2022 NASCAR THREAD

As a lifelong Chevrolet guy that sometimes drives Toyotas as daily’s I am very happy that all the Toyota guys are losing your minds! LOL… Welcome to the dark side! HMS and RCR have an alliance now and that is why you have seen the performance increase in RCR. I expect that will take a huge step forward by the time we hit Feb as RC seemed almost over NASCAR and this seems to have reignited his passion for winning and fielding the best driver and equipment. Should be fun to watch.

 

Gibbs had an arca car for his grandson. When he moved up, it went away. Gibbs has no affiation with truck teams. I'm sure Busch will get the support from chevy on the truck program that he lost from Toyota.

 

KBM will have to switch to Chevrolet. Busch confirmed they're already working with Chevrolet but have no idea how many entries they'll have and specifically said 2, 3, or 4. KBM was largely funded by Toyota and ran Toyota development drivers. KBM will likely have to have an all-new driver line up because of that and Toyota will have to turn their money to another team for their development program (likely Thor Sport)

 

KBM took over that ARCA car. It remains to be seen about Chevrolet. But I believe they are looking to revamp their truck series programs so KBM would be a great fit if that's true.

 

I'm not getting into details.
But I will say I have been involved in this for more than 17 years.
Kyle was listed as owner on Arca 18 and 81 this year. Just maybe there was funding from another source...
KBM owned the Truck Team.
Don't think for a minute that there is not interaction's between KBM, Gibbs and Toyota Developement to fund that truck team.
With that being said, it is no different than any other team funding a start up/development team in any series. It is much more inter-twined than you can imagine.
What it alls boils down to is funding

 

Yes, which is why KBM will be switching to Chevrolet. He touched on it a bit during his press conference, but KBM was the Toyota development team and had lots of funding from Toyota. Many of his drivers had Toyota contracts which is why you'll probably see a whole new lineup next year. I don't believe Gibbs had as much interaction as you'd think, especially when you consider pit crews were no longer allowed to go between cup and trucks/Xfinity. Or the truck series going to supplied engines from a single source. However, there were definitely a few overlapping employees, such as Kyle's spotter.

But given that Toyota was only sponsoring a few truck races here and there, I am not at all surprised they couldn't fork over an additional $20M to JGR to fill the hole Mars left

 

David Wilson confirms the current KBM drivers will remain with Toyota.

 

I wonder where they will be racing. Very limited seats.

 

I'm kind of torn with the whole KB/RCR deal. I've been a long time supporter of RCR, not so much with Kyle. I still remember when Busch was at HMS and crashed and refused to get back into the car. Dale Jr had also crashed his DEI ride and jumped in Kyle's car to finish the race, giving him his first taste of Hendrick equipment. That led to a lot of dominos falling and really helped shape the sport into what it is today if you think about it. Who knows, this new partnership may make a Kyle Busch fan out of me.

 

That was my thoughts. Especially since I think those guys are probably the best Toyota has and Thor Sport would be the next best team. However, Thor Sport already has drivers. I'm sure Toyota will begin to focus on Thor Sport, but I don't see them wanting to waste Chandler Smith, JHN, or Corey Heim in garbage equipment.

 

Busch has grown a lot since then, despite what it may seem when they shove a camera in his face in the heat of the moment. But even he can admit that he definitely has moments of immaturity. But he also knows what he's talking about. I think that will help bring RCR to the next level like it (and switching to Toyota) did for JGR. The main hindrance I see to RCR's progress is that Toyota became heavily invested in JGR, particularly after they started having consistent success. Chevrolet, on the other hand, is majorly invested in Hendrick and I don't see that changing. RCR may be able to reach that 2nd tier, but time will tell how far beyond that it goes.

On the other hand, SHR outperformed Penske for a bit. At least until Stewart and Ford had a bit of a falling out over Larson.

 

I was a diehard RCR fan back in the Dale Sr days then DEI when Jr came along. Through those years I despised HMS with the exception of Terry (how do you dislike TL). After Jr switched I saw the light and became an HMS fan. Never cared for the 48 and absolutely hatted Jeff in the 90's/early 2000's but came to respect him in his latter years. With that I still pulled for RCR until AD came along. It seemed to me that RC stopped investing and caring about the sport but I think this has him excited for it again. Kyle is the same way, the change is good for him and the sport. Kyle will always be a complete heel and even a dickhead on the track. Outside of it he seems to have matured into a good husband and father and seems like a decent person. His lack of sportsmanship is what always turned me off to him. He will have moments that still show that side but I think coming to RCR with something to prove, actually wearing the persona will go well. The sport needs it and he has the talent to back it up. Chevrolet has enough superstars that are low key and cause no drama. They can use a guy like KB to mix it up. It is a good thing and much like Gordon I have come to not mind Kyle as much. No one can take anything from him on his abilities, its just that he is such a dick. But like my wife says. What's wrong with having some dick on occasion?!

 

This is awesome! My daughter (7) is always in the garage working on stuff with me. My son (13) could care less. My daughter saves her money and my son lets it burn a hole in his pocket. Earlier this year my daughter and I were in the garage working on my sons go kart that he and his friends had broken which is typical. My son comes out and ask for $20 to go to the store with his buddies. My daughter, hands dirty holding parts for me looks strait at her brother and says "Brothers name: when we grow up, I will be rich and you will be broke as the F word". I have never been so proud!

 

Have you all been watching the USA docuseries? I cracked up in episode 2 when they showed Corey Lajoie suiting up in his bus and his wife asked his son if daddy was going to win today and the poor little guy in a sad tone just says NO. His wife was about to fall out of her seat. Reminded me of how my wife and I are. I really hope that dude gets a decent seat soon. I really think he is about as good as any of them.

 

I've been meaning to watch the series, but I've just forgotten about it. I have it set to record though so I should have the episodes to watch at least

 

Check it out. It's not bad. Record them for sure though, we have Hulu and I went to stream it there and it was like, upgrade your package to hulu live for $62 a month and I was like fuck that. I can FF through commercials.

 

I later learned they're also being out on USA's YouTube channel as well so theres that option!

 

I'm so glad they are showcasing Corey and Spire Motorsports. Dude works his ass off with a small budget team for P20 finishes. I think he's got all the talent in the world but just needs a good break. It's a good series and hopefully it gives Corey the opportunity to maybe get picked up by a big budget team.

 

Brandon Jones is going to JR motorsports next year, driving the 9 car.

 

Good for him. Should open up a seat for one of the displaced KBM drivers. I'd suspect JHN.