Silly Season 2024

Unless Erik gets assurance he’ll be paired with Rodney I’m not sure it’s a good swap at this point. Legacy have more potential with increased investment and reorg now, and should be headed in a positive direction.

I get the impression NASCAR is not top priority for neither the Stewart nor the Haas aspect of the team, and hasn’t been for a while. It’s unfortunate Ford put the kibosh on Larson but it didn’t sound like they made a push for Busch last year, despite Harvick saying he’d like him as a teammate. With all of the recent extensions the talent pool is that much harder to sift through for good options.
 
cheesepuffs said:
For a major Cup team that's in-manufacturer? Doubt it.
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Will the manufacturer ensure Front Row a replacement driver of equal talent / value? The team seems to be reasonably well financed, growing / planning for the future. That’s why they pinned the young man down long term.

Who would Ford’s replacement be? Hailie Deegan?
 
Or Front Row could say no thanks and tell Ford they’ve decided to take their 3 NASCAR charters and put them to work with Toyota’s cash and engineering resources.
 
Nobody driving Fords or Toyotas have been able to do much this year so far. And this SHR had do better or else applies to them all at present. It's way too early to tell how it is going to pan out for anybody who isn't already locked in. Briscoe has been a good pick for SHR, Priece is too green to rate IMO. He is just waking up to the reality that he has a full time ride with a good team. Harvick's big chance to lock in is this weekend at Phoenix, and Almirola the Smithfield wheel holder will ride around and wave at the fans.
 
Fordracing28 said:
If I'm Ford I'm doing whatever I can to keep Zane in the camp!
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Well hell, he is signed thru 25 as it is. Running in the Cup series this weekend. I really don't know what the hell else they could do. I bet he is either full time Xfinity or Cup next year. There can be problems with bringing him along too fast ya know.
 
aunty dive said:
Will the manufacturer ensure Front Row a replacement driver of equal talent / value? The team seems to be reasonably well financed, growing / planning for the future. That’s why they pinned the young man down long term.

Who would Ford’s replacement be? Hailie Deegan?
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You ever hear of an exit clause? Almost every professional driver has 'em.
 
StandOnIt said:
Well hell, he is signed thru 25 as it is. Running in the Cup series this weekend. I really don't know what the hell else they could do. I bet he is either full time Xfinity or Cup next year. There can be problems with bringing him along too fast ya know.
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He isn't at risk of being brought up too fast anymore. He was supposed to drive for Ganassi in Cup already, had a deal to drive the 1 car after Kurt was set to go to 23XI and then Marks bought the team and that deal went kaput.
 
cheesepuffs said:
He isn't at risk of being brought up too fast anymore. He was supposed to drive for Ganassi in Cup already, had a deal to drive the 1 car after Kurt was set to go to 23XI and then Marks bought the team and that deal went kaput.
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That's your opinion. He has a sum total of two cup races under his belt. I believe he has seven Cup races this year. After that would be a good time to see where he goes.
 
StandOnIt said:
You are confused and I am partly to blame for leaving that highlighted.
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You're only partly to blame for completely bolding the wrong portion of your point? Ok.

Ok so then let's say this, if what you meant is that "Zane being ready for Cup is just my opinion".

It was also the opinion of Chip Ganassi that Zane was ready for Cup, two years ago.
 
cheesepuffs said:
You're only partly to blame for completely bolding the wrong portion of your point? Ok.

Ok so then let's say this, if what you meant is that "Zane being ready for Cup is just my opinion".

It was also the opinion of Chip Ganassi that Zane was ready for Cup, two years ago.
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Yep and it didn't happen so it's a moot point as to how ready he was. 7 races, 6 races now will go a lot further to see how he handles it.
 
StandOnIt said:
Yep and it didn't happen so it's a moot point as to how ready he was. 7 races, 6 races now will go a lot further to see how he handles it.
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What is your point here? So because he hasn't run many Cup races before, you're saying he isn't ready to be a Cup rookie? That's like not selecting a top prospect in the NFL draft because they only played college ball before.
 
cheesepuffs said:
What is your point here? So because he hasn't run many Cup races before, you're saying he isn't ready to be a Cup rookie? That's like not selecting a top prospect in the NFL draft because they only played college ball before.
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post #51 or I deal with reality and that is Smith gets 7 races in cup this year. After that it depends on what he does. That is what is going to happen
 
cheesepuffs said:
You ever hear of an exit clause? Almost every professional driver has 'em.
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I’m pretty well informed.

Exit clauses provide an out for the driver if the team fails to be in compliance with one or more significant contract clauses. So far, that isn’t the case here.
 
aunty dive said:
I’m pretty well informed.

Exit clauses provide an out for the driver if the team fails to be in compliance with one or more significant contract clauses. So far, that isn’t the case here.
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Exit clauses exist for a multitude of reasons. In driver development deals, they frequently include the ability to leave if the team cannot provide a seat at a certain rung up the ladder within a certain time frame, or, that if a better team comes a'knocking, then they also have the ability to take that deal. There could very well be an exit clause in Zane's contract with Front Row that states if a four-car Cup operation reaches out then he's golden.
 
Mr. Jenkins is not an idiot. Nor is he running a driver development program for his wealthier competitors. The smart players protect their human capital investments until it no longer suits them to do so.

Some observers of the sport seem to be having a difficult time reconciling their fantasy picks with the impact of drivers’ contractual obligations.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
There could be any number of clauses in a driver's contract. An exit clause as you describe it in your post #59 strikes me as one of the less likely ones. Much less.
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Doesn't matter how it strikes you. That type of exit clause for drivers that are not yet fulltime at the top level exist very commonly across all types of racing.
 
aunty dive said:
Or Front Row could say no thanks and tell Ford they’ve decided to take their 3 NASCAR charters and put them to work with Toyota’s cash and engineering resources.
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Actually just thinking about this....Gilliland's Dad is a Toyota man now. Hmmmmmmm
 
wi_racefan said:
3?
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Corrected to 2. Good catch.

Jenkins bought a 3rd charter at the BK Racing bankruptcy auction, leased it to Rick Ware for a year and subsequently sold it to him.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
You may have wanted the 2023 thread.

JJ, Jordan, Jensen; again, paging Mr. Rockenfeller. Maybe bring the Camaro along, take some parade laps on Sunday to build fan interest, and get in some practice laps on Monday. 'M jus' sayin'.
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Not interested in the least. Thank you. Toyota will be winning that race. Interested.
 
Revman said:
Not interested in the least. Thank you. Toyota will be winning that race. Interested.
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For something you claim to be 'not interested in the least', you sure post a lot about it. For example, you bothered to respond to me.

I'm reminded of the guy I watched at Richmond a couple of decades ago. He spent the whole race watching the #24 go round so he could give Jeff the finger for each and every one of 400 laps. That's a whole lot of attention on someone he supposedly disliked.
 
At this point I'm surprised we haven't heard more chatter around a replacement for the #4 next year. I know SHR likes to play things close to the vest, but I haven't heard anything reliable

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wi_racefan said:
At this point I'm surprised we haven't heard more chatter around a replacement for the #4 next year. I know SHR likes to play things close to the vest, but I haven't heard anything reliable

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One thing for sure, they have enough time to find a driver, this is almost JGR find a sponsor time.
 
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