วีดีโอ

The open teams are stacked this year. The duels are going to be wild

@@RuffMotorsports93 yeah. this might be controversial, but i dont think jimmie johnson will make the 500

@@KyleBusch-2023 agreed

@@RuffMotorsports93 yeah. it might not have had the best racing all around though it was still good, but that finish was amazing. i find it so hard to think, that if that race never happened, than darlington might not be on the schedule. one of the best races of the 2025 schedle, i always tune in to wathc the races. i was so happy when brad won there. it might be his last career victory.( just watch as he will win the 500) and in the southern 500. probally one oof the top 10 races of last year

@@KyleBusch-2023 would have been perfect for sure!

@@KyleBusch-2023 which is really wild when you think about it. He had already been inducted into the hall of fame and came back for one more run

@@RuffMotorsports93 yeah, he was 63 when starting that race, only one other driver in nascar ods the record for the oldest nascar driver to start a race. his name was Hershel McGriff and he started nascar in 1950, and stopped in 2018 starting his last race in the arca series. i am ot joking this is actually insane. he even won 4 cup races in 54 and got his last wins in any nascar divison in 1989. crazy

@ Morgan Shepherd went forever as well. Couldn’t believe how long he kept going

@@RuffMotorsports93 i mean they just probally enjoyed nascar so much. they couldnt stop. if i was in any nascar division. i would race until i was 120.

The AJ’s career has really been a wild ride. I think there are times when he still doesn’t get the appreciation he deserves. Were it not for that horrible first season with Red Bull (where they threw him in the deep end way too early) and the suspension while he was at Penske, I think he would get a lot more recognition

Bet that was a fun week!

Each one of them!

I’m still a little bent out of shape over that one

Pocono?

@@Reel.Patriot yes

@@KyleBusch-2023 sure was. Really wish he would’ve gotten to run full-time. I think he would have ended up with a championship

@@RuffMotorsports93 that would have been amazing, but one step better is if he was the 2009 cup champion

That would have been great, for sure!

@@RuffMotorsports93 yeah. imagine it. jimmie johnsons winning streak of champinships comes to an end and mark martin finally wins a championship after so many years of heartbraking loss, and jimmie is now a 6 time champ instead of a 7, and mark wins his only. also he could have also taken the record as the oldest winner in nascar as he could have won at pocono in 2012. that would be amazing

@ yeah, I’m still a little bent out of shape over that Pocono finish…

😂

Not much keselowski could've done differently, Edwards came down on him in a last resort effort. At least Edwards is a good sport about it running to the finish line like talladega knights 😂

Honestly, even if he could have gotten out of his contract with DEI, I think the Ford factor would have made the idea of going to Roush a non-starter. When he eventually was a free agent, he said he would only sign with a Chevy team. Jr was a Chevy guy through and through

Actually, the Mike Beam as crew chief factor is one that I hadn’t really thought of, solid point

Right?? Just such a smooth move!

Bro IS the smooth criminal

@@evanwilliams6406 he did when that race at Martinsville, but I went and peaked at his stats from that year while making the video and honestly, they weren’t great overall (14th in points and only 9 top 10s). I think it would have been interesting if Tide actually did come on board and I would have enjoyed seeing what he could do in the 6 car, but I think there were better options.

Actually, I’m going to sort of touch on this in my next video (which I still need to edit) when I talk about another really interesting Michael Waltrip rumor that came up around this time. My gut tells me probably not, or at least not with Toyota. The deal that Waltrip got with Bill Davis Racing in 2006 was always meant to be a set up deal. Bill Davis was headed to already heading to Toyota for 2007 and it basically gave Michael a year to get his own operation set up. So, if he’s at Roush, I don’t think that sort of set up happens. But with that said, MWR did exist as a Busch Series and part-time Cup Series team for years before it partnered with Toyota in 2007. So, it’s not out of the question that he could’ve tried to swing the deal with Roush into something with Ford. I just don’t think that deal is as likely to get done since Ford had an established stable already and Toyota didn’t

If you mean Toyota coming to cup it would happen but probably with BDR.

Hard not to! Mark is the man!

@@timhartigan3260 it really did. It’s still kinda odd for me to see

You know, I would think that they would have looked at some younger drivers (and perhaps they did and the reports flew under the radar) but all I could ever find were reports of discussions with veteran drivers. Other than Ryan Newman

They were not.

@@BANGITSME87 yeah, from everything I found, it seems that is true. I guess they were trying to play it safe with potential sponsors

@@RuffMotorsports93 i wonder if there was talk of switching to another one of pfizer's brands to accomodate a younger driver. it seems like too good of a ride to limit your potential driver pool to older guys, especially during the prime time for young drivers and driver development (everyone looking for the next jeff gordon)

Maybe, but from what I read while researching, it seems like there was an understanding pretty early on in the process that they wouldn’t be sticking around regardless of who the new driver was (they didn’t even stick around when Martin re-upped). So, they were going to have to find a new sponsor no matter what. With that said, I do agree with you, if I were running the show, I’d have a strong interest in putting a young driver with a lot of growth potential in the car (and I actually think Jamie McMurray fit that description at the time, but things got thrown off when Kurt Busch announced he was leaving). Actually one interesting point that I found but didn’t talk about in the video was that the original plan was that Carl Edwards was being developed as Mark Martin’s replacement originally, but he got called up to the Cup Series earlier than expected and really settled in with the 99 car. Even still, there were some discussions that they may slide Edwards over to the 6 car, but they decided that he had built too much of an identity with the 99 car, so it made more sense to keep him there.

Jamie may not have won a lot in his first Ganassi stint, but man was he rock solid consistent!

Here 🍪

Ricky Rudd could have also done it and it also would have been a great sendoff

True! Although, I think I like the Ricky Rudd send off rumor I’ll be talking about in my next video better! Stay tuned for that!

@@TheBraydenBunch58 I agree! Obviously, I don’t think Marlin was ever quite the same after his at Kansas in 02, but I would have loved to see him get another chance at a ride with good equipment and he certainly never got that at Ginn. There was another Marlin rumor that I mention in my next video that I think would be a good fit too (even if it wasn’t as good as Roush). I still have to edit that video, but I hope to have it out soon!

Yeah, going back and watching some of the footage from that era you realize how out of control they were!

Iconic call

Then cried when the favor was returned at Atlanta.

I can still hear that

@@donaldlamendola1392 this is true

Nope.. 212.809 mph..

He was the best qualifier for a while many poles for a couple years

when it was boring?

@@PaperBanjo64 would’ve been interesting!

Yeah, it never clicked. I think his career would’ve been much better if he had just stayed at Ganassi even. If you haven’t listened to his Dale Jr Download interview then I highly recommend it. It sounds like his whole experience at Roush was miserable