SILLY SEASON 2019

JGR being a de facto Toyota factory team that can just pull the rug out from under any other TRD-supported car is not something I like. I cannot imagine HMS getting sore enough that Larson is kicking all of their asses besides Chase, or RFR getting their doors blown off hard enough by SHR and Penske that they just decide to stop supplying customer engines. Consolidation of quality entries might be good for a select few but no one else. "Business-savvy" sucks for the sport.

Would be interesting to see behind the curtain of the HMS/SHR relationship before it ended, wouldn't it?
 
Would be interesting to see behind the curtain of the HMS/SHR relationship before it ended, wouldn't it?
I thought they washed their laundry enough for us to know Tony shut the door on sharing.
I think Rick is no longer interested in racing, just another source of money for him. I base this on him not being at the track very often. Could be health related.
 
I think Rick is no longer interested in racing, just another source of money for him. I base this on him not being at the track very often. Could be health related.
He's as committed to racing as ever but his priorities have changed due to health, age, family etc. That's why he's placed the best people in key positions in his organization so that he's prepared for whatever comes along. I'm interested in finding out what position Jeff Gordon is going to have in the Company.
 
It was reported that it wasn't about HMS but a better deal with Ford. And HMS seems to have a good working relationship with the others they deal with.

You missed Jimmie Johnson's interview then.
 
You missed Jimmie Johnson's interview then.
Which entailed...?

If there is evidence that SHR were encouraged or essentially forced to split that would be interesting to see. For the most part, it seems like an opportunity presented itself where SHR could become a flagship program for an OEM that had decided to invest more in racing and had a long-term strategy set up, and SHR could in turn also become more independent.
 
So smart when u can do it. Close the operation that was a “teammate” and beat you with your own stuff by pricing them out of existence, then hire the driver/crew and whoever else in your mind kicked your ass so you are the winner nonetheless. Poor Kyle has to be REALLY dreading it.

It’s ok Kryle....Beating up on 2nd and 3rd stringers still seems to impress your boss and fans....you’ll be ok even if you aren’t the MAN at JGR.....
 

In retrospect, my instinct is that the SHR/HMS plan worked pretty much as advertised to start with, but I think it started to change drastically after Harvick and Childers came on board. I think for the first time SHR actually had some feedback of REAL value, and they decided they didn't want to share it, at least not from the 4 car. Given a choice between Duchart's "management" response and Johnson's, I'll side a little more with Johnson, who MUST have been fairly irked over the whole situation, because he NEVER airs the family dirty laundry. I also think that SHR was probably starting to get feedback from having Rex Stump in house and also from their Formula 1 side, and they probably were not eager to share THAT either. In the end, I understand that making the change to Ford was a good move for them, but I'm sorry, I can't help but feel like Hendrick got stabbed in the back over the whole deal, sort of the reverse of the JGR/FRR situation where the customer stuck it to the vendor instead of the vendor killing the customer. I will also say that if anyone has any evidence that HMS didn't 100% live up to their end of the deal, it's news to me, and I'd be interested in hearing about it.
 
He's as committed to racing as ever but his priorities have changed due to health, age, family etc. That's why he's placed the best people in key positions in his organization so that he's prepared for whatever comes along. I'm interested in finding out what position Jeff Gordon is going to have in the Company.
I keep waiting for that announcement also. I sense that he will replace the General Manager.
 
The HMS/SHR relationship was a dumpster fire. Not good. SHR leaving wasn't about a better deal, it was most definitely a divorce.

OK, but was it always that way, or just end up that way? At one time Gene Haas and Rick Hendrick were awfully tight.
 
OK, I guess what I'm asking is, if you feel at liberty to offer an opinion , where did it go off the rails?
 
OK, I guess what I'm asking is, if you feel at liberty to offer an opinion , where did it go off the rails?
I'm not sure. By the time I was offered a peak behind the SHR curtain, it was already a pretty unhealthy relationship. No idea when it started or why. Or even who was most at fault. i just know that the relationship wasn't ideal and was likely on borrowed time.
 
What position does Rick's brother hold??
Here it is Pete.

Hendrick Motorsports losing Doug Duchardt as General Manager.


CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Hendrick Motorsports general manager Doug Duchardt will leave the organization at the end of this month after 12 years with NASCAR's powerhouse team.
Duchardt also is the executive vice president at Hendrick.
Duchardt joined Hendrick in 2005 as vice president of development, and he oversaw race car design, engineering and production. The general manager position was created for him in 2013.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...losing-duchardt-as-general-manager/102562332/
 
Here it is Pete.

Hendrick Motorsports losing Doug Duchardt as General Manager.


CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Hendrick Motorsports general manager Doug Duchardt will leave the organization at the end of this month after 12 years with NASCAR's powerhouse team.
Duchardt also is the executive vice president at Hendrick.
Duchardt joined Hendrick in 2005 as vice president of development, and he oversaw race car design, engineering and production. The general manager position was created for him in 2013.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...losing-duchardt-as-general-manager/102562332/
I posted this in the wrong place. But it does explain that there is no longer a general Manager at HMS.
I think Jeff will probably start off as VP of something or another, surely an executive.

What position does Rick's brother hold??
Ricks Brother died in the plane crash.
 
Two things I read today....

Daniel Hemric is on the short list for the 95

If Matt Kenseth returns to Roush Fenway it will most likely be in a part-time schedule again.
Kenseth stated he wanted to go into management after racing when he signed on at Roush. He hinted that was supposed to be the deal at Gibbs. I kinda feel for Hemric if he goes there, but paw paw kids who he beats regularly come first. I'll wager if he goes to the 95 he will do better than McDowell and Kahne did with the car.
 
I'm voting for Jamie McMurray, Matt Dibenedetto, or Michael McDowell for the 6 car next year. I would call it a rumor but I have nothing to go on, and I am just a fan of those guys. Wouldn't be the first time Jamie McMurray went off to race for Roush! haha.
 
So now HMS is back into talks with Lowe's to say on in a smaller role, what changed, the new CEO of Lowe's is the former CEO of Dollar General.

Hendrick Motorsports is continuing to try to find sponsorship for its No. 48 Chevy driven by Jimmie Johnson next season, and there are signs emerging that the team has a couple worthwhile leads that are developing.

Lowe's announced earlier this year that it would leave HMS and NASCAR as a sport after this season, but sources said that HMS has re-engaged Lowe's on the possibility of returning next year on a partial basis. Sources said the move to re-engage Lowe's came, at least in part, because the home-improvement retailer has seen a host of exec changes in recent months in areas including marketing. Some of the new execs are said to be more favorable to sports marketing or motorsports than their predecessors.

It is unclear how far along talks are with Lowe's, which is represented by GMR Marketing, or whether it will lead to any sponsorship.

Lowe's expiring, season-long deal with HMS was thought to be worth at least $20M, but HMS' rates for '19 were unclear. Meanwhile, sources said that HMS has at least one other separate lead for the No. 48 that is far enough along that it involved a meeting this week at HMS HQ.
 
I think it would make a certain amount of sense for Lowes to maintain SOME sort of presence on the 48 car at least until Jimmie retires to see the thing through start to finish and to ensure that going forward the 7 (or more) time champion would ALWAYS be associated with Lowes. That's something that would pay a certain amount of dividends long after the fact. Even if they were just the primary for 2-4 races and maybe an associate the rest of the time, I think with Jimmie's history with the brand they could leverage that into something that would make financial sense for them. They could probably even ensure that when Jimmie runs his last race, it would be Lowes on the car and not some somebody else. Notice that when Gordon ran what was SUPPOSED to be his final race, it was Axalta on the car, not AARP, continuing the Dupont lineage from start to finish of Jeff's career, as it should be. Of course Jeff's last car SHOULD have had a rainbow, not flames, even though I like the flames better.
 
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