2022 NASCAR THREAD

Joey didn't need to hit him. He could have gone around him. That was just some BULLSHIT DRIVING.

 

Like Reddick said at Bristol- “I shouldn’t have let him catch me.” It wouldn’t have happened if Byron didn’t let Joey make up 9/10 of a second in 3.5 laps.

 

I don't think he let him catch him on purpose lol. It just shows that Joey isn't very intelligent.

 

Not as bad as all the haters who whine about him...

 

Oh well, the 22 got himself a win. I really did not have a problem with the 22 punting the 24. I mean he did not have to do it but he has not won in a while. He had a much faster car, could have done it clean but that is not the Penske way. It surprises me that RB is in the 12 because he seems to be way to nice of a person to drive for them but Joey is carrying the the Penske torch. He was bound to get one at some point. Good on the 24 for giving it a try but the 22 was so much faster at the end. It is funny that Elliott, Blaney, Larson, Wallace and a few of those guys all seem to run each other pretty clean because they came up in the same series and what not. Much like Matt K and Dale Jr. used to race each other. The old guys are all in the get off my lawn stage of there careers so it is what it is.

 

My hope is that newer guys like Briscoe and Reddick doing what they do will show the older farts that they can get out of their feelings and handle disagreements maturely. Joey used to be more polite on track until he learned he couldn't be. Jeff Gordon went through the same growth phase. Thought having an Earnhardt-like mustache would get him some respect but it didn't work. Gordon was knocked every which way in his rookie year. Shaved the stache, started bucking up and became a contender. For Joey, it took NASCAR taking his dad's hard card away so Joey had to handle things himself. Joey also rose through the ranks at arguably the most competitive time ever to be climbing the ladder to Cup. Every wealthy dude who watched Days of Thunder and saw Jeff Gordon's early success wanted to feed their kids into the machine.

 

I listened to the latest Dale Jr download yesterday, Ricky Carmichael was the guest. I was surprised to learn that the Busch brothers antics pretty much cost him his 4 wheel career. All his money was provided by Monster and he was a couple of days away from announcing a split season with KB in the Monster car (Xfinity) when KB took out Hornaday in the trucks and got parked. Monster thought that Mars was going to dump KB so they pulled Carmichaels money so they could have a shot at being the primary on the 18. That put that on ice for a couple of weeks then they worked it all out and he was back in and a few days before they announced Kurt went off on Dr. Jerry Punch and got fired from Penske and he ended up getting the ride, I mean rightfully so as he is a much more accomplished driver. I was just surprised to hear how the Busch brothers BS cost him his shot.

 

Playing the contract game with Gibbs. Probably going to go deep into the season before contracts are ironed out. Lots of things at play:

• Ty Gibbs is killing it in the Xfinity series but has been inconsistent. He sits in the top-5 in points there, putting him in a position for a promotion.
• Busch is locked into the playoffs which secures him additional leverage to keep his seat at JGR.
• Busch can leverage the possibility of the 10 or 4 car to nudge Gibbs into compliance.
• If Busch went to SHR, he'd want the company car(#4), not the B-team (#10) ride.
• Via his wording, Harvick is implying a possible early retirement after 2022. I'd say this hinges on whether he wins a race in '22. He likely wants one last shot at a championship.
• Bringing Busch's energy into the 10 or 4 might throw off the balance of those teams, who are essentially in a rebuilding year after a dismal 2021.

• SHR is having a hard time securing long-term sponsorship for its existing teams. Pulling in a controversial driver, who is not particularly sponsor-friendly and on the back end of his career might be a hard sell.

• SHR drivers hop in the cars and drive by the seat of their pants, letting it all hang out. Good car, bad car, doesn't matter, they drive the heck out of it.

• Busch is more technical and his success is rooted in being a setup guy. If the car doesn't feel just right, he calls it "junk" and drives accordingly.

• I cant see Busch jumping to Ford, but I didn't see Harvick doing it, either. I don't think Toyota would let him go too easily.

• There is a possibility Kyle could move over to 23XL to replace a possibly retiring Kurt Busch. Kyle and Wallace (and Hamlin) have similar self-defeating personalities.

I'd say, in the end, it depends on a few dominoes:

• Ty Gibbs winning the Xfinity championship
• Kyle Busch winning the Cup championship
• Kevin Harvick winning a race and/or the championship and/or retiring early

 

great points! I wouldn't even begin to speculate what may happen. If Kyle wants to stay with JGR, he'll stay. He's in a very good position and a huge draw still. I do like the 23XL play though. Still has JGR R&D. Looking forward to how this all plays out.

 

I think Kyle will stay right where he is. I could see Ty coming in to replace Kurt in the 45 with Kurt hanging it up. If a seat opens up at JGR I think it would be in the 19 but who knows. You know the 23 is not changing drivers. At some point Denny might go over and drive his own equipment but I think that is several years away and I do not see FedEx dropping him. My bet is on Truex and Kurt retiring with the 19's sponsorship sharing the load on the 18 along with Rowdy energy and such. Ty to the 45 where Monster is already the primary sponsor and he has an excuse to perform like a rookie in a smaller team. JGR drops to a 3 car team and puts the 19 on the shelf or they pull in a driver who brings a primary sponsor with them. I would not be surprised to see Interstate pick up the 18 car for more races next season either.

 

I think this makes the most sense. Too many variables where each side would have to "wait & see." They typically like to have everything buttoned up but the All-Star race so they can make local PR announcements.
I can't see Bass Pro on Busch's car as he's not the outdoorsman type. But neither is Noah, honestly. Speaking of Noah, I wonder if he would leave Chevy and bounce over to the #19? Toyota lost him once before.

 

That is a great point. Noah will have to go somewhere, no way he ends up in HMS equipment unless Jr. Motorsports moves into the cup series and Dale Jr. has been adamant that he has no desire to do that. Part of me feels like JGR would not drop a car as Toyota has very few numbers as is and I could see him sliding right into the 19.

 

The more and more I think about the Kyle Busch thing it just ends up being him staying at JGR in the 18. If he decides to to leave, really can't see him going to 23XL and Denny being his boss. I say, if he leaves, he leaves all of JGR. SHR makes a lot of sense especially where Kevin is this past year and a half. Should be an interesting year.

 

I agree but I do not see KB heading to a team who is struggling with performance. Kyle really cannot go anywhere that will put up with his attitude towards teams and crew chiefs. No team that is in winning equipment anyway. He is so deeply invested in Toyota plus they are invested in him. So is JGR with the truck series being the pipeline for Toyota talent and all that. He has to stay. Plus he is the premiere team in the truck series. I would think sponsorship would be there, I mean you might see Toyota plastered down the side if nothing else.

 

Tony can handle him, only if he goes to the 4. He's been there, done that.

 

he's already got an outstanding team in KBM. You'll be rooting for Rowdy in the 4 car soon.

 

I am sure Tony can handle KB but I just don't think he would care too. I mean he gives you a few years maybe, for what. The equipment does not match the talent. It will take a lot of time for them to get back and with Haas focused on F1 and Tony on his series and NHRA and a new wife and all that. SHR is going to be a mid pack team for a little while. Or I could see it being sold in the next few years. Kyle has way to much invested in JGR and Toyota to switch brands. One of those to big to fail scenarios. He retires before switching manufactures.

 

Good point. Part of Kyle's contract is likely manufacturing support for his truck operation, which is huge. I can't see Ford taking all that on if he jumped to SHR. Then again, SHR (and Ford) don't have much of a development pipeline in place. There's no way Herbst in the Xfinity #98 is coming to Cup. That's a pay-to-play ride now. DGR (is/was becoming) Ford's dev team in the truck series but they're not making many strides by keeping pay drivers in those seats (Deegan, Gray & Gray). Grays aren't going anywhere because Grandpa (Valvoline) partially owns the team and has mentioned outright buying the team for his grandsons if need be, but he wants them to get some other sponsorship (which hasn't happened in 3 years). They're outsiders and bought their want into NHRA, ARCA, and now NASCAR but finding it much harder to buy their way up the ladder. What DGR has going for them is savvy people in the business & marketing office.

 

I do agree Tony has his priorities in other places now that he's an NHRA owner. I ran into him at Leah's pit a few months ago and asked him, 'when are you bringing Dodge back to NASCAR'. He smiled and said, 'I'm a Ford guy'. "well Tony, that logo on your shirt says otherwise."

You make very valid points as well. Kevin is done. He's been done since last year. I think if they get a championship caliber driver in the 4, they'll push a bit harder. Why put cycles into the 4 this year? Let him have his farewell parade and announce this year he's decided to walk away.

 

Plus I mean KH is just as respected as far as talent is concerned in NASCAR and I would say he is much more respected as a human being than KB. Tony is very much an old school guy and does not care for the "silver spoon" of the sport and that is pretty much the KB model. Just never going to happen.