TBK-Light.com

2014 will be the last year for the Nationwide Series, they are leaving as title sponsor and moving to the #17 car full time in Cup.

I blame Kyle Busch.

I wonder if the next sponsor comes in and asks NASCAR to limit Cup drivers. I can't see Nationwide really happy that there was so much complaining during their stint as title sponsor.

_________________
Go Miami Dolphins!
Go New York Yankees!
Go New York Rangers!

I really hope that was a big part of their reason to leave and that they chew NASCAR's ass off about it so they realize fans don't want to see that nonsense every Saturday. Even hardcore fans like me have lost interest in the Nationwide series so I can only imagine what it's like for the casual fan to see Kyle and Brad make a mockery of the field in their Cup Lite cars every race.

Can't blame them - the product's pretty lame. A bunch of big name drivers in big-budget machinery rape the field each week not even racing for points and beyond a handful of regulars filling out the top 20 behind them the rest of the field is running abysmally slow cars that finish 8-12 laps down followed by a fleet of Curtis Key etc park cars. All watched by 8 people in the stands.

With any luck this will bring about a big shakeup for the series.

You can hope but we all know how badly NASCAR is run, especially if a sponsor happily fills the void.

More likely they just did the maths and realised they'll get better value for money sponsoring a cup car than sponsoring a lower-tier series. Unfortunately I doubt Nationwide cares about cup drivers in the sport - they probably buy the story that cup drivers produce better ratings. The truth of course is that if the feeder series restricted cup drivers and allowed competition to grow between full time competitors the product would be more interesting and potentially gain more ratings, but that's a pretty long thread to pull as a marketer.

_________________

Article about the 2014 Tundra. http://www.mrn.com/Race-Series/NASCAR-C ... apter.aspx

And some better pics; looks pretty good imo.

I gotta give Nascar credit for trying to get the brand identity "look" back into the cars and trucks....It's pretty close to looking like the street counterpart.

Agreed. Of course, the only reason they did is because they made a monumental fuckup with the CoT, and the prior gen cars to some extent letting the templates get way out of whack. They'd never admit this mistake of course, but when faced with the unhappy manufacturers (not pleased all the cars looked a like) they had no choice but to do something.

Oh Mikey.... I wonder where NAPA lands? NASCAR NAPA GRAND NATIONAL SERIES!?!?!

_________________
Go Miami Dolphins!
Go New York Yankees!
Go New York Rangers!

Again, if Truex had made it in the chase, cheating and all, NAPA would be sitting around the big table with Mikey smoking cigars and laughing.

Sponsoring the busch series would be cool though.

I was talking to Ben, and he mentioned NAPA talking to SHR.

_________________
Gael

I could see NAPA going to SHR but I think they'd want to sponsor a team full time. They were one of the few sponsors that were on the car all year long. Tony has many sponsors, Danica is all GoDaddy, Kevin has Bud/Outback/JJ and Gene Haas said he wanted his name on Kurt's car. Maybe they split time on Kurt's and Tony's? Ah who the fuck knows....

_________________
Go Miami Dolphins!
Go New York Yankees!
Go New York Rangers!

He didn't want to have his name on the car but said he would foot the bill for Kurt if no sponsor could be found. Guess that is about to change now..

NAPA would look pretty damn good on that 3 car..... it did back in 2000, anyway.

Oh gawd can you imagine what the NAPA adverts are going to be like, surely they couldn't get Kurt to act such the prick that Truex and MW did (not that he would have to act).

Yes he did.



http://espn.go.com/racing/nascar/cup/story/_/id/9606553/gene-haas-put-deal-together-kurt-busch-own

_________________
Go Miami Dolphins!
Go New York Yankees!
Go New York Rangers!

I know it wouldn't happen but I'd love to hear the "cans" make fun of Clint.

"Oh look it's the funny car guy. Hey Ron, how hot does it get in your car in 3 seconds? Does your arm ever itch? Ever had to spin to get a teammate into the countdown?"

_________________
"The track's wet, that's what I think about it. Fucking shit gets wet when it rains."
-Dale Earnhardt Jr.