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November 10, 2008
Mark Martin in the #84 at Homestead?
Dave Moody is reporting that Red Bull Racing will have Mark Martin race the #84 at Homestead instead of Scott Speed. This is a very smart move on the part of RBR since they are in a fight to finish the season in the top 35 in owner's points and right now they're on the outside looking in. While Scott has raced well in ARCA and the Truck Series, he's been less than impressive in Cup which is part of the reason why the #84 dropped out of the top 35 because the results haven't been very good for Scott. He's also qualified very poorly, and with the #84 not locked in next week, RBR had to have been worried that if they kept Scott in the car he might miss the race. Martin will not only almost certainly qualify for the race but he'll also likely race well if the car he's given to race is any good.
While I think this is a good move for the RBR organization, it's one that I wished they hadn't made because it's going to make things harder for Marcos Ambrose who is trying to keep the third Michael Waltrip Racing team in the top 35, and he's in by just 17 points. Some are thinking that MWR is really in trouble with Mark in the #84 because they're still thinking that MWR is fielding cars that aren't very competitive. However, as the season has gone on the MWR cars have gotten more competitive. The #00 has never been as strong as the #44 or #55 teams but that changed once Marcos got behind the wheel. It's not like they're racing in the top ten or anything but two finishes in the top 20 in a row is better than what Michael McDowell did with that team. I would expect that MWR will put everything they have towards trying to make sure Marcos has everything he needs to finish well enough to stay in the top 35.
However, I think the driver who has the most to worry about is Robby Gordon. Although Gordon is in the top 35 by a wider margin - 53 points - he hasn't raced particularly well at Homestead over the course of his career and he hasn't raced very well this season at all which is why he finds himself in the position of fighting to hang on in the top 35. Robby may also have more at stake. Marcos has full sponsorship for next season and his team has an alliance with MWR which will presumably remain in place regardless of whether Marcos is able to secure a spot in the top 35 or not, particularly since the car dropping out of the top 35 in the first place wasn't of his doing. But Robby doesn't yet have full sponsorship nailed down for next season and some of it might be dependent on whether he finishes the season in the top 35 or not.
Of course anything can happen. If any of these teams experience a mechanical failure or get caught up in a wreck it would be disastrous for them. But what this does is ensures that the top 35 battle will be as exciting as anything else happening on the track including the championship which is all but decided.
Posted by silverdsl at November 10, 2008 04:46 PM
Comments
I'm surprised that Chevy is allowing this.
I hate the whole Top 35 thing..it really has screwed up qualifying. And like you said, in this tough economy, for something this stupid to be a deal breaker is scary stuff.
I wish the best for Marcos. I like him. I can't say I'm a "fan" but when I'm fast forwarding through all the non-stop blah, blah, blah of practices and stuff, I always stop when he's on...because he makes me smile. And he makes me crave Little Debbie's and makes me want to travel to Australia/New Zealand/Tazmania and makes me wonder where I can get one of those silly Kangaroo hats. LOL!
If Robby wants to stay in the Top 35, he needs to stop being Robby. Does that make sense? He needs to drive smarter, that's probably where Ambrose will have the advantage over both Robby and Speed.
I am thankful every day that Casey's deal at RCR included the #07's points. I know that it makes a lot of Clint fans angry, but god bless Jack Daniels for standing there ground in that battle! The last 2 years he's come close and just thinking about it makes me ill.
Posted by: Carol at November 10, 2008 10:54 PM
Yup, Marcos definitely makes me smile too! I was really happy when his team and MWR formed an alliance.
Totally agree on Robby having to stop being Robby, not just in relation to the top 35 and Homestead but in general. He needs to not only drive smarter but he and his team need to make good decisions - some of their issues have been due to poor strategy and poor decision-making.
I'm glad for Casey too that he won't have to deal with going to Daytona outside the top 35. It'll be interesting to see if RCR is able to get points for Clint and if they can't how Clint will deal with the pressure of having to qualify into races for the first five. Some are assuming that the top 35 will be meaningless next season because of low car counts but I have a feeling it's still going to come into play.
Posted by: silverdsl at November 11, 2008 08:16 AM