Questions for the Cup series entering 2012

1. Where are the rookies? Yes Trevor Byane won the Daytona 500 last year in his second star, however he doesn't even have a full time ride in cup or nationwide. Ricky Stenhouse Jr just won a nw title and he has to do another season in nw? Despite the fact Jack is letting him race in the 500? Give me a break no sense in making a driver who is clearly ready for cup (finished 11th in his first cup start in the Coke 600) wait yet another season. What about Justin Allgaier? This will be his fourth full nw season. He should have been in cup by now. Are the days gone when we had rookie of the year battles like Jr vs Kenseth, Johnson vs Newman, Biffle vs McMurray, Khane vs Vickers, Hamlin vs Bowyer, Montoya vs Ragan?

2. What is NASCAR going to do about start a parkers? Yes TBR is a great example of what can happen if a team starts and parks, gets with the right driver and then is able to actually race. But there are still people out there who just do this to make money. They are not racers, they are just businessmen.

3. How does Kurt Busch do in the 51. In Kurt Busch's head he hasn't fallen too far from grace since he is Kurt Busch. As much as I and man y others dislike him and make fun of him, he is still a great driver with a title and at least one win since 2002 (Only Tony Stewart has a longer winning streak). But he is with a team that finished 30th in owners points last year with their best finish being 12th. Yes James will get the HMS engines and chassis, but this relationship is completely different from what SHR's is with HMS. They won't be sharing too much info back and forth, and the most they will do is rebuild their wrecked racecars. This team also only has like 18 employees going against teams with 200 plus. I could see Kurt as high as 18th in points or as low as outside the top 25 in points. He is looking forward to 2013 anyhow (my guess he will be the third driver at EGR).

4. Can EGR actually be good? Jamie had such a lousy season. 21 finishes of 20th or worse. Those are unacceptable numbers. 27th in points with two top fives and four top tens marks his worst season in cup. Montoya's season as almost as bad same # of top fives, four more top tens, but 21st was in his final points result. This team made some quite yet huge changes in the off season, firing a ton of key people. Jamie has a new car chief, new engineer, and Montoya has a new crew chief. Have they made enough gain to make the chase?

5.Will Allmendinger be good in the 22? Aj is a winner in my book. The 24 hours of Daytona proved that. But in NASCAR not so much. Will he be able to live up to his potential or will he be one and done with Penske like David Stremme?

Good questions, wish I knew all the answers.

As far as the rookies go, I agree, several of them should be moving up. But IMO, sponsorship is still just too tough to raise. And it is unfortunate for those guys.

The rest of your questions? Anybody else got any ideas?

the Dinger is in the best postion he has ever been in in the Cup series. I think if he does win or comes cllose to winning, they will compare him to drivers that have had a much better senario than him going in to cup, & he will still be looked upon as a driver that didnt reach his potential. However I am impressed with what he has accomplished with what he had to work with. I dont see him being one of the greats or anything, but I would have him on my team before a ton of drivers that have much better teams. So I am happy to see him on a race team dedicated to winning & top 5's. I expect good things from him this year, even though it is his 1st year with the team. Question I have, is why did Penske let Addington quit, if they were getting rid of Kurt anyways?

I found #3 interesting. Watching Kurt on Race Hub this week, trying to put lipstick on a pig ( no offense to Phoenix Racing ) was amusing, to say the least. I liked your quote "In Kurt Busch's head he hasn't fallen too far from grace since he is Kurt Busch" Funny ( witty ) but true.

Is it a coincidence that his team is called PHOENIX (the mythical bird that lives, ignites & burns to ashes, only to be reborn again) ? ? Will Kurt be that bird? Possibly. He has the talent... but his own ego ran him off track a few years ago. I'll give him credit for putting on a brave, excited & happy face tho. If he can check his gi-gantor ego.... eat a little humble pie, he may get far this season.

As for #2 - In my humble opinion... NASCAR gets a piece of the S&P teams....so I really don't see them sending away the goose that lays a little valuable financial egg.

As for Ricky... I was disappointed to learn that the reason he did not get into Cup, was due to sponsors. From World Motor Sports....

Link - http://www.worldmotorsports101.com/2012/01/23/ricky-stenhouse-jr-will-defend-nationwide-series-championship-in-2012/

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Will Defend Nationwide Series Championship in 2012
January 23rd, 2012 at 12:22 AM
By Neal Fisher

After spending most of the offseason in uncertainty regarding if he would run a full Nationwide schedule, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will defend his championship.

But it was announced last Friday, the Roush Fenway Racing driver will compete in all 33 Nationwide Series races during the 2012 season. With the economic constraints which have become a primary factor in how teams run and manage their interests, Stenhouse was one of several Roush Fenway Racing drivers whose future was in question, even with him gracing the podium at the champions banquet in December. At the root of the uncertainty was sponsors deciding not to renew their association with the Roush Fenway Racing teams.

“My intentions are hopefully the Nationwide Series is going well throughout the year, and I’d like to run some more [Cup races] toward the end of the year,” said Stenhouse, who made his Cup debut last May at Charlotte. “That would be my plan. We’ll see how that works out.

“Right now, we’re going to run the 500 and the whole Nationwide Series and focusing on it. Nobody has said anything [about running Cup] besides Daytona.”

The team's and driver's intentions were formally announced during the NASCAR Preview at the Charlotte Convention Center. However the team still has yet to find a sponsor.

"They’re working on sponsorship for it right now, so everything is good,” Stenhouse said Saturday. “It sounds like we’re going to be able to go and defend our title again. … We’ve been planning on running for it.”

In addition to his Nationwide schedule, Stenhouse will drive the No. 6 Cup car in the Daytona 500. Stenhouse said that is the only Cup race currently on his schedule.

Stenhouse won the 2011 Nationwide Series by 45 points over Elliott Sadler. Sadler drove for Kevin Harvick Inc. last season. However ,with KHI being bought, he will be with Richard Childress Racing in 2012.

“At the end of the year, [Sadler] came on pretty strong,” Stenhouse said. “He’s going to be tough next year. Austin [Dillon at RCR] is going to be tough. Cole Whitt’s a good racer and he’ll be in a good race car at JR Motorsports [and there is] Justin Allgaier at Turner Motorsports.

“That same top-five group of guys, it’s going to be close for a long time until something dramatic happens like it did this year and separated us.”

Stenhouse will also have the same crew chief, Mike Kelley.

The schedule for Stenhouse’s Roush Fenway teammate Trevor Bayne is still to be determined. He is expected to run select Nationwide races for Roush Fenway in addition to a partial Cup schedule for the Wood Brothers. Roush Fenway provides cars and equipment for the Wood Brothers.

Great questions Smokeshow!
1. There is a lot of talent going to waste in NW.. I think the economy is the answer here!
2. I think they want the field full, so they allow it. Economy goes up maybe this will go away too!
3. We will see how " HAPPY" Kurt really is, during his first pit stop!
4. 2013 EGR stable- Juan Pablo Montoya, Kurt Busch and Brian Vickers! Aka known as:" The Three Amigos". Owners and sponsors worst nightmare, Chevrolet parts and pieces dream. Jamie is to nice a guy to fit in with that group! Run Jamie run!
5. I agree with schmoopy!

Lots of questions for sure and like others I cant answer most of them, but I think Ricky deserves to be in the Cup series. The point of the NNS series is to ready the drivers for moving up to Cup, but as mentioned the lack of sponsor interest is killing that part of Nascar. Ricky winning it all in NNS surely should get him in the Cup series, but? Trevor and Justin are Ok but not ready for Cup really. Yes i know Trevor won the Daytona 500 but he was pushed across the finish line, so while he gets the win, lots of critics that dont like tandem racing arent giving him alot of credit for the win. As the veteran favorites get older, Nascar will need to find new blood in Cup or it will slowly fade, but with stingy sponsors I dont know who it will be or where they will come from?

Far as the Busch brothers, I dont really care for their attitudes, but Kyle is definately a great racer, but his attitude and even his skill some say isnt good enough to win it all in the Chase as Tony just did--guess we'll see on that? With so many drivers and teams changing things around it will be a strange season i think, course all Nascar cares about is if the fans like it?

Hummmmm All good questions. We shall see.

some are already making a fuss about the 51 team getting their gear from HMS, personally i dont like kurt, but do people forget where SHR gets their gear from???? Finch has been a long time client of HMS and they need to get off his back, now that he has a driver with talent, people want to act like he and HMS are cheating, its called free enterprise..........

I think the 51 team is one of the best single car operations out there.

some are already making a fuss about the 51 team getting their gear from HMS, personally i dont like kurt, but do people forget where SHR gets their gear from???? Finch has been a long time client of HMS and they need to get off his back, now that he has a driver with talent, people want to act like he and HMS are cheating, its called free enterprise..........

I agree with you MJ,Roush and RCR/DEI,JGR do the same.The expense that racing has become,i finally come to realize it's the only way the smaller teams can survive.The days of building your own are long gone and thou i miss those days as the same w/o multi-car teams,it is what it is.Still trying to find something to hold on to or keep my attention to this sport,but it gets tougher every year.Nascar got away from its' roots,but in some ways i believe they are trying to bring some of it back and "have at it" was a good start.

From their web page -

http://www.phoenixracinginc.com/about-phoenix-racing/

About Phoenix Racing

Formed in 1989, Phoenix Racing, Inc. (PRI) specializes in providing vertically integrated NASCAR racing teams for companies who wish to capitalize on the tremendous commercial success of our sport. The unprecedented growth in NASCAR has provided our business with the resources to assemble highly competitive teams, a state of the art facility, and the personnel to build a successful future.

PRI’s focus is the development of driver through relationship building with potential sponsors. We help our sponsors achieve their marketing objectives by delivering performance on the track as well as supporting additional marketing efforts.

We take pride in our ability to exceed the expectations of our sponsors. We achieve this through a thorough understanding of their business, markets and goals, matching this understanding to the delivery of fielding a highly competitive team. The conduct of our employees is always at the utmost respect to our fans, sponsors, and competitors.

James Finch (owner) celebrated his 20th year in NASCAR racing in 2008 and his 500th Nationwide start at Lowes Motorspeedway in May along with his 100th Sprint Cup Start at Homestead in 2008 finally.

2009 brought great success to PRI. Teaming with Hendrick Motorsports to supply engines, race cars and technical support in 2009. PRI parlayed this to one Sprint Cup win at Talladega and a Nationwide win at Lowes Motor Speedway. Mr. Finch also along with sponsor Miccosukee Gaming partnered with Billy Ballew Motorsports and Kyle Busch to win seven Camping World Truck Series wins.

PRI is positioned to bring their alliance with Hendrick Motorsports to collaborate with a new partner to brand their company at the highest level. New partner Security Benefits brings along some new and innovative ideas.