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1. Carl Edwards Not Returning to Roush-Fenway Racing in 2015: Where Will He Go?
News broke at around 10:30 last week before Sunday's John Wayne Walding 400 about who would drive for Roush-Fenway Racing in 2015. It turned out to be a press conference about who wouldn't drive for Roush next year. The one driver who wouldn't: Carl Edwards, who had been with the team since his debut in Cup in 2004 and along with a couple years in the Truck Series. Edwards had been rumored to be leaving the team, but now it is official. The man who finished second in the points in 2008 and 2011 will be behind the wheel of another car next season. The key question is this one. What team will he be racing for next year? It seems without a doubt that Edwards will be taking his talents to Joe Gibbs Racing next year and I feel like this is a good fit. The main reason I see this as a good fit is the drivers Edwards would have around him. Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin, and Carl Edwards on the same team sounds like a very formidable team in NASCAR. Between those drivers is one hundred and seven NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins along with Kenseth's 2003 Cup title. Edwards would fit in well as a fourth driver on the team and he could grab some more wins. Another reason is that all of these drivers are from about the same era of NASCAR. Kenseth started a few years before the other three, but Hamlin, Edwards, and Busch started their Cup careers around the same time. That means they would have similar experiences in Cup and they would be able to relate to each other behind the wheel. Honestly, I think this move for Edwards will hand him some more Cup wins and hand him a championship along the way behind the wheel of a fast Toyota.
2. Greg Ives Will Be Crew Chief for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2015: How Well Will the Duo Work Together?
It was announced earlier this year that Steve Letarte would be leaving as crew chief for Dale Earnhardt Jr. and head to the NBC Sports booth to cover NASCAR races for the network next season. Amidst all that, it was not known who would be on top of the box for NASCAR's most popular driver. Now, we know without a doubt who will be there. Greg Ives, the chief engineer for five of Jimmie Johnson's championships and current crew chief for Chase Elliott in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, will be the man on Junior's pit next season. Elliott's car, which is owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr., has been fast the entire year including three wins with Ives at the reins. That means Earnhardt has knowledge of Ives ability as a leader and Rick Hendrick knows he will be a good leader of a Cup team. Here is the question for the duo, though. How will they work together next year after Earnhardt's success this season? I think Earnhardt will run really well with Ives guiding him every race. The main reason is the connection the two have with Ives working for Junior's Nationwide team. It is a testament to Greg Ives that one of the most notable drivers in the sport would want him to guide one of the young faces in NASCAR and they haven't disappointed this year. Three wins in twenty races is not something that comes easily especially the win Chase Elliott had at Darlington earlier this year. To me, that means that Greg Ives knows how to lead a team. Another reason is the two are pretty similar. Earnhardt is a rather quiet guy who doesn't talk too much during interviews, but he is pretty outspoken on the radio with what adjustments he wants. Ives is very good and making sure his driver receives the right adjustment and he will be able to calm Earnhardt down in certain situations. I feel like this is a formidable duo next year and we will be talking a lot about their success.
3. Denny Hamlin and Team Fined After Indianapolis Infraction: Were the Penalties Too Harsh?
One of the major stories leaving Indianapolis was the infraction Denny Hamlin's team had committed. The firewall in the back of the car, which protects the driver from fires, was found to have holes in it. That is illegal according to the rule book because it could harm the driver and it adds a lot of downforce to the back of the car, which was the intention of the team. The penalties following this were pretty hefty. Darian Grubb, Hamlin's crew chief, and the team's car chief, Wesley Sherrill, were both fined and suspended for six races, which means they will be back for the first Chase race of the year. Hamlin was docked seventy five driver points and seventy five owner points along with receiving some fines of his own. That doesn't affect making the Chase for Hamlin because he already has a win on the year and is locked into the ten race battle for a title. Here is the question I have concerning this issue. Were the penalties for the entire number eleven team too harsh? I don't think they were harsh at all. Keep in mind that we are discussing driver safety here. When teams start messing with areas that are designed to protect a driver, I believe they should receive max fines and penalties. I mean, that was a stupid call to make for twenty pounds of rear downforce if you could hurt your driver in the end. I think the whole team knew a penalty was coming and they decided to go for it, but NASCAR caught them and now they are paying the right consequences.
4. Ryan Blaney Driving for the Wood Brothers in 2015: Is That a Smart Move?
Ryan Blaney isn't a household name yet in NASCAR competition, but his last name is a very notable one in our sport. Ryan's father, Dave Blaney, was and still is a great USAC sprint car racer and he has had some great runs in NASCAR for many years now. These next few years, though, are going to be the years of Ryan Blaney. Next year, Blaney will head to the Wood Brothers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series to run the limited schedule the team runs every year. Along with that, Blaney will run full time in either the Nationwide Series or the Truck Series, but most likely the Nationwide Series. None of that is official yet, but Blaney's part time move to Cup next year is official. I have one question about this new job for Blaney. Is it a smart move to run Cup part time during the next few years for Blaney? I believe it is an extremely smart move for him to run some Cup races next year. I have discussed before about how Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, the Dillon brothers, Darrell Wallace Jr., and others are the future of our sport, but Ryan Blaney is definitely the future of our sport. The kid can drive for sure considering he has won in the Nationwide Series and the Truck Series during his little time in NASCAR. He is really fast and this gig Blaney now has to drive in Cup is a fantastic one. He will get some experience along with running with the best drivers in the sport. Blaney will definitely be full time in Cup in a few years, but these runs he will have these next few years will really help him out.
5. My Pick to Win
In the last edition of my thoughts for Pocono, I discussed how the track was kind of a driver's race track. It takes a certain mold of a driver to succeed at Pocono and not every driver likes the track. Then, there are the drivers who absolutely love when the series pulls into “The Tricky Triangle”. Those drivers are the ones who will be the drivers to beat today. But don't forget about strategy. One strategy call could take the dominator of the event out of the battle for the win and hand the win to a driver who wasn't expecting to run up front. Plus, the finish could become crazy thanks to strategy and we see a fantastic race in the Pocono mountains. I have a good many picks to win today's race and they will all be contenders for the win. Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Tony Stewart, Kyle Larson, Kevin Harvick, and Ryan Newman are good picks to win today's race. Brian Vickers, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Austin Dillon are possible underdog winners of today's race. Pocono is always an exciting track and I feel like today's event will be another exciting show. I am excited to write about it and watch as the action unfolds over four hundred long miles. Well, that is all for me and until we meet again.
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