O'Quinn Given Release From Roush Racing

[Tyyrus]

 Well it would appear that even Rookie of the Year Honors do not Guarantee Employment within Roush..Eh !
 Check out the Jay-Ski ..site for further info..apparently Villenuerve..Deal is Pending Primary Sponsorship
 Validation..according to Roush Presidio G. Smith..therefore Mr. O'Quinn has become expendable..Eh !
 Really don't know who's running the show at Roush anymore..appears Jack is just a Figure Head..Now !
Talk about screwin up a Good Thing ... Man ! Must be sufferin from Brian..Brain Lock Syndrome..Baby !

[PlanoHarvickFan]

Well that's pretty crummy

[Tyyrus]

Yeh ... Politics...and Business...as Usual...Pretty Sad !

[Chris]

hhuumm
I don't know so much about 'politics'....
But I can see where it is business....
When you got a seasoned veteram waiting in the wings,... saw the quick transition other opened wheel guys have made from that to full bodied cars,.. then just saw Montoya do it again,....
In theory might kinda seem like the right move.
I think with fours young guys,... he just ended up the off man out.
Ragan HAS a CUP ride, and showed great promise in only a shorted season.
Kleuver did earn more points than O'Quinn in the BGN series, and did have some CUP starts,... (and to be honest,.. I would say Kleuver was the poorest of the four drivers,.. but he did show lots of promise the last couple months of the season)
Also I think Roush is saving a seat for Erik Darnell (from the CTS)  that kid looked REALLY good this season also.
SO when you have 4 seats,.... and if you do want Villenueve. You have to cut someone.  Just not enough rides to go around.
Too Bad for Danny.  I think he's a decent driver.  But probably the worst of the five.

[AfterShock]

On the other hand, Denny Hamlin got an opportunity of a lifetime to be introduced into the NASCAR world of drivers to prove he has the ability to get 'er done.

That's gotta count for SOMEthing.
Ya reckon?

Beyond that, Follow the Money Trail.................................. .........
Dedication, I think, is becomming a thing of the past.

Racing is now big business and more and more driven by the sponsors rather than actual drivers of the human type. I doubt the sponsors woud care if there were robots behind the wheel, as long as those robots sold product and/or services. Like the six o'clock news --- just talking heads. Remainder of body optional --- but not necessarily necessary.
A robot with a pretty face.
That wouldn't demand fair treatment.
It's in the programing.

What's not to like?

[falcon325]

That's a shame, tyyrus.  These kids just don't have long to develop.

As an official Canuckian, how do you feel about Villeneuve?

[Tyyrus]

Yeh I agree with ya all , 60/40 on the Business & Politics..Dedication...few & Far between now a days .

Villenuerve..was a Class act once upon a time...not sure but might be an Over the Hill Underachiever in Nascar
...really to early ta tell. I new his Father Gille..also a quite competent Gp Racer . Back in the early 60's Gille
Raced Snowmobiles for Bombardier Factory..I raced against him and Miguel Durhamel's (Gp MotorCycle Champ).. Dad.. Yvonne who was a Teamate of Gille...In the Professional Racing Series in Kawatha Lakes Peterbough. I really would have preferred to see Paul Tracy go act Nascar Full Time...now theres a guy with
some potential...but alas..he has decided to stay back with Jerry Forsythe..Eh !

[falcon325]

Yeah, I think Tracy would have been (and still may be) a better addition than Ville. But Tracy didn't exactly light 'em up in Busch.  And people forget Scott Pruet.  And technically, Steve Kinser was an "open-wheel" racer.  Driving "taxi cabs" isn't as easy as it looks. 

JPM has done a decent job so far, although I did think he got in over his head a couple of times at Homestead, even before Ryan Newman's little "oopsy, doosy."  I keep thinking of the image of JPM snuggling uncomfortably close to one car's bumper before swerving left and almost clipping Earnhardt's right rear.  Racin' is a funny deal.  If Juan had sent Lilly head-first into the fence and injured Junebug, Juan would have been well-advised to forget about fender-racin' and move back to Columbia.  And Brian Vickers could come out of the Witness Protection Program.   

[Tyyrus]

  ROTFFL...Yeh..Vickers gettin out of the Witness Protection..Man !

P.S. Actually an Canusa...Baby ! ...dependin where my feet are positioned Geographically....Baby !

[Racergiant]

Tell ya what...   If I had a million (multi-million?) dollar sponsor and I didn't currently have a ride I'm sure I could get one fairly easily enough... 

Not naming names (too much but...)  Look at Paul Menard.  How many millions do you think they poured into DEI so he could get a ride? 

[flamehothead]

Not naming names (too much but...)  Look at Paul Menard.  How many millions do you think they poured into DEI so he could get a ride?

I'm sure it only cost them a COUPLE of store's, At the most a SMALL Franchise. I'm sure that DEI wasn't happy when Mikey left and took NAPA with him. And if you remember correctly Burger King used to sponsor DEI also, Look's like Mikey is doing pretty well for hiimself.

Sorry for jumping subject's again, Kinda hard to control sometimes LOL>

[Chris]

I'm sure it only cost them a COUPLE of store's, At the most a SMALL Franchise. I'm sure that DEI wasn't happy when Mikey left and took NAPA with him. And if you remember correctly Burger King used to sponsor DEI also, Look's like Mikey is doing pretty well for hiimself.

Sorry for jumping subject's again, Kinda hard to control sometimes LOL>

Well couple items... Menard was already racing for DEI before Mikey left.. so Him moving up to CUP don't necessilary mean it happened just because Mikey left.  Beside most every CUP race he run in this season,.. he made a pretty good showing of himself.  If he run full time I think he'll do OK.  Better than a lot of guys.

As far as Mikey,.. He's only got one problem,.... he's NO driver.  Yeah 4 career wins... ALL at restrictor plate tracks where Jr was able to push him to the win.
Never posted a win on a track where you 'raced' and no restrictor plates come into play.  Also we know Earnhardt SR, and DEI worked extensively on car areodynamics, and also in the wind tunnel just so they would have an advantage on the restrictor plate tracks.  UP until the last year or two they were still ahead of the other teams because of that.  Seems the other teams have caught up now.
In any event,.. Waltrip is a good "shill",... he can get out and sell a product (so much he overdoes it and people get sick of it sometimes),... but after all these years he has yet to prove he's a week in and week out competative driver.  Even now (on his own) he can't get with the program at restrictor plate tracks,.... even missed the field 4 or 5 times this season.
Now,.. giving him the benefit of the doubt,... I said he would have WAY to many irons in the fire what with trying to race, drum up sponsors, test his CURRENT CUP car,.. test the new Toyota, etc etc... but he paid the price,.. and will also do so in 2007.  I look for little improvement.  NAPA may not stay with a car that misses the field so much...
Mikey's not immune from being just like every other team that has problems making the field... that leads to problems finding sponsors,.. then with no sponsor you got no driver,...
I'm thinking Mikeys gonna either have to quit driving and just run his teams,... or not worry about running his teams and concentrate on driving only (and hire someone to run the business)

[Tyyrus]

 Yep...Villeneruve...had better...see if Menard's will float him a loan for about 10 Million..Eh !

[flamehothead]

NOTE: When I said that Mikey was doing pretty well for himself I meant as an owner. I DID NOT Mean as a Driver, That's pretty much self expanatory. And Yes I did know that Menard has been with DEI. My point was that for him to jump into the Cup Series they had to sale a couple of stores. Anyway I honestly think there are 2 main reasons that M.Waltrip was Fired.

#1. Like you said he only has 4 career win's at track's where my Daughter could win. It doesn't take ALOT of skill to win at a Restrictor Plate Track.

#2. I believe they knew what the plans were for Menard and the 15 car. Everyone knew that Treux.Jr was going to the 1 car so the only driver that was left in the Busch series was Menard.

[Chris]

I agree with ya FHH...
but I think if Mikey was ANY kind of driver he would STILL be at DEI, and DEI would just have a 4th team for Menard.