Is it me??????

Or is team 14 lacking that magic, that spark?

I'm not talking about the loss of Darian Grubb. Or maybe I am. Not sure that SHR is taking full advantage of their association with Hendrick Motor Sports. What do y'all think?

I miss that spark too.. I guess we were expecting/hoping that he would smoke everyone like the last chase... I don't know if he is taking full advantage of the HMS resources but he should be.

I don't know what is wrong.....but there wasn't any adjustability in the car... no matter what was done during the whole race the car handled the same.....the pit crew really made some big mistakes. It was a complete waste of time, something is very wrong and I want Zippy back! Why do the Hendrick cars always run great and SHR cars can't pass anything.....Tony was so calm on the radio....this is not the team from last year......the Tony we all know and love would have been REALLY UPSET and he wasn't.......inquiring minds need to know! It is like they are asleep..

Doc, since you are going to the race next weekend and you know Ira Joe....Ask him! Tell him you want the truth....And if you see Tony tell him we are all very concerned and worried!

dont for one second think HMS is short changing SHR, Mr H is a business man, sure he would like his teams to win, but if a satellite team end up winning, he is happy, it benefits him as well as the team who wins. there is only one big change from last year, his CC, and grubb spent all those years on the 48 team working under chad, so the dude had brains and he brought the HMS playbook to SHR, now he took it to JGR where Denny obviously benefited from it

In no way do I blame HMS. Not for a minute. I blame the powers that be at SHR.

Last season, particularly last chase was magical. Not easily replicated. But all we have gotten is flat.
Get it together guys.

I will be at Texas this weekend. In the garage area all weekend. You can best believe if I get a hold of anyone of those guys they will get an earful from me. My goal this weekend: get my picture taken with Chad, Matty, Kyle and/or JJ. At Richmond I got so many others.

i dont see why people are disappointed, he won 3 races, and in todays nascar, thats a big deal, remember only one person can be the best every year, i know if the guy i follow doesnt win it, i wont be bummed, cuz he won a few races and that takes the sting out of it.....

i think there is turmoil at SHR, just because zipper is there and ryan got the CC he may have wanted, doesnt mean things will be hunky dory, im sure a lot of time will be invested in the new teammate and no one will be focused on their own gig

So, SHR didn’t have a competition director and the 14 got on a roll and won the title. In the offseason, SHR hires competition director and Smoke wins early in the year and so did Newman. As the season continued it seems performance on the track is getting worse not better. I’m sure if SHR knew the problem they would fix it. But, there has to be some changes to figure out what is wrong and be back up front where BOTH cars belong.

I don't know if we can really figure out what happened this year for chances to repeat for the championship. It looked to be a year of changes and perhaps trying to hard to make something before they were ready. Maybe SHR needs more of a shake up in players than they already have had. Other teams work and sometimes they don't. If one really looks at it there were several with disappointments and a few that scored real well. Kasey Kahn for one made up for some of those years he wasn't happy about. Carl Edwards had a year that spoiled what he had the year before even tho he lost he really did something to be proud of. Denny had a chase a few years back that lost him a championship. We could debate what and why for years and we really wouldn't know why. I guess it just boils down to support those we care about. The new season will see how Kenseth makes out in the 20 and that Logono might just be way different for Penske and maybe just maybe Kurt Busch will surprise everyone.

One thing else I have noticed on The 14 team is that Tony and Bob Jeffrey can not understand Steve on the radio......he talks very low and most of the time has to repeat what he says......and Bob translates, only if Bob can hear him also.....either turn up the volume or speak more distinctly Steve!


Ok, Doc you have a mission......the GG is depending on you.......IJH is your best bet! Have fun, I'll be in Houston, improving the economy of the city!!

What is your favorite place for Mexican food in the downtown area??.....we like Nymfa's for their Margaritas....

Or is team 14 lacking that magic, that spark?

I'm not talking about the loss of Darian Grubb. Or maybe I am. Not sure that SHR is taking full advantage of their association with Hendrick Motor Sports. What do y'all think?

Maybe I'm wrong, but I feel like we see consistently slower pit stops for Tony, more frequent mistakes on Pit lane. The wrench, the dragging air gun. The slow pit stop at Richmond where he lost the lead late in the race.

One thing JJ has going for him over every other race team is that his pit crew is simply the best.

The 14 team has been in 2013 mode since Charlotte. They straight up admitted they were experimenting this week and last week. So I wouldn't put too much into their performance now.

how can you experiment when your gonna have a totally different car for 2013?

Annalee, Ninfa's is the best. For food and margaritas. I'm only sorry that the weekend you come to my hometown that I'll be gone. Even if it is for a good reason. Hopefully I'll get some insight from my friend who gets me the hot passes.

I'm interested in hearing all of y'all's thoughts on the problems SHR is facing. I think we all agree that we hate to see both of the guys struggling.

Ryan said he figured out over half way through the race.
He said the camber was wrong in the front tires. Which cant be fixed in the race.
Borland went over everything Ryan thought & reasons why he thought it, & all the adjustments they were making which basically did nothing for them, & told Ryan it made sense.
Ryan asked what Tony was saying & they told Ryan Tony had the same issues.
So most likely it was a camber issue. Nothing to do with not taking advantage of resources.

Schmoopy, I'm not talking about just yesterday. I'm talking over the last 6-8 weeks. Even when Tony was leading laps or contending I've noticed things are "off".

Sounds like Ryan and Big Matt have good communication that has transcended over the years.