Truex Jr. to Furniture Row Racing in 2014

[Hendrick4life]

Who will be available for 2015??? There are np seats opening as far as I know.

 

[Deuce]

Who will be available for 2015??? There are np seats opening as far as I know.

Hard to say considering we don't know who will stink in 2014.

On the flip side of that, anyone think some older drivers will finally hang it up that year? The influx of young drivers seems imminent.

 

[Sgt Slaughter]

Hard to say considering we don't know who will stink in 2014.

On the flip side of that, anyone think some older drivers will finally hang it up that year? The influx of young drivers seems imminent.

I going with Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon, maybe Jeff Burton.

Oh and Terry Labonte. XD

 

[Cody Ficker]

I do not know how long Danica's contract is, but if she continues to perform as well/poor as she has, I would expect Truex Jr. to take over the 10.

 

[bigrolltide1877]

Im gonna say with in the next 2-3 years i see bobby labonte, jeff burton and possibly jeff gordon retiring. But im just assuming. Its going to be very weird not seeing those three on the race track once they retire.

 

[MrDude68]

I will be extremely surprised if Gordon retires before Jeff Burton.

I do think Terry Labonte will (finally) hang up his helmet within the next couple years though.

 

[burtonbraves]

I could see Truex going to RPM or EGR if FRR doesn't work out.

So many abbreviations...

 

[18fan4life]

Bobby is pretty much done, Jeff Burton is on his way out, Mark Martin will have to be pried out of a car, and I give Gordon until his contract at Hendrick runs out. Bobby will probably go back to his dirt team, and manage that, making some sprites appearances in Cup, NNS and Trucks. Burton will help with his nephews ARCA career, and Jeff will do whatever he wants, he is THE Jeff Gordon, after all. That's my two cents, congrats to Truex on the ride, but he is gonna have some big shoes to fill in order to make me take notice...

 

[KahneRacing945]

We change topics so quickly on these threads . Now about Martin Truex. Glad to see hime gte a ride but i don't quite see him doing as good as Kurt was this year but he will still be a top 15 type of driver.

 

[MattSRD28]

I give Gordon until his contract at Hendrick runs out

Don't hold your breath. Gordon has a lifetime contract at Hendrick.

 

[18fan4life]

Don't hold your breath. Gordon has a lifetime contract at Hendrick.

Forgot about that... I guess I will just let his on-track performances do the talking for me then.

 

[NDilbeckWx]

Keep in mind Truex has one more win than Kurt Busch this year.

Honestly, both could have had multiple wins if not for mistakes, especially Kurt with some of the races where he led a lot of laps only to have a pit crew mistake cost him in the last stops of the race.

On the topic though, I believe Truex will be just fine in the 78.

 

[MillsLayne]

Truex will be OKAY in the 78, but I'm not sure he'll do what Kurt did for that team. He certainly won't be in the Chase next year. Let's not forget that Kurt Busch is a champion and Truex has 2 Cup wins. Truex is a good driver, no doubt, but Kurt Busch, he is not.

 

[88 17 6 fan]

So everyone is on the kurt busch bandwagon now. I'm okay with this.jpg

 

[Jbm93]

I do not know how long Danica's contract is, but if she continues to perform as well/poor as she has, I would expect Truex Jr. to take over the 10.

Her sponsor will keep her in the ride. And she's actually starting to develop into a strong driver, so I see her sticking around for a while

 

[Jbm93]

Also it's too soon to assume KuBu will outperform Truex in the 78. He may mesh with the team better than Kurt did. In my opinion Tram Chemistry > Driver Talent when it comes to on-track performance.

 

[Doyle9]

Her sponsor will keep her in the ride. And she's actually starting to develop into a strong driver, so I see her sticking around for a while

You mean she has finished in the top 20?!?

Honestly though, if anybody other than DP were in this situation with lack of performance in their rookie year (I see you over there, Timmy Hill) in top-tier equipment, they would not be talked about week in and week out, nor would they feel so secure about their job.

In her 31 races this season, she has an average finish of 26.2. She has a pole and one top-10, both of which came at Daytona. She has DNF'd in 5 races (all due to crashes), and has finished a lap or more down a whopping 20 times. That's 2/3 of the races this year where she DIDN'T finish on the lead lap.

To compare, the illustrious :-/ David Stremme, running 34 races, had an average finish of 26.4 in his rookie year while DNF'ing in 4 races (2 due to mecanical issues) and finishing a lap or more down 23 times. He didn't have a top-10, but he finished 11th at both Loudon and Homestead. Remember that this was with Ganassi, who wasn't exactly fielding the best equipment in NASCAR in 2006.

Now, you may say she is improving. Let's look at her last ten races. To be fair, I'll exclude the first lap crash at Kansas, and add Indianapolis instead, so as to not include the Pocono crash as well. She had finishes of 30th, 20th, 23rd, 26th, 21st, 30th, 20th, 27th, 29th, and 20th. Average those together and you get an average finish of 24.6. Not too much better than her average over the season.

Compare that to a less-hyped rookie in arguably inferior equipment, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. In 31 races this season, he has an average finish of 19.2. He has a pole at Atlanta, and a top-10 at both Richmond and Chicago. He has finished every race so far (although 3 of his finishes came many laps down), and has finished a lap or more down 10 times (not so great, but better than Danica).

In his last ten races, he has finished 18th, 19th, 18th, 16th, 10th, 8th, 24th, 17th, 30th, and 13th. Averaged out, that gives him an average finish of 17.3. (If you take Kansas out and add Indianapolis instead, where he finished 25th, the number rises to 16.8.) That number, like Danica's, is similar to his yearly average, but that doesn't change the fact that in those ten races, Ricky, on average, finished ahead of Danica by about 7 positions.

 

[Cowboy]

Martin Truex Jr leaves MWR goes to the 78 and
takes NAPA with him.
Any takers. posted 09/22/13
got half of it right. I think the first year will not be to good
but after that he will win a couple of races and make the chase.

 

[4WideRacing]

but after that he will win a couple of races and make the chase.

I don't know how he's gonna do better than Kurt did....

 

[Cowboy]

I don't know how he's gonna do better than Kurt did....

i just think that this year he proved to himself he can do it.
in the 78 he will be the sole focus of the team,and he will realy show up.
i hope so if not i will eat the humble pie.