Franchitti's Benching Is Quite Puzzling

How can anybody be suprised by this? I mean, the writing has been on the wall sometime now! That's what happens when you start hiring all these open wheel guys to try and make a name for yourself as a guy who can make drivers change in transition, and it didnt work for Francitti and i still dont believe it's working very well for Juan either. Plus Ganassi has his hands in too many things dealing with open wheel and Nascar, and i say the same about Penske, but Ganassi wants to critize his team for not stepping up, when actually he's the failure for it all! Reed needs to wise up and look elsewhere, he's got alot of talent, the most at Ganassi, and if he's seriously considering resigning with Ganassi, he's committing career suicide. I wondered if Reed does go elsewhere, would he put Dario in the 41, but ive been hearing, several times, that Target is looking to exit Nascar, and the 41 team is on the border of falling out of the top 35 so he'll end up having two cars being shut down instead of one if he puts Dario in the 41, but that still may be happening regardless. The future of Ganassi in Nascar in my opinion doesnt look bright and i say within 3 to 5 years, maybe less, if he doesnt start hiring more talented guys with stock car experience, then he'll be out and back with his prissy puggy nose where it already is most of the time, in IRL. Maybe he should've offered half his organization to Stewart, huh! Yea right, when pigs fly!

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Over the past 7 years, maybe a year or 2 earlier, Nascar has caused 99.9% of all the issues the teams are dealing with now.Change is good for some things, or partcial change could be helpfull as well. They continue to shoot themselves in the foot in ALL aspects of this American sport. Everybody involved will suffer. It would of been SO good to leave most of what WAS well enough alone. From venues to prices. tv to costs, fans to their loilty, track owners to their perill.Now after all that the compitition SUCKS. Just look at a couple of old races and let me know if you don't shake your head..

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The brain trust of NASCAR are responsible for all the current issues facing all the teams today.They lost it about 6-7 years ago , maybe even a year or 2 earlier. Change is good for some things. Moderate change is good as well, But to radically change certain things can have an adversed effect. Sometimes it's good to just leave what WAS well enough alone. From the venues to the times. from the fans to their wallets, from the past track independent owners to their peril, and now the cars themselves.Watch a few races from the past and tell me you don't just shake head. It's a real shame to watch this American sport to go down the Drain.I've held season tickets to one or both races at 6-7 tracks . I'm down to 2, and both sets of tickets are still on the table for the past Dover, and Louden events. The competition SUCKS.Not that I could have done a better job. Just leaving it alone for the most part would have been the best thing to do .. Growing is one thing, but stuffing change, apon change is not growth . It's a costly way to ruin something that was doing fine as it was. Poor DALE is rolling over. Nobody really listens to the people who's pockets they got their hands in.

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NasCar has become about as exciting as kissing your sister. It is no longer what it started out to be. They have made it so squeeky clean that it stinks. They are beginning to lose their fan base and there are several reasons why. For one thing, fans are tired of the "follow the leader" nonsense for 300 laps of incessant yellows that are being counted as racing laps, and then a finish under yellow, checker. Also the team concept should be done away with. What is this team crap, it should be every man for himself to win, not block for his teammate or give his buddy a pass so he can get five points. It is all bullshit. The cot cars need to go. Let the guys put a car out there that can compete, not all run at the same speed. Many of the old boys would roll over in their grave if they could see what a bunch of panty waists that NasCar has become. You cannot even look at another driver, let alone paste him one when he needs it. I know so many diehard fans who are saying that thye have had enough. They just are no longer interested.

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I beleve if I had Dario's money and I wanted to race in NASCAR's cup series I would find a way, Robbie Gordon is managing to hang in there and he's nothing spectacular these days. I'm getting more and more turned off by this "politically correct" cup series and I have been tuning in and following the KONI challenge series,those of yall that know of it also know that thats racing boys and girls! thanks for letting me rant a little,and yall dont forget support your local dirt-track when you can. joe66

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I totally agree, Nascar is now reaping what it's been sowing for the past several years. The France that founded Nascar was a far different breed than the France running this disaster now. Same last name,completely different ideas about what the sport is, and how it should be run. The fancy suites and user friendly stands aren't what drew the fans in the first place, it was the action on the track. Races being run by men just like them in cars they could recognize and relate to. Stock car racing was, is, and will always be a blue collar sport. You don't just watch stock car racing, you feel it with every core of your being. It's one of life's experiences that can't be described. You have to feel it for yourself to understand it's magic. The magic is still there,only it's buried beneath cookie cutter tracks, technicians, and the Wall Street suits that now run the show. Sure, Dario, Juan, and the rest are fine Indycar drivers, but they aren't stock car drivers, and never will be. Stock car drivers are born, not turned out in development schools or stolen from other forms of racing. And that is true of the stock car racing fans too. They are born with a love and understanding of the sport that no amount of formal education, electronic gadgets, or money can erase. They are the ones leaving empty seats at the tracks week after week. They are the ones who turn off theit TV's and walk away in disgust and sadness at what has become of the sport. They are the ones who have quit buying the sponsors products to show support for their favorite driver. They are the foundation upon which stock car racing waa built, and as we all know...a house without a good foundation won't stand the tests of time. So wake up Mr France, or get ready to watch the house you inherited fall down around you, piece by piece. Works for me....

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NASCAR sot itself in the foot when they gave in to the changes starting with dropping Winston as it's primary sponser. Seems the tobbaco people knew more about promoting the sport tha any of the new wagon hopers. I recall sitting on the hill at Bristol on the tailgate watching the race. I 've been a fan that long. So I think I qualify to make tangent remarks as to why it SUCKS. The real fan interest was watching drivers drive real cars. These 1 piece fiberglass & recycled beer cans with the same setup underneath isn't realy one particcular model of car and the driver being able to do things with tougher conditions than what they face today is tha main problem. It has become such a cash cow that the one with the most money gets to have a say in rules and they have managed to make chicken shit out of chicken salad

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He is a great driver, but Dario didn't stand a chance. First, he needed an experienced mentor to help with the transition. And the Ganassi team is a second or third tier team. Their pit crew performance is horrendous. Then there is the car of tomorrow. If drivers like Johnson and Gordon can't win, how would you expect Dario to?? His Fastenal team in Nationwide has done well, but Dario should walk. AGR just fired Bryan Herta in ALMS.... will Dario end up there?? Ganassi just hired away his competition in Indy car then summarily dumped him mid-season. Chip, you could have done SOMETHING to help Dario besides this! Shame on you.

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I find it funny everybody except JJ wants to turn a blind eye and give Ganassi a free pass, as if he's not at fault at all, i guess they all have the same view point that Ganassi did when he called out his organization for not stepping up and excluded himself! Yea, Nascar has made some stupid and arrogant decisions and have made some greedy money hungry choices, and the economy isnt that great right now, but if you dont have an organization that performs, then i lay the blame on Ganassi for not trying to make his organization better, for not hiring better drivers with the experience of stock cars and quit trying to become famous for making transitional drivers of open wheel to stock cars, to get and make the equipment to championship par, and to either choose Nascar or IRL, and whichever he chooses, put completely into and get out of the other. You people need to quit giving a pass to Ganassi, he's the most to blame above all for Dario and Ganassi/Sabates failures!

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DARIO FRANCHINI-SAM HORNEY- PATRICK CARPENTER- JACK
VILLANEW, should all return to their INDY and F1 teams where they were much better, productive and succesfull drivers."CHEAP"GANASSI should have gotten out of nascara long time ago and throw all his resources in the INDY TEAMS where he has been much more competitive. SAME goes for PENSKY.
Left is the tony montana of nascar aka JPM AND THE ONLY PATH FOR HIM TO TAKE,IT'S a flight to the NARINO MOUNTS of colombia where he can race the local cops up and down the mount while his car trunk is loaded with cocaine etc.
I said it all before.It takes a CAN DRIVE ALL AND WIN DRIVER to switch in major series racing and be succesfull. IT TAKES A TONY STEWART WHICH DID THE SWITCH SUCCESFULLY years ago.HOPE FRANKINI GETS BACK TO ANDRETTI RACING where he belongs.
OH and REED SORRY N SON should have jumped ship few years ago or never debutted at CHEAP GAN. racket.
Damn, now i'm going to get heat again cause the montana boy.Works for me.

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Everything in NASCAR, OR ANY BUSINESS. What have you done for me lately, currently, now? If the answer is nothing, the bean counters have you out. It is a business, not a non profit one at that. Perform or your out. Bottom line. Life is not fair , but it is good.

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CJ, I think Chip is the main problem. The reports that I've read say that he visits the shop typically once a week. I don't believe he cares about the Nascar side of his business. I think employers owe it to their employees to at least try and attempt to work something out. It's a big deal to lay off 71 people. If they didn't work hard then lay them off. If they were good workers then I think Chip should have worked to find sponsors, help the team, and try to keep the employees jobs. Closing a team should only be done as a last resort. Only after you have tried your very best to save it. I believe Chip has more resources and more business relationships to get sponsors than a Robby Gordon does. I don't think Chip cared enough to try.

I think Chip Ganassi has some serious problems with his team. I don't think it's Dario Franchitti
either. Firing crew chiefs, switching crew chiefs way too often. It just does not add up to me.

I like Dario, he said today that he wants to stay in Nascar and I hope that he finds a way.

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If GOD absolutely did not exist, would their still be churches? NO
If Nascar didnt die at the Daytona 500 in 2001, would we even be discussing Dario in a nascar blog? Hell no, Dario would have been one and done after Earnhardt put that fake, money hungry foreigner in the wall.

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NASCAR died at the 2001 Daytona 500? What an overly sentimental jackass, you're truly a moron if you honestly believe that. Wipe your tears, sweetie pie, as the reality is only your all-time man crush expired that day (I've continued to enjoy the sport without him just fine) and NASCAR is plain and simply more relevant to a wider range of fans than it was in February of 2001. As for the blog, what has Ganassi Racing accomplished in NASCAR since Sterling Marlin's flirtation with the title in the summer of 2002? Nothing really. Ganassi runs a very credible and contending IRL operation, but, much like Roger Penske, his NASCAR program has long since been overrated and basically lives off his name and stature in the sport as opposed to on-track performance.

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Dave is an idiot. Did you say Nascar is plain and simple. Nascar got real big after Earnhardt died because everyone was so intrigued by death. So Nascar reached out to those broad fan bases. If you have not noticed those broad fans are leaving the seats empty in all those big city tracks, like CAL. The economy is bad and what do you think will keep the cars on the tracks. The Southern tracks, not your broad fans in CAL. So you can keep on enjoying the big business ruining the sport you call Corporate Racing IDIOT.

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Hmmmmmmm,

Las Vegas, Texas, Atlanta, Phoenix, Mich., New Hamp., Pocono........not sellouts, yeah yeah yeah let's blame everything on California.....right! ! !

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i have sat at bristol on the hill for 5 bucks something needs to be done and fast too

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Well mosh...just ain't that many hills around any more.

Hey Brad,, back atcha man. Have a great weekend!

Ron

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Hey Brad, I was using Cal for a point. They just got two races after everyone knows that track sucks. All of the tracks you just named suck too. Your right.

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Cool Tommy,

yeah the track in Fontana is just another cookie cutter that just ain't gonna sellout, I am suprised at how many other tracks are having problems also though but then with the prices the way they are and the economy as it is it should be expected. You would think the track owners and Nascar would get together and at least give the tickets away to organizations that would put them to good use.

Aloha, Brad

P.S. Here's to Bristol and Martinsville,,,,"SOUTHERN" tracks that always sellout.

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