Silly Season 2024

Speedbowl14 said:
So he gains an average of 4 positions per race and finishes 90%+ of the time? I think that's exactly what all those teams on that list, plus now Kaulig, are looking for. (ok not SHR or RCR but those were sub rides iirc)
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If you're Kaulig five years ago, or Spire or RWR five years ago, I get it. If Kaulig isn't setting their sights any higher than THAT now , then maybe they should just be an Xfinity team. Especially if you are going around shouting "Trophy Hunting". Those two Cup drivers combined could put all their NASCAR trophies in a phone booth with room to spare.
 
Formerjackman said:
If you're Kaulig five years ago, or Spire or RWR five years ago, I get it. If Kaulig isn't setting their sights any higher than THAT now , then maybe they should just be an Xfinity team. Especially if you are going around shouting "Trophy Hunting". Those two Cup drivers combined could put all their NASCAR trophies in a phone booth with room to spare.
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Well they're not gonna shout "We badly overestimated our ability in Cup and can barely muster a top 10 on a non-RC or plate track"

But I'm clearly in the minority on this. To me, it makes sense. Kaulig wanted AJ so they could have a veteran to lean on and improve the car. Now that's Ty's role.
 
Speedbowl14 said:
Well they're not gonna shout "We badly overestimated our ability in Cup and can barely muster a top 10 on a non-RC or plate track"
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But they had a legitimate shot to WIN at those tracks with AJ. What do they have now? It's not that I think AJ (especially at this point in his career) was ever the ultimate answer, but but at least you had a SHOT. How does that team get to the NEXT level with these two drivers?
 
Compared to Justin Haley, I think Josh Williams is an improvement. Time will tell, but Josh knows how to get the most out of a ride and I think that's his ace in the hole.
 
StandOnIt said:
Compared to Justin Haley, I think Josh Williams is an improvement. Time will tell, but Josh knows how to get the most out of a ride and I think that's his ace in the hole.
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Just to be clear, my argument is about Dillon and Hemric. I have no issues with Josh getting a better shot at Xfinity. Let's see what he does with it. I have no problem with teams making a reach at the lower level. That's where you should be finding out what people have. If you want a Cup ride, you had better have shown me something at a lower level. Dillon never has, and Hemric stole an Xfinity title in uber-dominant equipment.
 
kkfan91 said:
I like him and I hope he does well, but I think a lot of us hoped Landon Cassill get a win with them and that didn't work out.
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Cassill had a 2nd at Martinsville and pushed AJ to the win at Talladega. He was clearly much better at Kaulig than at Johnny Davis. Williams is kind of like Cassill -ran well in mediocre equipment. I expect Williams to contend for top 5s and have a shot at a win somewhere. You give any solid veteran a shot in Kaulig equipment and rheu have a chance.
 
Formerjackman said:
Just to be clear, my argument is about Dillon and Hemric. I have no issues with Josh getting a better shot at Xfinity. Let's see what he does with it. I have no problem with teams making a reach at the lower level. That's where you should be finding out what people have. If you want a Cup ride, you had better have shown me something at a lower level. Dillon never has, and Hemric stole an Xfinity title in uber-dominant equipment.
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Hemric and Dillon have both been mediocre in their previous cup rides. How they were in xinity is rally not the problem.

I agree Kaulig's Cup program is taking a step backwards. It is about outside funding.
 
Formerjackman said:
Just to be clear, my argument is about Dillon and Hemric. I have no issues with Josh getting a better shot at Xfinity. Let's see what he does with it. I have no problem with teams making a reach at the lower level. That's where you should be finding out what people have. If you want a Cup ride, you had better have shown me something at a lower level. Dillon never has, and Hemric stole an Xfinity title in uber-dominant equipment.
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Just to be clear, I was making a comment about Josh Williams. I have made plenty about Hemric and Dillion.
 
Mark said:
Hemric and Dillon have both been mediocre in their previous cup rides. How they were in xinity is rally not the problem.

I agree Kaulig's Cup program is taking a step backwards. It is about outside funding.
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Didn't Hemric only get one year in Cup before being kicked out?
 
Formerjackman said:
But they had a legitimate shot to WIN at those tracks with AJ. What do they have now? It's not that I think AJ (especially at this point in his career) was ever the ultimate answer, but but at least you had a SHOT. How does that team get to the NEXT level with these two drivers?
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They dont
 
Ty Dillon has been annihilated head to head in recent years when having a teammate. Lajoie this year, Jones last year, and he looked pretty bad for JGR standards when he ran some Xfinity races for them. Congrats Kaulig, you’ll be fighting Harry Burton and the other underachievers for 30th in points.
 
Jorge De Guzman said:
I’d like to see what he could do in a full season of Trucks, at the very least it’d be something different than watching the rich teenagers rage crash each other while attempting to rattle cages
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Marco is the male Danica Patrick. Awesome at Indy, invisible everywhere else.
 
Formerjackman said:
What bridge has he burned besides pissing off Penske for telling the truth?
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He's not marketable at this point.

Purposefully missed many sponsor meet and greets for GoFas. Ryan Ellis stuck his neck out for him and was his manager at the time.

The Wood Brothers fiasco knowing he was going to be out of the seat either way for Cindric to make his debut. Did not bring a lick of sponsorship with him nor was he looking for it. Paul Menard recommended Matt to take over the 21, then the stupidty ensued.

Matt was getting paid a pretty penny to drive for Rackley. Owner paid for everything for two years and it fell a part as well.

I don't feel bad for him, he's done it to himself over the past three or so years.
 
Kiante said:
He's not marketable at this point.

Purposefully missed many sponsor meet and greets for GoFas. Ryan Ellis stuck his neck out for him and was his manager at the time.

The Wood Brothers fiasco knowing he was going to be out of the seat either way for Cindric to make his debut. Did not bring a lick of sponsorship with him nor was he looking for it. Paul Menard recommended Matt to take over the 21, then the stupidty ensued.

Matt was getting paid a pretty penny to drive for Rackley. Owner paid for everything for two years and it fell a part as well.

I don't feel bad for him, he's done it to himself over the past three or so years.
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Don't know anything about the GoFas situation. Never even heard it mentioned. He complained about the poor performance at the 21, and was proven right when they changed crew chiefs and the car got lot faster. Matt's performance in the 21 was FAR better than the current waste of a good ride in the driver's seat. As for Rackley, I have NO IDEA what happened there either. If you have details, I'd be interested in knowing.
 
Kiante said:
He's not marketable at this point.

Purposefully missed many sponsor meet and greets for GoFas. Ryan Ellis stuck his neck out for him and was his manager at the time.

The Wood Brothers fiasco knowing he was going to be out of the seat either way for Cindric to make his debut. Did not bring a lick of sponsorship with him nor was he looking for it. Paul Menard recommended Matt to take over the 21, then the stupidty ensued.

Matt was getting paid a pretty penny to drive for Rackley. Owner paid for everything for two years and it fell a part as well.

I don't feel bad for him, he's done it to himself over the past three or so years.
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I follow people who talk NASCAR and DiBenedetto was really unique in the amount of negative energy sent his way. Part of that is, I'm sure, some of what you describe and how he was rubbing people the wrong way. I think another part of that is that Matt, consciously or not (I don't know enough to say) had built a strong following of people online who were convinced he was both actually Great At Racing™ and tended to shift blame for his lack of performance elsewhere like his cars or owner or crew chief or whatever. That invited a negative counter response. He's gotten a lot of coverage and attention for someone who has won a single race in any series since coming up from K&N East in 2011.
 
Formerjackman said:
He complained about the poor performance at the 21, and was proven right when they changed crew chiefs and the car got lot faster. Matt's performance in the 21 was FAR better than the current waste of a good ride in the driver's seat.
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Sure, but the way he handled getting replaced by Cindric was incredibly stupid. He was fortunate to have such a great opportunity, but he wanted to play the victim and cry about being wronged when he knew it was temporary.
 
virtualbalboa said:
I follow people who talk NASCAR and DiBenedetto was really unique in the amount of negative energy sent his way. Part of that is, I'm sure, some of what you describe and how he was rubbing people the wrong way. I think another part of that is that Matt, consciously or not (I don't know enough to say) had built a strong following of people online who were convinced he was both actually Great At Racing™ and tended to shift blame for his lack of performance elsewhere like his cars or owner or crew chief or whatever. That invited a negative counter response. He's gotten a lot of coverage and attention for someone who has won a single race in any series since coming up from K&N East in 2011.
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He isn't a bad driver, at all. Talent isn't a problem.

It's just when you've made yourself out to be a victim and have this victim complex, it's hard to root for at times. Take responsibility and be accountable for what he's done. When I tell you Rackley spent a lot of money, they really did.

GMS chassis and Matt's salary was nice. Very well in the mid-seven figures range in two years, I'll leave it at that.
 
Kiante said:
He's not marketable at this point.

Purposefully missed many sponsor meet and greets for GoFas. Ryan Ellis stuck his neck out for him and was his manager at the time.

The Wood Brothers fiasco knowing he was going to be out of the seat either way for Cindric to make his debut. Did not bring a lick of sponsorship with him nor was he looking for it. Paul Menard recommended Matt to take over the 21, then the stupidty ensued.

Matt was getting paid a pretty penny to drive for Rackley. Owner paid for everything for two years and it fell a part as well.

I don't feel bad for him, he's done it to himself over the past three or so years.
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Matt's performance in the 21 is proof that he's a Cup caliber driver on the track. It's a shame he burned so many bridges that he can't showcase it. The Cup Series would be better with more drivers like DiBenedetto and fewer drivers like Ty Dillon.
 
2 Sweet said:
Sure, but the way he handled getting replaced by Cindric was incredibly stupid. He was fortunate to have such a great opportunity, but he wanted to play the victim and cry about being wronged when he knew it was temporary.
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That sure was a big part of it with me. Penske was up front with that deal, and Matt tried to trash him about it. He falls into a pretty good truck deal and they cut off their nose to get rid of him early and hire replacement drivers to finish out the season. Something is really wrong about all of that. The young Truex did something similar by not showing up for drivers obligations and the same thing happened to him.
 
StandOnIt said:
That sure was a big part of it with me. Penske was up front with that deal, and Matt tried to trash him about it. He falls into a pretty good truck deal and they cut off their nose to get rid of him early and hire replacement drivers to finish out the season. Something is really wrong about all of that. The young Truex did something similar by not showing up for drivers obligations and the same thing happened to him.
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It may of been temporary, but probably shouldn't have been. His performance was generally as good or better than his predecessor and his successor. Given the circumstances, I probably would have played up the fact that I was kind of getting screwed too. If he had been been under the HMS umbrella, Rick likely would have found a solid landing spot for him. Apparently, Penske offered nothing.
 
Kiante said:
He isn't a bad driver, at all. Talent isn't a problem.

It's just when you've made yourself out to be a victim and have this victim complex, it's hard to root for at times. Take responsibility and be accountable for what he's done. When I tell you Rackley spent a lot of money, they really did.

GMS chassis and Matt's salary was nice. Very well in the mid-seven figures range in two years, I'll leave it at that.
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Well, if he did something to turn Rackley against him, it sure would be nice to know what it was. Regardless of the money spent or who's chassis were used, I feel like that team underwhelmed the whole time Matt was there. Seeing his performance in other lesser cars, I have a difficult time believing the lack of performance rested only with him. Just an opinion.
 
Apparently Matt has several million in his Crypto wallet.

He should be fine. 🙄
 
Formerjackman said:
It may of been temporary, but probably shouldn't have been. His performance was generally as good or better than his predecessor and his successor. Given the circumstances, I probably would have played up the fact that I was kind of getting screwed too. If he had been been under the HMS umbrella, Rick likely would have found a solid landing spot for him. Apparently, Penske offered nothing.
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Just a two year head start. Penske had young Harry lined up for the ride when his contract with the yotas expired. Harry was all sponsored up with DEX.
 
Formerjackman said:
It may of been temporary, but probably shouldn't have been. His performance was generally as good or better than his predecessor and his successor. Given the circumstances, I probably would have played up the fact that I was kind of getting screwed too.
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When you're told "This is a one-year deal" before you sign the contract, you aren't getting screwed when your contract is up.
 
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