2012 Nascar Silly Season

[MJ_N_09]

Originally Posted by MJ_N_09

Here's FRM's Lineup. Ragan in the 34, Gilliland in the 38. Also, Jay Robinson will move his team to Cup in addition to their full time operation in NNS. They will use the 28 in both series, switch to Toyota, and will use multiple drivers.

Update to this; JJ Yeley was named the driver for the Robinson operation the #49 Toyota (not #28).

[Clive Brown]

Chidress's #33 car to run first five races of 2012 to take advantage of its owner's points from 2011 giving it a guaranteed start. Elliott Sadler to drive at Daytona with sponsorship from General Mills, before Brendan Gaughan takes over for the next four races with sponsorship from his family's companies.

After that, further outings will depend on sponsors being found for the effort.

Interestingly, the #33 may not be the designated drafting partner for Jeff Burton's #31 car; it looks like the #78 Furniture Row Racing car of Regan Smith will fulfil that function at all four superspeedway events in '12, as it did in this month's tests at Daytona. FRR use Childress chassis and engines.

[MJ_N_09]

New start and park team for Cup! Means Racing moves to Cup full time. They've clearly stated they will park to build up their operation.

[gomick]

So how many start & park teams do we expext to see each race this season?

[HJJ]

Danica makes the Daytoner Five Hunnert!

Danica to get owner points from Baldwin? Reutimann in the #10? Danica Patrick will be a guaranteed starter in the 2012 Daytona 500, using owner points from Tommy Baldwin Racing. Multiple sources say a deal is nearly complete to make Patrick a guaranteed starter in Stewart Haas Racing's #10 Chevy in the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup season opener, using owner points accrued last season by driver Dave Blaney in TBR's #36 Chevy. Blaney will now be forced to qualify for the "Great American Race" on time. Patrick is scheduled to run approximately 10 Sprint Cup races this season, and TBR driver David Reutimann will run many of the events Patrick does not; also in the #10 machine. While Patrick will drive Stewart Haas cars purchased from Hendrick Motorsports in her 10 races, Reutimann will steer Baldwin's cars in his outings. TBR will reportedly receive technical and pit crew support from SHR as part of the deal.(Sirius Speedway)(1-30-2012)

[Jacques Rabbit]

Originally Posted by MJ_N_09

New start and park team for Cup! Means Racing moves to Cup full time. They've clearly stated they will park to build up their operation.

That was announced a few months ago (though they were Hamilton-Means Racing then, now it's Means Hamilton Racing), though they are now on their third manufacturer. They planned to go Chevrolet, then unveiled a car that had Chevrolet tail-light decals but Ford headlights and a Ford grille on a Chevy body, and now they have a Toyota...

...which is better than Robinson-Blakeney and their bogus "America Israel Racing" nonsense where they're asking you to donate through PayPal to "raise awareness." That car is one-half of a Ford body pasted (knowing Jay Robinson, literally, with a glue stick) to one-half of a Chevrolet body and covered in Toyota decals, making it something more suited for ARCA than NASCAR.

Originally Posted by gomick

So how many start & park teams do we expext to see each race this season?

Well, many won't show up to all the races, but right now:

Definite parkers
#49 Robinson-Blakeney Motorsports Toyota
#52 Means Hamilton Racing Toyota/Ford/Chevrolet/Dodge/Buick/Saab
#93 Sinica Motorsports Chevrolet (if it even exists)
#97 NEMCO Toyota (if it even exists)
#?? Front Row Motorsports Ford (the third car)

Say they won't/haven't said anything, but you know they will
#7 Robby Gordon Motorsports Dodge
#19 Go Green Racing Ford
#23 North Texas Pipe Chevrolet
#30 Inception Motorsports Ford
#44 Xxxtreme Motorsports Chevrolet (if it even exists)
#66 Phil Parsons Racing Ford
#75 Creation-Cope Racing Ford
#77 Robby Gordon Motorsports Dodge (if it even exists)
#87 NEMCO Toyota
#92 K Automotive Ford? Chevrolet? (if it even exists)
#?? Turn One Racing Chevrolet
#?? Winfield Motorsports Toyota (if it even exists)

Don't want to, but might have to
#13 Germain Racing Ford
#10/35/36 Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet (they would never park both in the same race)

Maximum parking potential:19

Obviously you'd never get all 19 in a race together and all parking. It would be vaguely amusing if they did, though.

[MJ_N_09]

You guys are gonna rage...........read this:

Danica to get owner points from Baldwin? Reutimann in the #10? Danica Patrick will be a guaranteed starter in the 2012 Daytona 500, using owner points from Tommy Baldwin Racing. Multiple sources say a deal is nearly complete to make Patrick a guaranteed starter in Stewart Haas Racing's #10 Chevy in the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup season opener, using owner points accrued last season by driver Dave Blaney in TBR's #36 Chevy. Blaney will now be forced to qualify for the "Great American Race" on time. Patrick is scheduled to run approximately 10 Sprint Cup races this season, and TBR driver David Reutimann will run many of the events Patrick does not; also in the #10 machine. While Patrick will drive Stewart Haas cars purchased from Hendrick Motorsports in her 10 races, Reutimann will steer Baldwin's cars in his outings. TBR will reportedly receive technical and pit crew support from SHR as part of the deal.(Sirius Speedway)(1-30-2012)

Maybe this team will surprise us:

MAKE Motorsports to run full Nationwide season with T.J. Bell: MAKE Motorsports' #50 Chevy will be competing for the Nationwide Series championship with driver T.J. Bell and crew chief Brad Parrott. The team, owned by Mark Beaver and Tracy Lowe, has been participating in NASCAR Camping World Truck Series since 2010 and did a partial NNS season in 2011. Bell has been with the team since 2010 and Parrott since 2011. "We're not going to be a start-and-park deal, but going for the whole season and race as hard as we can," said Beaver. Additional announcements, including the team's 2012 partner lineup, will be released later this week.(MAKE Motorsports)(1-31-2012)

[Jacques Rabbit]

Not sure what the problem is for the many fans (not on this particular forum, a much better group here) other than the fact Danica is a woman and an IndyCar driver.

It's a mutually agreeable deal, like any other. Everyone wants to make this out as mean bad corporate Danica and her big world-beating team preying on the little guy, but the reality is, Tommy Baldwin obviously thinks doing this deal is better than not doing this deal. Just because it benefits Danica and GoDaddy.com doesn't mean it doesn't benefit TBR, David Reutimann, etc. The entire world isn't a zero-sum game.

[Clive Brown]

But it leaves poor old Dave Blaney royally shafted (again).

If the bim was so sh*t hot, then she would have been able to qualify on speed anyway. What is so wrong is that simply because she doesn't have balls, opportunities have opened up for her that aren't available to those who have been paying their dues for some years in the lower NASCAR divisions.

[Jacques Rabbit]

No offense, mate, but your use of the term "bim" only reinforces my initial point that the people upset about this are really just upset that there's a woman (from open-wheel no less) in a competitive Cup ride.

I'm honestly not a fan of hers, but I want to see her succeed, if only for how butthurt so many would be. Yeah, she has some advantages that others don't have, that's how the world works, and it'll leave those behind who sit around saying "that's not fair" rather than working hard to find their own advantages and play those up.

At the end of the day, TBR stand to gain from this as a team, or else they wouldn't be doing it, and as such, Blaney benefits, too, even if it looks like he's getting shafted. And if Blaney gets shafted, well, blame Tommy Baldwin, the little guy himself, for agreeing to something that hurt his own driver and team, not Tony Stewart for making the offer.

I'm sure Blaney feels fine about all this. He's a professional racing driver, watching his son climb the ladder as one of the top young talents, and even joining TBR this year! I don't think if Blaney had any doubts as to how TBR treats him he'd be returning and bringing his son with him. Tommy cares about his drivers; Blaney never felt shafted when Leicht or Bodine displaced him in the 36, he won't feel shafted now.

[MJ_N_09]

The reason I said you guys would rage was because I know Danica is very unpopular here. My opinion of her has been improving progressively also. I just don't think it's fair for the Blaney because Tony Stewart could just use his PCP anyway.

[Jacques Rabbit]

That's for Daytona, though.

Danica's running more than just Daytona.

This gives the 10 car a chance (not a guarantee, of course) to be in the top 35 for her other nine races, whereas switching the 14's points to the 10 and Tony using the provisional if he had to, only gets her into the Daytona 500. By the time she returns for Darlington, she will have been left far, far behind in points.

Honestly, I hope this whole thing becomes moot; after five races Blaney locks himself in, the 10 car falls out with Reutimann at the wheel, and Danica qualifies for every race she enters completely on time without ever having to worry. Then we can all be happy.

As for Blaney, well, when he comes out and says it's unfair, fine. But as I said before, the fact he returns to this team when they've done this to him before, and the fact he brought his son Ryan to TBR to start his career, tells me that Dave and Tommy get along just fine, have mutual respect for each other, and have created a situation that they are both okay with. As the team's senior driver, Blaney could have pitched a fit to be in the locked-in 10 car and make Reutimann drive the 36, but he didn't...I think he's at a point in his career where he cares more about Ryan and less about his own affairs, and understands that this helps TBR grow as a team, and given his son may have a future with TBR, he'll want to do everything he can to help that team out.

But that's all speculative. For all I know he's absolutely distraught.

[tux]

Nationwide series will be shown live/ as live in Europe via Motors TV. http://www.motorstv.com/car/others/n...ionwide-series

[Clive Brown]

There is a longer game being played here with the #10 car. Had it only been a question of Daytona, then it might well have been a question of the #14's 2011 points being moved across, and Smoke using his current Champion's provisional. As Jacques Rabbit points out, it's down to David Reutimann in the TBR iteration of the #10 car to keep it in the points so that she always gets a start in all of the races on her schedule. That makes me think that Reutimann's #10 car may not necessarily be one of Baldwin's old clunkers.... Blaney gets to struggle with those.

I wonder just who the nominated owner for the #10 car will be?

But more's the point, the key element is that Danica is due to run Cup full-time in 2013, so it is vital that she has a guaranteed start in the first five races of that season. Hence I predict that the #10 car will have thrown at it whatever resources TBR/SHR/HMS/Chevrolet/GM have to ensure that it finishes in the top 35 in Owner's points for the 2012 season.

Incidentally, who will be Danica's nominated tandem drafting partner be at Daytona? I'd LMAO if it was Blaney, and he (inadvertently) wrecked her in the race....

[FIRE]

Originally Posted by tux

Nationwide series will be shown live/ as live in Europe via Motors TV. http://www.motorstv.com/car/others/n...ionwide-series

[Jacques Rabbit]

The third Front Row car is #26, in a tribute to auto racing legends Jimmy Spencer and Todd Bodine (who will run Daytona for Red Horse Racing, but requires funding beyond that), two drivers who wore that number for Travis Carter and will forever be connected by their lack of real hair (one's more honest about that fact than the other).

Landon Cassill is in for Daytona, with a sponsor of some sort, so I hope he makes the show and doesn't park that puppy. I suspect him in a Ford means the Hendrick era is over...but then again, Cassill is to Hendrick as Todd Parrott was to Yates...always leaving, always coming right back.

Speaking of Yates, there won't be Roush/Yates motors for Inception Motorsports as planned, as the team has switched to Toyota. Mad-Croc Energy Drink will sponsor; they've sponsored a few other teams in NASCAR and F1 previously. Hopefully this means that they will not be parking this year, though they'll rack up DNFs nevertheless given the man they have at the wheel, none other than #blamestremme.

[Jacques Rabbit]

NEVERMIND I LIED I AM A TERRIBLE PERSON AND I TOLD YOU FALSE INFORMATION.

Landon Cassill won't be driving for Front Row at Daytona anymore because he's found a new, full-time opportunity to pursue. No details on what that is.

[HJJ]

Originally Posted by Jacques Rabbit

Landon Cassill won't be driving for Front Row at Daytona anymore because he's found a new, full-time opportunity to pursue. No details on what that is.

UPDATE: The story has been updated: Thursday morning, [Cassill] let Front Row general manager Jerry Freeze know he couldn't do it. "We gave [Cassill] an out if he got a full-time racing deal," Freeze said. "And it sounds like he has one. No idea on who we'll get for now."(2-2-2012)
UPDATE 2: If the NASCAR tea leaves are true, Cassill may race for the new ownership group that purchased the assets from Red Bull Racing and has set up shop in the old Randy Moss/Morgan Dollar Motorsports building in Statesville, N.C. Front Row Motorsports General Manager Jerry Friese said FRM intends to run three cars in the Daytona 500 and expects to name a driver that will join David Gilliland and David Ragan next week. The short list likely includes Travis Kvapil and Tony Raines. Both drivers have raced for the organization before.(Fox Sports)(2-3-2012)

.

[rustyfan]

Originally Posted by tux

Nationwide series will be shown live/ as live in Europe via Motors TV. http://www.motorstv.com/car/others/n...ionwide-series

Just heard about this, slow as I am - fantastic news!








...especially since Viasat here in Sweden might be dropping the Cup Series.

As for the 2012 Silly Season, I'm actually pretty excited to see what Kurt Busch can do in the #51.

[MJ_N_09]

I heard nothing about that new ownership group of the former Red Bull team. Who is it?

[HJJ]

Originally Posted by MJ_N_09

You guys are gonna rage...........read this:

rage has started.

http://nascar.speedtv.com/article/cu...nascar-sprint/

[Jacques Rabbit]

Originally Posted by MJ_N_09

I heard nothing about that new ownership group of the former Red Bull team. Who is it?

Basically TRG without owner Kevin Buckler.

[FIRE]

Originally Posted by HJJ

rage has started.

http://nascar.speedtv.com/article/cu...nascar-sprint/

I am not a fan of Danica and swapping owner points but why sudden this outrage? Swapping owner points is happening for many years.

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by FIRE

I am not a fan of Danica and swapping owner points but why sudden this outrage? Swapping owner points is happening for many years.

Because Danica is polarizing, in more ways than one...

[MJ_N_09]

Originally Posted by Jacques Rabbit

Basically TRG without owner Kevin Buckler.

from part of a Jayski article about this, it's gonna be 2 cars. The 83 comes back and the 4 changes to the 93. The new TRG-ish owners also get the owners points. Cassill is already hinted as a driver, but I also have a prediction. Vickers will probably drive the 83, just as he did during Red Bull Racing's Nascar life.

Since they have the 93 now, that means that the team who was gonna use it, Sinica, is gone.