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Tag: Roush-Fenawy Racing

  • The View From My Recliner: Pre-Clash Edition

    The View From My Recliner: Pre-Clash Edition

    After taking the holidays to recharge and fight this never ending cold, it’s time to park myself in the recliner and share my view of what is going on in the world of NASCAR.

    To be honest, the view right now is foggy at best. There are a ton of questions that need to be answered. Some we will never find out the true answer (How long is the contract with Monster Energy and how much did they pay to sponsor the premiere series?) and many others we will find out on the track.

    Last year, the Charter system was going to help give owners something tangible for their teams if they decide to get out. This off-season, we have watched so many charters move around that it is hard to figure out who actually owns charters.

    According to NASCAR.com, here is the updated charter shuffle as we get close to the Clash.

    Premium Motorsports sold this Charter to Furniture Row Racing for its second team, the No. 77. In 2016, the Charter was leased by the No. 46 team of HScott Motorsports.

    Richard Petty Motorsports is leasing the No. 44 Charter to the No. 32 team of Go Fas Racing in 2017 and Roush Fenway Racing will lease the No. 16 Charter to JTG Daugherty Racing’s newly formed second team (No. 37) in 2017.

    Near the end of the 2016 season, Tommy Baldwin Racing sold its Charter to Leavine Family Racing.

    HScott Motorsports’ No. 15 Charter was sold to Premium Motorsports and Go Fas Racing is leasing the No. 32 Charter to the No. 21 team of Wood Brothers Racing.

    Circle Sport and The Motorsports Group merged operations to field the No. 33 team with the Charter Circle Sport had. In 2016, Circle Sport partnered with Leavine Family Racing to field the No. 95 for the season.

    BK Racing sold the No. 83 Charter to Front Row Motorsports, who is leasing the Charter to TriStar Motorsports for the 2017 season.

    This charter shuffling makes me worry about the sport’s future. That is something we can attack later in the season.

    Three big questions in 2017:

    1. Will the new even lower downforce package help the racing product?
    2. How big are the sponsor issues at Stewart-Haas Racing with plenty of inventory available on the 10 and 14 cars?
    3. Will there be a surprise driver who makes the playoffs like Chris Buescher did in 2016?

    Three things I think will happen:

    1. Dodge will announce they will return to the sport with a surprise team in the lead of the effort.
    2. Danica Patrick will be replaced at Stewart-Haas Racing by Matt Kenseth.
    3. William Byron replaces Kasey Kahne at Hendrick Motorsports, Erik Jones replaces Kenseth at Joe Gibbs Racing and Kahne replaces Jones at Furniture Row Racing.

    Enjoy the wreck fest this Saturday and we’ll talk next week with my thoughts on the Clash and the new race formats.

  • The View from my Recliner — Just before the Brickyard

    The View from my Recliner — Just before the Brickyard

    I am writing this in anticipation of missing the Brickyard 400 live because I will be returning home from a wedding. My DVR better not let me down.

    Some thoughts before the green is dropped tomorrow.

    The piece on NBCSN with Tony Stewart reading letters from Robin Miller, Greg Zippadelli, Eddie Jarvis and his dad should be a great piece to watch. If the preview of the story is just a touch of what you will see, it should be a great five minutes on the pre-race show.

    You would think by watching promos for the Brickyard that Jeff Gordon was the only person running at Indy. Smart move on NBCSN to use a Fox Sports commentator as your promo. It should be interesting to see how Gordon fares in the 88 car.

    Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s concussion-like symptoms kept him out of the car at New Hampshire and will keep him out at Indy and Pocono; the future is still to be determined. I think the decision on Earnhardt’s part to skip races to get healthy is the right move. He has a life to live and if he isn’t 100 percent physically in a race car, going 200 mph can cause further issues as he moves forward in life, possibly hurt another driver and cost him more than a chance at a championship. Smart move Jr.

    Richard Childress said this week that he is getting closer to solidifying his driver line-up for next year. My prediction is that he brings the charter that belongs to Circle Sport-Levine Family racing back to RCR and puts Ty Dillon into a fourth RCR entry. I think Childress values what Ryan Newman brings to the team and will keep him in a car. The RCR ride for Paul Menard is the best ride that he and his family can buy and Austin Dillon is going nowhere.

    It is nice to see Roush Fenway Racing getting back to where they were during the days of when Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards ran for them. Jack Roush is a legend of the sport and you weren’t going to keep him and his team down forever. He went young with drivers and will continue to improve as his drivers grow with experience.

    The truck race at Eldora was the best race all season in all three NASCAR national touring series. Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell and Bobby Pierce put on a great show in the front of the field and throughout the race, you could see three and four wide at times trying to get a position. It was the most exciting race of the season and I am already looking forward to next year’s truck race.

    Five predictions going forward:

    1. Tony Stewart wins the Brickyard 400 to solidify his spot in the Chase and add to his final season.
    2. Dale Earnhardt Jr. will not make the Chase and because of that, he might not run for an extended period of time.
    3. Ryan Blaney will make the Chase.
    4. William Byron will be announced as a Joe Gibbs Racing XFINITY Driver in 2017.
    5. Kevin Harvick’s pit crew will be outstanding going forward. Last week’s public tongue lashing will solidify the over the wall guys because they know their jobs are on the line.

    Enjoy the Brickyard and we’ll talk next time with the View from My Recliner.