NOTES FROM THE NASCAR NATION: Sprint Cup Class of 2013 – Richard Petty Motorsports
Richard Petty Motorsports, (RPM), will again be fielding Fords for drivers Marcos Ambrose and Aric Almirola during the 2013 season. The teams garnered a lot of attention during January testing at Daytona and were frequently seen near the top of the speed charts. That’s a sign that indicates we might witness some general improvement in team performance levels that will bolster noticeable improvements from last year.
Certainly one of the reasons for this organizations rejuvenated chemistry lies with some personnel changes made late last year. The two drivers went through some crew chief swaps last year in order to find that chemistry. Veteran Drew Blickensderfer, who left Richard Childress Racing late last year to join RPM, will be manning the pit box for Ambrose and the #9 team. Almirola will be working with Todd Parrott, another veteran crew chief with an impressive Sprint Cup resume. Those personnel changes were bolstered late last year with the arrival of Sammy Johns, RPM’s new Director of Competition.
The team will continue their relationship with Roush Fenway Racing and Roush Yates Engines who will supply them Ford Fusions and power plants.
The one area of possible distraction here lies in the fact that it will be a very busy year for business administration. RPM officials will have to spend a lot of time renegotiating contracts that concludes at the end of 2013. Those negotiations includes new contracts for both drivers, a new manufacturers contract as well as several contracts pertaining to their list of primary sponsors.
#9 MARCOS AMBROSE
SPONSOR: STANLEY-BLACK & DECKER & DEWALT TOOLS FORD
CREW CHIEF: DREW BLICKENSDERFER
NASCAR’s favorite “Aussie” begins his third season with RPM. There is a noticeable increase in confidence levels. He’s coming off of a 2012 season that brought some noticeable improvement in performance levels. He finished the season with a win, at the Watkins Glen road course, along with three top five finishes, eight top tens, and two poles along with a respectable average finish ratio of 18.
Ambrose is a well established road racing ace bolstered by his tenure as a multi champion in the Australian V8 Supercar Series. That experienced loomed large during the Sprint Cup’s last two races at Watkins Glen where Ambrose parked his car in victory lane. What Ambrose really wants from this new season is to win on an oval track. Many NASCAR observers believes that just might happen this year and we should not be surprised if it occurs on a short track.
#43 ARIC ALMIROLA
SMITHFIELD FOODS FORD
CREW CHIEF: TODD PARROTT
Aric Almirola returns for his second, full time, season as the driver for Richard Petty’s famed #43. He finished 2012 20th in the final points standings based on one top five finish, four top tens, one pole and a 20.0 average finish ratio. Like his team mate, Ambrose, this young driver is already feeling the newly established team chemistry from veterans like Parrott and Johns. His efforts during the Daytona pre season tests certainly reinforces that theory. That element will likely boost Almirola’s personal confidence levels to new heights that could possibly lead to securing his first Cup win.
The team’s primary sponsor will be Smithfield Foods who increased their participation from 18 races last year to 25 this year. The hood of the race car will feature the corporations multiple brands again including Smithfield, Gwaltney Foods Eckrich and Farmland. The United States Air Force will sponsor two events this year along with one race sponsored by STP. That adds up to 28 sponsored races out of the scheduled 36. While the organization’s business administration team will be busy attempting to sell the ad space for the open events, they do have a back up plan in place. That would be Medallion Financial, the New York based company owned by RPM’s co-owner Andrew Murstein.
Three Questions for the Nationwide Series in 2013
Each new season brings new chances, new opportunities and usually new drivers. The Nationwide Series will be full of new drivers this season and those drives will have new opportunities and a new chance to be successful. Catch a theme here? A lot of new things will be happening in the Nationwide Series this season. New also raises questions, especially the three questions I propose below regarding the Nationwide Series in the upcoming season.
How well will the new full-time drives do?
For the first time in years, there are new drivers entering the Nationwide Series to drive full-time that we believe will be contenders for the championship. Brian Vickers, Regan Smith and Nelson Piquet Jr are the newer names that will be in the Nationwide Series garage this season and all three of them could be considered pre-season favorites to take home the championship.
Brian Vickers had a rough end to his full-time Cup ride after Red Bull Racing closed their operations after 2011 and Vickers was left without a ride. Vickers didn’t compete full-time in NASCAR all last year but, he’s back in 2013. Vickers will be driving the No.20 car for Joe Gibbs Racing and he will look to bring the driving talent we know he has to the No.20 and contend for the championship. Regan Smith will also be a new contender for the Nationwide championship in 2013 after getting booted out of his Cup ride at Furniture Row Racing. Smith will be looking to take his new opportunity at Jr Motorsports to be successful.
Nelson Piquet Jr is the final new driver in the Nationwide Series this season that could contend for the championship. Piquet Jr had some success in the Truck Series last season and he believed it was time to take his talents to the next level. All three of these drivers should do extraordinary well in the Nationwide Series this season, especially because of their racing talent and the quality of rides they will be competing in. These three drivers will do better than good and will be competing for the championship, which sends a statement to their competition that says, watch out, we’re here to contend.
Will the Cup Series drivers have the same affect that they have had in years past?
Prior to every season, the talk of Cup drivers surrounds the Nationwide Series. We know they’ll be competing in the series and have the best chance of winning each week but, 2013 seems different. With the new crop of Nationwide regulars filing into the series with great rides, will the Cup drivers be as successful as they have been in years past? These new regulars in the Nationwide Series have some serious driving talent and could be beating out the Cup drivers each weekend.
I don’t believe we’ll see Cup drivers have the same affect in the in the Nationwide Series this season partly due to the fact that the Nationwide drives are some great drivers, in some great rides. Instead of the Cup drivers being favorites to win each race, the Nationwide regulars will be and that’s the way it’s supposed to be. The best battle in the Nationwide Series this season will be the new Nationwide regulars versus the Cup drivers. This will be a battle that the Nationwide regulars could finally win after losing for so many years.
Who will follow up as champion after Ricky Stenhouse Jr’s championship reign?
2013 will be the first time ever that a Nationwide regular will win the championship that isn’t Ricky Stenhouse Jr since the rule was made before 2011 that only Nationwide regulars could be eligible for the Nationwide championship. Who will fill Stenhouse Jr’s shoes as champion? There is a long list of candidates but, all the candidates have an equal shot.
Stenhouse Jr’s Nationwide Series reign is over as he moves to the Cup Series. The reign that lasted two years and within those two years, Stenhouse Jr dominated the series. 2013 we could see a new guy dominate the league. That list includes names like Elliot Sadler, Austin Dillon, Brian Vickers, Regan Smith, Sam Hornish Jr, Nelson Piquet Jr and many more. All of these drivers are eligible candidates to fill Stenhouse Jr’s shoes as champion and a huge fight for the championship will start in three weeks at Daytona and last until Homestead in November.
To find the answers to these questions, all you have to do is watch the battle unfold live on the track in each of the Nationwide Series events this year. For the first time in awhile, we don’t have a clear favorite for the Nationwide Series championship due to the caliber of drivers chasing the crown. The battle that will unfold on the track this season will epic and never before seen. As Darrell Waltrip would say, “Pull those belts tight one more time” because this year’s Nationwide Series season is about to begin and it will be wilder than ever before.
What Can We Expect From Rusty Wallace Racing in 2013?
Rusty Wallace Racing will return in a limited schedule in 2013, but what can we expect from this race team? Steve Wallace will be behind the wheel of the No.66 car beginning at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. The team will announce later what other races they will be running and Rusty Wallace hopes that the team will be able to run at least 10-15 races in 2013.
What does this mean for Steve Wallace’s career though? Wallace ran just one race last season in a car that he and his friend fielded themselves, but Wallace had a decent finish in 11th. I think it would be a good idea for Wallace to move away from his father’s race team, but who would pick up Wallace in this economy? I think he could potentially have a better future with another team on those circumstances.
In their most recent year, Michael Annett and Wallace finished ninth and tenth in the final points standings. Annett moved on to Richard Petty Motorsports and enjoyed his most productive season in his career. The team just isn’t stable enough in my opinion to really be effective. But Steven Wallace is in a really delicate position. No one contacted Wallace for work last season, which just emphasized how hard this economy has been on NASCAR drivers and owners. As you know, Rusty Wallace temporarily shut the team due to lack of sponsorship.
Steven is still young and still has a chance to move up to the Sprint Cup level, but his time is running out.
Rusty Wallace Racing has fielded cars on the Nationwide tour since 1985, winning four times, the most recent with Jamie McMurray in 2004.
DuPont Says Goodbye to NASCAR and Jeff Gordon
Jeff Gordon’s No.24 Dupont Chevrolet. How many times have you heard Jeff Gordon say that over the course of his soon to be 21 year career? Many times. But the season finale at the Ford Ecoboost 400 this past fall was officially the last time we will hear Gordon utter those famous words. DuPont has been a familiar sponsor in the NASCAR garage area since Gordon made his debut during the 1992 season finale at the Hooters 500 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway in what was Richard Petty’s final race as a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competitor.
What does this mean for Gordon? Well, DuPont was bought out by Axalta Coating Systems for nearly $5 billion and they have since stated that they will remain committed to Hendrick Motorsports and Jeff Gordon. For Gordon fans, it certainly is going to be a hard transition after 20 years, and myself included. Axalta will sponsor Gordon for 14 races in 2013. The only races that have been confirmed to be sponsored by Axalta for this upcoming season are Texas and the season finale in Homestead. The 22 remaining races will continued to be sponsored by AARP and the Drive to End Hunger.
“While these are big changes for us, our commitment to the No. 24 team, Jeff Gordon and NASCAR remains the same,” Axalta President John McCool said in a statement. “We are proud to continue our sponsorship of the No. 24 team and Jeff Gordon in 2013.”
Rick Hendrick also made a short statement today saying that the new Axalta brand is made up of the “the same folks who have spent more than two decades executing one of the most successful sponsorship programs in sports.” And the win at Homestead has to feel 50 times more special for Jeff Gordon and Hendrick Motorsports as they sent off DuPont with a win in their final NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race together and in the special paint scheme, which also happened to be Gordon’s first career victory at Homestead. It was just a great night all together as Brad Keselowski became the second driver in NASCAR history to win his first championship in just his third full-time season on the circuit. Guess who was the other driver? Jeff Gordon! Crazy.
Carlyle Group was the business that purchased DuPont for nearly $5 billion late last year. They also own a variety of businesses including Hertz, and Dunkin’ Donuts.
