Silly Season 2020

The King is a minority co-owner of the team, but I doubt he'd be able to do that even if he wanted to.
Absolutely true...but the marketer in me sees the promotional potential of “4 generations of Petty’s in Cup” .
 
I'll be curious to see how big of an upgrade or lateral move this is for Buescher equipment wise next year. It's possible Newman has simply operated on another planet this year. That would make Stenhouse not quite as bad as he seems, even though he tore up a lot of equipment, I would still take him on a plate track. Realistically, one of the better chances for a team like the 37 or 38 to win at.
 
Why is everyone quick to retire Kurt on here? He’s outrun Larson for a majority of the year, made the playoffs and shows he can still run at a high level while also giving off no hint whatsoever of wanting to retire. Chip also seems to want to keep him in the car. I don’t get this sentiment of rushing Kurt off to pasture just to put “driver Internet darling X” into the car.
 
Not in the least. They supported Chris during driver development and allowed him to
advance his career with other teams. I am sure everyone was aware of his contract.
Maybe they were not smart enough to buy out the option.

JTG was surprised. Maybe you're just that much smarter than them...
 
Not in the least. They supported Chris during driver development and allowed him to
advance his career with other teams. I am sure everyone was aware of his contract.
Maybe they were not smart enough to buy out the option.

Bob pockrass and the rest of the media even said they were under the impression that Buescher was no longer under any kind of obligation from Roush but the media was wrong on this one.
 
Why is everyone quick to retire Kurt on here? He’s outrun Larson for a majority of the year, made the playoffs and shows he can still run at a high level while also giving off no hint whatsoever of wanting to retire. Chip also seems to want to keep him in the car. I don’t get this sentiment of rushing Kurt off to pasture just to put “driver Internet darling X” into the car.
They got tired of firing Denny Hamlin.
 
So I was right, RFR still had a hold on Buescher.
Good move by them.
Very smart, maybe JTG forgot about the option?

I was under the impression, like the rest of the media, that Buescher was dropped from Roush and Ford to drive for another manufacturer.

This is an article from Matt Weaver on Autoweek. Seems like Daughtery knew about the option, but did not expect Buescher to exercise said option. Very interesting stuff, so I guess JTG thought wrong about Buescher wanting to stay affiliated with them.

Also, I did knot know David Ragan put Buescher on Roush's radar, good eye David.
Roush Fenway Racing hasn’t actively employed Chris Buescher since 2015 but exercised a previously unknown option to bring him back into the fold for the 2020 season.

Buescher captured the Xfinity Series championship that season but didn’t have the funding to advance to the Cup Series with Roush-Fenway. Instead, the team loaned him out to fellow Ford outfit Front Row Motorsports, where he won a rain-shortened event at Pocono Raceway that season.

He spent the next three seasons at JTG-Daugherty Racing, where he claimed to have had no more ties with Roush-Fenway.

Thus, it was a shock to just about everyone in the sport when Roush announced the signing of Buescher to replace Ricky Stenhouse Jr., whom the team had decided would not return in 2020 due to an option that was not picked up.

JTG-Daugherty Racing co-owner Brad Daugherty called into SiriusXM NASCAR Radio shortly after the news had been disseminated and explained that they nearly had Buescher re-signed to their own team before this process started to unravel.

"We had somewhat of an idea the last day and a half that this could possibly happen," Daugherty said. "We didn’t understand why it would happen. (We were) working very hard, going back and forth, trying to get our numbers together, trying to get the contract done; and we get up today and find out he’s going to go in a different direction. So, yeah, totally caught us off guard because we were already building stuff for next season as everybody else does and getting ready and preparing.

"We were in the throes of trying to put something significant together and thought we had it done and pretty close to it, and things change just like that."

It is a strange sequence of events, considering both Buescher and Roush had publicly stated that they were not contractually linked to each other -- especially as the driver went from Ford-fielding Front Row to Chevrolet affiliated JTG-Daughery over a span of four seasons.

JTG-Daugherty said in a Wednesday statement that the search for a new driver of the No. 37 will begin shortly. Its other driver, Ryan Preece, also has an option to remain at the team for next season in the No. 47.

"This catches you by surprise — this late in the year especially," Daugherty added during his radio appearance. "You try to be as professional as you possibly can about how you handle these situations. I don’t ever blame any athlete if he thinks he’s putting himself in a situation that’s going to be better for him or his family; got no problem with that. It’s just for us it’s always the timing. Getting this late in the season when you have commitments, it makes it very, very difficult to swallow this easily. Yeah, a lot of times people say, ‘Take the high road’ and ‘Do this and do that’. We’ll just say it’s a very, very difficult time to go through this, but we have very smart people who work at our company, we’ll figure it out. We just wish the timing could have been different -- a little more flexible towards us -- but it’s not working out that way.

"So, Chris will move on and do his thing. We put a lot of time and resources into Chris; we think we helped him become a better race car driver. So, as he moves on, we’ll look for the next young man or young woman who wants to get in our race car and try to help us build what we’re trying to accomplish, which is winning races on and being successful business-wise."

Meanwhile, Buescher will rejoin the first NASCAR team that ever signed him and shepherded his development from dirt racing to stock cars. He was discovered by David Ragan and sent to Ruolo Brothers Racing in the ARCA Racing Series where he finished second and first in consecutive season championship standings.

"I am energized about giving (Jack Roush) a return investment and I will hard to do my part," Buescher said in his own statement.
 
Very smart, maybe JTG forgot about the option?

I was under the impression, like the rest of the media, that Buescher was dropped from Roush and Ford to drive for another manufacturer.

This is an article from Matt Weaver on Autoweek. Seems like Daughtery knew about the option, but did not expect Buescher to exercise said option. Very interesting stuff, so I guess JTG thought wrong about Buescher wanting to stay affiliated with them.

Also, I did knot know David Ragan put Buescher on Roush's radar, good eye David.

Yep and Roush also sold the RTR thingy to them at the same time. So if JTG can't fill the driver slot or want to go to only one team, that has to be sold or leased to another team. I guess it is never good timing, but Roush make their move early FWIW.
 
President of Roush, Steve Newmark, said that the relationship between Roush and Stenhouse has "Run its course."
https://nascar.nbcsports.com/2019/0...e-with-ricky-stenhouse-jr-had-run-its-course/
This is crazy, but you can tell Newmark's decision was really a hard one. He likes Stenhouse, but Buescher just seemed like a no-brainer after both sides agreed to terms.

Tough business and this quote caught my eye... "At the end of the day, we, as in Roush Fenway, didn’t do our jobs and didn’t fulfill our obligations to extract the most out of the 17 program.”
 
That bolded statement says “yes, we had to buy the remaining term of his contract.”
 
nope here is the bolded statement

Newmark also cited Buescher’s performance over the summer, with 16 consecutive starts where Buescher finished inside the top 20.
 
I’d be willing to place a wager on whether or not Ricardo got a buyout.
 
President of Roush, Steve Newmark, said that the relationship between Roush and Stenhouse has "Run its course."
https://nascar.nbcsports.com/2019/0...e-with-ricky-stenhouse-jr-had-run-its-course/
That's a good article. It clarifies that RFR's "option" on Buescher was conditional on JTG/D not getting a contract renewal done within the proscribed period of time...
–After a Wednesday night tweet by Buescher alluded to Roush exercising “an option” to return him to the team where he raced before four years with Front Row Motorsports and JTG Daugherty, Newmark clarified that Roush retained “some residual rights that were triggered in certain instances.”

“I think even we weren’t aware that those instances were going to arise here,” Newmark said. “But because of how things unfolded at JTG, it ended up we got a call recently from Chris and his representative saying, "Hey, as a heads up, the condition happened, and we’re giving you notice that some of the rights under this residual option are available."

“At that point, we’ve always been interested in Chris and always continued that relationship. There’s been discussions at the board level, and Jack really has put his heart and soul into trying to figure out what the best path for this organization is.”

–Newmark told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that the decision to go with Buescher “wasn’t predicated on any one factor,” but he cited Ryan Newman‘s success in qualifying the No. 6 car for the playoffs in his first year with Roush as among the factors.

“Ryan has 11 top 10s, and that whole team has put together start-to-finish races, and he’s averaging finishes of about 13.5,” which is his best average since putting up that same number in 2015.

Newmark also cited Buescher’s performance over the summer, with 16 consecutive starts where Buescher finished inside the top 20.
 
nope here is the bolded statement

Newmark also cited Buescher’s performance over the summer, with 16 consecutive starts where Buescher finished inside the top 20.
Buescher's performance has not gone unnoticed, but the part bolded left me to question some things.

I wonder how much performance is left on the table in the 17? We'll find out next season, I guess.
 
As a Ford fan, I commend Roush for hiring full-time Newman and working to seal the deal with Buescher.

But Roush's problems aren't leaving with Ricky.

I would rather hear detailed analysis from insiders and RFR about how Roush is going to get back to the top in Cup, than gazing at Newman and Buescher.
 
As a Ford fan, I commend Roush for hiring full-time Newman and working to seal the deal with Buescher.

But Roush's problems aren't leaving with Ricky.

I would rather hear detailed analysis from insiders and RFR about how Roush is going to get back to the top in Cup, than gazing at Newman and Buescher.
Call them up. I’m sure they’ll be happy to provide whatever information you require.
 
Especially since I think The King would drop him in a hot minute if his grandson Thad Moffitt develops into a cup level driver. Early to think that, but hell anything seems possible these days.

How old is Thad?
 
Where has he been running?
Been doing well?
Part time in ARCA, not really setting the world on fire, but I don't know how quality the team he drives for is.
 
Ross Chastain in the 37 would become the next Matty D "underdog" fan favorite, imo. Him and Preece have similar pasts..."older" rookies who "did their time" in sub-par equipment before getting a couple of huuuuge breaks.

That's a much better story than some of these kids who have Cup rides guaranteed for them the moment they get into a super late model at age 15. But that's not a can of worms I'm going to Chase...:eek::eek::eek::)
 
Ross Chastain in the 37 would become the next Matty D "underdog" fan favorite, imo. Him and Preece have similar pasts..."older" rookies who "did their time" in sub-par equipment before getting a couple of huuuuge breaks.

That's a much better story than some of these kids who have Cup rides guaranteed for them the moment they get into a super late model at age 15. But that's not a can of worms I'm going to Chase...:eek::eek::eek::)
I think Ross in the 37 would be a great story, but I think he's too tied to CGR.

From the limited comments that have come from JTG it seems like they're looking for someone somewhat long term that they can build a team around.

I just think Ross will be in cup for CGR in a year or two, so for that reason I just don't see him as the fit that JTG would be looking for. Who knows I could be completely wrong, wouldn't be the first time.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
 
One of the TV analysts said that JTG should look at Chastain or Moffitt in the 37.

Ross seems like he'll be going full time for Kaulig Racing next year IMO. I think it's wise to run a top 10 car in Xfinity and then jump into the 1 car in 2021, if not there will be something available if he runs half decent in the Kaulig car.
 
Ross Chastain in the 37 would become the next Matty D "underdog" fan favorite, imo. Him and Preece have similar pasts..."older" rookies who "did their time" in sub-par equipment before getting a couple of huuuuge breaks.

That's a much better story than some of these kids who have Cup rides guaranteed for them the moment they get into a super late model at age 15. But that's not a can of worms I'm going to Chase...:eek::eek::eek::)

I'm interested to see how Preece will progress in year 2, he hasn't been bad at times in the 47 this season.
 
I'm interested to see how Preece will progress in year 2, he hasn't been bad at times in the 47 this season.

I honestly thought he would be doing better. Between Michigan and Indy he finished 7th, 18th, 22nd, and 16th. I was hoping those results would be most of his season- near-weekly top 20s and a top 10 once in a while. He has 6 DNF's I think he would be running better in points than Hemric if it weren't for that. Chris Buescher has been having a career season with JTG equipment and it's been awesome to watch, but it's not a good look for Preece. Hopefully he's not the low man on the totem pole next year with a new driver coming in...I'm not a tin-foil hat guy but I think to stretch the Kroger money between two cars there are "more desirable" parts Buescher is getting while Preece gets the leftovers. Buescher has had a top 15 car most weeks this year while Preece is a solid 10-15 positions back.
 
Especially since I think The King would drop him in a hot minute if his grandson Thad Moffitt develops into a cup level driver. Early to think that, but hell anything seems possible these days.
Moffitt is a long shot. The talent doesnt show.
 
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