Carpentier will replace Riggs from 08 on

[bovic]

It's been rumoured for a while.. Official now..

http://www.rds.ca/nascar/chroniques/238271.html

Usual franco link from RDS..

[dwboogityfan]

This is a strange choice by GEM because they will be outside the top 35 in points and Carpentier isn't likely to be too strong early in the season.
I think Reutimann or Stremme would have been stronger choices.

[bovic]

This is a strange choice by GEM because they will be outside the top 35 in points and Carpentier isn't likely to be too strong early in the season.
I think Reutimann or Stremme would have been stronger choices.

Well, the way it's written, it does mention that somebody else could run like the 1st 5 races so Pat doesn't have to qualified the car, ain't to sure what it would change but it goes something like that.

He will race some Bushes and ARCA races too..

[RaceFanStan]

The qualifying rule USED to be : (I don't know if it has been changed)
If a veteran driver qualifys the car, he CANNOT be replaced with a rookie.

It happened in March 2000 @ Bristol ...
Sterling Marlin qualified a Busch car for Felix Sabates ... (#82 Channellock Busch car)
Felix wasn't sure the rookie he had driving the car could qualify for the Bristol Busch race ...
so he asked old friend Sterling Marlin to qualify the Busch car for him ...
thinking once the car was in the field he would put the rookie in it ...
Sterling qualified 16th but when the rookie tried to get in the car, NASCAR said NO ! ...
NASCAR said either Sterling or another veteran would drive the car or it would have to be withdrawn ...
Sterling Marlin did drive the Busch car on raceday & he WON !
What made it even sweeter was that I was THERE in the stands & I got to see Sterling WIN. :D :up:

[MD24]

I'm glad for Carpentier, one of the nicest guys :D

Up to 60 races for him next season including Cup, Busch and Arca :eek:

[RaikkonenRules]

The qualifying rule USED to be : (I don't know if it has been changed)
If a veteran driver qualifys the car, he CANNOT be replaced with a rookie.

It happened in March 2000 @ Bristol ...
Sterling Marlin qualified a Busch car for Felix Sabates ... (#82 Channellock Busch car)
Felix wasn't sure the rookie he had driving the car could qualify for the Bristol Busch race ...
so he asked old friend Sterling Marlin to qualify the Busch car for him ...
thinking once the car was in the field he would put the rookie in it ...
Sterling qualified 16th but when the rookie tried to get in the car, NASCAR said NO ! ...
NASCAR said either Sterling or another veteran would drive the car or it would have to be withdrawn ...
Sterling Marlin did drive the Busch car on raceday & he WON !
What made it even sweeter was that I was THERE in the stands & I got to see Sterling WIN. :D :up:

I think what they mean is that a different driver will qualify and run the first 5 races then put Carpentier in the car.

[Jonesi]

NascarNow just reported as they signed off that the deal was made and would have details tomorrow.

[Jonesi]

Evernham hopes to get Carpentier into two Cup, Busch races this year

http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?seriesId=2&id=3056901

[Hoss Ghoul]

NASCAR seems likely to revise their top 35 rules this offseason, they have to put more emphasis on speed.

The Dale Jarrett announcement is coming tomorrow as well, look for him to run either a limited schedule or only the first 5 races to lock the car into the field.

As for Evernham, he could probably get Bill Elliott into the car for the first 5 races if need be, and Carpentier would still be eligible for ROY.

Lastly, and this is a stretch, a big one...but, if Penske really wants Hornish in Cup next year and they are worried about him making the top 35/show, they could opt to run him with the #2 cars owner points and have Kurt Busch qualify on speed, since he also has a past champions provisional(for worst case scenario). Again, very unlikely, but as the top 35 works right now, those are the likely options on the table for some teams next year.

[Lee Roy]

Lastly, and this is a stretch, a big one...but, if Penske really wants Hornish in Cup next year and they are worried about him making the top 35/show, they could opt to run him with the #2 cars owner points and have Kurt Busch qualify on speed, since he also has a past champions provisional(for worst case scenario). Again, very unlikely, but as the top 35 works right now, those are the likely options on the table for some teams next year.

It's an option, but I agree that it would be unlikely. There's a lot of advertising dollars tied up in the "Blue Deuce".

[RaceFanStan]

Team co-owner Alex Gillett acknowledged the difficulties Carpentier could face.
"Like all of these new guys, there is going to be a learning curve in regards to ...
if you bring them into this sport, how do you bring them in properly?" he said.
"I'm not sure you take somebody like Patrick Carpentier and throw them right into Nextel Cup."

http://www.nascar.com/2007/news/headlines/cup/10/10/pcarpentier.gem/1.html


http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g202/gr8link/c.jpg

My take from the above comments :
If I was Carpentier I wouldn't take this as a vote of confidence ..... http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g202/gr8link/erm/5d.gif

[rabf1]

I like Pat and I look forward to rooting for him next year along with the other OW drivers now in Nascar. I am just wondering why Gillett didn't go for JV. It seems like a big factor here was that Gillett wanted to put a Canadian in the car. I think JV would have been a better choice than Pat.

[Jonesi]

I like Pat and I look forward to rooting for him next year along with the other OW drivers now in Nascar. I am just wondering why Gillett didn't go for JV. It seems like a big factor here was that Gillett wanted to put a Canadian in the car. I think JV would have been a better choice than Pat.

I think it's because JV already has a deal with Bill Davis, if not a signed contract then at least letters of intent, etc.

[Mark in Oshawa]

Carp will do better than people realize. HE always liked ovals in his OW days, and he didn't show any lack of ability or desire in Montreal in his Busch debut, so I know it is just a matter of getting used to being in NASCAR on the ovals. HE is further along on the learning curve than JV I think, but it is just very cool to have two Canadians running in cup next year....