2017 Nascar Thread

@MadDaddy @coffeesnob @Member1Zillion @Bsheriff11 @dwalden2 @Bluegrass Taco @Syvman @elgringoloco @Tacoma Mike @insocova @snoope @TacoPhil tag anyone else I missed... So predictions, gloating, etc? 2017 is almost upon us and #2 for Rowdy is eminent for the mobil one driver of the year in 2016

 

Won't be the same without Tony behind the wheel. Jr is on borrowed time too.

 

Didn't JR admit he's only doing it for the fans?

 

He was medically cleared to race. Last I saw from him he said he still has the desire, as long as he's healthy.

 

wonder how hell do coming back...

 

Jr will be running around the top and in the lead at Daytona like usual. Drafting for him is like us riding a bike. Go Pied Piper!

 

Jr. had 185 practice laps at Darlington last week. Good laps and comfy in the car.

 

2017 Team Roster:

(As of December 12, 2016, #, Driver, engine,engine builder. Top Tier teams in bold, Tier 1-4 teams marked as *,**,***,****.) 38 confirmed full-time teams. 36 charters.


**1- Jamie McMurray (contract year), Chevy, Hendrick motors

*2- Brad Keselowski, Ford, Roush-Yates motors

**3- Austin Dillon, Chevy, Earnhardt-Childress motors

*4- Kevin Harvick, Ford, Roush-Yates motors

**5- Kasey Kahne, Chevy, Hendrick motors

***6- Trevor Bayne, Ford, Roush-Yates motors

***10- Danica Patrick, Ford, Roush-Yates motors

*11- Denny Hamlin (contract year), Toyota, TRD motors

*13- Ty Dillon, Chevy, Earnhardt-Childress motors

*14- Clint Bowyer, Ford, Roush-Yates motors

***17- Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, Roush-Yates motors

*18- Kyle Busch, Toyota, TRD motors

*19- Carl Edwards, Toyota, TRD motors

*20- Matt Kenseth (contract year), Toyota, TRD motors

**21- Ryan Blaney, Ford, Roush-Yates motors, Not RTA member, no charter

*22- Joey Logano, Ford, Roush-Yates motors

****23- Greg Biffle?, Toyota, Race Engines+

*24- Chase Elliott, Chevy, Hendrick motors

**27- Paul Menard (year to year), Chevy, Earnhardt-Childress motors

****30- ?? Josh Wise, Grey Gaulding?, Chevy, TMG motors

**31- Ryan Newman, Chevy, Earnhardt-Childress motors

****32- Greg Biffle? David Ragan?, Ford, Roush-Yates motors

****33- Casey Mears?, Chevy, Earnhardt-Childress motors

***34- ?? Greg Biffle, Landon Cassill?, Ford, Roush-Yates motors

***38- ?? Casey Mears, Greg Biffle? Landon Cassill?, Ford, Roush-Yates motors

*41- Kurt Busch, Ford, Roush-Yates motors

**42- Kyle Larson, Chevy, Hendrick motors

***43- Aric Almirola, Ford, Roush-Yates motors

****44- ?? David Ragan, Greg Biffle?, Ford, Roush-Yates motors

**47- A.J. Allemdinger, Chevy, Earnhardt-Childress motorh

*48- Jimmie Johnson, Chevy, Hendrick motors

**59?- Chris Beusher, Chevy, Earnhardt-Childress motors

n/a 77- Erik Jones, Toyota, TRD motors

*78- Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, TRD motors

***83- ?? , Toyota, Race Engines+

*88- Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Alex Bowman?), Chevy, Hendrick motors

***95- Michael McDowell, Chevy, Earnhardt-Childress motors

****98- Reed Sorenson? Chevy/Toyota, Race Engines+

 

So, who are y'all pulling for in '17? I have my Ford, Chevy, and Toyota teams picked out. I wonder who will go to Dodge in '18? I'm thinking Childress is the most viable asset. I'm sure he's tired of playing second and third fiddle to Hendrick under Chevy. Plus, if Dodge bought into Childress, they would get an engine department (ECR engines), and satellite teams (47, 59, 13, 33, 95), giving them 8 viable entries along with the 3, 27, 31).

 

Modifying your list to include talent and general douche nozzlery.

**1- Jamie McMurray (contract year), Chevy, ECR, maybe Hendrick engines this year-Talented driver but afraid to race

*2- Brad Keselowski, Ford, Roush-Yates motors-Probably the biggest douche nozzle!

**3- Austin Dillon, Chevy, ECR engines-decent in Xfinity, not sure why he's in cup other than his grandpappy. His brother is a far better talent!

*4- Kevin Harvick, Ford, Roush-Yates motors-Premier driver, lots of talent, past champion, nuff said.

**5- Kasey Kahne, Chevy, Hendrick engines, Very talented driver, bad communication and chemistry with Hendrick I believe, too bad, Kasey is a good guy, was great with Evernham.

***6- Trevor Bayne, Ford, Roush-Yates engines, good talent, needs a touch more testosterone, but a good kid, races clean.

***10- Danica Patrick, Ford, Roush-Yates engines, oh boy....where to start with Danica. Quick & Dirty: We all like her, but maybe not for the right reasons.

*11- Denny Hamlin (contract year), Toyota, TRD engines, Premier driver, talent speaks for itself, needs more confidence, should've been a champ by now. Good guy.

*13- Ty Dillon, Chevy, ECR engines, rookie season, we'll see how this goes in premier league but I think he'll out do his brother. See: Austin Dillon

*14- Clint Bowyer, Ford, Roush-Yates engines, Good driver in the right equipment, which has been a lot of Clint's trouble throughout the years.

***17- Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, Roush-Yates engines, Ricky Ricky Ricky....where do I start with you.....You're girlfriend is pretty cool. She'd drive better if YOU had more testosterone! Lunch meat.

*18- Kyle Busch, Toyota, TRD engines, We all know "Rowdy", nuff said and there's not enough room. He's made it into maturity and a championship.

*19- Carl Edwards, Toyota, TRD, like Denny, should've had a championship by now, almost did in '11 but almost isn't good enough. He and Tony are the Mrs. faves.

*20- Matt Kenseth (contract year), Toyota, TRD engines, High caliber driver, past champ, tons of talent and overall humble & cool guy. He needs another trophy or two.

**21- Ryan Blaney, Ford, Roush-Yates engines, Not RTA member, no charter, lots of talent, not sure about the equipment, Penske engines this year.

*22- Joey Logano, Ford, Roush-Yates engines, Brad's brown noser, cheap shot driver with lots of talent, not sure why he drives that way, cuz he doesn't need to because Brad already likes him enough!

****23- Greg Biffle?, Toyota, Race Engines+, unknown, should've seen the writing on the wall like Carl & Matt did and got away from Roush sooner. Champion caliber driver. Always has been.

*24- Chase Elliott, Chevy, Hendrick engines. Keep watching this kid. He was born & fell into some good luck situations with impeccable timing and he's talented, will do very well with a little more experience.

**27- Paul Menard (year to year), Chevy, ECR engines, good guy, some talent, but has sort of fallen into this "lunch meat crowd", I shop at his stores so he's cool.

****30- ?? Josh Wise, Grey Gaulding?, Chevy, TMG motors-Lunch Meat

**31- Ryan Newman, Chevy, Earnhardt-Childress engines, tons of talent, turning into a career driver though-decent paycheck, runs very well in contract years. Was great in the 12 car with Matt Borland.

****32- Greg Biffle? David Ragan?, Ford, Roush-Yates engines, See: Greg Biffle above. David is lunch meat.

****33- Casey Mears?, Chevy, Earnhardt-Childress engines-Lunch Meat, always has been, riding his name a little far IMO

***34- ?? Greg Biffle, Landon Cassill?, Ford, Roush-Yates engines. See Greg above. Kinda like Landon but he's a lunch meat driver in a lunch meat team.

***38- ?? Casey Mears, Greg Biffle? Landon Cassill?, Ford, Roush-Yates engines-See: Above

*41- Kurt Busch, Ford, Roush-Yates engines-What can I say about Kurt Douche, other than he's NASCAR's major douche nozzle. If you like Kurt, you're probably a douche nozzle too, or you're new.

**42- Kyle Larson, Chevy, Hendrick engines-The little Asian That Could!-okay, that's kinda harsh, but I like Kyle and think he'll get even better as the team's performance increases.

***43- Aric Almirola, Ford, Penske engines, Too bad they've been lunch meat, Petty was NASCAR for many many years and is a respectable household name.

****44- ?? David Ragan, Greg Biffle?, Ford, Roush-Yates engines, See: Above

**47- A.J. Allemdinger, Chevy, Earnhardt-Childress engines, We call him A.J. Oftenwrecker, self explanatory and he's a douche nozzle. He & Kurt should get it on & get on with another life.

*48- Jimmie Johnson, Chevy, Hendrick engines, 7 Time Champ-Nothing more to say.

**59?- Chris Beusher, Chevy, Earnhardt-Childress engines, Lucky little lunch meat making it into the top 16. I think he's decent driver driving sub par lunch meat cars for a lunch meat team.

n/a 77- Erik Jones, Toyota, TRD engines, good driver, nice car control, caught up in lunch meat wrecks too often, give this kid a cup car with a good team and see what he can do.

*78- Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, TRD engines-Great driver, often had the Clint Bowyer situation in his career with sub par equipment. Almost winning the cup with small team says a lot!

***83- ?? , Toyota, Race Engines+

*88- Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevy, Hendrick engines-Coolest cat in NASCSAR, humble guy with strong racing heritage. Surprised he hasn't had a cup yet, hopefully soon.

***95- Michael McDowell, Chevy, Earnhardt-Childress engines-Lunch meat

****98- Reed Sorenson? Chevy/Toyota, Race Engines-Showed a lot of promise from his days in the Busch series, but Ganassi was having performance issues at the time when Reed came to cup, so he's been shuffled into the lunch meat teams and never really had a chance to show his strengths & now he's pretty washed up.

Other Lunch Meat notables:

Brian Scott
Matt DiBenedetto
Michael Annett
Cole Whit
Josh Wise
Jeffrey Earnhardt
David Gilliland
Robert Richardson Jr.
Joey Gase
Ryan Ellis

Other Douch Nozzle:

Brian Vickers

Hopefulls:

Alex Bowman
Jeb Burton
Regan Smith

Need to quit getting in race cars that don't perform, but are/were good drivers in their own time:

Terry LaBonte
Bobby LaBonte
Michael Waltrip

People who need to just hit a wall and be done:

See Douche Nozzle or brown nosers-or get A.J. Oftenwrecker to help with this.

 

I am not old, but I have followed this sport longer than guys like Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott have been alive, so I sort of consider myself part of the Old Gaurd, but I am excited about the next generation of champs and winners. I mean dang. I remember watching these death traps flying around tracks with bias ply tires, leaded fuel, and cigarette lighters rigged into the dashboard. I remember drivers wearing fireproof suits but also open-face helmets and cowboy boots or wing tips. The transition from the '80s to the current state of the sport has been slow but steady.

 

I'm with ya. First race I ever saw was with the Allison's beating up Cale Yarborough in the grass. They said that was one of the 1st televised or nationally televised races I think. Dating myself there a little but I didn't avidly start watching until 2000 when my son was a baby and there was nothing else on TV one Sunday. Watched every race since, DVR mostly.

 

the fight in the grass was AWESOME, every time they show it I can't stop watching.

 

Okay, I've followed NASCAR since Richard Petty ran Plymouths and won his first Daytona 500. I haven't seen many races this past year, but I'm an avid reader and follow race results and news online. I just have one question...how did I miss the announcement that Stewart-Haas was switching over to Fords?

 

They announced it the Tuesday after Daytona last season.

 

Edited to ask the real question. I was very very shocked to hear this.

 

This was Ford basically putting Roush-Fenway out to pasture. They're moving on and dumped a ton of money on a top team to level the playing field. There were nearly twice as many Bowties on the track than Blue Ovals last season. Ford's premier team is a 2-car operation with one satellite. They combined for a remarkable 8 wins. FRR was the only other Ford winner. Ford is also looking down the line by dishing out $ for Penske to go to a 2-car Xfinity operation and for SHR to start an Xfinity team, thus rubbing it in Roush's eye ever more that Roush is done as a powerhouse team in NASCAR.

 

But Tony leaving Chevy!! That shocked me, but money talks