- B/R Ticket Guide
Of coure, the NASCAR teams are a different story. Penske has two wins, neither of them particularly deserving, and the Ganassi team shut down the No. 40 a few weeks ago and is more or less wasting the talents of Reed Sorenson and Juan Pablo Montoya.
Since Ganassi entered NASCAR, only Sterling Marlin, Jamie McMurray, and Montoya have won for the team, McMurray's coming in 2002 and Montoya's last year at Sonoma.
Penske has considerably more upside than Ganassi, as the No. 2 and 12 teams have proven they can win if the puzzle pieces fit.
I agree with the popular rumor going around in the last few weeks having Ganssi merging with Michael Waltrip Racing and moving to Toyotas. Ganassi has little loyalty to manufacturers anyway, and he's worked with Toyota before. In the end, however, I like seeing these two teams get beat up in NASCAR. There's no question where the top talent in racing resides, and they're on the track 38 weeks a year.
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4 months ago
Love it.
4 months ago
Ganassi with Toyota? I'm sure Honda would love that. But I do agree with you, Juan Pablo and Reed's talents are being so wasted over there- I wish they'd leave. Then what would Ganassi do? Ganassi and Penske needs to put up or shut up when it comes to their NASCAR teams- Newman's leaving, Hornish sucks, Sorenson is young enough where if he gets out now he could salvage something, Montoya could be a contender if he actually had good equipment, Busch should've stayed with Roush... it's sad. Good read, Matt.
from 4 months ago
Jen just so you know. He didn't leave on his own, Jack "In The Hat", fired Kurt.
from 4 months ago
Yeah, but it wasn't like Kurt didn't give him reason to lol
4 months ago
Penske may not be winning everything in NASCAR but they are a solid team. They have won 2 races one being the DAYTONA 500. Im not sure why you say neither of the wins were deserving, especially DAYTONA? Thats bullshit. Im not sure how its undeserving when one teammate pushes the other team car to the biggest win of its and the drivers career. Penske is not on the level of Hendrcik, Roush, or Gibbs just yet but they are improving, and for sure worlds ahead of the rest of the teams. I pretty much agree fully on Ganassi. Ever since full-time Sterling Marlin, they have not been great but I think Montoya could possibly bring them back.
4 months ago
I wouldn't discount the win at Daytona. They followed that up with a good result in the July race, showing the 500 1-2 finish wasn't a fluke.
The point is this: Penske and Ganassi ARE IndyCar (with Andretti-Green Racing). In Grand Am Ganassi's 01 with Pruett and Rojas has the Bob Stallings 99 car's number this year, whereas the results were flipped last season as Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty were unstoppable, winning almost every race.
In ALMS, Penske's Porsche RS Spyders are the class of the P2 field, which is getting more and more entertaining to watch (especially after the race at Lime Rock). Acura is coming on strong. But the Penske cars are great as long as they don't break. On the tighter circuits they challenge and readily beat the more powerful P1 Audi R10s.
I'll give Penske real props when he brings the DHL "Yellowbirds" over and does something at Le Mans.
from 4 months ago
I agree.
from 4 months ago
I believe Matt's "deserving" statement comes from the fact that Daytona and Talladega aren't determined by the cars as long as they go 185mph and last 500 miles. Restrictor plate track wins are determined by who is your friend and where they are located. Anyone who wins these races aren't considered "deserving" unless they've led the most laps. Even then, the first 150 laps are just to make the race legit by giving all 43 drivers a chance to make it to the front by the end. Albeit, Dale Sr. proved it only takes 5 laps at the 2000 'Dega fall race.
*No, I don't believe Sr. is the best ever. I was a DW fan growing up.
4 months ago
I would put Penske ahead of Ganassi. Because of what Rusty did in the No. 2 car, but Mayfield, Newman, Hornish and Busch aren't really the answear for Roger. Sign Mears, let Kurt finish his contract and put Stremme in the No. 77 car. Then get Trevor Bayne under contract, let him race for Rusty's team in the Nationwide and put him in the No. 2 when Kurt's contracts done.
4 months ago
good stuff by the writer and the people commenting. The move to merge Gannasi and Waltrip Racing could work because the #99 Nationwide Car has the most horsepower according to the recent dyno tests and the Gannasi cars occainsionaly contend on the Sprint Cup level, so it can be good for both teams. But where does this leave Felix Sabates? There has got to be a compromise somewhere. In terms of Sorenson and Montoya wasting their talent, I agree with that because Sorenson has shown flashes of greatness and Juan Montoya is such a fierce competitor and he is a great driver. If either of them want to save their careers they should urge Chip Gannasi to make a move or they should make a move themselves by switching to a more competitive team.
4 months ago
Thanks for the comments, guys. I'm glad to have inspired some good, intelligent conversation.
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