The first 2011 Silly Season driver/team thread

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Originally Posted by Scotty G.

-He brought NO money to get this ride. He was asked point blank and you could tell by the response that he was telling the truth. If any additional races are added, he will have to come up with some sponsorship. He says one more race is almost assuradly going to be added with others still possible.

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Carpenter shopped around for a ride, and DID bring money to the table. That is a 100% fact and is based on what they were offering others, and what they have done in the past. They did not have enough for the entire season, but had some funding. His funding and SF's funding allowed them to look at mroe races.

The good news is, SF runs a class operation, and Ed has done quite well on the ovals, especially Kentucky. With Ed, Graham, Marco, RHR, Danica all having firm rides next year, and the good potential for JR, Kimbal to join them, the series could have a decent amount of Americans racing next year.

I believe that the Dollar General money was enough to run the nine races and pay some salary. So Ed probably doesn't need any money to run that program. If he had brought money, they would be running more races.

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Originally Posted by vintage

I believe that the Dollar General money was enough to run the nine races and pay some salary. So Ed probably doesn't need any money to run that program. If he had brought money, they would be running more races.

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Yep.

This is basically the same deal that Sarah had last year with DG.

If SFR runs more races, Sarah will have either found more money or Ed will have to find more money.

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Originally Posted by Scotty G.

-He brought NO money to get this ride. He was asked point blank and you could tell by the response that he was telling the truth. If any additional races are added, he will have to come up with some sponsorship.

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Originally Posted by EagleEye

Carpenter shopped around for a ride, and DID bring money to the table. That is a 100% fact and is based on what they were offering others, and what they have done in the past. They did not have enough for the entire season, but had some funding. His funding and SF's funding allowed them to look at mroe races.

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OK, so which one of you who is so certain of their "facts" has anything to back up their assertions?

Gary

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Originally Posted by garyshell

OK, so which one of you who is so certain of their "facts" has anything to back up their assertions?

Gary

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Does it matter?

Whether Ed paid for his ride or not it doesn't really matter. My bet is he might be bringing some associate sponsorship to the team like DEEM engineering that was on his car at Indy last year

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Originally Posted by garyshell

OK, so which one of you who is so certain of their "facts" has anything to back up their assertions?

Gary

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Does it matter?

Whether Ed paid for his ride or not it doesn't really matter. My bet is he might be bringing some associate sponsorship to the team like DEEM engineering that was on his car at Indy last year. Or his connection to Fuzzy might allow Sarah Fisher racing to run two fully-sponsored cars at Indy.

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Originally Posted by garyshell

OK, so which one of you who is so certain of their "facts" has anything to back up their assertions?

Gary

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Sarah had a 9 race deal in 2010 (although Graham Rahal ended up running one of the races) with DG.

Sarah has a 9 race deal in 2011 with Carpenter driving with DG.


Its the same deal. Hildebrand turned her down and he wouldn't have brought any money either. Ed was the 2nd choice to replace Sarah in 2011.

If additional races are added, then its possible that Ed would have to find money to do those races. Or Sarah may find it herself.

Ed is not bringing much more then his helmet bag to this deal. No Vision people. No Vision equipment (unless SFR buys it from TG). This is Sarah and Andy O'Gara's team and Ed is their driver that they chose for the partial-season deal that they have with their sponsors.

Now as MDS pointed out, Ed's relationship with Fuzzy's Vodka could result in SFR running a 2nd funded car at Indy and a few other events. As Ed pointed out the other night, the couple of other events Fuzzy's might be interested in sponsorsing were already taken by Dollar General. I am sure Indy is at the top of that list.

Sarah also could be in line to partner with Gary Peterson as well at Indy for his effort. But there are a couple other teams also possible as well that could end up with AFS.

Still a lot to sort out. Only thing for certain is that Jay Howard will not ever return to SFR in any capacity.

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Originally Posted by MDS

Does it matter?

Whether Ed paid for his ride or not it doesn't really matter. My bet is he might be bringing some associate sponsorship to the team like DEEM engineering that was on his car at Indy last year. Or his connection to Fuzzy might allow Sarah Fisher racing to run two fully-sponsored cars at Indy.

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It matters only in the context of whether or not he is a ride buyer. Not to suggest that it puts any sort of stigma on him, but if he isn't, might this signal a new trend with owners picking riders on merit and seeking the funding themselves.

Having said that, it might just signal how Sarah plans to run her organization. And good for her, if that is the case. It might not be a trend yet, but if it's true, it might signal a crack in the business model.

Gary

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Originally Posted by Scotty G.

Sarah had a 9 race deal in 2010 (although Graham Rahal ended up running one of the races) with DG.

Sarah has a 9 race deal in 2011 with Carpenter driving with DG.


Its the same deal. Hildebrand turned her down and he wouldn't have brought any money either. Ed was the 2nd choice to replace Sarah in 2011.

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I hope you are right (despite EagleEye's statement). See my comment to MDS above.

Gary

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Originally Posted by garyshell

It matters only in the context of whether or not he is a ride buyer. Not to suggest that it puts any sort of stigma on him, but if he isn't, might this signal a new trend with owners picking riders on merit and seeking the funding themselves.

Having said that, it might just signal how Sarah plans to run her organization. And good for her, if that is the case. It might not be a trend yet, but if it's true, it might signal a crack in the business model.

Gary

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Which backs up the talk all of us had last year, speaking of SFR's operation. Class, professional, and hard working. The way it is SUPPOSED to be. Coughs, AA & KV...in particular.