ONE: Being Sponsor Savvy No Longer Enough for Elliott Sadler?
Sitting 27th in the points, Elliott Sadler is sitting fourth of four teams in the Richard Petty Motorsports stable. And while teammates AJ Allmendinger and Paul Menard are also outside the top 20 in the standings, it’s the way Sadler has limped to 27th that truly has the Virginia veteran the backmarker of the RPM fleet. He has no top-10 finishes, just four top 20s in 19 starts, and has been hardly competitive thus far in 2010 at any track sans Daytona.
So was anyone out there really surprised to read comments that Sadler doesn’t “fit into their [RPM’s] future plans?” Sooner or later, no matter how much a sponsor loves a driver, results have to come at this level. And for Sadler, those results have long been absent.
It would seem to be no surprise, then, that the marriage between the two is shortly coming to an end. However, RPM VP of Race Operations Robbie Loomis was out doing damage control immediately following Sadler’s remarks that he would likely not be back in the No. 19 for 2011, stressing to the media that Sadler was on a short list of drivers being considered by RPM for their seats next year. All of a sudden, he came out of the woodwork to claim the team was confident that reuniting Sadler with crew chief Todd Parrott would produce results after struggling all season.
I just have one question about that whole PR stunt: why? Why on earth would a driver that’s been in the stable since the middle of 2006, with only four top-five finishes in 141 starts to show for it, be the right move? In that timeframe, Allmendinger and Menard have both made marked strides forward, with Kasey Kahne winning races and threatening for Chase berths. In comparison, Sadler has done what he’s done throughout this campaign; run quietly in the shadows.
There’s certainly an argument to be made that having a veteran on track, even when struggling to perform, provides information and benefits to the other team cars that are worth having an entry lagging in the back of the field. But on the flip side, cutting deadweight has been proven to work, too. Just ask Richard Childress Racing how they’ve run since Casey Mears got the boot.
The only reason that hasn’t happened to Sadler is that sponsors Stanley and others have refused to see the writing on the wall the way Jack Daniel’s did with Mears. Using those connections (and a lawyer) to keep his ride when RPM tried to release him 18 months ago, the Virginian has continually proven able to get those backers to sign his paychecks and keep him on track. But eventually, RPM has got to start asking whether lean and mean might not be the better way to go. Allmendinger has proven to click with sponsor Best Buy, and Menard is money in the bank. For a team that has reportedly deep unresolved financial issues, a two-car future, with two cars running well, may well outweigh a fully-sponsored anchor.
TWO: Why, Exactly, Did RCR Have to Field a Car for Morgan Shepherd?
When Morgan Shepherd made the deal to run RCR’s number last week, it was a win-win for both sides. Richard Childress Racing would have its No. 21 get credit for an entry at Chicagoland and what few points would be there for start-and-parking, assuming that Shepherd held to 2010 form. Shepherd, on the other hand, would get a guaranteed starting position and a paycheck, all for putting a No. 21 decal on the side of his trademark green car.
Not so fast, said NASCAR. At the last minute, officials informed RCR that if they wanted the points, their car had to race. The resulting frenzy saw the No. 21 that Shepherd would drive arrive at the Chicagoland Speedway only minutes before the start of practice; he would qualify in the back and drive to a 25th-place result when the night was done.
So why was it necessary to have RCR essentially overnight a racecar from North Carolina to Illinois? After all, just last week at Daytona Penske Racing fielded a third car for Parker Kligerman… a third car that earned points for Brian Keselowski and his K-Automotive operation because it carried the No. 26 on its quarterpanels. Why didn’t NASCAR step in last week and tell the K-Automotive boys they had to put one of their own cars on the track for Kligerman to run?
Well, K-Automotive didn’t have a Nationwide CoT to put Kligerman in. And with Specialty Racing already unable to contest the race, only one new owner present and the field only full because a number of Cup teams fielded extra cars, NASCAR kept their mouths shut and allowed a Nationwide independent team to benefit. And, true to form, they inconsistently held just a week later that what was sauce for Penske and K-Automotive wasn’t for RCR and Shepherd.
These number swaps are nothing new. Jeremy Clements‘s racing team ran their own equipment while carrying JD Motorsports’ numbers through much of 2009 and even this year. Jay Robinson Racing runs the No. 70 car on weekends that ML Motorsports isn’t at the track. It’s to the point where they’ve become commonplace; but all of a sudden, in this case, NASCAR stood up on their high horse and cried foul. That turnabout cost RCR thousands of dollars, forced to wheel out a car for Shepherd to drive.
Don’t get me wrong; I was thrilled to see Shepherd get to drive a halfway decent machine. Hopefully, with some more practice, we’ll see some top 20s out of him. But NASCAR’s inconsistency here just begs to have light shed on it. It’s the one thing they’re consistent at.
THREE: The Dillon Brothers Just What the Doctor Ordered for RCR Development
Speaking of the RCR camp, those two Dillon brothers they’re bringing through the development ranks went from promising to full-fledged prospects over the course of two days at Iowa Speedway. Austin Dillon went out and won the Truck Series pole on Friday afternoon, just like his younger brother Ty Dillon did in his ARCA Racing Series debut that same afternoon. Ty went on to run second in the ARCA event, while Austin won the Truck race handily the following day. It was quite the departure for a development program that endured the disastrous John Wes Townley experiment as well as having Tim George Jr. and the team’s ARCA operation lolly-gagging around the back half of the top 10 in that series, with only four top-10 finishes in the first nine races this season.
The results on-track speak for themselves; the Dillon brothers owned Iowa this past weekend. But just as importantly, off the track the two can best be described as a breath of fresh air for the organization. Be it Austin enthusiastically, and professionally, calling his brother’s race from the booth Friday night or both he and Ty joking around after taking a group photo with the pole award, there’s a far different aura coming from these two than from RCR’s other development projects. Let’s compare: would you like Townley and his underage alcohol citation in Las Vegas, or George missing the drivers’ meeting (Salem) and having to be verbally whipped time and time again by his spotter to pick the pace up on the track (Salem, Toledo, Pocono)?
If you look at it that way, well… aw shucks, them two are just what RCR’s been looking for. And right at home, no less.
FOUR: Jeff Gordon’s Enduring the Longest Winless Streak of His Career
48 races, to be exact. But who cares? With a championship system that grants a maximum 25-point bonus to the race winner, Jeff Gordon‘s only 103 markers out of first place despite being the only driver in the top six in points without multiple victories. And we all know what the Chase does to those pesky points leads, don’t we?
FIVE: Three National Touring Races, Three Examples of Why a Chase Isn’t Needed
Friday night’s Nationwide Series race saw Brad Keselowski go from an all-but-certain top-five finish to a 21st-place result after missing his pit box for a late-race stop… and running out of fuel as a result. Ahead of him, Carl Edwards went on to finish sixth, then picked up 45 points on the lead for his troubles. Saturday night saw Kevin Harvick suffer from fuel pump issues mid-race, leading to a 34th-place result that saw his points lead over Gordon shrink from 212 to 103. And in the Truck Series on Sunday, a calamitous day that saw standings leaders Todd Bodine, Aric Almirola and Timothy Peters all worse for the wear from crashes and blown motors, the points race now has five drivers within 201 markers of the lead (Johnny Sauter made up over 60 Sunday afternoon).
Didn’t take a convoluted, pre-scheduled points reset to make these title chases a bit more interesting, did it? Though it may go beyond the pea-sized brains running NASCAR, this sport tends to see drivers building point leads face adversity over the course of the season. This, in turn, allows other competitors to catch up, creating drama on the track and a motivation for racers to push harder, go faster and put on a whale of a show doing it.
So just get the hell out of the way, NASCAR, and let the sport play out. If it’s anything like this past weekend, it just might be worth watching.
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Although I’ve never met him, Elliott Sadler has always struck me as a really nice guy. And we all know where nice guys tend to finish. Sorry, Elliott, but maybe it’s time to see if Hermie can get you a job as a pit reporter.
I’ve gone from trying to be open-minded about the chase when it was first introduced to completely loathing it today. I’m even more concerned about the upcoming “tweaks” that are planned. If Nascar is going to continually make their championship more and more contrived, why don’t they just get Howie Mandel to have the drivers select briefcases after a race with their point totals printed inside?
I see that currently 80% of the fans are saying “No” to adding the Chase format to the other series.
80%? Why does that sound familar? Oh yeah – that was the % of fans who said “No” when originally asked about implementing the Chase. Of course, Brian knew better than the fans – and the results speak for themselves.
Sure, because once every few years we have a tight points battle, that means the Chase sucks? How about last year when Ron Hornaday and Kyle Busch ran away with the points titles all year? And Carl Edwards, Clint Bowyer, and Kevin Harvick did the same thing in the Nationwide Series the previous years. In fact, the *only* good points battle in the last few years has been in the Truck series in 2008 between Ron Hornaday and Johnny Benson. Almost all of us agree that Jimmie Johnson winning four Chases in a row isnt the greatest thing, but think about this: If Dale Jr, or your favorite driver, had won four in a row, would you still think the Chase sucks? Somehow I doubt it.
Like I said once before, Sadler’s “career” got forked the very second he pulled over and let Kenseth win the D500 a half a lap later in the rain shortened race.
If my driver won 4 in a row, I would still think the Chase sucks. While my driver has won in both formats, I thought the full season championship was much more satisfying than the 10 race crap shoot.
There would be no need for a Chase format if you gave more points for winning and stopped giving out points at around 25th or 30th position. It would also open it up for the fastest 43 to start the race as missing a race wouldn’t hurt as much. It would also discourage points racing.
See I just found a solution to a few of Nascars problems. Put me on the payroll!!!!
Whats wrong with giving the championship trophy to the driver who wins the most races ? Second would be the driver who wins the second most races . Ties could easily be broken by the number of second place , third place , etc . Winning is more important than being consistant . And with as many races as there are in the schedule , i think you would always have a clear winner .
Point 5 was awesome. I so agree — just can the darn chase. But since NASCAR’s management can’t find its butt with both hands, it won’t happen. They’ll do something even more stupid to “tweak” the chase. How about each driver just draw lots instead of racing at all?
I disagree with the idea of making the champion be based on wins only – I still think a full season of races by points should be the way things are decided. It would save fuel and NASCAR and NASCAR could get a lot of press out of talking about how “green” they are.
Monica, because then you would have huge last lap crashes at every race as drivers slam into each other trying to win the race. No thanks.
Mr. Keith’s comments re: Sadler are off the mark. McMurray was finished too until he he found an organization that cared how he ran. RPM brought the new fav AJ on when it wasn’t equipped financially to do so at the expense of the 19 team. Give him a decent ride and some teamwork and he’ll show you he can still drive.
I’m sure drivers are smart enough to avoid smashing into each other on the last lap , although the usual fiasco that the GWC causes makes me wonder . I’m sure the drivers could handle it . And theres always the penalty box if they don’t .
Now as for turning the driver in front of you around on the last lap , or at least getting him loose so you can drive on by … we already have that .
Just wondering why the RCR hauler took the #21 to Iowa Speedway? Seems like if the car was entered to run at Chicagoland that they would take the car there. Maybe Michael Waltrip was the hauler driver, “I’m at the wrong track!” -End sarcasm
The way I see it Elliott Sadler has stayed around much longer than he should have.It’s a performance business and he has been at enough teams with enough different combinations and consistantly runs in the back of the pack.He,like Michael Waltrip have luckily found a way to stay around much longer than other drivers with poor performance because they found the knack of putting their faces in front of the camera at every possible opportunity.He should now start getting into trouble like MW, drink and drive causing accidents, do some on track cheating and then steal some other teams parts and he will have his place cemented in NASCAR, maybe even a team owner??
Good one Wayne – the only problem with that is ESad’s brother isn’t a loud mouth! Actually, I like Elliot. And the authors comment on Casey Mears….Not saying he should still be there but..wasn’t he one of the better running RCR cars his last year there? Just sayin’.
Wow, what a concept. A 3 made it to victory lane and no conspiracy theorists? It had to be scripted, right?
Oh well oh well oh well. WHY do we continue to “throw our two cents in” when it’s obvious NASCAR is going to continue “changing” things until they force their series right out of the market. As far as Sadler goes…if you go by “what’s he done for me lately” then Junior should be going out the door right behind Sadler. Then right behind him you could open the door for J. Gordon, JPM, Truex, Martin, oh..let’s not forget Edwards….the list goes on. I realize Sadler doesn’t have the stats alot of the above do…but he also doesn’t have the teams most of the above do. So….If NASCAR was trying to “make a statement” by forcing RCR to field their own car for Morgan..they missed the mark..most of the fans didn’t know the story behind the scenes…and most of them don’t care..they were just happy to see Morgan on the track. As far as Dillon and the “3” truck…well to me when I see him on the track my mind doesn’t say “Senior”…it just says Dillon/3…I don’t know why we have to “force” the connection and keep reliving the past. If..as the commercial says “It’s my, your, OUR NASCAR”…is true..when do I get my credentials and hard card? As of right now it’s about as far away as it can get when it comes to being “MY NASCAR”.
I actually like Elliot too and was a bit harsh, but I also have liked many drivers who have come and gone because they didn’t perform well enough or didn’t self promote themselves enough.I always thought Ricky Craven got a bum deal. He was doing pretty good in the 41 car when he went to the 25 car. That car has been a career killer. ask Schrader, Dale jr. and others.But winning at 2 tough tracks, Darlington, Martinsville in the Tide car and running good at many others shows driving talent, just not enough self promotion.Others like Casey Atwood were never given the same chances over and over like Elliott Sadler has.Then guys like M. Waltrip have a whole career because people like his mugging for the camera act, which I despise.And he does have the BIG MOUTH brother and Hermie is not that at all.NASCAR is like life, not very fair .
Just surprised we are not talking endlessly about Dale Jr. finishing 23rd. Dale Jr. and Sadler should be driving buddies for the local garbage disposal company.