Wood Brothers Racing

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I think this is awesome for Matt. Sad to see Paul Menard go, I have been a fan of his for years. I love his dry sense of humor and general personality. Matt has certainly shown he has the ability to take a mid pack car and run much higher than it should.
 
I don't follow Nascar anymore, but how's Menard doing? I always liked to see him run well. Watched him flat out drive Ryan blaney at road America a few years ago in a Busch race for Richard childress. He kept hitting his marks and it was all blaney could do to try to challenge him.
 
Originally Posted by Red91
I don't follow Nascar anymore, but how's Menard doing? I always liked to see him run well. Watched him flat out drive Ryan blaney at road America a few years ago in a Busch race for Richard childress. He kept hitting his marks and it was all blaney could do to try to challenge him.


Paul has only won 1 Cup race, the 2011 Brickyard 400. I really like him, but his on track performance has not been that fantastic. He has shown moments of greatness, but even in a Penske 4th car, which is what the Wood Brothers are now, he has been consistently outperformed by his teammates.
 
Perhaps he'd have more success in the truck series or Busch(or whatever it's called now). It's not a bad thing to win a truck championship, and he comes with sponsorship.
 
Originally Posted by Red91
Perhaps he'd have more success in the truck series or Busch(or whatever it's called now). It's not a bad thing to win a truck championship, and he comes with sponsorship.


I was thinking the same thing. Plus they have less races even though their season is the same length time wise. The Busch series turned into the Nationwide series, which then turned into the Xfinity series. Team Penske has a full time car in Xfinity, the 22 with Austin Cindric. He is the son of Tim Cindric who is the President of Team Penske. They also have a part time entry, the 12 where they rotate their Cup drivers through at specific races a year within their 7 race a year limit for drivers currently earning points in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. I could see Paul being full or part time in the 12 car. If Brad Keselowski still had his Truck series team Paul would have been a good senior driver to mentor younger drivers.
 
I wonder if Menards will keep sponsoring that ride if Paul's not going to compete. Of course, Penske has no trouble pulling sponsors.
 
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Originally Posted by Red91
I wonder if Menards will keep sponsoring that ride if Paul's not going to compete. Of course, Penske has no trouble pulling sponsors.


They said on the teleconference yesterday that Menards would continue sponsorship. Wood Brothers also have Motorcraft/Omnifract/Quick Lane, Snap On (through Penske) as rotating primary sponsors.
 
And here is a huge part of the problem with NASCAR...

Having the wealthy rich kids of the guys involved with the sport driving in it...

Now I understand that even before Dale Earnhardt Jr we had Kyle Petty and Davey Allison, Larry Pearson etc etc...

And before anyone jumps up and down about Dale Earnhardt Jr... Remember this... His father WAS NOT a part of a well to do family involved in NASCAR... Yes his father Ralph drove in local races... But Ralph was not driving and competing for a lot of wins or championships against Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough or Need Jarrett etc etc...
He was not. Dale Earnhardt Sr earned the right to drive for a good team by him showing a lot of potential. Dale Earnhardt Sr made his empire by his driving ability, having very good owners, and having a good crew around him. Maybe not a total self made man... But not all that far from that either...

There are too many drivers in NASCAR now that are only there because of who they are related to that have a lot of money... Not based upon talent... Go back and watch say the 1980, 1981 etc Daytona 500 races... How much more talent was on the track back then... I just watched the Richmond 400 from 1982... Same could be said in that race has well.. .

Anyone remember when Rusty Wallace's son tried driving in the Nationwide series ?? Yeah Stephen Wallace just couldn't cut it... And his father gave up on him.... And Rusty pulled the plug on him racing. We have other guys since then that have not had that happen... And it should have. Say like Austin Dillion... He ain't got it... Plus others obviously.

Very different times now... And it has been that way for awhile. And not for the better either. Guys like Dale Earnhardt Sr, Rusty Wallace, Mark Martin, Dale Jarrett, Allan Kulwicki had to EARN the privilege to drive for a good car/team...

And remember this... The #4 Kodac team with Morgan Mc Clure gave a guy named Ernie Irvan a trial ride in that car... At Atlanta. Other drivers before had their chance to drive that car... Ernie drove from like a 36 or 37th starting spot all the way to the lead... He earned that seat that day... Later after Davey Allison's death in a helicopter accident at Talladega... Other drivers had their chance driving the #28 car... When given the same opportunity... Ernie Irvan did a much better job with much better results... Like Buddy Baker said during a commercial break off live air during this time with the #28 situation, " people say the driver does not matter... That's not true at all. The driver really does matter."


I think that this guy Matt... May very well be a actually talented driver... I think he has earned this seat. This circumstance is similar to how NASCAR used to be... I wish this guy all the luck... I think he is in a proverbial " throw back" circumstance. Which is actually a good thing.

Too many scrubs behind the wheel in NASCAR only there because of x y and z.
 
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If you can bring a $15-20 million dollar sponsor to Nascar, you've got a ride, doesn't matter if you can drive or not.
 
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Originally Posted by Srt20
Yeah its all about the $$$$. If you can operate a throttle and brake pedals, its a bonus.



And this is the irony of it all... It was the mass inflow of $$$$ that initially helped the sport is now responsible for killing the sport...
 
Originally Posted by bbhero
Originally Posted by Srt20
Yeah its all about the $$$$. If you can operate a throttle and brake pedals, its a bonus.



And this is the irony of it all... It was the mass inflow of $$$$ that initially helped the sport is now responsible for killing the sport...


I cannot disagree, though IMO I feel like the personalities, may have played an equally large part of its popularity. IMO the $$$$ doesnt come as fast if we didnt have SR, Cale, DW, the Allisons, etc. People wanted to watch these guys, and Nascar marketing along with team owners found a way to make money. But now the sponsors run the show by picking who they want to spend $$$ on.

If Matt Di has Budweiser or similar backing him, he goes to any team Bud wants him to go. Same if Bud backed Joe Schmoe. But Bell has more $$$ backing him then Matty Di. Thats why Gibbs cut Matt for Bell.
 
Put a $25,000 car claim for the top 3 cars after the end of the race. You would see 75 cars attempting to qualify. Pump gas 87 octane, 8.5:1, 3600 pounds and stock body dimensions without ground effects. No spoilers and 9" tires. It would be a freak show of competition.
 
Originally Posted by JasonC
If you can bring a $15-20 million dollar sponsor to Nascar, you've got a ride, doesn't matter if you can drive or not.



+1
 
Originally Posted by bbhero
Originally Posted by Srt20
Yeah its all about the $$$$. If you can operate a throttle and brake pedals, its a bonus.



And this is the irony of it all... It was the mass inflow of $$$$ that initially helped the sport is now responsible for killing the sport...

Unfortunately you are 100% correct.

When NASCAR is on TV, I can't watch more than 5 minutes before I get bored and change the channel.
 
Pull in Jeff Gordon in for select big races and get Dale Jr. to join in, NASCAR will live again for as long as they can get behind the wheel a few times a year. Brickyard 400 sold out early on, pitiful to see the stands now. and it's one of the best races of the year. The Daytona 500 is nothing but a marketing carnival. It's not racing, restrictor plates have never been more than for tearing up cars and losing legends, love him or hate him, on the last lap because of it. Regardless of safety equipment success or failure, pack racing is idiotic and does nothing to show skill that makes a true driver a driver. Whoever has the most money and makes the best aerodynamics is the odds-on favorite to win.
 
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