2024 NASCAR

wdwfan4ver

Well-Known Member
Before going into how well rounded as a driver Dale Jr. was, I think how he won his Non Restrictor plate races after 2004 need to be looked. Before 2005, There was not any strategy went into any of Dale's Non restrictor plate points wins at all. Before 2005 the Non restrictor plate tracks I'm talking about is Texas, Richmond, Dover, Phoenix, Atlanta, and Bristol. Dale won at those tracks for a combined 8 times.

Dale after 2004 won at the follow Non Restrictor plate tracks: Chicagoland, Richmond, Michigan, Pocono, Martinsville and Phoenix for a combined 8 times from 2005 to 2015. Dale won Chicagoland by strategy in 2005. Dale won Richmond in 2006 because of Kevin and his team beat themselves. Dale had the car to beat at the two Michigan races, 1 Pocono race and his only Martinsville win. Dale won one of his 2 Pocono races by Brad giving up the lead due to having stuff on his car with 5 laps to go and Dale won at Phoenix only by betting on rain going to happen. Dale also would've won at Richmond in 2008 due to Denny having a flat tire, but Denny wanted to bring out a caution out instead. Dale almost won by Fuel Milleage at the Coca cola 600 in 2011 and at Las Vegas 2014, but ran out of fuel.

Dale Jr. as a driver was one of the greatest restrictor plate drivers of all time. He was not the same plate driver in 2017 after his concussion. He had 10 out of 26 cup wins on plate tracks, but he was a bit more well rounded that showed. The only catch is Dale won 15 out of his 26 cup wins in his first 5 full seasons as a cup driver. I don't how much of that was caused by the burns he had from the Sports car crash and the crew chief changes after the 2004 season. Steve Letarte was the best crew chief Dale had after Teresa decided not have Dale's Uncle as his crew chief anymore. Tony Eury Jr. was Dale's crew chief from late 2005 to 2009, but his dad was a better crew. Tony Eury's cars were much better early in the race than later in the race. That is caused by driver and crew chief.

Dale was a very good short track driver and was well rounded. Dale had 5 short track wins, but if things went differently, he could've had 10 to 15 short track wins on the cup level instead of 5. Dale had the car to win an additional 4 to 5 wins at Martinsville. Part of Dale Jr's problem of only having 1 win there was he had to deal with Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Denny Hamlin. The other part was the car was better in some parts of the race and explained him not winning a Martinsville race that he led over 100 laps in. Dale led 4 Martinsville races with over 100 laps. Dale had a 5th race that Kevin beaten Dale Jr. after a restart.

Dale led over 3 times over a 100 laps at Bristol, but only won once. The problem with Dale Jr. is most of his laps led at Bristol came from 2002 to 2004 and he was better at the track with DEI than Hendrick. Dale went I'm guessing that caused by Bruton Smith reconfigured the track in 2007 and 2012. At the same time, I won how much time did Hendrick spent on focusing on the track considering it took Jimmie last year to get a Bristol win despite going here since 2002 in the cup series.

Richmond was a solid short track for Dale, but he led less laps there than he did at Martinsville and Bristol despite having 3 win. Dale at Richmond almost got fluke win for his 4 win at the track.

Mile tracks for Dale really depended on the track for him. He was a good Phoenix driver and I think he could've won a 4th race there earlier in his career. Dale Jr. was solid driver at Loudon, but I thought Dover was not one of his better tracks.

Dale Jr. to me was better at Michgan than at Fontana. The catch is he was more of a threat to win at Michigan when he was at Hendrick there than at DEI. That told me at the engine program at Hendrick. While Dale only won twice at Michigan with Hendrick, he had the car to win 4 times at Hendrick there.

Dale Jr. was so-so to me at 1.5 mile tracks and he just sucked at Homestead. He did most of his laps led at Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicagoland and Texas through 2008, but had issues winning at those tracks in that time period despite having one win at Atlanta and 1 win at Texas.

Dale didn't win a race at a 1.5 mile track after 2005. It seemed like the only way he pull off win at the tracks is by fuel mileage after 2005 like he almost did at Las Vegas in 2014, Kansas in spring of 2011 and the Coca Cola 600 in 2011 although I think he could've won fall 2014 Kansas race . I did think Junior was much better at Las Vegas with Hendrick.

Dale was solid at Pocono with 2 wins although Brad did gift wrap one of the victories to him. Dale was not that great at Indy at all

Dale to me was weak on road courses, but I think his Crew Chief Tony Eury Jr. cost him the 2008 race at Watkins Glen in terms of winning by making terrible pit calls on when to pit. For road racing in NASCAR back in 2008, you have to be careful how long you let the driver race on track before pitting and you don't want to pit under caution if possible. This is where having crew chief like Steve Letarte would've made a difference for Dale. Dale at the time was better at Watkin's Glen than at Sonoma.

I think Dale had a mental issue at Sonoma before 2014 and his crew chief Steve Letarte basically came out and said it. Sonoma was the race track that Dale suffered burns in a sports car race in 2004.

I think 37th is best he could do for ranking. The truth is if Dale didn't have his crash at the fall of 2004 at Martinsville and the crash at Atlanta fall of 2004, I'm sure he would've been ranked higher by Fox since those two races cost him the 2004 cup championship. Dale was middle of a great a stretch at Atlanta when that crash happened. In that era of the chase, you can win championship despite being lousy at the final track of the season like Dale Jr. was.

Dale was at his best Atlanta from 2001 to 2006. Coming into the 2004 fall Martinsville race, Dale Junior had 5 straight top 5 finishes at Martinsville. If Dale was able to win a Coca cola 600 in 2000 or 2011 besides a champion in cup back in 2004, I think it would've improved the rank along with if Tony Eury Jr. knew how call a road race properly Watkin's Glen in 2008.
 

wdwfan4ver

Well-Known Member
Ford made an announcement today. Ford will switching from the Ford Fusion to the Ford Mustang in 2019.

Other news is Rickey Stenhouse's Sponsors Festanel, Fifth Third Bank, and Dunny D have resigned with Roush through 2021.
 

artvandelay

Well-Known Member
Before going into how well rounded as a driver Dale Jr. was, I think how he won his Non Restrictor plate races after 2004 need to be looked. Before 2005, There was not any strategy went into any of Dale's Non restrictor plate points wins at all. Before 2005 the Non restrictor plate tracks I'm talking about is Texas, Richmond, Dover, Phoenix, Atlanta, and Bristol. Dale won at those tracks for a combined 8 times.

Dale after 2004 won at the follow Non Restrictor plate tracks: Chicagoland, Richmond, Michigan, Pocono, Martinsville and Phoenix for a combined 8 times from 2005 to 2015. Dale won Chicagoland by strategy in 2005. Dale won Richmond in 2006 because of Kevin and his team beat themselves. Dale had the car to beat at the two Michigan races, 1 Pocono race and his only Martinsville win. Dale won one of his 2 Pocono races by Brad giving up the lead due to having stuff on his car with 5 laps to go and Dale won at Phoenix only by betting on rain going to happen. Dale also would've won at Richmond in 2008 due to Denny having a flat tire, but Denny wanted to bring out a caution out instead. Dale almost won by Fuel Milleage at the Coca cola 600 in 2011 and at Las Vegas 2014, but ran out of fuel.

Dale Jr. as a driver was one of the greatest restrictor plate drivers of all time. He was not the same plate driver in 2017 after his concussion. He had 10 out of 26 cup wins on plate tracks, but he was a bit more well rounded that showed. The only catch is Dale won 15 out of his 26 cup wins in his first 5 full seasons as a cup driver. I don't how much of that was caused by the burns he had from the Sports car crash and the crew chief changes after the 2004 season. Steve Letarte was the best crew chief Dale had after Teresa decided not have Dale's Uncle as his crew chief anymore. Tony Eury Jr. was Dale's crew chief from late 2005 to 2009, but his dad was a better crew. Tony Eury's cars were much better early in the race than later in the race. That is caused by driver and crew chief.

Dale was a very good short track driver and was well rounded. Dale had 5 short track wins, but if things went differently, he could've had 10 to 15 short track wins on the cup level instead of 5. Dale had the car to win an additional 4 to 5 wins at Martinsville. Part of Dale Jr's problem of only having 1 win there was he had to deal with Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Denny Hamlin. The other part was the car was better in some parts of the race and explained him not winning a Martinsville race that he led over 100 laps in. Dale led 4 Martinsville races with over 100 laps. Dale had a 5th race that Kevin beaten Dale Jr. after a restart.

Dale led over 3 times over a 100 laps at Bristol, but only won once. The problem with Dale Jr. is most of his laps led at Bristol came from 2002 to 2004 and he was better at the track with DEI than Hendrick. Dale went I'm guessing that caused by Bruton Smith reconfigured the track in 2007 and 2012. At the same time, I won how much time did Hendrick spent on focusing on the track considering it took Jimmie last year to get a Bristol win despite going here since 2002 in the cup series.

Richmond was a solid short track for Dale, but he led less laps there than he did at Martinsville and Bristol despite having 3 win. Dale at Richmond almost got fluke win for his 4 win at the track.

Mile tracks for Dale really depended on the track for him. He was a good Phoenix driver and I think he could've won a 4th race there earlier in his career. Dale Jr. was solid driver at Loudon, but I thought Dover was not one of his better tracks.

Dale Jr. to me was better at Michgan than at Fontana. The catch is he was more of a threat to win at Michigan when he was at Hendrick there than at DEI. That told me at the engine program at Hendrick. While Dale only won twice at Michigan with Hendrick, he had the car to win 4 times at Hendrick there.

Dale Jr. was so-so to me at 1.5 mile tracks and he just sucked at Homestead. He did most of his laps led at Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicagoland and Texas through 2008, but had issues winning at those tracks in that time period despite having one win at Atlanta and 1 win at Texas.

Dale didn't win a race at a 1.5 mile track after 2005. It seemed like the only way he pull off win at the tracks is by fuel mileage after 2005 like he almost did at Las Vegas in 2014, Kansas in spring of 2011 and the Coca Cola 600 in 2011 although I think he could've won fall 2014 Kansas race . I did think Junior was much better at Las Vegas with Hendrick.

Dale was solid at Pocono with 2 wins although Brad did gift wrap one of the victories to him. Dale was not that great at Indy at all

Dale to me was weak on road courses, but I think his Crew Chief Tony Eury Jr. cost him the 2008 race at Watkins Glen in terms of winning by making terrible pit calls on when to pit. For road racing in NASCAR back in 2008, you have to be careful how long you let the driver race on track before pitting and you don't want to pit under caution if possible. This is where having crew chief like Steve Letarte would've made a difference for Dale. Dale at the time was better at Watkin's Glen than at Sonoma.

I think Dale had a mental issue at Sonoma before 2014 and his crew chief Steve Letarte basically came out and said it. Sonoma was the race track that Dale suffered burns in a sports car race in 2004.

I think 37th is best he could do for ranking. The truth is if Dale didn't have his crash at the fall of 2004 at Martinsville and the crash at Atlanta fall of 2004, I'm sure he would've been ranked higher by Fox since those two races cost him the 2004 cup championship. Dale was middle of a great a stretch at Atlanta when that crash happened. In that era of the chase, you can win championship despite being lousy at the final track of the season like Dale Jr. was.

Dale was at his best Atlanta from 2001 to 2006. Coming into the 2004 fall Martinsville race, Dale Junior had 5 straight top 5 finishes at Martinsville. If Dale was able to win a Coca cola 600 in 2000 or 2011 besides a champion in cup back in 2004, I think it would've improved the rank along with if Tony Eury Jr. knew how call a road race properly Watkin's Glen in 2008.
Dale Jr and Kyle Busch got together on Dale’s podcast to talk about the 2008 Richmond race. I’m halfway through it and it’s a great listen.
 

wdwfan4ver

Well-Known Member
Here is my thoughts on the Part time cup drivers that made Fox's top 50 list:

I am bit surprised Marvin Panch made the top 50. He was part time for a majority of his career. I do think his injuries from a Daytona test affected how look at him and what the Ford Motor company did to him. After Marvin finished 2nd points in 1957, Ford ended factory support Sponsorship and only was able to race 24 times from 1958 to 1960.

Tiny Lund subbed for Marvin up to when Marvin's injuries healed up. Tiny lund was given the ride after he saved Marvin from a Fiery crash. Marvin won the Daytona 500 once, but Tiny Lund won the Daytona 500 in 1963 subbing for Marvin Panch. Panch didn't show up again in 1963 before the World 600. I think he might've raced a couple years longer than he did also since his was 40 when he retired in 1966 considering the Jim Paschal did race in NASCAR past the age of 40 just like Buck Baker did also. He finished 2nd in 1957 in his only time for the cup championship with 6 of his 17 wins. The catch about Panch's 1966 World 600 win is Richard Petty actually ran lots of laps in Marvin Panch's car for the win after his 43 car was out of the race with engine problem. Petty had 2 cars for the 600 race with one being Richard Petty and the other being Marvin Panch. Panch's old injury from the Daytona test crash was causing him problems during the 600. The other with Panch is the first of his two Atlanta wins in 1965 actually had Aj. Foyt racing in Panch's car when the checkered flag waved.

Panch was a driver that can run short tracks, Daytona, and road Courses. Marvin also could've around 25 to mid 30's in career cup wins if it wasn't for his Injuries from the Daytona crash and if Ford didn't pull their factory sponsor support on him.

I think an argument can be made for Panch not being on the top 50 due to the injuries I mentioned in 1963 and Ford pull their factory Support on him. The truth is greatest of all time list isn't supposed about potential the fact Panch needed relief driver due to old injuries for getting wins actually hurts Panch's argument for being on Fox's top 50 list.

Neil Bonnett is questionable to me. He is a big what if to me. He belongs in the same category as Tim Richmond, Ernie Irvan, and Davey Allison. While Neil died at the age of 47 during the 1994 Daytona 500 practice after ignoring his Doctor's orders on not go back to the race car after his 1990 Darlington head injury, he had a history of injuries.

Neil was a part time cup driver part of his cup career. Neil suffered injuries in cup in 1976, 1985, 1986,1987, 1988 and 1990 before his fatal 1994 crash. Neil only had 18 cup wins, but he won in mediocre rides such as Jim Stacy aka one of the worst NASCAR owners ever from a shady business standpoint. Rahmoc Enterprises and a fading Wood Brothers. 3 of the wins came from the Southern 500, and 2 Coca cola 600 wins from a mediocre Rahmoc Enterprises and a fading Wood Brothers. Neil as a driver can do almost every type of a tack. The other thing that hurt him was he was a teammate to Darrell Waltrip at Junior Johnson, but Junior Johnson didn't have them share information or work together.
 

wdwfan4ver

Well-Known Member
Buddy Baker is a bit overrated at 38. There are multiple problem with Buddy's ranking. While Buddy is a big event winner aka Daytona 500, Southern 500 and 2 world 600 wins. Buddy is not what I call a short track driver and Buddy himself did call himself a bull in a china chop on short tracks. Buddy usually didn't race full time in his cup career.

Buddy as a driver to me was born 15 to 25 years to early. He has a reputation of being too hard on equipment. He was a great big track driver in his era. He was a driver that can win at 2 mile ovals, 1.5 mile ovals, Darlington, Ontario (the west coast version of Indianapolis Motor Speedway), Daytona and Talladega. Buddy was extremely skilled at Daytona and Talladega in his era.

Buddy in his era had a lot of heartbreak at the Daytona 500. He could've won at least 3 Daytona 500s in his cup career instead of only one Daytona 500 win. Back in the 1970s, Buddy was one of the big favorites for winning the Daytona 500.

Curtis Turner is a bit overrated to me with him being at 42. Curtis Turner is known for being a legend in NASCAR, not based on his stats. He was such a big Superstar in NASCAR that Sports Illustrated covered him in 1968 instead of Richard Petty.

Curtis won more races in the short lived NASCAR Convertible series than he did in cup. Curtis only won 17 cup races. Curtis is one the pioneer drivers in NASCAR, but he did race a lot of series. The question is how many his 360 race wins were in NASCAR series. Curtis was a driver that was not after the cup title at all. Curtis Turner in his era was a hard charger. I think NASCAR suspended him for starting a driver's Union.

I'm doing into Fred Lorenzen. I think he is where belong at 30 by Fox. The truth is he raced in NASCAR for a short time. He only raced 158 races in 12 seasons. He also retired in 1967 to 1969. Fred was not the same driver as he came back to race from 1970 to 1972.

What I know is Fred was affected by Fireball Robert's death in 1964. Fred and Fireball Roberts were very good friends and Fred also had ulcer problems. Fred was great in his prime at Short tracks, Darlington, 1.5 mile mile tracks, and Daytona. He was a driver that would've won championships if he ran for it back in the 1960s, but he didn't.
 

wdwfan4ver

Well-Known Member
Glen "Fireball" Roberts is about perfect where he is. Before Fireball Roberts was involved in a fiery crash during the 1964 World 600 on May 24, 1964 that led to his death on July 2, 1964, he was going to retire from racing. That fiery crash led him to get stuff like blood poising and pneumonia on June 30th after suffering 2nd and 3rd degree burns on 80 person of his body.

"Glen"Fireball Roberts was going to take a prominent public relations position for Falstaff Brewing Company and the World 600 was one his final planned race.

Fireball was Glen's nickname from his baseball days, not from his Fiery crash.
Fireball in his era had 33 wins as a part time cup driver. He won on short tracks, Daytona, Darlington, and Atlanta.

Junior Johnson can been seen why he was ranked 15th by Fox. Junior Johnson has the wins, but that driving style of his made him a rough driver on equipment. His driving style was better off if he was born about 15 to 20 years later.

While Junior Johnson had 50 cup wins in a short cup career, he was very hard on equipment. That meant his equipment can't 600 mile races at all and had problems keeping his equipment last 500 miles. The fact Junior Johnson won the Daytona 500 is a quite an accomplishment due to him being so hard on equipment.

Junior Johnson to me had no weakness as a driver outside of being way too hard on equipment. Junior Johnson's career was short because he was affected Fireball Roberts crash like Fred Lorenzen and Ned Jarrett were. Junior Johnson also did miss a lot of time in 1957 due to him being in Jail. What happened was he served 11 months in jail for the production and distribution of illegal alcohol.

A lot of early NASCAR drivers were bootleggers including Junior Johnson. The catch is Junior had the bootlegging tales with him outrunning the police without being caught.
 
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wdwfan4ver

Well-Known Member
I'm going to give thoughts to cup champions I didn't mention yet.

Alan Kulwicki can't be ranked any higher by Fox. I think Alan being an Owner/driver hurt his career from a stat standpoint. What Alan did though is take advantage of stuff in 1992. Rusty Wallace had an off year in 1992 and Dale Sr. had an off year that year too. Chevy in general had a down year. Bill Elliott lost despite having a 278 point lead after the fall race at Dover. What happened was a combination of things including Bill Elliott's owner and his crew chief not seeing eye to eye. Junior johnson overruled his crew chief on a pitstop at the Fall Race of Dover and Bill Elliott ended up in 2nd despite having the best car. Bill ran into problems down the stretch along with his long known short track struggles.

Bill Elliott got the lead because Davey Allison suffered injuries at Pocono and had to be replaced during the 2nd Talladega race and Watkin's Glen. Davey Allison got the lead back after his win at Phoenix as the 2nd to last race of the season, but Ernie Irvan spin and into Davey. The battle of the championship was down to Bill Elliott and Alan. Bill won the race, but Alan led the most laps while finishing 2nd.

Benny Parsons is a bit hard to rank. Benny did race for an underfunded team that was run by L.G Dewitt. Benny was a great 1970s driver. His 1973 season was not as good as it appears for winning a championship due to the points system used that year. Benny only had 1 cup with 15 top 5's and 21 top 10's.

Here is the 1973 point's system:
100 points to win, with two less points for each succeeding position: 100, 98, 96, etc. (Race winner received 25 points in addition to the first position points.)
Additionally, lap points were awarded for the number of laps completed per the following schedule:
0 up to 1 mile tracks.........0.25 points per number of laps completed.
1 mile tracks...................0.50 points per number of laps completed
1.3 mile track..................0.70 points per number of laps completed
1 ½ mile track.................0.75 points per number of laps completed
2 mile track....................1.00 points per number of laps completed
2 ½ mile track or longer .................1.25 points per number of laps completed

This points system depended on a lot of stuff including amount of laps you completed. Just be happy that Bill France Jr. decided to scrap this points system into something less complicated before Brian France decided to create Segment racing. Bill France Jr. in 1973 decided to do some changes to the 1972 points system. The 1972 points system that was only had points based on laps completed based on what type of a race track.

Based on how the 1973 point system was, just be happy Cecil Gordon got into a crash at Dover and had ignition problems at Brstiol, because Cecil would've won the championship without a single victory and have less than 10 top 5's.

Back in 1973 David Pearson had the best season, but he was a part time driver with 11 wins in 18 races. Richard Petty had 6 wins, but only 17 top 10's in 28 races compare to Benny Parson's 21 top 10's. When Benny had problems in the final race of the season from being in a crash, Richard blew an engine.

Benny was a very consistent driver in his era though. Benny was anywhere from 3rd to 5th in points from 1974 to 1980. Benny was known to take care of his equipment. He was able win on short tracks, 1 mile tracks, 1.5 mile tracks, darlington, road courses, pocono, 2 mile tracks, Daytona, and Ontario Motor Speedway aka the west coast version of Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
 

wdwfan4ver

Well-Known Member
I don't think Rex White can be ranked any higher than he was by Fox at 27th, but it debatable if he should be ahead of Kurt Busch. The problem is raced 9 seasons in cup with his last season being only 6 races back in 1964. Kurt to me could win at almost any type of track in cup.

The problem with Rex White's era in cup is Daytona had its first race in 1959. Charlotte and Atlanta came into the cup series in 1960. The other thing is Rex was at his best from 1958 to 1962. Outside of his Atlanta win, he only won at short tracks. Short track racing in cup before 1972 included dirt racing.

I don't think Joe weatherly can go any higher than 24th by Fox. I know Joe was great NASCAR modified driver besides being a two time cup. Joe though was a very talented race driver. Joe made the transition of racing 2 wheels to 4 wheels and no a lot of cup drivers was able to pull that off. Ricky Rudd and Joe Weatherly are first drivers I think of in terms making the 2 wheel to 4 wheel transition.

What puts Joe down is his he got killed in his prime by a Riverside crash that he would've lived if he were a seat belt. Joe's prime was 1960 to the time he died in 1964. Joe was only going to be 42 years old in March at the time he died.

Joe's strengths as a driver was different types of short tracks like a lot of the top cup talent in that era such as Junior Johnson, Richard Petty and others. Joe was able to win at Charlotte, Darlington 2 times, and Daytona 2 times at the time he died. I thought the amount of wins Joe had were affected by his 1963 season. Joe's owner Bud Moore didn't run all the cup races for the champion in 1963. Joe went to a lot of different teams in 1963 to race for a Championship. Joe won the Championship in 1963, but only had 3 wins.

Bobby Isaac can not be a lot higher than he was 22 by fox. Bobby Isaac for the most part can't win on tracks over a mile unless it is Daytona. Bobby has 37 cup wins, but only 4 of them are tracks 1 mile or longer. Bobby also got 35 out of his 37 cup wins from 1968 to 1971.

Bobby was one of the great short track drivers of his era on dirt or asphalt besides being great qualifier. Bobby got his only cup championship before the modern era. A lot of the short tracks were gone after 1971 on the cup schedule.

The problem with that is Bobby's era had Ontario, Atlanta, Michigan, Charlotte, Texas, Dover, Rockingham, Darlington, Talladega, and College Station. College Station was a 2 mile track with more banking on the turns than Michigan has. The only tracks Bobby won on 1 mile or longer were 2 times at Daytona, 1 time at Rockingham, and once at College Station.
 

wdwfan4ver

Well-Known Member
Tim flock is debatable able to 20. While Tim won 39 race and is a two time champ, his wins came from a 6 year time period including 18 wins in one season. The less said about Tim Flock after 1956, the better as a driver.

Tim Flock in his era was fine road course driver with 3 cup wins in those type of tracks. The problem with him he really can't win on ovals over a 1 mile. The tracks he ran best were on dirt. Early drivers in his era did run on dirt like Lee Petty, but he could win asphalt ovals. Tim tried to race on ovals on asphal, but he struggled at places like Daytona International Speedway, Martinsville after it stopped being a dirt track, Atlanta Motor Speedway, and Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Buck Baker can be ranked 16th by Fox. The problem him is how he won his first championship in 1956. Buck Baker won the championship in 1956 because his team owner gave Buck's teammate the order to take out Herb Thomas on the race track so Buck can won the championship. Buck actually won 9 more races than Herb Thomas that year, but Herb had the championship lead when was taken out. Buck won his 2nd championship when he didn't drive for Carl

Buck Baker himself was a very talent driver in his era. He won at short tracks on dirt and paved, Darlington, and Road Courses. Buck Baker didn't won at track longer than Darlington, but I think that caused two factor. When Daytona, Charlotte Motor speedway, and Atlanta Motor Speedway first made to the cup schedule, he was 40 years old and older. Buck also drove for himself most of the time in his 40s and 50s.

I think Ned Jarrett is good with his rank, although I he was not as versatile as people like Kyle Busch. I am only looking at Ned in his rank as a Driver.

Ned Jarrett was at his best at short tracks with him being a 2 time cup championship.

Ned's 2nd cup championship was not as competitive as his first. What happen was Joe Weatherly died in 1964. Fireball Roberts was going to retire even if he didn't get into that crash at the World 600, Billy Wade died at tire test, and Dodge pull out of NASCAR for most of the 1965 season. Drivers like Richard Petty and David Pearson was not racing as a result for most the 1965 season. Billy Wade was promising driver in 1964 with him winning 4 wins in a row. Fred Lorenzen was racing part time in 1965 and Junior Johnson did not race for championships at all. The only drivers that were racing Ned Jarrett for the 1965 cup Championship was Dick Hutcherson as a threat and under funded race teams. Cale Yarborough was racing full time in 1965, but was not great equipment and was not the driver he was going to be yet. Marvin Panch in 1965 was a part time driver like he normally was in cup career also.

The only big tracks he won at over a mile was Atlanta and Darlington and he did once each. Ned didn't race after 1966, but he was one of the drivers that were affected Fireball Roberts death in 1964. Ned's prime was 1959 to 1965. Ned was the driver that tried to save Fireball Roberts life taking him out the burning race car.

I think I'm done committing on the top 50 drivers list Fox did.
 

wdwfan4ver

Well-Known Member
Big rumor in NASCAR. Multiple websites are reporting Matt Kenseth is returning Roush with a press conference on Wednesday. The rumor is Matt will be splitting the 6 car with Tevor Bayne with Kenseth's first race being at Kansas.

My thinking is Roush wants to know if the problem with the 6 car is Bayne or the team. Stenhouse has 2 times the amount of top 20 finishes as Bayne has. I do think this is a sign of Trevor Bayne being gone after the end of the season.

The only other thing is if Trevor is having problems with his multiple sclerosis that we don't know about.

The question I have is who Roush would be replacing him for 2019 that wouldn't be canned a couple years after that.

I don't think highly of Ryan Reed at all. Ryan Reed to me is a good plate racer, but I don't think he's good cup prospect outside plate racing. The only good thing Ryan has for him is NASCAR is trying restrictor plates at the All star race as a test. That tells me NASCAR is looking at using them at some point races outside of Daytona and Talladega in the future.
 
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wdwfan4ver

Well-Known Member
It is confirmed that Matt is back with Roush and announced a new sponsorship. Mark Martin introduced Matt Kenseth during the press conference. I'm under the impression that Matt wants to race for a couple more years at least and wants to be involved in Roush outside of being a driver.

Roush announced a multi-year deal with Wyndham Rewards as a primary sponsor. Wyndham Rewards is the loyalty program of Wyndham Hotel Group.

Right now, the only races known Matt will being racing is Kansas and the Charlotte All star race. Rest of the races will be announced at a later date.

I did found out some motives on why Roush is having Matt as a part timer outside of finding out what is wrong with the 6 team. Advocare is only the primary sponsor for 10 more races this season for the 6 car.

Roush has lots of races for needing a sponsor and where Wyndham Rewards comes in.

Advocare Sponsored Bayne fully in 2016, and only 18 races last year, and now only 15. Advocare is under contract to sponsor races in 2019.
 

wdwfan4ver

Well-Known Member
I found out some interesting news about the Charter system. I found out how much it costs annually according to the BK racing bankruptcy case concerning the credit fillings part of the case. Race Team Alliance charges $20,000 annually for a charter. Race Team alliance claims BK racing owes them $20,000 for a charter.
 

wdwfan4ver

Well-Known Member
Major new was announced today. NASCAR is acquiring ARCA. ARCA is a lower league stock car racing league that has been around since 1953. The founder of arca was a friend of the founder of NASCAR. The two families know each other to this day.

Some of NASCAR's past and present drivers actually raced in arca before they went to NASCAR. What I know is ARCA will continue to operate under its current structure through the 2019 season. The drivers I am referring to NASCAR legend Benny parsons. Davey Allison raced full time in arca before his first full time NASCAR national series season. Jeremy Mayfield did make a name for himself in ARCA before going to up to cup. Penske had Ryan Newman race some in ARCA before being a full time cup driver since Newman's background in USAC sprint cars, not stock cars. In the last 10 to 15 years Arca produced Michael Mcdowell, Ty Dillon, Chris Buescher, Alex Bowman, Justin Allagaier. To me those drivers were the best that made the transition from ARCA to NASCAR. There were other ARCA that tried in NASCAR, but they left NASCAR for one reason or another.

ARCA's racing schedule been in on the east coast and the Midwest. Most of the big tracks Arca runs are on the East Coast, but a lot of the short tracks and dirt tracks are located in the Midwest. ARCA's racing schedule is different from the big 3 nation touring tours NASCAR has. This is a series that races on Super speedways, Atlanta, Charlotte, Pocono, Kansas, Iowa, Gateway Motorsports Park and Michigan. What makes Arca different is they race on short tracks that the 3 national NASCAR series don't race on. Arca also does race on dirt. The type of cars ARCA uses is old cup cars.

The short track arca runs is located in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Tennessee, 2 short tracks in Indiana, Ohio, 2 short tracks in Indiana, and 2 short tracks in Illinois.
 
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wdwfan4ver

Well-Known Member
I don't like it a bit and I don't understand NASCAR's motive for buying the series. While ARCA did develop drivers for NASCAR, that is not what they are known for. The best driver ARCA developed for NASCAR to this day is Benny Parsons.

A lot of ARCA drivers never became stars, but the series always been for people like Brad Keselowski's dad.

The other thing is ARCA does stuff that NASCAR used to do before Brian France took over NASCAR. ARCA does not care about playoffs, segments, or gimmicks, this is a series that only cares about old school races.

I think NASCAR is going to merge ARCA into another series or make major changes to it in 2020.

My 3rd fear is the France Family owns race tracks besides owning NASCAR. I still don't know how that isn't a conflict of interest. My problem with that is ARCA currently don't run the following France family owned Race tracks: Chicagoland, Darlington, Watkin's Glen, Richmond, Martinsville, Phoenix, Auto Club Speedway and Homestead. I'm concern that France Family want ARCA to go to some of the tracks I mentioned and get a rid of race tracks that couldn't handle holding a National NASCAR series even such as the race track in Elko, Minnesota.

The 4th concern I have is the France Family is going to ruin ARCA because NASCAR has been on the decline for years due to the moves the France family makes.
 
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wdwfan4ver

Well-Known Member
Jammie Mcmurray flipped 7 times on the backstretch at Talladega during final practice and NASCAR is now making a change. Jamie is okay from the crash.

The holes in the restrictor plate being reduced from 56/64th to 55/64ths of an inch. People expect this rule to get get 12 to 14 less horse power from the engines. At the time the flip happened, Jammie almost went 204 mile per hour at Talladega.
 

MinnieM123

Premium Member
It is confirmed that Matt is back with Roush and announced a new sponsorship. Mark Martin introduced Matt Kenseth during the press conference.

What caught my attention here was Mark Martin doing the introduction. Haven't seen Mark (on TV, etc.) much since he retired, and it was nice just to read that he's still involved in some way, in racing.

As for the ARCA news, I'm sure it's some sort of lucrative deal for NASCAR. Although I'm not familiar with ARCA, I do prefer having various separate entities out there, not just one huge organization such as NASCAR. I don't know how good it will be for racing, with this new development.
 

wdwfan4ver

Well-Known Member
As for the ARCA news, I'm sure it's some sort of lucrative deal for NASCAR. Although I'm not familiar with ARCA, I do prefer having various separate entities out there, not just one huge organization such as NASCAR. I don't know how good it will be for racing, with this new development.
I heard of the person who played a major factor of NASCAR getting ARCA.

Jim France played a big role in this and he was responsible for buying the American Le mans Series. The American Lemans series is a sports car road racing series. Jim France is the Vice President of NASCAR, but sports car racing is the first thing I think of him.

Jim France is the youngest son of NASCAR founder "big Bill" France and is the uncle to Brian France. He is a behind the scenes type of a person.

Jim France Founded the Grand-Am road racing and he bought the America Le Mans series. He merged the two series.
 

wdwfan4ver

Well-Known Member
There is a good amount of news. Xfinity series Telladega winner Spencer Gallagher failed NASCAR's substance abuse policy and is suspended indefinitely. He is being enrolled in NASCAR's Road to Recovery program. Johnny Sauter is going to replace him for Dover. NASCAR is not giving Gallagher a playoff waiver if he gets reinstated this season.

The other news is Richard Petty Motorsports is going to be sponsored by World Wide Technology for 6 races this year starting with Kansas on May 12th. Additional races with the Sponsorship are Sonoma Raceway, June 24; Indianapolis Motor Speedway, September 9; Las Vegas Motor Speedway, September 16; Charlotte Motor Speedway, September 30 and Dover International Speedway on October 7.
 

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