And of course, if you are not a cave dweller, you've heard by now that Matt Kenseth will not be returning to RFR as a Roushkateer in 2013. Apparently, and I say that because I was not a fly on the wall for the meetings between Roush and Kenseth, it was Matt's idea, with Jack concurring that in light of the difficulty obtaining sufficient sponsorship this year, it might be time for Matt to move on. Hm, let me pause over that thought for just a minute. It's difficult to find sponsorship for a Cup Champion, two-time Daytona 500 Winner and current point leader, but it will be easy to find it for a kid named Stenhouse? Jack... c'mon man!
Matt has been strongly rumored to be moving to Joe Gibbs Racing, either replacing Joey Logano, whom I believe to have two years left on his contract with JGR, or occupying the available fourth Gibbs car, which of course would necessitate sponsorship. (There's that word again) Of course, he's also been rumored to be going to Penske South, either replacing A. J. Allmendinger in the #22 Pennzoil Ford or driving a third team for the Captain, possibly unseating Sam Hornish or Justin Allgaier, both of whom are marking time in the Nationwide series while waiting in line for a Cup ride at Penske. There have also been strong whispers of Matt aligning with Stewart Haas, Richard Petty Motorsports and Richard Childress Racing. Race fans, there's not much left after that list.
While that is going on, we hear persistent noises coming from the Andretti Autosport camp in IndyCar about starting a NASCAR team under that banner. Current rumors involve the departing manufacturer Dodge, and Richard Petty Motorsports. Well, that does have a nice ring to it, with the names of Petty and Andretti, two powerhouse names from the past, albeit it from two different racing venues, tied together at last. It sounds rather like a romance novel where after encountering every obstacle life could throw at them, the hero and heroine finally marry... at ages 96 and 94. All righty then...
The latest rumor... and please gentle readers, treat all this only as a rumor, and decidedly not something that this writer espouses or believes. They don't call this Silly Season for no reason... seems to tie it all together into one neat, if overcrowded package. Imagine this (I can't):
Michael Andretti has already purchased the engine program from Penske Racing... according to "sources"... and will run a Dodge next year. As a second installment, the rumor has RPM moving from the Ford camp, just as those teams are beginning to show flashes of brilliance, and returning to Richard's first love, Dodge. Well, actually, it was probably Plymouth, but they don't make those anymore.
I do see a small problem there, as the particular rumor monger this one came from seems to overlook the fact that Richard Petty no longer owns RPM, but merely lends his name and token presence while that team operates under the watchful eye of one Andrew Murstein, who owns and serves as President and Board Chairman of Medallion Financial Corp., which specializes in taxi-cab fleets, but owns RPM for investment purposes.
Along with all that, the rumor has this entire package operating out of the old Ray Evernham garage in Mooresville NC. So, we have an owner, or maybe two, we have a manufacturer that loves us, (even though Andretti runs a Chevrolet team in IndyCar), we have a garage from which to operate... that may or may not even be for sale. What's missing? Oh yes, we need a driver. Well, Kenseth isn't doing anything that we know of, so let's toss him into the Fantasy while we're at it. Now the entire team is set and ready to go in 2013, just as easy as that. Um... here comes that word again... SPONSORSHIP!
Gentle readers, I don't care whose name, or names, you attach to a new team, it is still a new team, and no amount of lipstick is going to make that pig anything but a pig until the team matures and proves its marketability. That's a tall order, considering the competition and the financial backing of some of the mega-teams. I really hope the writer that put that set of "thoughts" on the Internet has something different for supper tonight because whatever he or she ate last night induced some strange dreams. Oh, and the very best part of all those ideas is that they were unsigned. No author took credit. Gee, I wonder why...
Sometimes the thought crosses my mind that with junk like that to read as a steady diet out there, why would anyone choose to read me, who tries to tell the truth to her readers and to point out the fallacies in words such as "rumored to be", "unnamed sources", "said to be", and even the simplest of qualifiers such as "perhaps" and "maybe?" A good writer can lead you down the garden path and make you believe that you read what you did not. I constantly warn friends to read what I say, not what they think I say... and there is a difference. I know all the tricks, same as the next journalist, but I get a perverse pleasure from sharing them with my readers. To my mind, that beats the daylights out of deceiving you!
Did you notice one constant theme throughout everything I've written so far? One word that kept repeating over and over like a bass drum behind a marching band? Sponsorship! Where did it all go and why is it so hard to find in today's racing world. NASCAR will tell you that it's all about "marketability", and for some unknown reason, they think one has to keep changing the product in order to increase marketability. Instead, what they have done is lost the original product that had all the marketability in the world... the RACE.
In an effort to "market" to a much younger demographic, which translates to the ones that will live the longest, they drastically changed the very thing that always packed the stands in past decades. Last week, those of you reading here were entertained (I hope) by the "Lady in Black", a creation of my slightly warped mind, who used to do race reports back in the day. The Lady had a name for the Chase. She referred to is as "The Chase For No Sponsorship." Think about it. It's handy to blame the economy, but test your memories and you'll recall that the sagging popularity of NASCAR, both at the tracks and on TV, began well before the economy tanked in 2008. Remember, that Lady in Black has been gone since 2006, and had been using that line regularly since 2004, the first year of the Chase.
The Chase is still with us, yet who, but the sponsors with excellent possibilities of their driver making the silly thing, wants to sink $millions into a car that won’t see any TV exposure for at least the final ten races of a 36-race season? I've always seen it as a major turnoff to sponsors, but NASCAR thinks it’s a wonderful thing and believes that fans just love it. If you agree with the Lady and me, please comment or write. Writing will get you an answer from me. Commenting will be read by folks in Daytona Beach. Either way, you will be heard, as I tend to use my emails as a basis for the next column.
Let's put Silly Season away for a minute. I think that last tale is quite enough to chew on until the truth actually surfaces, and it will my friends, as sure as the sun will rise in the east tomorrow. I'd like to thank everyone that took the time to write or comment on the brief return of the Lady in Black for last week's column. If she'd gotten those rave reviews back in 2006... nah, I still would have killed her... but I do appreciate all your kind words on her behalf. Enough so that I might even consider letting her pitch a hissy fit every now and again. She's very good at that, and it might keep me out of trouble.
Be well gentle readers and remember to keep smiling. It looks so good on you!
~PattyKay
Email: nas3car@etcmail.com
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