2:27 PM
JD
#5. The #18 Team. To say Busch had an up and down season in 2010 would be an understatement. Busch had 3 wins and got into the Chase, which would make a good season for most drivers. In the month of May alone, Busch had 2 wins and in points races had an average finish of 3rd. However, in the final 10 races, Busch's average finish was a dismal 18th, with an average finish of 21st in the final five races. The telling stat for Busch in the final 5 races is that his average starting position was 25th. Something is wrong with the #18 team, and I doubt it will sit well with "Shrub" this off-season.
#4. Richard Petty Motorsports. With drivers Ambrose and Allmendinger, whose average finishes in 2010 were 22nd and 19th respectively, Petty has the unenviable task of rebuilding a team that has been built, bought, reformed, and torn apart in the matter of a couple years. He has lost the big sponsorship of Budweiser, and is reportedly keeping the sponsorship of Stanley and working on Best Buy. Releasing employees, training new employees, and attempting to restructure two teams into competitors will make for a stressful off-season to say the least.
#3. The #31 Team. Burton made the Chase in 2010, largely due to a string of good finishes in the Summer, but that is where the good news ends. Although Burton seemed to have some strong cars during the season, victory lane always stayed out of reach. With the arrival of the Chase, Burton's team fell apart. Burton had one top five and one other top ten in the Chase with an average finish of 21st and an average finish of 27th in the final five races. Burton seemed exhausted by Homestead. Much work to do on the CAT Team for Richard Childress in order to bring them back to the success they had a couple years ago.
#2. The #11 Team. Hamlin was very successful in 2010; he had an average finish of 13th for the season and 7th for the Chase. There is not much work needed in the off-season, but that doesn't mean the Gibbs crew won't be busy. Neither Hamlin nor Gibbs like second place, and they won't settle for a "so close" finish. Look for the #11 Team to be less worried about extra wins going into the Chase, and more concerned about dominance in the last ten races. I think they are probably studying the Knaus playbook.
#1. Hendrick Motorsports. Obviously not the team that finished #1 in points, but definitely the 9th, 13th and 21st place finishers. Between drivers learning to communicate with new crew chiefs, moving teams from one garage to the other, and figuring out who has which pit crew, there is much to do in the next two months. The next issue is which personality will be dominant at the 48/88 garage? The Champ or the most popular driver? Good luck Mr. Hendrick, I hope it works!
Posted in: Chad knaus,Dale Earnhardt Jr,Denny Hamlin,Jeff Gordon,Jimmie Johnson,Joe Gibbs,Kyle Busch,Nascar,Racing,Richard Childress,Richard Petty,Rick Hendrick,Sprint Cup,steve letarte
2 comments:
JD, while I think any team that is not #48 at Hendrick Motorsports will be the busiest, the team that has the most work to do is over at RPM. It's almost like starting a new organization from scratch, hiring new people, and getting them to mesh with each other and the drivers and crew chiefs. The only familiar commodity there besides the King is AJ Allmendinger. Ambrose is going to a new team, and it's going to take time for the chemistry to unfold. (In the V8 Series in Australia, he did run Fords, and is familiar with them.) Two and a half months is not a lot of time to get up to speed, even for an established team. It's going to seem like 2 1/2 days for the folks at RPM.
I agree! The only reason I put RPM at 4th is I think the other 3 will get more accomplished. I know that may sound unfair, but it is more an issue of money and manpower. Hendrick, Childress, and Gibbs spare no expense, but Petty will be somewhat limited-depending what investors he can get.
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