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Post by Mile501 on Nov 28, 2018 10:05:48 GMT -5
I agree. I wanted 1 more year for him in Xfinity. He was improving. I am amazed he did better in the RCR #2 than the Gibbs #19. Maybe that was just him having more experience. I think so, and I also think RCR improved from 2017-2018. Since they went from 5 full-time cars to 3 full-time cars, they could focus more on each one of them. The Jones/Tifft swap actually helped both drivers. Sometimes, a driver just performs better with a certain team's chemistry, and there's no obvious explanation as to why. I always think back to Jamie McMurray, who has always been pretty good with Ganassi but was terrible during his time at Roush, even though Roush was regarded as a better team at that point in time. Kasey Kahne is another example--he excelled at Evernham, but when he moved to Hendrick, arguably the best team at the time, he was never quite as good. Matt Tifft ended the season with 11 top-10s in the last 13 races. The press release said that Front Row felt like he would bring youthful enthusiasm to the organization, so hopefully it works out well for everyone. We'll have to wait and see. |
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Post by Mile501 on Nov 28, 2018 12:12:22 GMT -5
It looks like we will again have 30 competitive teams (organizations that can at least periodically score top-10s) and 6 underfunded teams at the back. Essentially, the only change in terms of teams is that we lose the #78 and gain the #36. I also expect the #32 to take a step back again unless they can find another driver on par with DiBenedetto.
30 Full-Time Competitive Teams:
#1 - Kurt Busch ??
#2 - Brad Keselowski
#3 - Austin Dillon
#4 - Kevin Harvick
#6 - Ryan Newman
#9 - Chase Elliott
#10 - Aric Almirola
#11 - Denny Hamlin
#12 - Ryan Blaney
#13 - Ty Dillon
#14 - Clint Bowyer
#17 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
#18 - Kyle Busch
#19 - Martin Truex Jr.
#20 - Erik Jones
#21 - Paul Menard
#22 - Joey Logano
#24 - William Byron
#31 - Daniel Hemric
#34 - Michael McDowell
#36 - Matt Tifft
#37 - Chris Buescher
#38 - David Ragan
#41 - Daniel Suarez ??
#42 - Kyle Larson
#43 - Darrell Wallace Jr.
#47 - Ryan Preece
#48 - Jimmie Johnson
#88 - Alex Bowman
#95 - Matt DiBenedetto
6 Full-Time Underfunded Teams:
#00 - Landon Cassill ??
#15 - Ross Chastain
#32 - ??
#51 - ??
#52 - ??
#72 - ??
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Post by racefan76 on Nov 28, 2018 14:15:31 GMT -5
It looks like we will again have 30 competitive teams (organizations that can at least periodically score top-10s) and 6 underfunded teams at the back. Essentially, the only change in terms of teams is that we lose the #78 and gain the #36. I also expect the #32 to take a step back again unless they can find another driver on par with DiBenedetto. 30 Full-Time Competitive Teams: #1 - Kurt Busch ?? #2 - Brad Keselowski #3 - Austin Dillon #4 - Kevin Harvick #6 - Ryan Newman #9 - Chase Elliott #10 - Aric Almirola #11 - Denny Hamlin #12 - Ryan Blaney #13 - Ty Dillon #14 - Clint Bowyer #17 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr. #18 - Kyle Busch #19 - Martin Truex Jr. #20 - Erik Jones #21 - Paul Menard #22 - Joey Logano #24 - William Byron #31 - Daniel Hemric #34 - Michael McDowell #36 - Matt Tifft #37 - Chris Buescher #38 - David Ragan #41 - Daniel Suarez ?? #42 - Kyle Larson #43 - Darrell Wallace Jr. #47 - Ryan Preece #48 - Jimmie Johnson #88 - Alex Bowman #95 - Matt DiBenedetto 6 Full-Time Underfunded Teams: #00 - Landon Cassill ?? #15 - Ross Chastain #32 - ?? #51 - ?? #52 - ?? #72 - ?? <iframe width="25.200000000000045" height="16.360000000000014" style="position: absolute; width: 25.200000000000045px; height: 16.360000000000014px; z-index: -9999; border-style: none;left: 15px; top: -5px;" id="MoatPxIOPT0_70110836" scrolling="no"></iframe> <iframe width="25.200000000000045" height="16.360000000000014" style="position: absolute; width: 25.2px; height: 16.36px; z-index: -9999; border-style: none; left: 1198px; top: -5px;" id="MoatPxIOPT0_89340349" scrolling="no"></iframe> <iframe width="25.200000000000045" height="16.360000000000014" style="position: absolute; width: 25.2px; height: 16.36px; z-index: -9999; border-style: none; left: 15px; top: 746px;" id="MoatPxIOPT0_19306564" scrolling="no"></iframe> <iframe width="25.200000000000045" height="16.360000000000014" style="position: absolute; width: 25.2px; height: 16.36px; z-index: -9999; border-style: none; left: 1198px; top: 746px;" id="MoatPxIOPT0_93670268" scrolling="no"></iframe> The #36 takes place of the #23. The 36th charter hasn't been sold yet. |
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Post by Mile501 on Nov 28, 2018 15:21:59 GMT -5
The #36 takes place of the #23. The 36th charter hasn't been sold yet. In a way, yes, but that wasn't the point I was trying to make. This past year, we basically had 30 competitive teams, and next year looks the same. Among that group, we lost the #78 and gained the #36. |
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Post by JSPorts on Nov 28, 2018 15:57:37 GMT -5
I wouldn't say there were 30 competitive teams last year. There was a large gap between 30th and 31st, yes, but there were really only about 5-10 cars max that were competitive for wins on speed weekly.
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Post by Mile501 on Nov 28, 2018 20:05:12 GMT -5
I wouldn't say there were 30 competitive teams last year. There was a large gap between 30th and 31st, yes, but there were really only about 5-10 cars max that were competitive for wins on speed weekly. In my original post, I defined "competitive teams" as "(organizations that can at least periodically score top-10s)." I wasn't talking about winning teams. Matt DiBenedetto scored one top-10 at Daytona; otherwise, all the top 30 teams accumulated all the top-10 finishes during the season. |
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Post by racefan76 on Dec 2, 2018 11:39:15 GMT -5
So as it stands, there are 41-2 entries of the 500:
the 35 chartered cars + the 36th charter car
confirmed non-charters: #40 Ganassi, #46 Fan Base, #62 Beard, #66 MBM, a second MBM car, and a Tommy Baldwin car
Non-charters that haven't been confirmed: #96 Gaunt, #55 Premium, #99 Starcom, #97 Obaika, #52 Ware, #92 Ricky Benton
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Post by JSPorts on Dec 2, 2018 15:23:06 GMT -5
I don't think Fan Base is confirmed for anything.
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Post by Canadianfan on Dec 2, 2018 21:02:56 GMT -5
We pretty much knew it was already official.
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Post by JSPorts on Dec 2, 2018 22:21:05 GMT -5
Kurt to the #1 almost a certainty, as is Suarez to the #41. I expect those announcements in the next few weeks.
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Post by Mile501 on Dec 3, 2018 6:40:21 GMT -5
Many of the comments in response to Kurt Busch's Twitter post say that SHR is making a mistake in letting him go. I tend to agree. The only thing I can figure is it's sponsor-driven, as Kurt never had many sponsors to support him at SHR aside from Monster Energy, and who knows what they were actually paying since they're also the title sponsor of the series. Kurt made the playoffs, earned at least 1 win, and scored at least 6 top-5s every season he was with SHR, so it can't be performance-related.
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Post by Canadianfan on Dec 3, 2018 10:51:20 GMT -5
Funny thing after college I almost got a job with Deloitte.
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Post by Canadianfan on Dec 3, 2018 11:37:05 GMT -5
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Post by Canadianfan on Dec 3, 2018 13:44:21 GMT -5
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Post by chevyfan98 on Dec 3, 2018 18:26:10 GMT -5
Regarding Kurt Busch, it’s always kind of felt like SHR (well at least Stewart) never really wanted him there. Remember he was a 100% Haas hiring and Stewart had been saying he didn’t want to expand to four cars (which was why Newman had to leave) and then they wouldn’t sign Kurt to a long-term deal after last year either.
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