NASCAR Off-Season: The Four Biggest Moves

Not long ago, we were celebrating Jimmie Johnson’s historic seventh Sprint Cup Championship joining legends Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty in late November. As we turn the corner after the holidays, we are a little over a month away from the Superbowl of NASCAR, the Daytona 500, to kick off the 2017 season. In case you have hibernated after the Homestead race patiently waiting for the Daytona 500, let’s review the four biggest NASCAR off-season events and moves.

New Entitlement Sponsorship for NASCAR: Enter Monster Beverage

In 2014, Sprint notified NASCAR that they would not extend their entitlement contract which would expire after the 2016 season, ending a 13-year relationship. On December 1st, NASCAR announced that they have selected the Monster Beverage Company as the official entitlement sponsor. Monster Beverage will be the 3rd sponsor in NASCAR history after RJ Reynolds hosting the Winston Cup, and Sprint/Nextel hosting the Sprint Cup. Additionally, Monster Energy becomes the official energy drink of the all of NASCAR, and the title sponsor for the NASCAR All-Star race.

NASCAR CEO and Chairman Brian France stated about Monster Beverage, “They are an edgy brand, a fun brand. They get the millennial audience in a different way. They know what they are doing. This is their DNA.”

Monster Beverage is a natural fit as a NASCAR sponsor as they already sponsor off-road motorcycle racing in the AMA Supercross Series. Also, Monster Beverage currently has sponsorship deals with NASCAR drivers Kurt and Kyle Busch.

Joe Gibbs Racing: Carl Edwards Abrupt Retirement
The most shocking news in the offseason was the abrupt and sudden retirement from Joe Gibbs Racing(JGR) of the elite and dominant driver, Carl Edwards. While he didn’t rule out a comeback, Carl Edwards was completely comfortable with walking away at his young age of 37 years old. He stated in his January 11th news conference that:

• He was completely satisfied with his racing accomplishments even without that elusive Championship Trophy
• He wanted to spend more time with loved ones as being a NASCAR driver is all consuming
• He wanted to walk away while completely healthy

But don’t feel sorry for Joe Gibbs Racing as they still have a super team of drivers in Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth, and recent 2015 champion, Kyle Busch. Additionally, JGR has a deep bench and called up last year’s XFINITY series champion, Daniel Suarez to drive the #19 Toyota Camry.

Carl Edwards leaves behind a legacy of 28 Cup wins, with 23 of them coming from his first Cup employer, Roush Fenway. In his 13 years, he had 10 Chase appearances and two-second place Chase finishes.

Stewart-Haas Racing Switches to Ford
As for manufacturer news, the Stewart-Haas Racing(SHR) team shocked NASCAR last year when they announced that they would switch from driving Chevrolets to Fords. This was a huge surprise as team owner Tony Stewart has been a Chevy driver for most of his career. Kevin Harvick, also long time Chevy driver, will now drive a #4 Ford Fusion. For a lot of diehard Harvick fans, this will be a “weird” experience, like seeing Kevin Durant in a Golden State Warriors uniform.

Tony Stewart described the move as the next step in his company’s growth, as they will build their own chassis getting full support from Ford Performance. In 2016, Hendricks Motorsports supplied fully assembled chassis for SHR.

For Ford, they add an elite and hungry racing team to their stable of drivers. Ford has not won a manufacturer’s title since 2002 when Roush Fenway was performing well. Ford has not had a driver win a Cup title since Kurt Busch’s championship in 2004. As a Ford Racing enthusiast myself, this is great news getting an elite racing team to drive Ford Fusions for the next few years.

Stewart-Haas Racing: Thank You, Tony Stewart, Welcome Clint Bowyer

Speaking of SHR, three-time champion and team owner/driver Tony Stewart retired from Monster Energy racing. While not a surprise like Carl Edwards, Tony Stewart enjoyed tributes and courtesy laps during several races in 2016. Clint Bowyer will take over the #14 Ford Fusion, reuniting with Richard Childress Racing ex-teammate Kevin Harvick. Bowyer is a talented driver who finished second overall in the 2012 Chase but has not won a race since that 2012 season. I fully expect Clint Bowyer to compete and get one of the 16 spots in the Chase Playoff in 2017 by joining a financially secure and well-funded race team. (Carl Edwards instant retirement helps too!)

Here are some other off-season moves:

• Greg Biffle leaves Roush Fenway Racing
• Roush Fenway to downsize from three to two full-time racing teams
• Roush Fenway loaned driver Chris Buescher to JTG Daugherty Racing for the season
• Brian Scott retires from Richard Petty Motorsports

Now that you are caught up, it is time to focus on the big one, the Daytona 500, on February 26th. In fact, DraftKings is open for a $20 buy-in for the NAS Daytona $500K($50,000 to first place).

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