Silly Season 2024

Article on comments preacher Joe made on Sirius yesterday regarding Hambone contract negotiations. Also comments from TRD’s Wilson. Clearly, Dennis is working over both of them to squeeze maximum $$$ offers, leveraging the threat of driving for his own team and switching to Ford (per rumors)…and squeezing Ford at the same time. THIS is why NASCAR should have never allowed him to have conflicting interests (owner of one team, driver in another).
https://www.yardbarker.com/nascar/a...love_for_him_to_retire_here/s1_17236_39190860
I don't get your point about NASCAR shouldn't allow you to own one team and drive for another.

These drivers are all contractors at the end of the day. You agree to JGR's terms for a two year deal because at that time the terms work for both parties, then you sign the deal. Two years later the terms don't make sense for one or both parties? Move on. Nothing wrong with that, nothing wrong with negotiating. Teams have been switching manufacturers since NASCAR began. What's the big deal?
 
I don't get your point about NASCAR shouldn't allow you to own one team and drive for another.

These drivers are all contractors at the end of the day. You agree to JGR's terms for a two year deal because at that time the terms work for both parties, then you sign the deal. Two years later the terms don't make sense for one or both parties? Move on. Nothing wrong with that, nothing wrong with negotiating. Teams have been switching manufacturers since NASCAR began. What's the big deal?
My point is; NASCAR allowing a driver from one team to also be an owner of another team creates multiple conflicts of interest. Those can arise during racing events (as Hambone indicated he would help Bubba get in to the playoffs ahead of his JGR teammate Ty). It can also create excessive influence in negotiations that other drivers do not also enjoy (leveraging movement from one brand to another for your owned team AND how that influences your salary with the current team, or willingness to bolt AND change brands at 23X).

Many say that’s good business practice to gain optimal advantage. Yes it is, but NASCAR opened the door to this by allowing it to happen in the first place. I understand many here see no issue with it.
 
My point is; NASCAR allowing a driver from one team to also be an owner of another team creates multiple conflicts of interest. Those can arise during racing events (as Hambone indicated he would help Bubba get in to the playoffs ahead of his JGR teammate Ty). It can also create excessive influence in negotiations that other drivers do not also enjoy (leveraging movement from one brand to another for your owned team AND how that influences your salary with the current team, or willingness to bolt AND change brands at 23X).

Many say that’s good business practice to gain optimal advantage. Yes it is, but NASCAR opened the door to this by allowing it to happen in the first place. I understand many here see no issue with it.
That's ridiculous. Once again it isn't Nascar's problem, it's JGR's if they think it is one. They write the contract, have the driver on the roster, and have said publicly more than once that they want Denny to retire at JGR. You are trying to make a problem where there isn't one.
 
That's ridiculous. Once again it isn't Nascar's problem, it's JGR's if they think it is one. They write the contract, have the driver on the roster, and have said publicly more than once that they want Denny to retire at JGR. You are trying to make a problem where there isn't one.
Whatever…I felt it was a bad idea at the beginning, and still do. Respect your opinion also.
 
My point is; NASCAR allowing a driver from one team to also be an owner of another team creates multiple conflicts of interest. Those can arise during racing events (as Hambone indicated he would help Bubba get in to the playoffs ahead of his JGR teammate Ty). It can also create excessive influence in negotiations that other drivers do not also enjoy (leveraging movement from one brand to another for your owned team AND how that influences your salary with the current team, or willingness to bolt AND change brands at 23X).

Many say that’s good business practice to gain optimal advantage. Yes it is, but NASCAR opened the door to this by allowing it to happen in the first place. I understand many here see no issue with it.
Dale Sr. did it and no one said a word about it back then. Maybe it was because of who it was or the fact most people didn't think it was that big of a deal. But yes, there are some conflicts there.
 
I think multicar teams are a confict of interest. If it were up to me there would be 36 separate owners for as many cars.
Collusion if proven among any two two cars would result in extremely harsh penalties.
I would even ban anyone in the broadcast booth that was actively involved or connected to any team or driver in the covered event.

But I know I am in the minority with the opinion, maybe the only one with that opinion.
 
I think multicar teams are a confict of interest. If it were up to me there would be 36 separate owners for as many cars.
Collusion if proven among any two two cars would result in extremely harsh penalties.
I would even ban anyone in the broadcast booth that was actively involved or connected to any team or driver in the covered event.

But I know I am in the minority with the opinion, maybe the only one with that opinion.
In a perfect world, I would agree with you on the ownership thing, but it's not perfect and never will be. I have been harping about the conflict of interest in the booth for YEARS, but evidently you and I are the ONLY two people who see It that way.
 
In a perfect world, I would agree with you on the ownership thing, but it's not perfect and never will be. I have been harping about the conflict of interest in the booth for YEARS, but evidently you and I are the ONLY two people who see It that way.
With the announcers it’s honestly just too much of a slippery slope if you start picking at that. I have definitely noticed it at times but figured NASCAR understands and is to a point ok with it at least
I may be wrong but I think in a lot of other sports (“stick n ball” as some of you say”), I think a lot of times the teams hire their own announcers for at least some home games. Maybe not as much for big tv ones (like MNF etc) but for at least some games.

As with a lot of other sports, most people in the industry especially retired drivers are going to be affiliated somehow with a manufacturer or team etc, let alone be fans of certain ones over others.

I think it’s just too ingrained in NASCAR to a degree for them to do much about it and they probably realize this.

As far as being actively involved or connected, how many times have they had JTG owner on screen for example. Let alone Dale Jr. If they really try to stop this then how would it keep it from happening when current drivers from another series are guest announcers? If they did try to eliminate that but don’t address that also then so many people will inevitably say they are inconsistent.

What about to driver’s only broadcasts in Xfinity for example? Would Logano have to pretend to like Yotas over Ford in that race but then drive a Ford on Sunday?

Most of them do atleast try to be as unbiased and professional as they can other than for example very emotional circumstances etc - Kurt Busch watching his old car win after his injury.
I think as long as that is the case the bias going to continue being allowed to some extent and am ok with that. It can actually add some value in some situations as mentioned there. Just don’t go overboard with the it.
 
With the announcers it’s honestly just too much of a slippery slope if you start picking at that. I have definitely noticed it at times but figured NASCAR understands and is to a point ok with it at least
I may be wrong but I think in a lot of other sports (“stick n ball” as some of you say”), I think a lot of times the teams hire their own announcers for at least some home games. Maybe not as much for big tv ones (like MNF etc) but for at least some games.

As with a lot of other sports, most people in the industry especially retired drivers are going to be affiliated somehow with a manufacturer or team etc, let alone be fans of certain ones over others.

I think it’s just too ingrained in NASCAR to a degree for them to do much about it and they probably realize this.

As far as being actively involved or connected, how many times have they had JTG owner on screen for example. Let alone Dale Jr. If they really try to stop this then how would it keep it from happening when current drivers from another series are guest announcers? If they did try to eliminate that but don’t address that also then so many people will inevitably say they are inconsistent.

What about to driver’s only broadcasts in Xfinity for example? Would Logano have to pretend to like Yotas over Ford in that race but then drive a Ford on Sunday?

Most of them do atleast try to be as unbiased and professional as they can other than for example very emotional circumstances etc - Kurt Busch watching his old car win after his injury.
I think as long as that is the case the bias going to continue being allowed to some extent and am ok with that. It can actually add some value in some situations as mentioned there. Just don’t go overboard with the it.
For practical reasons, I would draw the line at 1) Do you have an ownership position in a team you are covering? 2) Do you draw a paycheck from a team, sponsor or manufacturer you are covering? That means no Dale Jr. On Xfinity broadcasts, or no Brad on Cup broadcasts. Is Latarte a paid consultant for Spire? He would be out too. It's nothing personal, really like all three of those people, it's just a matter of standards and integrity.
 
For practical reasons, I would draw the line at 1) Do you have an ownership position in a team you are covering? 2) Do you draw a paycheck from a team, sponsor or manufacturer you are covering? That means no Dale Jr. On Xfinity broadcasts, or no Brad on Cup broadcasts. Is Latarte a paid consultant for Spire? He would be out too. It's nothing personal, really like all three of those people, it's just a matter of standards and integrity.
The point is if you do that with one group they would have to with all. No drivers at all in Xfinity or owners or any guests from in the industry basically. They do provide a lot of insight.
That means just like this year Harvick is already signed to announce next year. Forget about getting any experience before he does it full time.
 
For practical reasons, I would draw the line at 1) Do you have an ownership position in a team you are covering? 2) Do you draw a paycheck from a team, sponsor or manufacturer you are covering? That means no Dale Jr. On Xfinity broadcasts, or no Brad on Cup broadcasts. Is Latarte a paid consultant for Spire? He would be out too. It's nothing personal, really like all three of those people, it's just a matter of standards and integrity.
Dale Jr never favors JRM on the broadcasts or plugs his own organizations sponsors more than the others or anything along those lines. I don't get the big deal. If it was a case where Steve Letarte just could not stop praising Corey Lajoie every week, or something along those lines, then I would see what you mean and agree that there's no place for that, but as long as they present the sport professionally then what's the problem? A random person watching a broadcast for the very first time with no background of the sport would have no idea that some of the broadcasters are linked to teams or drivers. Jeff Burton never favors Harrison either.
 
Dale Jr never favors JRM on the broadcasts or plugs his own organizations sponsors more than the others or anything along those lines. I don't get the big deal. If it was a case where Steve Letarte just could not stop praising Corey Lajoie every week, or something along those lines, then I would see what you mean and agree that there's no place for that, but as long as they present the sport professionally then what's the problem? A random person watching a broadcast for the very first time with no background of the sport would have no idea that some of the broadcasters are linked to teams or drivers. Jeff Burton never favors Harrison either.
As I mentioned that most of the time they do at least try not to. There are always going times it can’t be helped, but I’m ok with it as long as they try.
 
Dale Jr never favors JRM on the broadcasts or plugs his own organizations sponsors more than the others or anything along those lines. I don't get the big deal. If it was a case where Steve Letarte just could not stop praising Corey Lajoie every week, or something along those lines, then I would see what you mean and agree that there's no place for that, but as long as they present the sport professionally then what's the problem? A random person watching a broadcast for the very first time with no background of the sport would have no idea that some of the broadcasters are linked to teams or drivers. Jeff Burton never favors Harrison either.
What you will never know though is how much they DON'T say when it involves their teams. Is Dale REALLY going to criticize a JRM pit call the way he might with some other team?
 
What you will never know though is how much they DON'T say when it involves their teams. Is Dale REALLY going to criticize a JRM pit call the way he might with some other team?
If the entire booth were JRM employees then I may see your point, but even if Junior doesn't say it, who's stopping another member of the booth from pointing it out?

I think you're getting too uptight about it. Ok Dale Jarrett and Kyle Petty were/are paid by many sponsors, teams and manufacturers over the years, so I guess we can't have them on TV either because Kyle Petty is going to favor the Coca-Cola racing family drivers. DJ isn't going to give credit to FedEx ambassador Denny Hamlin because DJ made a pile of money via his UPS partnership.

You gotta understand, in professional sports, there are only so many people within the traveling circus. NASCAR itself is so tight knit, and you obviously know this, but if you start weeding out anybody with a connection that could potentially bias them one way or another then at the end of the day you don't have much of a broadcast left.

Mike Joy owns New England Racing Fuel, who is a Sunoco resaler. Does that stop Mike Joy from saying "Shell/Pennzoil Ford" on Fox? No.
 
If the entire booth were JRM employees then I may see your point, but even if Junior doesn't say it, who's stopping another member of the booth from pointing it out?

I think you're getting too uptight about it. Ok Dale Jarrett and Kyle Petty were/are paid by many sponsors, teams and manufacturers over the years, so I guess we can't have them on TV either because Kyle Petty is going to favor the Coca-Cola racing family drivers. DJ isn't going to give credit to FedEx ambassador Denny Hamlin because DJ made a pile of money via his UPS partnership.

You gotta understand, in professional sports, there are only so many people within the traveling circus. NASCAR itself is so tight knit, and you obviously know this, but if you start weeding out anybody with a connection that could potentially bias them one way or another then at the end of the day you don't have much of a broadcast left.

Mike Joy owns New England Racing Fuel, who is a Sunoco resaler. Does that stop Mike Joy from saying "Shell/Pennzoil Ford" on Fox? No.
Like I said, you have to draw a line somewhere, which is why I specifically said "currently an owner, or currently drawing a paycheck from". Unless Coke is still paying Kyle, I have no beef with him. Same goes for DJ. At the VERY least, I don't want to see the kind of crap Michael Waltrip used to get away with. For years the whole Fox prerace show seemed to be an extended commercial for Michael's sponsors.
 
Like I said, you have to draw a line somewhere, which is why I specifically said "currently an owner, or currently drawing a paycheck from". Unless Coke is still paying Kyle, I have no beef with him. Same goes for DJ. At the VERY least, I don't want to see the kind of crap Michael Waltrip used to get away with. For years the whole Fox prerace show seemed to be an extended commercial for Michael's sponsors.
Kyle Petty is still on the Coca-Cola payroll. For example here's an appearance schedule for 2023 that he's on:

https://www.portillos.com/coca-cola-portillos-pit-stop-summer-tour/
 
Tbh, I wouldn’t even care about announcers getting happy and bias for certain moments. Think Ned cheering on DJ in the 500, or DW cheering on Mikey also in the 500. If Harrison ever manages to win a race and it’s on NBC, you best believe that Jeff should be able to cheer that on. If it’s something that got out of hand I could understand. But like it’s not happened yet. So I think it’s silly to even discuss banning something that’s clearly not a problem at the moment.
 
Tbh, I wouldn’t even care about announcers getting happy and bias for certain moments. Think Ned cheering on DJ in the 500, or DW cheering on Mikey also in the 500. If Harrison ever manages to win a race and it’s on NBC, you best believe that Jeff should be able to cheer that on. If it’s something that got out of hand I could understand. But like it’s not happened yet. So I think it’s silly to even discuss banning something that’s clearly not a problem at the moment.
We make problems where there isn't any around here.
 
RTA buys NASCAR … sumthin’, sumthin’ …

Nothing of any real consequence. 😇
 
2024 schedule? Tis that time of year. Darlington is an ISC/NASCAR owned track...makes sense they'd announce something important like that at a track they own.
 
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