Smith's World for December 3, 2009
December 3, 2009
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Your Dale Jr jokes are getting old.
Mike,
"Biggest Disappointment - Rick Hendrick's unwillingness to do what it takes to get Junior in the same equipment that Jimmie Johnson is in. Some have grumbled certain accusations that at first left me wondering, but I've since come on board 100% to believe - he doesn't care if Junior wins or not because the sponsor dollars and souvenir revenues are there regardless. And really, you're Rick Hendrick and you can make history with a four-in-a-row champ, or spend your company resources on a guy who remains popular whether he wins or not -- what do you do?" From Carol Einarsson at racejournalonline.com 12/3/09
I wonder what changed Carol's mind to believing 100%...?
Last spring Nascar Now started reported that Tony Jr. was making Jr.'s car with 2007 DEI spec cars. When he was removed, RH said that he was going to fix Jr.'s cars. During the week the crew chiefs were switched, Nascar Now reported that since Jr.'s cars sent to Dover were the old T. Jr. cars and that HMS sent a truck with 2 of the newer HMS chassis to switch out. Those cars never made it to Dover. Instead they made a big deal out of the 'brains' at HMS were working on Jr.'s car...the OLD chassis cars. Lance made 2, 1 1/2 track cars. The first was used at Indy. Jr. ran very well, until the engine blew. They get to Charlotte, instead of using one of the new cars that he ran much better in, they used the car he finished 27th in at Pocono in June, and 36th at Charlotte in the falll of 2008. Where were his 2 newer cars? Was Brad driving one? Martinsville the camber was wrong and it was a lot of blown tires. They ran Jr. out of gas at Texas. At Phoenix, another old T.Jr. car, they knew he had an oil leak, loose oil fittings and sent back out on the track...to wreck? Jr. said that he needs a dictator for a cc, I think that he needs a cc that he can have confidence, especially going into a corner at 200mph. With all of the money Jr. is bringing into HMS one would think that they would hire a top tier crew chief, like Addington.
Marybeth
Mike, Pt. 2
Personally, I think that Jr. is not going to run competitively and consistently as long as he is at HMS, for whatever reason. 2 years have certainly been a more than fair trial and HMS isn't up to it, nor do I think that they care to be. I think they have him running their R&D car for Jimmie.
RH has certainly let enough other drivers go and it is time for him to let Jr. go. Maybe Jr. needs to study what KB did and imitate it. :) KB's wins did not take off until he went to Gibbs. Getting out of HMS was the best thing that ever happened to him. He could be driving the HMS R&D car for Jimmie.
I find it odd that with HMS' vaunted depth and resources, that RCR can field 4 cars with equal and now competitive equipment, including Casey Mears, and HMS can't.
All of the above being true, then a true fan of Jr. Nation will not be buying anymore Jr. #88 gear, so that the money goes into the wrong pocket at HMS and ends up putting the wrong driver in the championship, again. Maybe just wear plain green or blue t-shirts and caps"?
The only thing I want is Jr. out of and well away from HMS & SHR. They had 2 years and it was all a lie. I would be happy with Jr. at RCR, or back at EGR in the #8, or even Toyota. They would not treat Jr. like this. RH is going to go for a very long string of championships with JJ and Chad. Jr. might be allowed a couple of wins, but never truly competitive with JJ at the end. If someone, Toyota, should make a Chad an offer he can't refuse, do you think that RH would move Lance to be JJ's cc"? Marybeth
Marybeth, you say:
"I find it odd that with HMS' vaunted depth and resources, that RCR can field 4 cars with equal and now competitive equipment, including Casey Mears, and HMS can't."
One could also say it this way "HMS can field 4 cars with 3 of them winning, and finishing 1-2-3 in the points, while the RCR cars can't even find victory lane"
And I'm not anti RCR, but they didn't live up to our expectations this year. Jr. is a far better driver than his recent record shows, but he's not in the top 5.