promising young gun or the defending champion and his whole team?
Who would you rather have in the 20-- a superstar in his last years, or arguably the most promising young gun at a fraction of the price?

I know that it is cute an fashionable to criticize Coach for his religious beliefs, and use that as some kind of a lame as claim that he us a hypocrite, but you do realize that he was a football coach, right? You do realize that he sent guys home knowing full well that they wouldn't have a job. So, in this context, would your expectation of Coach be that he keep everybody on the team? You do realize that his beliefs do not prohibit him from making good business decisions, and keeping his race team viable during one of the most horrid periods for the sport, right?
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Nobody's saying it wasn't the right move to kill the competition (aka the 78). Just saying if you're going to invest in Suarez for as long as you have, why cut him off after year 2?

Though, he also has one of the most promising young gun dirt track racers in the United States as well that doesn't look like he has a potential ride at JGR anymore.
 
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I wonder if the preacher will pay a years worth of Suarez's salary and give the other team he goes to sponsorship and technical help like Rick did with Kasey. Oh wait Kenseth. :confused:
 
AuzGrams said:
Nobody's saying it wasn't the right move. Just saying if you're going to invest in Suarez for as long as you have, why cut him off after year 2?

Though, he also has one of the most promising young gun dirt track racers in the United States as well that doesn't look like he has a potential ride at JGR unless he gets put in the 95 who could have been in the wings of the 19 car. What's the plan with Bell?
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Because you have a shot to sign the defending champion, and arguably one of the best crew chiefs in the sport.

Bell is a TRD Driver Development talent. TRD has a problem here, but he isn't entitled to anything from JGR. FRR and all of its potential shutting down is a huge headache for the TRD young guns. I really don't know what the potential is for LFR if they, in fact, sign with TRD, but I don't think it is what FRR was.
 
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