Should they just designate the #96 a test car?

Question

how many people have they had drive the dlp car in the past few years? tony raines, ron fellows, jj yeley, pj jones, brad coleman, and now kenny schrader for bristol? they've had more people go through that car than the 70 team has - ok, maybe not that many. but still, a lot.

do you think hall-of-fame racing would just be better off renting out the car and team from week to week for other teams to put drivers in to get them ready for cup racing?

gibbs could put logano in it to get him some cup time before next year, and it would work out well as its a toyota. and i'm sure for the right amount of money, hendrick could put keselowski and/or cassill in it every now and then to get them some cup experience as well - they might have to put their number on a chevy for that, but hey, it's an idea. and heck, none of them could do much worse than the others the owners keep putting in there. before you know it, they might actually break the top 35.

so, should they rent the team out to other owners to use as a "test/development" machine? if not, who should they put in it that might actually stand a chance of lasting a whole year?

Answer 1

That's a good idea, but for one problem. I don't think that the car runs well enough for any of the bigger teams to bother paying to put a driver in. Why would Hendrick put money into getting Brad or Landon into a very under-performing car. In order to bump up the performance,teams would have to give scuds of help and personnel to the team for the week their driver was in the car. And once you were done, you couldn't take the technology back with you, so the next guy gets the fruit of your labor.

It would be interesting to have a team for hire roaming the garage. Say some guy in the Nationwide series is tired of waiting to get a shot, and wants to front his own money for some seat time in the Big Show.  I just don't see it for drivers that are already associated with a good team.

Answer 2

Yeah, I was at MIS and the 96 didn't look or sound good.  I don't know what's up with that car.  Is is the car or the driver?  Kyle Busch should drive it for a week and we'll see what happens.  

Answer 3

keep lagano out of cup hes crashed more than kyle in less races and i dint think that was posible hes the next kyle less wins more crashes

Answer 4

joe gibbs should just "buy" that team - we all already know it's a satellite/test team for him and his ferrin' cars anyways. of course, none of the rest of us owners would ever do anything like have "satellite" or teams like "roush light" or anything, but i bet "the coach" thinks its ok. he's used to having "minor league" teams and a farm system. look how he brought that "bread-slicer" kid up, after he stole him from me. i told mark to tell me first before blabbing about how good he was to the rest of the world.

Answer 5

Renting it out now that's an interesting thought but you've got a good point, I don't think I realized how many had gone through that car until you brought it up!  

Answer 6

I'm just happy that Schrader will be racing at Bristol.  He's underrated and underappreciated.  If he's involved in a wreck, he'll admit that it was at least half his fault - because he was out there!  lol

Answer 7

My views on the deal is that HOF racing should have never pulled Tony Raines out of the car. He at least after Labonte got them in the top 35 kept them there. But I also can see why they would want to put someone with experience in it for Bristol. I like Brad Coleman and I think if they give him the chance he will be just fine in it.

Answer 8

Very interesting question! I think they would benefit from a Logano if nothing else the attn that would generate would probably sell some DLP tv's and possible add some cash to GameStop as well. Not to mention having a chance to get and stay in top 35 would be a wise gamble. If I was a co-owner my "testing" services would not be cheap.

It would definitely help my bottom line....I could charge DLP 15mil per year a bargain in CUP nowadays. And get another 15mil from my "testing" partners.

The second part of your ???.....the only driver I could see who would last a whole year in the #96 and may bring home a good finish week in and week out.....Kyle Busch....only name that popped into my head.

Good luck HOF....you definitely need it.

Answer 9

I agree with you.

I'm 50 50 on the 96's fate, it could go either way.

Great news headline.