Smaller Ford teams setting reasonable 2013 goals
The NASCAR Sprint Media Tour stopped at new Ford team Penske Racing Wednesday night and meets with Roush Fenway Racing midday Thursday. But Thursday morning offers a different media opportunity on the final day of the tour: a chance at conversation with Ford Racing's smaller teams. Richard Petty Motorsports (widely considered a mid-size team), Wood Brothers Racing, Germain Racing, and Front Row Motorsports drivers and other team members met the media for breakfast, so outlets had a chance to gain insight on their 2013 goals and thoughts on the new Gen-6 car. I listened in and spoke to a few people and heard these nuggets:
- Richard Petty thoughtfully tells reporters that his team has ultimate championship goals like any others, but that any improvement over last year's accomplishments is a good thing. RPM driver Aric Almirola embarks on his 2nd full year both with the team and in the Cup Series and tells reporters that 15th in points is a realistic goal for the No. 43 team. Almirola finished 20th in points last year.
- RPM No. 9 Ford driver Marcos Ambrose was the most sought after driver at the breakfast (rivaled by Wood Brothers driver Trevor Bayne). Ambrose has won at Watkins Glen the past two seasons and is chomping at the bit to finally win on an oval. He says that the new cars look good and will be fast, but does not think that the racing on the track has changed much over the years - even dating back to Petty's days on the track.
- Front Row Motorsports is a three-car team that campaigns two full-time rides (No. 34 David Ragan and No. 38 David Gilliland) and one start-and-park car that runs the whole schedule (No. 26 Josh Wise. Team GM Jerry Freeze says the team's goal is to have both drivers finish in the top 25 in points. Ragan finished 28th and Gilliland 30th.
- Gilliland echoed what every team has said: his team is not any more panicked than any other in the sport, due to a lack of body pieces for the Gen-6 car. He says that Front Row Motorsports' teams should contend best at restrictor plate races and road course races (Gilliland is particularly good at road courses).
- Since FRM runs a start-and-park entry for Josh Wise, I asked Freeze how he felt about Bruton Smith's comments that the practice is bad for the sport. Freeze says that FRM uses Wise's No. 26 team, which often runs a third or half of the races, to give FRM an opportunity to a.) fund the other two cars better, b.) give Wise, a driver they really like, some seat time, and c.) develop other team members that they can move to the No. 34 and No. 38 teams. Freeze and Gilliland both say that no team wants to show up to a race and not run competitively, but they have to sometimes. Freeze also says that as long as there are more spots to fill in a race than funded cars, the practice will happen - if NASCAR wants to ban start-and-parks he says they should decrease the number of cars allowed in races. Freeze does say they plan to run Wise in eight to 15 full races this season, up from the single race the No. 26 finished in 2012. 
- And one for Georgia: Unadilla's David Ragan begins his 2nd year in the No. 34 FRM Ford. Married to longtime girlfriend Jaquelyn in the offseason, Ragan says he feels like all of that activity, plus testing made the offseason blow by fast. Ragan says he is pumped for Daytona, because FRM can contend there and that sets the tone for the season. He also says that he looks forward to running this weekend's Speedfest race in Cordele at Watermelon Capital Speedway. Ragan's uncle Marvin owns and runs the track, but is dying of cancer and may close it soon. Ragan says a win there - very close to his hometown - would be very big for him. Ragan won the pole and finished 3rd in that race last year.

Roush Fenway retooled in 2013 “Driven” campaign

Media departed the Ford breakfast at the hotel for its 2^nd trip to the NASCAR Hall of Fame for Roush Fenway Racing’s press conference. Team owner Jack Roush and drivers Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Trevor Bayne, and Travis Pastrana faced the crowd for an introduction in the Hall of Fame’s Belk Theater. The team rolled out a theme, “Driven,” which focused on the team doing everything in its power to win in both the Cup and Nationwide Series. They played a dramatic montage on the theater’s big screen and the drivers answered a few PR questions, before breaking off into individual interviews in the Hall of Fame’s main display area.

- Stenhouse Jr. embarks on his first full Cup season with Roush Fenway Racing, as he replaces Matt Kenseth in the No. 17 Best Buy Ford for 2013. He will compete with good friend Danica Patrick for Rookie of the Year honors). He says that he does not have set goals for this season – that those will materialize as the year plays out. RFR teammate Bayne, who competed with Stenhouse Jr. full-time in the NNS before Bayne got sick in 2011, will have another full-time shot this year in Stenhouse’s two-time defending NNS championship ride. Bayne says both Stenhouse and Edwards would like to run NNS races, but there are no set plans for that.

- Pastrana moved to Roush Fenway Racing late in the 2012 season after mixed results in a limited schedule for Pastrana-Waltrip Racing and RAB Racing. Pastrana will race full-time in the No. 60 Ford in the NNS (sponsors announced later) and says that he knows he has a championship-quality team. His goal, he says, is to be a championship-caliber driver by the end of the season. Pastrana’s new, wild paint scheme is a mixed bag of designs and is neon yellow, pink, and blue. It seems reminiscent of Dale Earnhardt’s 2000 All-Star Race scheme (check my Twitter/Facebook for the Pastrana scheme). Pastrana did say that he learned plenty when leading some laps in the Atlanta Motor Speedway NNS race in September – that leaders run different, better lines on the race track. Pastrana also says that he approached Roush about racing with the team and not vice-versa – he just picked up the phone and told him that’s what he wanted to do.

- Edwards had to answer the most questions at the event, many of which centering around his disappointing showing in 2012 (zero wins, missed the Chase). He says he is confident in his new pairing with crew chief Jimmy Fennig and also how the new Gen-6 car races.

- Biffle and the No. 16 team are the only Roush Fenway driver and team combo to remain completely together for this season. Biffle, sponsor 3M, and crew chief Matt Puccia all return after a 2013 season that led them to 5^th in the Chase standings. In the “Driven” video, Biffle says he wants to become the first driver to ever win a Camping World Truck, a Nationwide Series, and a Cup championship (he has the first two). Biffle may have the best shot at a Cup crown out the Roush camp, because of his team’s continuity. Edwards in the No. 99 does inherit the major parts of the No. 17 team Kenseth vacated, while Stenhouse’s No. 17  team comprises of many components of the No. 99 from the past few years. Chad Norris replaced longtime Edwards crew chief Bob Osborne midway through 2012 on the No. 99 and Norris now returns to the NNS to head Pastrana’s team. Robbie Reiser, who has worked in a competition director role at Roush Fenway since ending his crew chief days, now has a spiffy new title – VP of Competition. Reiser talked to media for the while about preparation of the new Gen-6 car (optimistic, of course) and told me that Osborne is now working on special engineering projects with head of engineering (and former crew chief) Chip Bolin.

- Biffle tells reporters that the biggest difference in the new Gen-6 car is its look. The chassis are very similar to the CoT. He does say one of the biggest differences racing-wise is that the action at Daytona and Talladega will be much more exciting.

Gibbs jokes about Kyle and Kenseth contracts

From the Hall of Fame, the Media Tour bused to Huntersville and the Joe Gibbs Racing facility. After lunch, Coach Gibbs introduced his drivers, read off the team’s big sponsors, and explained the 2013 driver lineup. JGR signed Matt Kenseth, who replaces Joey Logano in the No. 20 Toyota. The team also signed Elliott Sadler (not at the conference because his NNS team is testing at New Smyrna Raceway) and Brian Vickers to run its NNS cars full-time. JGR made another big offseason signing, re-inking Kyle Busch to a multi-year deal to drive not only the team’s No. 18 M&M’s Toyota, but also to bring the No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota NNS ride under the JGR umbrella. Busch started that team last season and split a schedule in the car with his brother, Kurt. This season, Kyle Busch will drive the No. 54 in the NNS for 25 races, with other unannounced drivers taking the balance of the schedule. Gibbs says that development drivers Michael McDowell, Drew Herring, and Darrell Wallace Jr. will all race some NNS races for JGR’s teams. Gibbs made no mention of development driver Ryan Truex, who ran several races for JGR’s No. 20 NNS team the past two seasons.

Busch’s big contract extension with JGR brought Gibbs to joke that the team is broke now.

“We work for him,” Gibbs chided to a room full of laughter. “I’m taking the night shift on the corner.

The Busch contract took a while to get done and one of the sticking points seemed to be Busch’s NNS program. Gibbs expressed public displeasure with Busch’s choice to run his own NNS team last season, instead of driving for JGR. Busch implied that his NNS schedule was a big sticking point in the negotiation.

“[Gibbs] was adamant I race his cars in the Nationwide Series,” Busch said while on stage with his boss.

Busch will still run a NNS team, with Parker Kilgerman driving a full season in the No. 77 with a sponsor to be announced at a later date.

Gibbs’ stacked stable of talent should provide for friendly competition amongst the teams. Kenseth’s No. 20 was quite fast in Daytona, bringing Kenseth to say that his contract says he gets all the good equipment, while Busch gets all the money. Busch then chirped that me makes up for a lack of equipment, because, “I’ve got all the talent.” Kenseth will run at least five NNS races in the No. 18 Toyota with sponsorship from Reser’s Fine Foods.  

Hamlin is now the longest tenured driver at JGR, having run full-time in the No. 11 in the Cup Series since 2006. He celebrated the birth of his first daughter on the Sunday before the Media Tour and re-signed with JGR during the 2012 season.

Sadler will run the full NNS schedule in the No. 11 One Main Financial Toyota, with Vickers and sponsor Dollar General in the No. 20. Gibbs mentioned that all of the team’s Cup sponsors, but one, had re-signed multi-year deals with the team. With Dollar General expanding in the Cup Series on Kenseth’s No. 20, this leads to speculation that JGR is either working on another deal with Home Depot or that Home Depot may be looking to leave the team. For now, they remain with JGR.

Here are some more highlights for JGR media day:

- The qualifying rule (top 36 on speed, then top six or seven in owner’s points that aren’t top 36 fastest) does not bother routinely slow qualifier Kenseth, who says that if his new team has to worry about being fast enough to make races, then they have big problems.

- Kenseth crew chief Jason Ratcliff says the two already communicate like they have been together a long time. Gibbs says that Kenseth’s biggest contribution to the team is his veteran feedback – that the other drivers listen when he talks about what his racecar is doing.

- Gibbs spends a while explaining the parallels between the NFL and NASCAR: quarterbacks=drivers, head coaches=crew chiefs, the lineman=pit crew. He says both are all about people. Gibbs doesn’t offer a Super Bowl pick, because he never seems to get his right each year.

- Busch crew chief Dave Rogers says that he never felt that Busch was exploring other teams before signing his new contract. He says a new deal took a while to get done, because Busch did not want to negotiate during the season.  

- Hamlin crew chief Darian Grubb, father of two small children offers this token to his driver: the lack of sleep that a crying baby brings is worth the trouble the first night you get to take a nap with them on your chest.