NASCAR 2018 NASCAR Discussion thread

Let's stop talking about 2017, and start talking about 2018.

I will not be pulling for Erik Jones in the 20 car.

As a Ford guy, I guess I'll shift my loyalty over to Clint Bowyer in the 14 car for next year. I should probably apologize to him now for the bad luck that is presumably heading his way.

I'm VERY interested to see how the roval course works out at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the 2018 NASCAR playoffs.

 

I doubt I'll be following, much less watching. Not particularly happy with the way Kenseth being shunted out was handled.

 

Clint already has bad luck. But that could be because I've kinda started rooting for him recently myself.

 

Hi-dee-ho NASCAR fans: Even though I'm a huge diehard Chevy fan, I found my Junior replacement in Bubba Wallace and the #43 team. I will admit this may be asking too much from a team that was on death's door several times in the past few years but I hope they put on a good show especially given the *ahem* "societal" pressure they will be under next year.
I'm ready for the roval next year as well.
Also of note, this will be the first time in about two seasons that I'm gonna follow the cup series tour in-depth.

 

Very happy with Martin Truex as champion. The #78 team has worked hard over the years and it has finally paid off. Would not mind a repeat next year. Hoping to see Kyle Larson overcome the playoff jinx and progress further in his career. Still moving forward, it will be interesting to see how NASCAR gets by without established stars like Dale Jr and Matt Kenseth and their loyal followings. Hoping that Bubba Wallace gets a real chance as a driver and not being used as a NASCAR public relations tool. And as always, I will have total disdain for Chase Elliott and his "silver spoon"

 

I've followed NASCAR regularly for 7 seasons now. I won't be watching regularly anymore, instead I'll likely be watching only the "Big 4" races, the road courses, and the finale.

 

2018's going to be a pretty crucial year in determining whether NASCAR is sincere about attracting younger people to the sport. The combination of Monster as a title sponsor, the young talent that's been coming in to replace the older star drivers and a somewhat unique race and championship format that (in theory, anyway) creates drama and tension presents a prime opportunity to present themselves as a thoroughly modern sport, and throwing their weight behind that now to attract a new fanbase could very well work.

They've been making tiny half-steps towards it for the last decade or so, while still trying to hold the southern-fried moonshine runner image at arms' length so as not to upset the older fans, but it's just creating a muddled mess that's making everyone displeased. If they don't finally commit fully to saying "this is the new NASCAR, we're doing things different now" and do it soon, we're just going to keep seeing the sport slide farther and farther into irrelevancy.

Of course, they'll probably just spend the year trying to squeeze the last few dollars out of Junior Nation with 50 different kinds of nostalgia merch.

 

This is pretty much what I did this year. It helped me brush off a lot of the BS of the season.

 

I’ve been watching the first few races than just the road courses and a few others if there is nothing else on for the past few years and it makes it a little more tolerable.

I also hope Keselowski absolutely dominates just to see his reaction along with the rest of the garages.

 

I would rather see another Ford dominate. I'd be ok with Clint Bowyer, Bubba Wallace, or Kurt Busch.

 

After thinking about it, that would probably be even better. Of course the ultimate troll job would be Joey dominating while Brad struggles.

My preference would be Bubba, but I have a feeling he will be out of a ride by the time we get to the 600.

 

How so? Other than RPM collapsing out from under him, of course

 

Sadly, that is what I was thinking about. It’s sad that a little over a year ago RPM seemingly had a secure future.

 

Another good indicator of how serious they are about getting with the times is what sorts of technologies the Gen 7 car incorporates when it eventually shows up. I would assume it would follow the Xfinity cars down the multi-piece composite body route, but would we see things like center-lock hubs, onboard air jacks, sequential transmissions, pit speed limiter buttons or multivalve OHC and/or forced induction engines being allowed a la Virgin Australia Supercars? I don't think they can afford to cling to early '60s Ford Galaxie engineering much past the end of the decade, especially if they ever want to get back to four or more participating manufacturers.

 

Where is that applause gif. This would be my NASCAR dream come true.

I consider this two ways: 1. Methinks if Bubba has a good run in this or even next year or so, I would hope it puts him on radar of the bigger teams for a possible level up.
2. Look at how Furniture Row went from a semi-solvent nobody to cup champions; anything can happen with the right driver/team combo

 

Hopefully that is what happens, not sure it will be very easy though given the equipment. Plus it doesn’t look like many top level seats will be opening in the near future.

FR also had the benefit of sponsor and owner being the same person so there wasn’t really an issue with funding. Plus having a driver like Kurt for even a brief period of time had to help. I can’t even recall the last time RPM had a top quality driver.

 

In the first year of the Evernham/Petty merger, they had Kahne in the 9 car. He left before the end of the 2009 season to go to Red Bull's team.

 

Waiting to see if the rumor of Dodge coming back and doing so with RCR has any basis since it's been gaining traction.

 

Dodge will announce their return the same day Ferrari makes good on their threat to leave F1.

 

Doubt that, considering Ferrari have done that since the 70s and actually have left races until it was mandated in the 80s that you had to compete in every championship round. And actually built a CART machine that made the FIA and FOM bend to the whims of Ferrari to give them their V12, so the story goes. Ferrari have done this for a long time, it's not like Dodge has claimed they'll be coming back to NASCAR for the past 30 years. Dodge has actually tested engines and hired engineers with in the sport in what seems to be nothing short of trying to start a program. I do have doubts of 2018 seeing it but I wouldn't be surprised for 2019, you don't spend money in a company like that one if you're not planning to do something.

 

FCA said earlier in the year they weren't coming back to NASCAR because it wouldn't be cost-effective, which I presume means they couldn't find a high-profile team willing or capable to shoulder the cost of starting an engine program from scratch. They've also been reducing their presence in other motorsports as of late too.

Also, I've heard the "RCR is switching manufacturers" rumor practically every year since the late '90s so it's really hard to ever put stock in it, especially with Childress and GM having a pretty tight relationship that's probably second only to Hendrick.

 

Dodge Challenger DemonCat.

In most cases I would agree that a company wouldn’t be throwing money around unless they were up to something. But I’m not going to give FCA that much credit.

 

The C in FCA doesn't have much money to be spending on nothing is my point.

They said that earlier in the year, what I'm talking about has happened later in this year...things change when people become interested. RCR seems reasonable because RCR didn't have any input on the new gen Chevy. CGR actually did have some input on it, which is quite a knock to what RCR have been for Chevy over the decades. I too have heard various things about RCR moving, but when GM practically doesn't care about a once partner who also is a significant engine builder to many Chevy teams it becomes strange why they wouldn't also work with them. So to still say they're second to HMS is possibly questionable and not as true as say 5-10 years ago.

 

Based on these rumors, you would almost never believe that GM sponsored Childress directly for well over a decade through their Goodwrench brand.

 

That would be assuming France and co are actually now aware of this, otherwise I just don't see them jumping on it and making this work accordingly. One thing I do agree with though is that NASCAR needs to actually grow a pair and choose once and for all who they are appealing to. They say they are appealing to a younger demographic, but then they also claim they haven't forgotten the old fans (which they continually drive away ironically). Pick one.

It'll have been about 17 or 18 years since February 2001(Wow, its been that long) and they still are milking the Earnhardt fans so I expect no different there.

If only they hadn't lost that Bacon

So you would think (as I did), until you find out Chevy completely left RCR out of the input on the Camaro and instead, only Hendrick and Ganassi (the latter making much sense as they have a State of the Art Windtunnel). At this point, we're in a era where loyalty is not as feasible as it once was and frankly unless you are actually putting some results on the table, prepare to be chopped. I get the feeling between JTG becoming a Hendrick team and that snub from Chevy, the writing is on the wall for a massive change (Or at least its been there, but its really hitting home now).

 

For what it's worth, if you look closely, you will notice that the other two manufacturers have all move to a single official engine supplier. Only GM still retains two factory engine builders. With HMS being the defacto Chevy factory team in terms of customer teams and engines, and delivering results, it makes sense that RCR has been subtly pushed aside, hence them being a prime candidate for the Italians at FCA to set up shop. It's worth noting that in terms of manufacturer loyalty, Tony Stewart and SHR were GM stalwarts just like RCR until Ford gave them tons of money to become a semi-factory team and they turned out alright.

I'll believe it when it happens, but never say never.

 

That's the point, and it was never said by me that I believe it will happen but I'm curious to see if it will myself. I'm just countering the quick "it wont happen" with what we know and recent rumors, so people will perhaps think about it. This sport at this time isn't about keeping up loyalty if you want to win, especially if what you're loyal to isn't showing you anything in return. Just like other series in the end it might be wiser to just bring in a new manufacture or jump ship to a current better manufacture with the chance of winning again.

 

I was going to dispute this some more, but I remembered that Paul Menard is leaving the #27 car and taking his sponsorship money with him, and losing that income might be enough to make them seriously consider a switch offer since selling off the team charter and assets wouldn't offset it long-term. Presuming that's what they do with the 27 anyway, I'm not sure who they would bring in to fill the driver's seat and sponsor slots there.

Still having doubts on FCA coming in anytime soon though. The two Dodge cars they could enter, the Challenger and Charger, are both ancient by automotive standards and their planned major updates are apparently pushed back until 2021. I can't see them wanting to come back into the top level until they have a fresh product to showcase. I could possibly see them taking the route Toyota did and returning into the truck series first to get re-established though, especially since trucks are the most profitable thing in North America right now and Ram is one of their highest-profile names.

 

Brennan Poole has been rumored to be bringing his sponsor and terrible facial hair to the team.

 

Welp, there goes any idea of Ty Dillon being in the seat.

Can you feel the love, grandson?