NASCAR 2014

[artvandelay]

Well, Kasey Kahne signed a three year extension with HMS today. He'll be in the 5 car now though 2018. So where does Chase Eliot wind up in 2016? Jeff Gordon has said he has no current plans to retire, Dale Jr. is signed through 2017, and Jimmie Johnson's contract is up at then of 2015 but he said he has no plans to move anywhere else.

So where does Chase go? Rick Hendrick will keep him close. Probably put him in an affiliated team. Possibly Stewart-Haas? Does Tony Stewart look to retire after next season? Maybe with Gnassi Racing? They could add a third team for Chase. Also the 51 team is a HMS affiliate.

Rick will do something to make sure this guy doesn't get away. He had a similar problem with Brad Kesolowski a couple of years ago. Brad was signed to HMS, but no car for him. HMS had Gordon, Johnson, Dale Jr., and Mark Martin so he had to let Brad go to Penske. In 2008, Hendrick also had 5 drivers for four cars and he chose Casey Mears over Kyle Busch!!

 

[wdwfan4ver]

Well, Kasey Kahne signed a three year extension with HMS today. He'll be in the 5 car now though 2018. So where does Chase Eliot wind up in 2016? Jeff Gordon has said he has no current plans to retire, Dale Jr. is signed through 2017, and Jimmie Johnson's contract is up at then of 2015 but he said he has no plans to move anywhere else.

So where does Chase go? Rick Hendrick will keep him close. Probably put him in an affiliated team. Possibly Stewart-Haas? Does Tony Stewart look to retire after next season? Maybe with Gnassi Racing? They could add a third team for Chase. Also the 51 team is a HMS affiliate.

Rick will do something to make sure this guy doesn't get away. He had a similar problem with Brad Kesolowski a couple of years ago. Brad was signed to HMS, but no car for him. HMS had Gordon, Johnson, Dale Jr., and Mark Martin so he had to let Brad go to Penske. In 2008, Hendrick also had 5 drivers for four cars and he chose Casey Mears over Kyle Busch!!

There is more than Tony Stewart in terms of replacing for Stewart-Haas. Kevin Harvick is the only driver safe there to me. I think Danica and Kurt are on the hot seat. According to Jayski, Danica's contract lasts through 2015. Danica had multiple crew chief changes with Stewart-Haas already and we all agree that she needs improve next year. Kurt Busch could be on the hot seat because he was only hired to win races by Gene Haas and there is the question about Kurt's behavior.

While the 51 team a HMS affilate, I think Harry Scott Motorsports would be willing to do a 2nd team if a driver brings a big name sponsor like Chase Elliot would bring, but I didn't think Rick would trust Harry Scott from a money standpoint right now even if Chase gets the 51 car. Harry Scott is middle of a lawsuit that is caused by the money problems of Turner Scott Motorsports that caused them close or cut down Nationwide and Truck Series teams they own. While Harry Scott Motorsports is separate from Turner Scott Motorsports, that lawsuit is a concern in terms if Harry Scott can afford owning a cup team after 2015.

The details of the Turner Scott Motorsports folding depends on who you talk to. Steve Turner sued Harry Scott for not paying the vendors or the money he owes Steve Turner. The catch is Harry Scott also has a lawsuit against Steve Turner. Harry Scott claims Steve Turner allowed the team's funds to run dry and did not handle his obligations to fund the team's entries. There also is the fact Steve Turner's Son-in-law 2012 Truck Series Champion left James Buescher left the organization on his own after 2013 truck series season and now it makes you wonder if James thought his father-in-law or the race organization he raced for in 2013 had money problems.

The deal with Rick Hendrick getting a rid of Kyle Busch instead of Casey Mears was due to team chemistry. Rick Hendrick isn't Joe Gibbs when it comes to dealing with talented head cases. Kyle Busch was a head case at the time at his worst that capable of giving up during a race or quit rest of the race. I can not blame Rick Hendrick for getting a rid of Kyle at the time if you don't have the experience dealing with headcases. Kyle Busch at Joe Gibbs Racing right now is a more mature driver than he was at Hendrick.

Casey Mears was an easy guy to get along with at Hendrick Motorsports although he never was the talent of Kyle Busch. The problem with Kyle Busch at the time was you were dealing with a very talented young driver with maturity problems and Rick got sick of his act. Rick compared Kyle's talent to Tim Richmond in terms of talent and was why he picked Kyle Busch to takeover Terry Labonte's ride when Terry didn't want race full time anymore. Tim Richmond was an outstanding talent before he got AIDS and is very possible that Dale Earnhardt Sr. wouldn't have won as many cup championships.

Kyle was a bad fit for HMS and I remembered my aunts telling me what they heard from a scanner while seeing the race from the racetrack. My aunt basically told me that Kyle told a member of his team while at Hendrick that he wanted to quit the race because his ran like junk and this was at Chicagoland. There also was the incident in 2007 that Kyle was in the garage and Dale Jr. raced in the 5 car because Kyle couldn't be found to be back into the car after it was repaired.

 

[wdwfan4ver]

I am willing to give some information about Tim Richmond since I mentioned him. He is a very controversial figure. NASCAR banned him in 1988 for flunking a drug test, but later on it wound out that Tim actually passed it. NASCAR thought there was something wrong with Tim Richmond. Tim didn't admit that he had aids while he was alive and women was with did get HIV/aids from him also.

Tim Richmond nickname was "Hollywood". At the time Tim Richmond died, the movie Days of thunder was supposed to be about Tim Richmond. Tim Richmond was called Hollywood because he had a passion to be an actor.

Tim Richmond didn't live up to his full potential because he got aids in some point in the 1986 season that made him miss most of the 1987 season. Tim Richmond was one of the greatest Road Courses driver ever and was one of the best ever at Pocono in a cup car. Tim Richmond made the tough transition from Indy Car driver to Stock Car driver.

Tim Richmond was a hard charger. The problem with Tim Richmond on the track before he went to Hendrick was the fact he didn't take car of his tires and was not much of a car guy unlike other drivers from his era like Dale Earnhardt Sr., Bill Elliott, Rusty Wallace, Harry Gant, Ricky Rudd, Geoff Bodine, Terry Labonte, Neil Bonnett, Davey Allison,and Darrell Waltrip. A lot of the drivers I mentioned actually worked on their own cars and Tim Richmond didn't have that terminology.

Tim Richmond off the track was what I call wild and way too reckless. He was a party animal off the track based on the information I heard from what what I read and heard in the past from articles or on NASCAR television shows. He was a " work hard and play hard" type of a person. One of the things he did off the track was in the movie days of thunder matter of fact that I rather no discuss on this site.

 

[artvandelay]

There is more than Tony Stewart in terms of replacing for Stewart-Haas. Kevin Harvick is the only driver safe there to me. I think Danica and Kurt are on the hot seat. According to Jayski, Danica's contract lasts through 2015. Danica had multiple crew chief changes with Stewart-Haas already and we all agree that she needs improve next year. Kurt Busch could be on the hot seat because he was only hired to win races by Gene Haas and there is the question about Kurt's behavior.

While the 51 team a HMS affilate, I think Harry Scott Motorsports would be willing to do a 2nd team if a driver brings a big name sponsor like Chase Elliot would bring, but I didn't think Rick would trust Harry Scott from a money standpoint right now even if Chase gets the 51 car. Harry Scott is middle of a lawsuit that is caused by the money problems of Turner Scott Motorsports that caused them close or cut down Nationwide and Truck Series teams they own. While Harry Scott Motorsports is separate from Turner Scott Motorsports, that lawsuit is a concern in terms if Harry Scott can afford owning a cup team after 2015.

The details of the Turner Scott Motorsports folding depends on who you talk to. Steve Turner sued Harry Scott for not paying the vendors or the money he owes Steve Turner. The catch is Harry Scott also has a lawsuit against Steve Turner. Harry Scott claims Steve Turner allowed the team's funds to run dry and did not handle his obligations to fund the team's entries. There also is the fact Steve Turner's Son-in-law 2012 Truck Series Champion left James Buescher left the organization on his own after 2013 truck series season and now it makes you wonder if James thought his father-in-law or the race organization he raced for in 2013 had money problems.

The deal with Rick Hendrick getting a rid of Kyle Busch instead of Casey Mears was due to team chemistry. Rick Hendrick isn't Joe Gibbs when it comes to dealing with talented head cases. Kyle Busch was a head case at the time at his worst that capable of giving up during a race or quit rest of the race. I can not blame Rick Hendrick for getting a rid of Kyle at the time if you don't have the experience dealing with headcases. Kyle Busch at Joe Gibbs Racing right now is a more mature driver than he was at Hendrick.

Casey Mears was an easy guy to get along with at Hendrick Motorsports although he never was the talent of Kyle Busch. The problem with Kyle Busch at the time was you were dealing with a very talented young driver with maturity problems and Rick got sick of his act. Rick compared Kyle's talent to Tim Richmond in terms of talent and was why he picked Kyle Busch to takeover Terry Labonte's ride when Terry didn't want race full time anymore. Tim Richmond was an outstanding talent before he got AIDS and is very possible that Dale Earnhardt Sr. wouldn't have won as many cup championships.

Kyle was a bad fit for HMS and I remembered my aunts telling me what they heard from a scanner while seeing the race from the racetrack. My aunt basically told me that Kyle told a member of his team while at Hendrick that he wanted to quit the race because his ran like junk and this was at Chicagoland. There also was the incident in 2007 that Kyle was in the garage and Dale Jr. raced in the 5 car because Kyle couldn't be found to be back into the car after it was repaired.

I think Danica will be at SHR as long as Go Daddy wants her to be there. I heard they switched her to Knost because he is more like the crew chief she likes. He is a technical CC.

Kurt is in a tenuous situation. I think Kurt and Tony Gibson are a great combination, but with Kurt's off track stuff I'm not sure if he starts the season suspended.

Kyle Busch was not a good fit for HMS, but imagine that team?!

 

[artvandelay]

I am willing to give some information about Tim Richmond since I mentioned him. He is a very controversial figure. NASCAR banned him in 1988 for flunking a drug test, but later on it wound out that Tim actually passed it. NASCAR thought there was something wrong with Tim Richmond. Tim didn't admit that he had aids while he was alive and women was with did get HIV/aids from him also.

Tim Richmond nickname was "Hollywood". At the time Tim Richmond died, the movie Days of thunder was supposed to be about Tim Richmond. Tim Richmond was called Hollywood because he had a passion to be an actor.

Tim Richmond didn't live up to his full potential because he got aids in some point in the 1986 season that made him miss most of the 1987 season. Tim Richmond was one of the greatest Road Courses driver ever and was one of the best ever at Pocono in a cup car. Tim Richmond made the tough transition from Indy Car driver to Stock Car driver.

Tim Richmond was a hard charger. The problem with Tim Richmond on the track before he went to Hendrick was the fact he didn't take car of his tires and was not much of a car guy unlike other drivers from his era like Dale Earnhardt Sr., Bill Elliott, Rusty Wallace, Harry Gant, Ricky Rudd, Geoff Bodine, Terry Labonte, Neil Bonnett, Davey Allison,and Darrell Waltrip. A lot of the drivers I mentioned actually worked on their own cars and Tim Richmond didn't have that terminology.

Tim Richmond off the track was what I call wild and way too reckless. He was a party animal off the track based on the information I heard from what what I read and heard in the past from articles or on NASCAR television shows. He was a " work hard and play hard" type of a person. One of the things he did off the track was in the movie days of thunder matter of fact that I rather no discuss on this site.

There is a great ESPN 30 for 30 documentary about Tim Richmond. It's on netflix and worth a watch.

Recently, Rick Hendrick was telling a Tim Richmond story. They were at Pocono, which was Richmond's best oval track. He was leading and Earnhardt Sr. was in second. Richmond, on his headset, tell Hendrick to watch this and he lets Earnhardt pass him. Richmond, now in second, drives right up to Earnhardt's bumper and starts bumping him down the backstretch.

 

[wdwfan4ver]

I think Danica will be at SHR as long as Go Daddy wants her to be there. I heard they switched her to Knost because he is more like the crew chief she likes. He is a technical CC.

Kurt is in a tenuous situation. I think Kurt and Tony Gibson are a great combination, but with Kurt's off track stuff I'm not sure if he starts the season suspended.

Kyle Busch was not a good fit for HMS, but imagine that team?!

I can imagine, but have hard time seeing Kyle getting 25 cup wins from 2008 to the end of this season at Hendrick with Johnson and Gordon being the number 1 and 2 drivers at Hendrick along with some other stuff with Hendrick. Joe Gibbs racing before middle of last year had great horsepower.

The 5 team in 2010 got weaker from a personnel switch with the 88 team to make Dale Jr's team stronger in 2010. The 88 team was garbage in 2009 and Hendrick found out the 88 team had "apples" in 2010 with Mark Martin being the driver. While Kyle is the stronger driver than Mark from an aggressive standpoint, the 5 team still would have dropped in performance in 2010. The personnel switch in 2010 included engineers. At the time, the 5 and the 88 team also was in the same shop. That would slow Kyle down there since Rick was focused getting the 88 team better.

I think it is better to imagine what Kevin Harvick would have done if he had Hendrick equipment sooner in his career than Kyle Busch. Kevin had some lost years at Richard Childress Racing. Hendrick Equipment has been better than Richard Childress Racing Equipment since the mid 1990's and Richard Childress Racing usually didn't the best horsepower dating back to the beginning of RCR. RCR equipment depended on handling, more than horsepower. Drivers in the past made RCR equipment better than it actually is dating back to Earnhardt. RCR's approach with equipment really hasn't changed since the 1980's and that is build bullet-proof equipment while sacrificing horsepower.

 

[artvandelay]

I can imagine, but have hard time seeing Kyle getting 25 cup wins from 2008 to the end of this season at Hendrick with Johnson and Gordon being the number 1 and 2 drivers at Hendrick along with some other stuff with Hendrick. Joe Gibbs racing before middle of last year had great horsepower.

The 5 team in 2010 got weaker from a personnel switch with the 88 team to make Dale Jr's team stronger in 2010. The 88 team was garbage in 2009 and Hendrick found out the 88 team had "apples" in 2010 with Mark Martin being the driver. While Kyle is the stronger driver than Mark from an aggressive standpoint, the 5 team still would have dropped in performance in 2010. The personnel switch in 2010 included engineers. At the time, the 5 and the 88 team also was in the same shop. That would slow Kyle down there since Rick was focused getting the 88 team better.

I think it is better to imagine what Kevin Harvick would have done if he had Hendrick equipment sooner in his career than Kyle Busch. Kevin had some lost years at Richard Childress Racing. Hendrick Equipment has been better than Richard Childress Racing Equipment since the mid 1990's and Richard Childress Racing usually didn't the best horsepower dating back to the beginning of RCR. RCR equipment depended on handling, more than horsepower. Drivers in the past made RCR equipment better than it actually is dating back to Earnhardt. RCR's approach with equipment really hasn't changed since the 1980's and that is build bullet-proof equipment while sacrificing horsepower.

Good point about Harvick at RCR. Also, his teammates at RCR weren't much help the last couple of years. Once Bowyer left, He had an aging Jeff Burton and Paul Menard. You're not going to get a lot of helpful info from that pair. Did Harvick have a chance to join SHR in it's first year? I know Newman got it, but was it offered to Kevin first? Kevin and Tony are pretty tight.

@wdwfan4ver what do you make of Bowyer's long winless streak? It's over two years without a win. Did Gordon taking him out at Phoenix change the way he races? Horsepower issues at MWR and Toyota?

 

[wdwfan4ver]

Good point about Harvick at RCR. Also, his teammates at RCR weren't much help the last couple of years. Once Bowyer left, He had an aging Jeff Burton and Paul Menard. You're not going to get a lot of helpful info from that pair. Did Harvick have a chance to join SHR in it's first year? I know Newman got it, but was it offered to Kevin first? Kevin and Tony are pretty tight.

@wdwfan4ver what do you make of Bowyer's long winless streak? It's over two years without a win. Did Gordon taking him out at Phoenix change the way he races? Horsepower issues at MWR and Toyota?

I don't think Kevin was offered it first because I thought Kevin signed a contract in 2006. I do know that Kevin did consider leaving RCR after 2010.

I make out of Bowyer's long winless streak out of many things including the horsepower issues that is a Toyota problem. Clint always been at his best at short tracks and 1 mile tracks, but the horsepower issue doesn't help. I don't think Phoenix with Gordon is the issue.

MWR hasn't been the same since spingate at Richmond although spingate was child's play compare to Carl Kiekhaefer's stunt as a NASCAR team owner in 1956. MWR lost a third team and sponsorship due to spingate. What it sounds like from Kyle Busch is MWR and JGR don't exactly work together and that doesn't help Bowyer out.

 

[wdwfan4ver]

Carl Kiekhaefer was a forgotten car owner in the history of NASCAR and isn't on the NASCAR Hall of Fame Ballot yet for a very good reason. Everything pointed to other race teams in NASCAR rightfully wanted him out of NASCAR after the 1956 season because I remembered reading and hearing stories that Bill France Sr. wasn't too thrilled with Carl Kikhaefer.

Carl Kiekhaefer was only in NASCAR for 2 season and won 52 races and 2 cup championships before leaving after the 1956 season as multi-car owner.

What Carl Kiekhaefer did in 1956 made MWR's Spingate look like Child's play by the Extent Carl went for went for team orders.

What Carl did was he used his influence on the sanctioning body to have NASCAR schedule a last-minute race at Shelby, NC late in the season so his driver Buck Baker could gain more points on his ex-driver Herb Thomas, who was leading the points standings at the time. Herb Thomas quit Carl's team during the season to race his own cars instead in 1956.

What Carl also did for the last minute race at Shelby,NC was telling his driver Speedy Thompson to take out Herb Thomas, so Carl's other driver Buck Baker can win the race and the championship. Carl's team orders worked with Herb Thomas suffered a life threatening at the race track in Shelby, NC. Carl's teams only raced 3 more race tracks in NASCAR after that incident.

Herb Thomas didn't race much after that and wasn't the same driver. Herb Thomas did live to be 77 years old at least. Herb Thomas before being taken out by Speedy Thompson was a 2 cup champion with 48 wins and was considered the best cup driver of his era. Herb Thomas at the time he was taken out, he was only 33 years old in his prime. It is hard to say how many more wins Herb Thomas could have had or championships.

Herb Thomas also was inspiration of the Doc Hudson character in the Pixar film cars.

 

[artvandelay]

I don't think Kevin was offered it first because I thought Kevin signed a contract in 2006. I do know that Kevin did consider leaving RCR after 2010.

I make out of Bowyer's long winless streak out of many things including the horsepower issues that is a Toyota problem. Clint always been at his best at short tracks and 1 mile tracks, but the horsepower issue doesn't help. I don't think Phoenix with Gordon is the issue.

MWR hasn't been the same since spingate at Richmond although spingate was child's play compare to Carl Kiekhaefer's stunt as a NASCAR team owner in 1956. MWR lost a third team and sponsorship due to spingate. What it sounds like from Kyle Busch is MWR and JGR don't exactly work together and that doesn't help Bowyer out.

Thanks for the answers. When it comes to sharing info amongst its teams, no one is better at it than HMS. Penske and RFR, both Ford and use Rousch/Yates engines, don't seem to share a lot of info. And i did read Kyle's comments about JGR amd MWR having to share more info. Makes perfect sense.

 

[wdwfan4ver]

Thanks for the answers. When it comes to sharing info amongst its teams, no one is better at it than HMS.

That is true. Hendrick went a long way for sharing information from where they were in the 1990's. For a time in the 1990's, the 24 team really wasn't sharing information with the other 2 Hendrick teams at the time with Ray Evernham being Jeff Gordon's crew chief at the time. The 5 and the 24 teams was in a championship battle in 1996 and Ray cut off sharing information with Terry Labonte's crew chief Gary Dehart to the point that Gary left the 5 team during the 1997 season. The 5 team got worse as a result of Ray Evernham not sharing information in 1997 and 1998 and 1999 along with Terry Labonte getting older.

 

[artvandelay]

Last night was the Champions Banquet from Las Vegas. Jay Mohr hosted again and zinged the drivers. My favorite was "Is brad kesolowski here? Oh, there he is...at a table for one!"

 

[MinnieM123]

Last night was the Champions Banquet from Las Vegas. Jay Mohr hosted again and zinged the drivers. My favorite was "Is brad kesolowski here? Oh, there he is...at a table for one!"

Wish I had seen this show (if it was on tv). Remember the SPEED channel? They used to carry this type of thing, including award ceremonies, hall of fame events, etc. I miss the SPEED channel.

 

[artvandelay]

Wish I had seen this show (if it was on tv). Remember the SPEED channel? They used to carry this type of thing, including award ceremonies, hall of fame events, etc. I miss the SPEED channel.

It was on Fox Sports One (which used to be the Speed channel) and I think NASCAR.com has a lot of the show on their site.

 

[wdwfan4ver]

Brian Vickers is now missing the start of the 2015 season. He had heart surgery done because a scan showed his body was rejecting the artificial patch he received in a 2010 procedure to fix the hole in his heart.

This is now the 3rd time since 2010 the Brian will miss cup races due to health problems. The first two times was due to blood clots.

I hope Brian's medical problems stop after this.

 

[MinnieM123]

Brian Vickers is now missing the start of the 2015 season. He had heart surgery done because a scan showed his body was rejecting the artificial patch he received in a 2010 procedure to fix the hole in his heart.

This is now the 3rd time since 2010 the Brian will miss cup races due to health problems. The first two times was due to blood clots.

I hope Brian's medical problems stop after this.

Sad to hear about Brian's health issues. I think he's only in his early 30s, and that's too young to have annoying heart problems. Thank you for sharing this information, and I will certainly keep him in my prayers.