C.J. Faison Talks Plans for Future After Taking NASCAR Break
Taking time off is one of the hardest decisions to make, especially as a young man with a bright, gleaming future ahead of him in the sport. C.J. Faison is that very driver. On the other hand, not being a part of NASCAR does not mean the dream is over. The dream is only beginning for C.J. Faison.
Faison is not the only driver struggling to find sponsors in today’s NASCAR. Some drivers who have been a key ingredient for the success of the sport have had issues finding sponsors since the economic recession. For example, in 2011, Jeff Gordon’s primary sponsor DuPont (now Axalta Coating Systems) cut back from nearly a full season of sponsorship to 14 races. After negotiations with Walmart fell through, the AARP Foundation, through its Drive to End Hunger program, picked up the bulk of the season. The quest to find sponsors is grim outside of the premier series.
But, this is not knocking C.J. Faison to the canvas. After all, Faison has been racing since he was four and a half years old. “My father raced, and he was a pretty good driver who taught me a lot of important fundamentals,” he commented.
With that being said, Faison is not going to stop until he is at the top level.
Many young people do not realize how much potential they have. Just because it does not happen at 20, does not mean it cannot be done at 25. In the state our country is in, it is going to take persistence, talent, marketability and connections.
As far as Faison’s plans for the remainder of the 2014 season, he is planning to run the No. 45 Dirt Modified for Ellis Motorsports.
“In addition, I also have a brand new dirt late model that I’m building and I hope to race a handful of races with that as well,” he added.
Does Faison plan to return to NASCAR in the future?
“I have mostly taken 2014 to back up and regroup with racing and grow my businesses,” Faison said. “I would like to make a return to NASCAR soon.”
This young man has the heart and determination to make his dreams come true. We know that it is certainly possible. In a 2013 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race at Dover International Speedway, Faison led the most laps, however, disaster struck with 12 to go, as Faison cut a right-front tire, slamming the outside retaining wall. It was a heartbreaking moment to come that close to winning your first race in NASCAR.
A veteran driver like Tony Stewart is going to have a tremendous amount of respect for C.J. Faison, a man who worked his way up the hard way. Now, as long as Faison does not block Tony Stewart in any way, I think these two have the potential to be great friends, and competitors on the race track.
Hot 20 – Hamlin Penalty Shows the Downside of Win and You’re In
Seventy five point penalty and nothing. No meaningful consequences, not even a dip in the standings. When Denny Hamlin’s car got tagged for leaving the covers on the rear firewall loose in order to leak high pressure air from under the car into the cockpit, something they were told not to do going into Indianapolis, NASCAR came down hard. Well, sort of.
Darian Grubb’s wallet is $125,000 lighter and the crew chief is gone until after Richmond. The same penalty was given to car chief Wesley Sherrill. A 75 point penalty would be crippling if not for that win in Talladega and his lock inside the Top 30 in points. With standings based first on wins, and then points, Hamlin was ninth and remains ninth, if only by just a point up on Aric Almirola and still 41 ahead of Kurt Busch. For a car that was running so slow in practice Grubb said he did not have enough air time to list its ailments, its sudden emergence to finish third on Sunday was a revelation. Sometimes, NASCAR is not big on revelations, especially after mandating that the one in this case had been specifically outlawed. It is enough to make Michael Waltrip wave his finger in admonishment.
Now, I love the win and you are in format. I like that someone like Aric Almirola can make it with just one great day, or that Kurt Busch can spin silk from an otherwise crap season. Sadly, now if you win, it seems you can also sin. Take the risk, and if it goes south just make sure you can afford the cash and the downtime.
This season I have been tinkering with an alternative system that erases win and you are in by simply inflating the win bonus from three to 25 points. It pays big to take the checkered flag, but without handing one immunity. Under that system, Hamlin would have dropped from 11th to 19th and under the Chase format he would now be 31 points out of the Top 16. That would have hurt. Instead, he will get back a well rested, albeit poorer and wiser, crew chief when they hit Chicago in mid-September. Oh, the humanity.
*Win bonus expanded from 3 to 25 points
1 – Jeff Gordon – 761 Points – 2 Wins
2 – Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 737 – 2
3 – Brad Keselowski – 732 – 3
4 – Jimmie Johnson – 694 – 3
5 – Matt Kenseth – 661 – 0
6 – Carl Edwards – 647 – 2
7 – Joey Logano – 635 – 2
8 – Kyle Busch – 631 – 1
9 – Kevin Harvick – 609 – 2
10 – Ryan Newman – 606 – 0
11 – Clint Bowyer – 577 – 0
12 – Kyle Larson – 562 – 0
13 – Austin Dillon – 559 – 0
14 – Kasey Kahne – 555 – 0
15 – Paul Menard – 551 – 0
16 – Greg Biffle – 550 – 0
17 – Brian Vickers – 532 – 0
18 – Tony Stewart – 529 – 0
19 – Denny Hamlin – 519 – 1
20 – Aric Almirola – 518 – 1
Is Jack Roush Driving Sprint Cup Team Into Irrelevancy?
One of the biggest announcements of the Brickyard 400 weekend was that Roush Fenway Racing driver Carl Edwards would not be returning to the stable in 2015. In my honest opinion, this was beyond unprofessional by Jack Roush, especially on the morning of the fifth and final major of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.
Sadly, this is not the first time Roush Fenway Racing has shot itself in the foot. On the other hand, the organization could have made this announcement later in the season, but chose not to. The organization tends to instigate conflict unnecessarily if they feel wronged. Honestly, it is just childish behavior. Perhaps I am too young, but I have not seen other organizations, big or small, pull these sort of shenanigans.
What the organization needs to do is maintain a healthy, stable relationship with all drivers, but they have not done so. Let’s face it, Jack Roush was not surprised that Kenseth wanted to leave. How long was Roush going to make Ricky Stenhouse Jr., a two-time Nationwide Series champion, wait for a ride? The Roush stable has suffered for years because they have failed to adapt to the new economic environment. Sponsors continue to leave the sport here and there, and Roush continues to see sponsors and drivers head for the exit.
Carl Edwards is Roush Fenway’s only shot to win the championship this season, but it is not going to happen. Yes, he will be in 16 car chase field, but he will be a contender. The Roush stable struggles every week regardless of the two wins Carl Edwards has this season. As a result, the loss of Edwards is a monumental loss for Roush Fenway Racing.
In 2015, Roush Fenway Racing will feature three drivers. Let’s be blunt, the driver lineup is decrepit. Greg Biffle is the strongest guy in the stable, his teammate, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., only has two-career top five finishes.
Trevor Bayne finally got the call to race full-time in the Sprint Cup Series. He has a Daytona 500 championship on his resume, but it is his only finish inside the top five to date. If tandem racing is not a lottery, I do not know what is. Two cars hook up on the race track and push each other around for a couple of hours, no sugar coating there. It does not matter who hooked up with who. James Hylton could have won the 2011 Daytona 500 had he started. With that being said, one Daytona 500 win, does not equal success in the long run.
If Roush Fenway Racing can figure out the ride height, a title run could be in the works, however, that has yet to be accomplished as a team. If poor performance continues, Roush Fenway could be the next Robert Yates Racing, a team of irrelevancy, leaving Team Penske as the only competitive Ford team.
