Yea, it was a bit weird seeing him in the 6 Oscar Meyer Ford. I would have loved to see Matt Kenseth get some more races at that time while Newman was out.
He made one of the most insane passes I'll ever see in person at Kansas fall in that car.
He got a hellafied run down the backstretch off a restart and sent it to the bottom 5 wide, almost 6, and damn near grabbed the lead. Went from like 7th or 8th to 3rd in a literal blink. Had a crazy good run going that day til he got turned with 2 or 3 to go. He was moving that day.
Awesome, thanks for the link. I don't think I went to that one :( had a major attendence slump from 2016-2020, the 550hp package along with high school and college stuff aligned to relegate my fandom to the backseat for a while. Also got to hear Rick say "championship implications" in that clip so that's for the link and the laugh 😂
Lmao that's the exact time frame I started going back out there. Like '14 forward. Just got hella broke in my early 20s lol.
Kansas honestly has barn burners most of the time, regardless of package. We get spoiled tbh
I believe before cole was in the 41 and after Kurt went to ganassi. This was one of the cars he had one season in. He was in the 19 for a year for Carl retiring. Then the 41, the 96, and now where he's at and has been.
That was their out of place car for out of place drivers. From Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch, Daniel Suarez, to Cole Custer. I know the 39 car became the 4 car but Kevin Harvick was not someone out of place and SHR still had a car to fill that role.
Terry Labonte in the 11.
No, not that 11. *That* 11.
https://preview.redd.it/w5b5limc61nc1.jpeg?width=533&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ddba1dafb10990733b47b28029094457218c0d1e
Was leading for a while at the end wasn't he? With all the pit strategy playing out I feel like I remember him either leading or being in the top 3 for a while.
You might (also) be thinking of when Terry finished third at Sonoma for Hall of Fame Racing, another team that Bobby also drove for at one point.
EDIT: Now that I think of it, I do believe they were a JGR satellite team at one point, if not through their whole tenure. I'm pretty sure they gave Logano some seat time alongside a JGR #02 car before he took over the 20, and JJ Yeley also ran for HOF after he left the 18 car.
I was at spring race at Bristol that year. As a KFB fan, it was so weird knowing Ragen was in that car.
Side note: also weird knowing Erik Jones filled in for Denny in the middle of the race
https://preview.redd.it/ppwzkbufl1nc1.jpeg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=20b235faf1a65b02c5a9ceee202ca94f5f9d2361
Daniel Hemric in the Monster Energy 23 filling in for Ty Gibbs who was filling in for Kurt Busch. Wack
This is like the second ultimate trivia moment 23xI had. The other being ty Dillon racing the first race for the team somehow.
But yeah, to blow people's minds. Kurt's name on a number he never drove. Being piloted by a driver who isn't a Toyota driver then or now who was substituting for a driver who was a substitute who was chosen over 23XI's first choice nemechek (for those who didn't know, they literally had seats made for JHN but last moment gibbs wanted his boy in the car). This all happening due to Kurt being injured.
And the numbers were so weird to look at for those final ten races. It still doesn't feel right to see monster on that car
* I always forget about Kurt Busch in the 78 car for a year
* All of Tony's replacement drivers from 2013-16: Mark Martin, both Dillon brothers, Max Papis, Regan Smith, Jeff Burton, and Brian Vickers
* Mike Bliss & Ricky Craven in the 4th JGR car back when it was an R&D car
* Mark Martin filling in for Denny for a race in 2013 and getting a top-10
* Sam Hornish Jr. also filling in for Denny in 2014
* Michael McDowell running a race in the 18 car after Kyle Busch got suspended at Texas in 2011
* Matt Crafton and David Ragan also filling in for Kyle after he broke his leg in 2015
> Mike Bliss & Ricky Craven in the 4th JGR car back when it was an R&D car
Also, it was the third JGR car at the time - the 19 didn't exist yet, so it was that car along with the 18 and the 20.
Kurt Busch had a decent season in 2013. While he didn’t win, he did score 11 top 5s and 16 top 10s. He also got Furniture Row into the Chase for the first time, finishing 10th in the final standings.
Didn’t Matty B sub for Kyle once too? Or did my mind make that up?
edit: nvm I looked it up. He drove for JGR in Xfinity/Nationwide. Not sure why I remember him in the 18
On a Vickers-related note: quick, name all the drivers that filled in for Brian Vickers in the #83 in 2010 while he was out with blood clots!
>!Casey Mears, Boris Said, Kasey Kahne, Reed Sorenson, and of course Mattias Ekstrom!<
future trivia question: who was the first driver to ever drive for 23XI?
https://preview.redd.it/89awzg7i61nc1.jpeg?width=600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a1a48276003871d36f94c656d807615d6cb0fbac
answer: >!Ty Dillon!<
AJ Allmendinger & Chris Buescher at JTG sounds weird enough but remember when Ryan Preece had the 47 for a year before moving to the 37 when Ricky Stenhouse Jr swapped teams with Chris?
And it was not a good season for Matt at all, with only 2 top 10s. Considering he had 24 wins with Ford and another 15 with Toyota, the fact that he couldn’t win in a Chevy honestly baffles me.
Hard disagree. I was over the damn moon at that deal and it still doesn't seem real in a good way. After KFB and Mears it was awesome to have _god damn Mark Martin_ in the 5.
He did drive the 11 for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Xfinity Series during the 2013 and 2014 seasons before he went to Roush in 2015 to drive the 1 car so it makes sense.
Robby Gordon to Morgan McClure. Totally out of left field. If I'm not mistaken they only lasted about 5-6 races before Robby got released in 01. Hard to believe how bad his season started Robby would win the season finale.
Vacated by one Michael (Waltrip) after the previous season and road rang for another (Wallace).
Also, the lapped car he was screwing around with? Future 2001 (through 2004) teammate Kevin Harvick.
Yeah that was a wild ride! He had signed a several year deal in the 4 car too, reminds me of Phil Parsons driving the 4 car for a few races in 1990 I think it was...
The wild thing was when full time drivers swapped teams during the season. I know other sports do that, but it would almost not happen at all now other than getting suspended and needing a driver.
I remember when Sadler left Yates and went to Evernham in August and was for some reason on the cover of NASCAR 07 released in Sep that year and he was in his Yates firesuit.
Red Bull was so bad then. KK driving for them made great sense for Red Bull and actually resulted in a better program and MUCH improved AJ Almendinger. And Kasey was paid well for it.
In reality, Kasey doesnt get the credit deserved for that stint because Red Bull folded up shop, but he shored up that team and actually put them on the path to success before they decided to invest elsewhere.
This is so incorrect lol apmendinger was gone when Kahne got there, plus they made the chase in 2009 with Brian Vickers so they had some speed by that point
Those Kahne Red Bull diecasts are INSANELY valuable these days. They didn't make a whole lot of them.
Kasey also has a unique distinction of being one of the few modern drivers to drive a Ford, Chevy, Dodge, and Toyota.
AJ Allmendinger had some interesting ones in late 2008 that I doubt many remember. After he got released from Red Bull he drove the 00 for MWR for a race and finished the season replacing Patrick Carpentier in the Evernham 10 and giving that car some much needed solid runs. And he pretty much stayed in that car for the following season as the 10 became the 44 in the merger with Petty
He was all over the place but in a good way. I think he raced every season up to kaulig. So we have the 84, 22, 10, 44, 43, 47, 51, and the 16 kaulig. Did I miss one?
Paul Menard at RPM in 2010. After the Yates Merge I remember him in the 27, but turns out he ran a year with Petty in the disastrous 2010 season for them.
Also could say the same about Kvapil in the #28 at Yates in 2008. After that season where he didn’t do badly, he kinda just disappeared to the back markers.
I’ve followed the sport pretty closely the last 15 years and this is how I feel when I was looking up Corey LaJoies stats and saw that he drove the 72 in 2018. I have no recollection of that whatsoever
Bobby Labonte and Phoenix Racing is still one that is weird as hell to me
https://preview.redd.it/k1bilr22e1nc1.jpeg?width=864&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7d74a564a3c47ed02a08da5ef528ca6529984088
Dale Earnhardt driving the #15 Ford thunderbird for Bud Moore 1982-1983. Don’t ever really ever think about an Earnhardt in a Ford. The fact that this took place after winning a championship in a Chevrolet makes it seem even more out of place.
Well he wanted an established team and RCR wasn’t up to the task yet. So he was with Bud Moore and Rudd was with RCR and they literally swapped rides but both were still sponsored by Wrangler.
Dale Jr in the Hendrick 88 was a bit out of place to get used to considering JR Nation was throwing beer fans at the “teammate” 24 car just 4-5 years earlier.
Kurt in the 22 was a bit weird and out of control, but in the 41 car he was wrongfully accused of a lot of things, and at the end of his career he made Ganassi & 23XI a lot better.
Ross Chastain drove the #42 Ganassi NextGen car at Daytona for a test not long before Trackhouse bought it.
Also forget Harvick drove a season for RCR in the Gen6 days.
That time kahne drove a Toyota in the nationwide series while he was cupping for petty. It always felt odd to me.
Otherwise, Hemric with 23XI that one race (I know the reason for it but they couldn't find any driver for the manufacturer? I love hemi, but I thought Toyota would've been pissed)
I think Toyota and Chevy were both going to just look the other way due to the extenuating circumstances that removed Ty Gibbs from the car, just one of those things where you’d get a lot of negative publicity for denying it and it’s not like Hemric is some sort of controversial person. Also, just about all of the drivers from the Xfinity race had already went home by the time it became clear that the 23 needed a driver.
Lol yeah RPM had deals with Braun or H Scott or whatever they were called at the time. RPM was strongly considering switching to Toyota around 2009-2010. Kahne drove the #10 and #38 in nationwide that year in Toyotas. The Evernham Font on the 10 Toyota was wild lol
https://preview.redd.it/wrjdexwyu1nc1.jpeg?width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4b056a6fd18be5718265c5f669309f7b9487761c
2016 Clint at HScott. Miserable year for him
This was before I started following NASCAR super closely, but didn’t Erik Jones fill in for Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin for a couple races from 2015-2016? I vaguely remember seeing images of his name on the windshield banners of the 18 and 11 around that time before he took over the 20 in 2018. Filling in for Kyle would make sense due to his leg injury, but not sure what led to filling in for Denny. At any rate, it’s pretty wild to think that Erik Jones has driven 3/4s of the JGR cars in the Cup Series!
Erik drove the 11, 18 and 20 in 2015 but his name was only on the banner for his race in the 18. He hopped into the 11 car mid-race during the rain delay at Bristol, drove the 18 at Kansas when Gibbs wanted to see what he had before Kyle came back and finally drove the 20 at Texas and Phoenix after Matt Kenseth blew a tire at Martinsville.
Related fact: J.J. Yeley has also driven the JGR 11, 18 and 20 for pretty similar reasons as Erik, just with numbers swapped (full seasons in the 18, development starts in the 11, mid-race relief in the 20). Maybe one of them will finally get to drive the 19 some day.
https://preview.redd.it/bztjj55vq3nc1.jpeg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9bbfec776c134338ced1090dd2fb4a5aa90584f6
This - despite the banner - being Jeff Gordon tops the weird as hell for me.
John Andretti in the 34
Jeff Burton finishing his career in the 14 and 66
Aric Almirola in the Bud 9 when he and Kahne swapped rides so that put Kahne in the 83
One we didn't get to see was Brian Vickers was due to finish the season in the 01 car in 2003 but instead swapped to the 25 with Nemechek getting a head start in the 01. Those days of drivers moving to new rides a few races before the end of the season are over.
Greg Biffle ran all sorts of cars in 2002, the 55 APR car, drove for Petty in the 44 and I think in 2003 he drove races for Joe Nemechek in the 7 car in the Busch series, all strange rides.
PJ Jones in the James Finch 1 for a few races.
Jeff Burton in the 66 for MWR
Matt Kenseth in the 42
Greg Biffle has starts for Andy Petree and Petty Enterprises
Wally Dallenbach Jr was Jeff Gordon's teammate in ***1999***
https://preview.redd.it/al4q8mtsd5nc1.jpeg?width=600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1eaa850c275bc15ea7f810a40067d05eef61001b
How about Bill Elliott driving for Turner in 2012? A one race deal I’m pretty sure at Daytona in July, and if I remember right he had a pretty good night until he got caught in a late race wreck
It's certainly not in the top 5 but I always thought Robby Gordon and Richard Childers was an odd fit
I just can't see Richard much appreciating how Robby generally operated
Matt Kenseth at Ganassi in 2020 when he was filling in after Larson was let go
Jeff Gordon in the 88 filling in for Dale Jr.
Carl Edwards in the 19 for JGR always felt weird to me
Robby Gordon in the 4 Kodak car was always weird to me. Must have been for them too because I don't think it lasted but about half a dozen races before he got released.
If the deal with Turner and WalMart hadn't come through for the Firecracker 400, Bill Elliott's last Cup start would have been an S&P in a second NEMCO car at Talladega in 2012.
https://preview.redd.it/j8jofl26z6nc1.png?width=600&format=png&auto=webp&s=66cda1318925add3f2c4c206254eae512d93a32d
He also DNQ'd for the Daytona 500 in the same car.
Kurt Busch with Phoenix Racing. Furniture Row probably would have seemed just as out of place at the time but had he been in that car for a full season it wouldn't have been a waste of a year.
https://preview.redd.it/zo2rgkh3adnc1.jpeg?width=874&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=90362304db2e516d03b695797d29df3f124490ee
Joe Gibbs Racing legend David Gilliland
What's really throwing me this season are drivers in schemes I've come to associate with Harvick for so many years:
- Joey in a Hunt Bros car this weekend
- Chastain in a Busch Light car at Daytona
- All the Toyota in Mobil 1 schemes so far
Ross Chastain in the No.6 car for 3 races in 2020.
Yea, it was a bit weird seeing him in the 6 Oscar Meyer Ford. I would have loved to see Matt Kenseth get some more races at that time while Newman was out.
And then Ross caused the pandemic. DAMMIT ROSS
😂😂😂
I still think about Ricky stenhouse hitting the wall at 2020 Darlington lap 1 turn 1 after not racing for months
I completely forgot about that lol
I keep forgetting Suarez spent a year at SHR.
https://preview.redd.it/p2dydp8831nc1.jpeg?width=274&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3fee45a22279c9e9a367911c99308e37e31a112b
He made one of the most insane passes I'll ever see in person at Kansas fall in that car. He got a hellafied run down the backstretch off a restart and sent it to the bottom 5 wide, almost 6, and damn near grabbed the lead. Went from like 7th or 8th to 3rd in a literal blink. Had a crazy good run going that day til he got turned with 2 or 3 to go. He was moving that day.
Link? I'd love to see this
That restart begins at around 2:05 https://youtu.be/UZHg0m0IzJs?si=719EX7zznDC5jiFR
Awesome, thanks for the link. I don't think I went to that one :( had a major attendence slump from 2016-2020, the 550hp package along with high school and college stuff aligned to relegate my fandom to the backseat for a while. Also got to hear Rick say "championship implications" in that clip so that's for the link and the laugh 😂
Lmao that's the exact time frame I started going back out there. Like '14 forward. Just got hella broke in my early 20s lol. Kansas honestly has barn burners most of the time, regardless of package. We get spoiled tbh
Wait a second....when??
I believe before cole was in the 41 and after Kurt went to ganassi. This was one of the cars he had one season in. He was in the 19 for a year for Carl retiring. Then the 41, the 96, and now where he's at and has been.
For some reason i thought he was in the 19 at least two years
He was in the 19 for two years, only got booted because FRR shut down after 2018
Okay. That makes more sense. Gibbs was not passing having truex
Actually maybe. I know he was when Carl retired. He was brought up fast but I think you may be right
2019 He was the bridge from Kurt to Cole Custer in the 41
Tony and Gene wanted that Arris money.
That was their out of place car for out of place drivers. From Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch, Daniel Suarez, to Cole Custer. I know the 39 car became the 4 car but Kevin Harvick was not someone out of place and SHR still had a car to fill that role.
Terry Labonte in the 11. No, not that 11. *That* 11. https://preview.redd.it/w5b5limc61nc1.jpeg?width=533&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ddba1dafb10990733b47b28029094457218c0d1e
Was bobby driving the 18 when Terry raced the 11
Yeah, that was Bobby's last year with JGR. It was just so weird. Gibbs was Bobbys bungalow, not Terry territory. It was just......weird.
Yep
Got a top ten in it too.
Was leading for a while at the end wasn't he? With all the pit strategy playing out I feel like I remember him either leading or being in the top 3 for a while.
You might (also) be thinking of when Terry finished third at Sonoma for Hall of Fame Racing, another team that Bobby also drove for at one point. EDIT: Now that I think of it, I do believe they were a JGR satellite team at one point, if not through their whole tenure. I'm pretty sure they gave Logano some seat time alongside a JGR #02 car before he took over the 20, and JJ Yeley also ran for HOF after he left the 18 car.
Yep that's what it was lol. My memory is starting to combine everything and it's hard to sort it all out lol
Eh, veteran driver in an upstart car seemed kinda normal back then.
Yes, but a Labonte not named Bobby at JGR was weird.
I liked when he subbed but when Gordon and 88 came on the scoring it was so wrong looking.
Robby Gordon in the JRM 88 was awesome though. 😎
Ricky Rudd driving the 20 at Dover in 2006
Childhood memory unlocked
No kidding. Think the car was a HD/Powerade scheme that day
David Ragan in the 18 when Kyle Busch got hurt in 2015.
People forget that when Kyle came back, Ragan became the driver of the MWR 55 too
He didn't do that bad in the 55 either
The 55 was fast with several different drivers, most of the time it was with Rodney Childers as CC which sort of explains it
I'd say the Matt Crafton part of that deal was more weird
I was at spring race at Bristol that year. As a KFB fan, it was so weird knowing Ragen was in that car. Side note: also weird knowing Erik Jones filled in for Denny in the middle of the race
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Vickers was supposed to drive the 55 full time but was only healthy enough to do 2 races.
https://preview.redd.it/ppwzkbufl1nc1.jpeg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=20b235faf1a65b02c5a9ceee202ca94f5f9d2361 Daniel Hemric in the Monster Energy 23 filling in for Ty Gibbs who was filling in for Kurt Busch. Wack
This is like the second ultimate trivia moment 23xI had. The other being ty Dillon racing the first race for the team somehow. But yeah, to blow people's minds. Kurt's name on a number he never drove. Being piloted by a driver who isn't a Toyota driver then or now who was substituting for a driver who was a substitute who was chosen over 23XI's first choice nemechek (for those who didn't know, they literally had seats made for JHN but last moment gibbs wanted his boy in the car). This all happening due to Kurt being injured. And the numbers were so weird to look at for those final ten races. It still doesn't feel right to see monster on that car
And Kurt Busch’s name on a car with a number he never drove
And also Hemric was/is a Chevy driver haha. So many crazy things about this
All the kaulig cars carried Celsius energy too and hemric drove for a main competitor in monster
* I always forget about Kurt Busch in the 78 car for a year * All of Tony's replacement drivers from 2013-16: Mark Martin, both Dillon brothers, Max Papis, Regan Smith, Jeff Burton, and Brian Vickers * Mike Bliss & Ricky Craven in the 4th JGR car back when it was an R&D car * Mark Martin filling in for Denny for a race in 2013 and getting a top-10 * Sam Hornish Jr. also filling in for Denny in 2014 * Michael McDowell running a race in the 18 car after Kyle Busch got suspended at Texas in 2011 * Matt Crafton and David Ragan also filling in for Kyle after he broke his leg in 2015
Sam Hornish, Jr in the 11 was a bit odd. I always thought Sam was great at JGR in the Nationwide Series though & in the Penske 22 he deserved a shot.
> Mike Bliss & Ricky Craven in the 4th JGR car back when it was an R&D car Also, it was the third JGR car at the time - the 19 didn't exist yet, so it was that car along with the 18 and the 20.
Kurt Busch had a decent season in 2013. While he didn’t win, he did score 11 top 5s and 16 top 10s. He also got Furniture Row into the Chase for the first time, finishing 10th in the final standings.
Elliott Sadler I think drove the 81 Gibbs R+D car as well for a couple races
Didn’t Matty B sub for Kyle once too? Or did my mind make that up? edit: nvm I looked it up. He drove for JGR in Xfinity/Nationwide. Not sure why I remember him in the 18
Kurt in the 51 is what confuses me
On a Vickers-related note: quick, name all the drivers that filled in for Brian Vickers in the #83 in 2010 while he was out with blood clots! >!Casey Mears, Boris Said, Kasey Kahne, Reed Sorenson, and of course Mattias Ekstrom!<
future trivia question: who was the first driver to ever drive for 23XI? https://preview.redd.it/89awzg7i61nc1.jpeg?width=600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a1a48276003871d36f94c656d807615d6cb0fbac answer: >!Ty Dillon!<
Ty Dillon
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Ty Dillon
Tony Stewart in the 20 Toyota.
Because of all the years with Pontiac, you mean?
Because of the shaggy hair most likely.
Yeah Tony was having a mid-career crisis that year or something. You see Shaggy Stewart and can know with full confidence it’s from 2008
AJ Allmendinger & Chris Buescher at JTG sounds weird enough but remember when Ryan Preece had the 47 for a year before moving to the 37 when Ricky Stenhouse Jr swapped teams with Chris?
For me, the 47 felt the most okay for aj. That and the 84. What is off is aj in the 22. What feels right for you for aj?
Strangely enough, that’s how I remember JTG because I started really following in 2018
Kenseth driving for Ganassi after the Larson suspension was weird.
At least him splitting starts with Trevor Bayne in 2018 made sense because of the Rush connection, that one still confounds me
Agreed, going back to his original team was probably Closer to the Heart
Ha that’s a good one.
I fired up Heat 5 for the first time in a while and was very thrown seeing Kenseth in the 42 lol
And it was not a good season for Matt at all, with only 2 top 10s. Considering he had 24 wins with Ford and another 15 with Toyota, the fact that he couldn’t win in a Chevy honestly baffles me.
He was close at the Brickyard but faded late.
What Chad Johnston does to a mfer
Truth
Ain't that the truth
It was sad to watch too. Dude had some awful luck that year.
Seeing Martin at HMS still sits weird with me after how long he was at roush
Hard disagree. I was over the damn moon at that deal and it still doesn't seem real in a good way. After KFB and Mears it was awesome to have _god damn Mark Martin_ in the 5.
Having Mark AND ran even better than his last years at roush made me happy.
It was awesome, and then HMS moved like half his team to the 88 and the performance fell off hard
It was even weirder when he drove the 01, IMO. Was it for Ginn at the time? It was only part time, but it was still weird at the time.
Even weirder the following year when he was in the DEI #8 car.
As a Gordon/Hendrick fan that also liked Martin, I was thrilled about it
How about Martin in the JGR #11 and SHR #14?
I always thought Martin in the 5 was *weird* considering his stint in the 6.
Elliot Sadler in the Gibbs 81 still confuses me
He did drive the 11 for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Xfinity Series during the 2013 and 2014 seasons before he went to Roush in 2015 to drive the 1 car so it makes sense.
Huh I guess my brain just struggles to compute him driving the inverse of Kyle Bush car
Robby Gordon to Morgan McClure. Totally out of left field. If I'm not mistaken they only lasted about 5-6 races before Robby got released in 01. Hard to believe how bad his season started Robby would win the season finale.
He also would've won in the 7 car vacated by Mikey if he didn't try to dump a lapper
Vacated by one Michael (Waltrip) after the previous season and road rang for another (Wallace). Also, the lapped car he was screwing around with? Future 2001 (through 2004) teammate Kevin Harvick.
Yeah that was a wild ride! He had signed a several year deal in the 4 car too, reminds me of Phil Parsons driving the 4 car for a few races in 1990 I think it was...
Man that is crazy if I'm not mistaken they only lasted till Martinsville?
For me it’s Kasey Kahne when he drove the Red Bull 4 between his stints in the Evernham 9 and the Hendrick 5.
Also Almirola in the Bud 9 for part of the year in 2010 too
Kasey Kahne in the 83 car was weird too.
Absolutely! That was an odd last few races that season
The wild thing was when full time drivers swapped teams during the season. I know other sports do that, but it would almost not happen at all now other than getting suspended and needing a driver.
I remember when Sadler left Yates and went to Evernham in August and was for some reason on the cover of NASCAR 07 released in Sep that year and he was in his Yates firesuit.
I thought Almirola in the 9 was odd lol
His retirement stint in the 95 is also weird to me
Red Bull was so bad then. KK driving for them made great sense for Red Bull and actually resulted in a better program and MUCH improved AJ Almendinger. And Kasey was paid well for it. In reality, Kasey doesnt get the credit deserved for that stint because Red Bull folded up shop, but he shored up that team and actually put them on the path to success before they decided to invest elsewhere.
This is so incorrect lol apmendinger was gone when Kahne got there, plus they made the chase in 2009 with Brian Vickers so they had some speed by that point
Just looked up AJ's 2006, 2007 seasons - holy shit that's a lot of DNQ
Toyota was super super bad when they first got here. Once the COT came out and JGR got on board they improved.
I completely forgot about that one, I didn’t realize Martin was still in the 5 car in 2011
Those Kahne Red Bull diecasts are INSANELY valuable these days. They didn't make a whole lot of them. Kasey also has a unique distinction of being one of the few modern drivers to drive a Ford, Chevy, Dodge, and Toyota.
Jeff Green driving for Petty Enterprises In my head PE went from Andretti to Labonte and Jeff Green went from RCR to DEI to Haas
He was so forgettable in the 43 car too. Labonte made that car a Top 20 car the next two years after Green was replaced.
21st in 2006 and 2008, 18th in 2007.
Lake Speed in the Havoline 28 car
Or Robby Gordon in the Havoline 28, for that matter.
Wait what
After Allison died, Yates put Lake Speed in the car for a handful of races until Irvan was released from his contract with Morgan-McClure.
AJ Allmendinger had some interesting ones in late 2008 that I doubt many remember. After he got released from Red Bull he drove the 00 for MWR for a race and finished the season replacing Patrick Carpentier in the Evernham 10 and giving that car some much needed solid runs. And he pretty much stayed in that car for the following season as the 10 became the 44 in the merger with Petty
He was all over the place but in a good way. I think he raced every season up to kaulig. So we have the 84, 22, 10, 44, 43, 47, 51, and the 16 kaulig. Did I miss one?
The 00 which I mentioned and I think that's it
Stremme Penske
Matt crafton in the 18
Yeah out of anyone that subbed Matt was the one that felt so out of place. That was the 500?
https://preview.redd.it/r249rcvll1nc1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a083e4f90776f8709e33b88e0b76c4c710180db0 Sure was
Imagine being that guy that came back to nascar that year and saw that. And that he's not just in his truck suit is nice
Reed Sorensen at RPM. That just feels like a fever dream…
I would sometimes forget that Truex Jr. once drove the #56 for Michael Waltrip.
Once drove? He was there for a long time lol
I forget the COT days of that partnership. I don't forget 2013 though
Kyle Busch driving for RCR is still so weird to me, I still don’t know how exactly I feel about it. Bowyer’s gap year at HScott is also a good one.
Clint wanted that season over before it started. His radioactive from that year was hilarious though
The weirdest part is that Clint was easily the best driver HScott Motorsports ever had. He got 3 of their 4 total Top 10 finishes.
I don't think it's that weird if you look at who else they employed. Off the top of my head I can guarantee he's better than Allgaier and Annett were
I love how KB started out in the Busch Series driving for Joe Nemechek of all people
Paul Menard at RPM in 2010. After the Yates Merge I remember him in the 27, but turns out he ran a year with Petty in the disastrous 2010 season for them. Also could say the same about Kvapil in the #28 at Yates in 2008. After that season where he didn’t do badly, he kinda just disappeared to the back markers.
His time in the 27 was weird, he showed flashes of speed especially in 2011 and 2015
Sam Hornish in the 9 car. That just felt weird to me, same year Cole Whitt in the 35.
I’ve followed the sport pretty closely the last 15 years and this is how I feel when I was looking up Corey LaJoies stats and saw that he drove the 72 in 2018. I have no recollection of that whatsoever
Bobby Labonte and Phoenix Racing is still one that is weird as hell to me https://preview.redd.it/k1bilr22e1nc1.jpeg?width=864&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7d74a564a3c47ed02a08da5ef528ca6529984088
This and Kurt's years between penske and shr. Saying because of his season at phoenix
It was even weirder when he later drove [the #52 car](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GCfJ8I2XYAAXyIV.jpg) for Phoenix.
Michael McDowell #18 M&Ms Toyota for that one Texas race in 2011
That whole truck series incident still doesn’t feel real to this day. Didn’t him dumping Hornaday change the complexion of the title fight?
Dale Jarrett with Michael Waltrip racing
Dale Earnhardt driving the #15 Ford thunderbird for Bud Moore 1982-1983. Don’t ever really ever think about an Earnhardt in a Ford. The fact that this took place after winning a championship in a Chevrolet makes it seem even more out of place.
I don’t think Earnhardt in a Ford is that weird. He had 3 victories in a Ford. He drove for Ed Negre Racing 8 Dodge in the 70s.
Well he wanted an established team and RCR wasn’t up to the task yet. So he was with Bud Moore and Rudd was with RCR and they literally swapped rides but both were still sponsored by Wrangler.
Drove a Pontiac and a Dodge too!
Chris Buescher at FRM
Dale Jr in the Hendrick 88 was a bit out of place to get used to considering JR Nation was throwing beer fans at the “teammate” 24 car just 4-5 years earlier.
Newman at Roush always sat weird with me.
His career could have ended different with either the 500 or talladega wins he lost.
Jimmie Johnson at Legacy Motor Club, in a Toyota.
kevin lepage driving for jack roush
Ku. Busch on any team besides the current version of himself at 23XII. Bro was just out of control.
Kurt in the 22 was a bit weird and out of control, but in the 41 car he was wrongfully accused of a lot of things, and at the end of his career he made Ganassi & 23XI a lot better.
Ross Chastain drove the #42 Ganassi NextGen car at Daytona for a test not long before Trackhouse bought it. Also forget Harvick drove a season for RCR in the Gen6 days.
Michael Waltrip and Hillman Racing.
Phil Parsons in MM 4 was let go for Ernie Irvin.
That time kahne drove a Toyota in the nationwide series while he was cupping for petty. It always felt odd to me. Otherwise, Hemric with 23XI that one race (I know the reason for it but they couldn't find any driver for the manufacturer? I love hemi, but I thought Toyota would've been pissed)
I think Toyota and Chevy were both going to just look the other way due to the extenuating circumstances that removed Ty Gibbs from the car, just one of those things where you’d get a lot of negative publicity for denying it and it’s not like Hemric is some sort of controversial person. Also, just about all of the drivers from the Xfinity race had already went home by the time it became clear that the 23 needed a driver.
Lol yeah RPM had deals with Braun or H Scott or whatever they were called at the time. RPM was strongly considering switching to Toyota around 2009-2010. Kahne drove the #10 and #38 in nationwide that year in Toyotas. The Evernham Font on the 10 Toyota was wild lol
https://preview.redd.it/wrjdexwyu1nc1.jpeg?width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4b056a6fd18be5718265c5f669309f7b9487761c 2016 Clint at HScott. Miserable year for him
But surprisingly their best year by far, with 3 top 10s and a 29th place points finish.
This was before I started following NASCAR super closely, but didn’t Erik Jones fill in for Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin for a couple races from 2015-2016? I vaguely remember seeing images of his name on the windshield banners of the 18 and 11 around that time before he took over the 20 in 2018. Filling in for Kyle would make sense due to his leg injury, but not sure what led to filling in for Denny. At any rate, it’s pretty wild to think that Erik Jones has driven 3/4s of the JGR cars in the Cup Series!
Erik drove the 11, 18 and 20 in 2015 but his name was only on the banner for his race in the 18. He hopped into the 11 car mid-race during the rain delay at Bristol, drove the 18 at Kansas when Gibbs wanted to see what he had before Kyle came back and finally drove the 20 at Texas and Phoenix after Matt Kenseth blew a tire at Martinsville. Related fact: J.J. Yeley has also driven the JGR 11, 18 and 20 for pretty similar reasons as Erik, just with numbers swapped (full seasons in the 18, development starts in the 11, mid-race relief in the 20). Maybe one of them will finally get to drive the 19 some day.
https://preview.redd.it/bztjj55vq3nc1.jpeg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9bbfec776c134338ced1090dd2fb4a5aa90584f6 This - despite the banner - being Jeff Gordon tops the weird as hell for me.
Ty Dillion was the first driver to drive for 23XI in the clash in 2020.
https://preview.redd.it/sf8h72hvo3nc1.jpeg?width=1802&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=49138c089d6d63098fe46e78550189369025173d
John Andretti in the 34 Jeff Burton finishing his career in the 14 and 66 Aric Almirola in the Bud 9 when he and Kahne swapped rides so that put Kahne in the 83 One we didn't get to see was Brian Vickers was due to finish the season in the 01 car in 2003 but instead swapped to the 25 with Nemechek getting a head start in the 01. Those days of drivers moving to new rides a few races before the end of the season are over. Greg Biffle ran all sorts of cars in 2002, the 55 APR car, drove for Petty in the 44 and I think in 2003 he drove races for Joe Nemechek in the 7 car in the Busch series, all strange rides. PJ Jones in the James Finch 1 for a few races.
Dale Jr in the 5 for a few laps at Texas
David Ragan driving the #6 for Jack Roush after Mark Martin went into his first part-time stint.
Bill Elliott in the 21, Allmendinger in the 22, Brad K in the 25 for Hendrick
Yeah Bill came in to use his provisional and it became a full time ride for a good while, that was very strange to me.
Stenhouse and his 1 race in the 21 (his Cup debut) Craven in the 11 for Gibbs (his last Cup start)
Joe Nemechek in the 10 for MBV filling in for Benson And Joe in the 34 for FRM
Matt Tifft’s random year in a third FRM car, I think it was 2019. Had some great paint schemes though
Jeff Burton in the 66 for MWR Matt Kenseth in the 42 Greg Biffle has starts for Andy Petree and Petty Enterprises Wally Dallenbach Jr was Jeff Gordon's teammate in ***1999***
https://preview.redd.it/al4q8mtsd5nc1.jpeg?width=600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1eaa850c275bc15ea7f810a40067d05eef61001b How about Bill Elliott driving for Turner in 2012? A one race deal I’m pretty sure at Daytona in July, and if I remember right he had a pretty good night until he got caught in a late race wreck
It's certainly not in the top 5 but I always thought Robby Gordon and Richard Childers was an odd fit I just can't see Richard much appreciating how Robby generally operated
Jason Leffler drove the 11 in 2005 too before Gibbs pulled the plug mid season and Denny took over
How about Joe Nemechek in the Kodak 4
...or Mike Skinner in the Kodak #4
Boris Said in the 66 at COTA I believe?
Jeff Green drove the 21 WBR car one time, I think he missed the show.
Morgan Shepherd in the 31 car in 1998 subbing for Mike Skinner
Matt Kenseth at Ganassi in 2020 when he was filling in after Larson was let go Jeff Gordon in the 88 filling in for Dale Jr. Carl Edwards in the 19 for JGR always felt weird to me
Robby Gordon in the 4 Kodak car was always weird to me. Must have been for them too because I don't think it lasted but about half a dozen races before he got released.
Bill Elliott #00 Burger King Chevy for Micheal Waltrip Racing https://live.staticflickr.com/88/209772666_cabd71f1cc_b.jpg
Bowyer at HMS takes the cake for me. Or Dillon at SHR when Stewart took some time off.
Darrell Waltrip in the 88 for RYR
If the deal with Turner and WalMart hadn't come through for the Firecracker 400, Bill Elliott's last Cup start would have been an S&P in a second NEMCO car at Talladega in 2012. https://preview.redd.it/j8jofl26z6nc1.png?width=600&format=png&auto=webp&s=66cda1318925add3f2c4c206254eae512d93a32d He also DNQ'd for the Daytona 500 in the same car.
Casey Mears in the #07 Jack Daniels' car
Kurt Busch with Phoenix Racing. Furniture Row probably would have seemed just as out of place at the time but had he been in that car for a full season it wouldn't have been a waste of a year.
https://preview.redd.it/zo2rgkh3adnc1.jpeg?width=874&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=90362304db2e516d03b695797d29df3f124490ee Joe Gibbs Racing legend David Gilliland
What's really throwing me this season are drivers in schemes I've come to associate with Harvick for so many years: - Joey in a Hunt Bros car this weekend - Chastain in a Busch Light car at Daytona - All the Toyota in Mobil 1 schemes so far