NASCAR news

[Spike]

9 hours ago, Spike said:

Unfortunately Shane VanGisbergen will not be taking part in the All Star Race in a few weeks https://www.jayski.com/2024/05/01/shane-van-gisbergen-will-not-compete-in-all-star-race/ unless another team steps up with a spare car or a sponsor steps up.

Ricky Stenhouse jr and JTGDaugherty Racing sign a multi year extension https://www.jayski.com/2024/05/02/ricky-stenhouse-jr-signs-contract-extension-with-jtg-daugherty-racing/

I forgot to mention that JTGDAUGHERTY racing's deal with Chevrolet is up at the end of the season and there's a good possibility that they might switch to Toyota and be a JGR satellite team. The other rumor is they will sell the team and charter to a new team, possibly 23/11. 

Speaking of charters, teams and NASCAR still have not come to an agreement on how much $$$$ teams should get from the new tv deal that starts next year. Denny Hamlin has been very outspoken on this subject on his podcast Actions Detrimental which is available at Dirty Mo Media. There was one opinion piece I read the other day that said if the teams wanted to they could take their driver's and start a new racing organization and race at non-NASCAR owned tracks. I don't think it will come to that but the teams could use that as a bargaining chip if they wanted too.

[Garrett Duke]

It's just a sad day when NASCAR has come to this. It is more about the drama they themselves create and less about the racing. I miss the days when racing was about the racing. Not about NASCAR and how they can control everything.

[Garrett Duke]

Talking about JTG Daugherty . . . Ricky Stenhouse Jr just signed a new seven year contract with them. I actually thought this was what you are sharing at first, Spike, as I didn't hear them potentially moving to Toyota. (As long as Hendrick stays with Chevy. I'm happy...LOL.) 

 

JTG Daugherty signs Ricky Stenhouse Jr. to new deal | NASCAR

[HossC]

Well, I said that I wouldn't bother reporting on F1 until someone other than Max Verstappen won, and it looked like that would continue at Miami. Max took pole in the sprint race and the main race and won the sprint, but things didn't go his way in the main race. At just over 1/3 distance, Max made a rare mistake, missed a chicane and ran over a bollard which caused a bit of damage to his car. A few laps later, local driver Logan Sargeant collided with the Haas of Kevin Magnussen to bring out the safety car. Max had already pitted for tires, so Mclaren's Lando Norris was able to pit under the safety car and stay in first place.  With Max unable to catch him, Lando went on to his first win in F1 after 110 races (he's finished in the top three 15 times).

Behind Lando and Max were the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr in third and fifth, Max's Red Bull team mate Sergio Perez in fourth and Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton in sixth.

You can see the race highlights here.

[Garrett Duke]

5 hours ago, HossC said:

Well, I said that I wouldn't bother reporting on F1 until someone other than Max Verstappen won, and it looked like that would continue at Miami. Max took pole in the sprint race and the main race and won the sprint, but things didn't go his way in the main race. At just over 1/3 distance, Max made a rare mistake, missed a chicane and ran over a bollard which caused a bit of damage to his car. A few laps later, local driver Logan Sargeant collided with the Haas of Kevin Magnussen to bring out the safety car. Max had already pitted for tires, so Mclaren's Lando Norris was able to pit under the safety car and stay in first place.  With Max unable to catch him, Lando went on to his first win in F1 after 110 races (he's finished in the top three 15 times).

Behind Lando and Max were the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr in third and fifth, Max's Red Bull team mate Sergio Perez in fourth and Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton in sixth.

You can see the race highlights here.

If it's not your favorite driver, it gets old and frustrating when the same person wins every time. Is there a reason why Max wins every race?? (Other than that he's good?) In NASCAR there is always one driver that seems to dominate the season, but they never win every race like that.

I am glad that someone else won yesterday though for you. That had to be exciting. For everyone.  It makes it more exciting that way. 

[HossC]

1 hour ago, Garrett Duke said:

Is there a reason why Max wins every race?? (Other than that he's good?)

Max's Red Bull team have dominated F1 since new rules were introduced a couple of years ago. Their car was better at the start of that first season with the new rules, and they've been a step ahead of the competition ever since. Last year Max won all but three races, and his team mate Sergio Perez won two of the others (Carlos Sainz Jr of Ferrari was the only non-Red Bull driver to win a race last year). The fact that Max nearly always beats Sergio in an identical car shows that he's a very talented driver. In 2023. Max won the championship with 575 points. Sergio was second with 285!

Red Bull's recent cars were designed by Adrian Newey, who is widely regarded as the best designer in the sport for many years. Just over a week ago he announced that he was leaving Red Bull due to internal issues. Rumor has it that he'll go to Ferrari, which is where Lewis Hamilton is heading next year after driving Mercedes-powered cars for his entire career.

[Garrett Duke]

5 hours ago, HossC said:

Max's Red Bull team have dominated F1 since new rules were introduced a couple of years ago. Their car was better at the start of that first season with the new rules, and they've been a step ahead of the competition ever since. Last year Max won all but three races, and his team mate Sergio Perez won two of the others (Carlos Sainz Jr of Ferrari was the only non-Red Bull driver to win a race last year). The fact that Max nearly always beats Sergio in an identical car shows that he's a very talented driver. In 2023. Max won the championship with 575 points. Sergio was second with 285!

Red Bull's recent cars were designed by Adrian Newey, who is widely regarded as the best designer in the sport for many years. Just over a week ago he announced that he was leaving Red Bull due to internal issues. Rumor has it that he'll go to Ferrari, which is where Lewis Hamilton is heading next year after driving Mercedes-powered cars for his entire career.

It's always interesting who will thrive on new rules and changes and all that. In the long run that is exciting that one driver can dominate so heavily and the season be won by one team. 

Kinda like in NASCAR how Jeff Gordon dominated under the old system, but Jimmie Johnson thrived under the Chase format. Though I don't think Jimmie really raced much if at all under the old format. I do know Gordon would have two or three more championships under his belt if they had stuck with the old racing format (which makes more sense to me. Even though at the time, I didn't understand the point system.) . 

With all that said, Hoss, are you a fan of Max? 

[RogerDuke]

One thing I like about dirt bikes is that nobody is really so dominate that it makes the races boring. There is this young Australian named Jett Lawrence who has the potential to become like that though. 

[HossC]

7 hours ago, Garrett Duke said:

With all that said, Hoss, are you a fan of Max?

He came to F1 really young, and I could see how talented he was, but his first world title should've gone to Lewis Hamilton if the officials had followed the rules correctly. Since then he's made a few questionable moves on the track. So, while I can acknowledge his skill as a driver, I'm not a fan.

[Spike]

Surprised Garrett didn't mention this already but Kyle Larson won by the closest margin ever in a cup race Sunday night.

Now onto the Silly Season rumors....

Stewart Haas Racing is most likely going to shrink to a 3 car team and sell one of its charters. It sent out a memo to interested teams of what it wants $$$$ wise https://www.jayski.com/2024/05/07/will-stewart-haas-racing-downsize-next-year/ Interested buyers include 23XI racing, Front Row Motorsports, Legacy Motorclub and Trackhouse Racing. 

Speaking of Charters, NASCAR and teams still have not come to an agreement yet https://www.jayski.com/2024/05/06/the-latest-on-nascar-charter-negotiations/ NASCAR has also said it wants a charter owned by the France family however that might change due to heavy pushback from owners and drivers. 

NASCAR might be forced to dump the V8 by 2026 or beyond if manufacturers have their way. Certain manufacturers want to run hybrid engines that they already use in the vehicles they build. https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2024/05/06/motorsports?publicationSource=sbj&issue=3bb600ea0db04fa1bc247cbf890b7096 If that happens I will not be watching, I enjoy hearing the loud V8's. 

With that rumor apparently Honda and Hyundai are in talks with joining NASCAR if they move to hybrid powertrains. 

V8 Supercars driver Will Brown has been in talks with RCR to drive the 33 for Sonoma https://www.jayski.com/2024/05/05/supercars-driver-will-brown-reportedly-making-cup-debut-with-richard-childress-racing-at-sonoma/

[Garrett Duke]

I'm sorry to disappoint Spike. I was going to report about Kyle Larson winning, but got talking to Hoss and didn't want to switch the topic. Thank you for covering my rear with all the news! 

Analysis: So far, 2024 shaping up to be an all-time NASCAR season I don't know if you posted this or not, but Dale Jr will be with TNT and Amazon next season.

[Spike]

That kind of sucks about the streaming races next year. I'm not paying $120 or 130 a year for Prime and the ones on TNT will also be available on Max but you have to be a subscriber to the sports package on top of the Max subscription so that's going to be a no for me too. If Nascar thinks the tv ratings for races this year that have been on FS1 are off wait till next year. I do hope Dale jr's on track interviews will be posted to YouTube though, that will be an interesting tidbit.

F1 actually beat NASCAR for the first time in USA viewership. Sundays Miami race averaged 3.1 million viewers with a peak of 3.6 million for the finish. The Kansas race only had 2.3 million viewers.

[HossC]

1 hour ago, Spike said:

F1 actually beat NASCAR for the first time in USA viewership. Sundays Miami race averaged 3.1 million viewers with a peak of 3.6 million for the finish. The Kansas race only had 2.3 million viewers.

That's interesting. F1 has been owned/run by American company Liberty Media for a few years now and they've been actively trying to increase its popularity in the US. They briefly tried a couple NASCAR-like gimmicks (such as crank up the volume while we listen to the engines), but they quickly realized that F1 viewers didn't want that. Also, there are now three races in the US as well as a race each in Canada and Mexico, so more people can now get to see it.

What are your viewing options for F1 in the US? Is it all subscription based? There are a couple of pay options over here, but I either wait for the free highlights show (so long as it's on at a reasonable hour) or catch up on F1's YouTube channel. The British Grand Prix is a protected event that has to be shown live for free.

[Spike]

7 hours ago, HossC said:

What are your viewing options for F1 in the US? Is it all subscription based? There are a couple of pay options over here, but I either wait for the free highlights show (so long as it's on at a reasonable hour) or catch up on F1's YouTube channel. The British Grand Prix is a protected event that has to be shown live for free.

The North American continent F1 races are on ABC for free, the rest are on ESPN except for Monaco which is live on ESPN in the morning then rebroadcast on ABC after the Indy 500 and before the World 600. 

[HossC]

18 minutes ago, Spike said:

... except for Monaco which is live on ESPN in the morning then rebroadcast on ABC after the Indy 500 and before the World 600. 

Sounds like a good day. I still look forward to the Monaco Grand Prix (May 26th this year, BTW) even though it's rarely a very exciting race these days. It must be the historic setting.

[Spike]

1 hour ago, HossC said:

Sounds like a good day. I still look forward to the Monaco Grand Prix (May 26th this year, BTW) even though it's rarely a very exciting race these days. It must be the historic setting.

Yep that's a great day for Motorsports fans, Monaco Grand Prix in the morning, Indy 500 at noon and World 600 at night. 

[Garrett Duke]

Yeah I am not a fan of how they are airing NASCAR. Then again, I don't really sit down and watch it any more. I keep saying I should. But once it's off Fox, I really can't. I do subscribe to Amazon Prime, so I can actually watch that. So that part benefits me. Not TNT though. 

[HossC]

1 minute ago, Garrett Duke said:

Yeah I am not a fan of how they are airing NASCAR. Then again, I don't really sit down and watch it any more. I keep saying I should. But once it's off Fox, I really can't. I do subscribe to Amazon Prime, so I can actually watch that. So that part benefits me. Not TNT though. 

All the live F1 races are available through the same provider over here, so at least you only need one subscription.

[Garrett Duke]

13 minutes ago, HossC said:

All the live F1 races are available through the same provider over here, so at least you only need one subscription.

That would be helpful.

[Spike]

Here's one out of left field....

Michael McDowell is leaving Front Row Motorsports for Spire Motorsports, will drive the #71 Chevy in 2025 https://www.jayski.com/2024/05/08/michael-mcdowell-leaving-front-row-motorsports-at-seasons-end/

Also rumor is Stewart Haas Racing could be merging with another team or possibly shutting down at the end of the season. This could have something to do with FRM letting Michael go as they are rumored to be interested in SHR's charters so they might merge and become a 3 or 4 car team. Haas has more interest in F1 at the moment and Stewart is quite busy drag racing in NHRA. 

[RogerDuke]

On 5/8/2024 at 8:55 AM, HossC said:

They briefly tried a couple NASCAR-like gimmicks 

Do they have an orange 01 car? 

[HossC]

3 hours ago, RogerDuke said:

Do they have an orange 01 car? 

It could happen. Last week's race winner, Lando Norris, drives for McLaren, and their racing colors are papaya orange and black. Although drivers keep their race numbers, the champion from the previous season has the option to use the number 1. It currently looks like Max Verspappen will win again this year, but you never know what the future holds...

[Garrett Duke]

Tyler Reddick will lead everyone to the green flag on Sunday at Darlington...

 

Tyler Reddick claims Busch Light Pole at Darlington | NASCAR

[RogerDuke]

My Kawasaki guy Levi Kitchen lost the SX championship yesterday in the last race. Now they move on to MX (motocross), which is longer tracks outdoors. SX is Supercross and is held in stadiums. Most of them are NFL stadiums but yesterday was in Utah. 

[Garrett Duke]

5 hours ago, RogerDuke said:

My Kawasaki guy Levi Kitchen lost the SX championship yesterday in the last race. Now they move on to MX (motocross), which is longer tracks outdoors. SX is Supercross and is held in stadiums. Most of them are NFL stadiums but yesterday was in Utah. 

I'm sorry to hear your guy lost Roger. That is always disappointing.