All Purpose NASCAR Thread

And when it's over, you really, really want to leave. And then late at night, you have the deer and the bears on the road to watch out for.

 

When it's over?

I really, really, really want to leave now.


Only two hours to green! :-\

 

Not yet. Two cautions in the first 24 laps.

God this race will never end.

 

Topic: The shallow drivers' pool.

I think NASCAR's in trouble for a variety of reasons, but there's a key issue facing it.

Driver talent.

I think the pool is drying up, at least in the short term. The situation in the Busch Series should be of major concern to the France family, but isn't (hey, they're making money, they don't care). The idea behind the Busch Series (and the old Sportsman Series before that) was as a minor league to develop new drivers, but that's not what it's turned into. Instead, the top seven drivers in the series points standings are fulltime Nextel Cup drivers running for Nextel Cup teams. And of the top 20 Busch drivers who aren't already running Cup fulltime, I can only think of a couple who might --- might --- have what it takes to succeed at the next level Cup teams with Busch operations (RCR, Gibbs, Roush) used to use those Busch teams to develop drivers, but now they seem to be more interested in pocketing sponsor dollars and purses; yeah, I know --- that's what they're in business to do, but they're ont investing in the future of their business anymore. That's just bad business.

The problem's already cropping up, I think. All the really good drivers are locked up to longterm deals; so far, the only name drivers who are free agents are two guys with no Nextel Cup wins between them (Vickers and Mears). Todd Kluever is supposed to take over for Mark Martin next year, but so far, I haven't been at all impressed with him in the Busch Series. The other drivers who have gone through Roush's Gong Show aren't ready for the big show yet; behind them I don't know that I see anybody. (And if the Cup teams cut back their Busch operations, the promoters will be lucky to have 43 cars in a Busch race on a weekly basis.) Toyota and Red Bull are looking for two drivers for that team (heard Vickers is already talking to Red Bull Toyota), three teams (Ganassi, Yates and Hendrick) have one seat apiece to fill and I just don't see that there's enough talent to fill the gaps right now.

Add some other issues to that --- spiraling costs, sponsors getting out or cutting back, dull races this year --- and all of a sudden, NASCAR might have some big problems on its hands.

EDIT: Just been told that Kluever might not be in the 6 next year because Roush has to cut a team. Given that the National Guard is probably leaving the 16, it makes more sense if Biffle moves to the 6, since AAA has already invested so heavily there.

 

Denny's done, at least in terms of winning.

 

Yeah ... Denny's tired out.

 

There is a lack of driving talent since there will be too many teams next year. Four new cars (two from Waltrip, two from Red Bull). You saw the same thing a few years ago. It solved itself by teams like PPI going down to one car, Brett Bodine's team eventually folding, etc. Same thing will happen next year. By midyear, a couple of the smaller teams will have closed up shop, making room for the Toyota cars.

 

This is going to sound like I'm arguing just to argue, but I'm serious about this.

Do we really know that the driver pool is so shallow? It seems like it's harder than ever before for young drivers to get their big breaks. There are more "young stud" drivers in the lower ranks than people know what to do with.

HOWEVER, when it comes to putting people in Nextel Cup rides, sponsors are increasingly hesitant to take a chance on someone like a Denny Hamlin. They want a proven name for their money. FedEx was willing to show some degree of patience and it's paid off so far for them.

I will say this: the NAMES pool is very, very shallow. When we think about drivers going from team to team, we don't consider someone like a Peyton Sellers (Dodge Weekly national champ at age 21) or even our local boy here, David Gilliland (driving for a startup team in the Busch Series). Drivers like that have won on several levels and would likely do a good job in the big show if they had good equipment.

We've seen how good Kyle Busch can be, but it's hard to get anointed the next Kyle Busch when no one is looking at the young guys.

What do you think? I know there are a few of you on this thread who have a better idea of what's going on than I do, but I thought I'd toss it out there.

 

Denny didn't beat, his left rear tire beat him. He blew his tire and spun out while leading the race.

 

Wouldn't you know it, I picked Carl for my fantasy league today.

OOPS