It’s not the money baby, it’s the amount

by Charlie Turner

I'm Charlie Turner co-host of the syndicated, mostly NASCAR radio show On Pit Row. Thanks for stopping by OnPitRow.com and the Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie blog. Oh yeah, Steve is an idiot.

5 Responses to “It’s not the money baby, it’s the amount”

1. Steve Wronkowicz on April 2nd, 2008 7:59 am

   I only see one problem with your Stewart to RCR thinking. General Mills is a female based sponsor. Will General Mills be happy with the image of a loose cannon like Tony?

   You are correct about the other GM wanting Tony back though. Tony doesn’t seem comfortable with the whole Toyota thing. But, having said that, six or seven wins could make him a real Toyota lover–fast.

2. Luke on April 2nd, 2008 11:09 am

   Loose cannon or not, I think General Mills has one thing on their mind. Winning. Something they haven’t really done.

   The question would be, whether or not they are willing to accept Tony as he is, in order to win. Something that is pretty much a guarantee with Stewart at this point.

   However, one would have to wonder if Tony would go it alone, or whether Zippy would be atop his pit box. He’s have to be, I would think. The two are thick as thieves, inseparable by today’s standards. They didn’t nickname Greg the “fireman” for nothing. It’s a total team effort there.

   It would seem to me that Tony leans more to winning, and being competitive. He’s shown loyalty to JGR thus far in his career, and unless they were running in the back half every week I can’t say I would bet on him making a move away from JGR. As long as he’s competitive and a threat, no news there.

   If it was really that big of a deal, I don’t think Stewart would be where he is at right now. At the worst he would have just walked away from it all, or made the point clear enough that there wouldn’t have been a switch.

   That doesn’t mean he has to be in love with Toyota, but Joe Gibbs overall is pretty stiff in the competition department. They’re getting better, too.

   Now, where does that leave Bobby Labonte? He did the honorable thing in looking to help Petty return to greatness. Dale Jarrett did the same thing by trying to help a longtime friend build a foundation for a new team.

   They can only be asked to suffer through so much though. Bobby went from here to an almost “also ran” status, although he’s been in the mix on occasion. He’s done his best with what he’s had, and the #43 has seen marked improvement. It now time for him to move on to another opportunity though. If he doesn’t do it now, he’ll finish out his career where he is. Reason being is that by the time a new contract is up with Petty, assuming it’s for 3 more seasons, leaves Bobby just shy of his 48th birthday. At which time he could either give PE one more try, or find a rocking chair. Mainly because at that point, he wouldn’t be where he could move and race another 10 years somewhere. Well, he could, but sponsorship would be tough. Just ask Rusty, and if he was really ready to give it up in 2006.

   Point being with Bobby and DJ, honorable intentions can only be expected to carry so long. There appears to be some deep issues at PE, and they will take some time to fix. What and how, I don’t know. It’s nothing bad against Petty, not by any means, but whatever is going on they need to continue to get on top of before they end up like Morgan-McClure. When Petty can show it’s more competitive, they can attract bigger talent that can make use of the better equipment. A vicious circle to say the least. Whether it’s drivers, crew combinations/chemistry, or whatever it is, it needs to be fixed before they can’t keep up with the Top-35 at all.

   What Bobby does from here is up to him. Part of it I’m sure will come down to how well he can do the rest of the season. However, sitting 21st without a Top-10 probably isn’t the best way to impress the driver with equipment capabilities. If the right opportunity arises, and RCR looks pretty good right now, I wouldn’t be surprised at Bobby taking it. Whether it’s RCR or another competitive ride.

3. Joshua Lobdell on April 2nd, 2008 2:48 pm

   I am perplexed

   How does Genral Mills qualify as a female based sponsor?

   I worked at Roush Racing when the ywere brought into he sport and in those meetings ido not remember any mention of their brand being female based.

   I think Tony Syewart would be a perfect fit at RCR. They now how to win, they have a couple of cooler heads and Tony is very good friends with kevin Harvick, Chevy wants him back and may front some of that money to get him there.

4. 4ever3 on April 2nd, 2008 10:27 pm

   Curse you Charlie, I was going to go with the Tony Stewart angle on the General Mills/RCR thing.

   Kind of fitting that GM (General Mills) will be on a GM (General Motors) car next year. I sense a whole “3 Factor” here somewhere, like this is the 3rd car owner that G Mills will be with as a primary sponsor and it just happens to be with RCR who made the 3 famous with Dale Earnhardt.

5. Saturday Morning Quick Fix on April 5th, 2008 10:20 am

   […] and Ryan Newman (Penske Racing) have yet to renew their contracts for next year as well.  (Click Here for more on […]

Got something to say?

Did you know you can log in with your Thunder Lounge account, and have your personal avatar and site link available when you comment at On Pit Row?

Don't have an account yet? Sign-up for free.