Petty, Yates to Merge!! Kasey Kahne Back to FORD!
 

Oh my oh my!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Holy cow, did not see that coming.

Just reading this from the Ford Racing email update. I think its good news. We're starting to see some of the real world effect of economics in NASCAR. Chevy not adding teams, Dodge contracting and Ford expanding. I'm glad to see this, it can only help.

good point!... Maybe Ford will start running SHO's next year??

Finally! More teams under the Ford banner! And Petty too! Far out!!

Glad to hear that.

Good news. One of the few drivers I don't dislike. Just as long as he doesn't make anymore allstate dancing commercials :p

I'm glad A.J. Allmendinger will be driving Ford next season. He's one of my favorite drivers.

By the way, it's a shame that that no talent Paul Menard is still driving (because of his rich daddy) and great drivers are out of jobs (like Travis Kvapil).

The times are a changin'! Nice to see this!

I wouldn't call Travis "great."

I'm pretty sure he would end in Top 20 or 25 with Yates Ford. Which is much better than what Menard is doing now, he's barely staying in Top 35.

One thing doesn't make sense to me: I know Roush have to close #26 team, but why are they letting McMurray go? Why can't McMurray drive for #19 or #44 at Petty next season? Heck, he's better than both Sadler and Allmendinger.

Good Point.... Contracts????

Somehow, I can't see Petty Enterprises having anything to offer that will result in more wins by anyone driving a Ford:shame:.

STP dropped Petty Enterprises years ago, and now even Chrysler has dropped 'em. Do these sponsors/manufacturers know something Yates doesn't?:wonder: Evidently, they do...:dunno:

Wake me when a Yates/Petty vehicle wins a superspeedway event...:sleeping:

Greg "Eights" Ates

FR9 engine is coming Greg. I'm sure thats going to have some impact. I sure hope it is anyway.

Richard is smart...this is the second time he changed to Fords , because he got tired of being beat by Fords (first time was 1969)!!

He went to Ford back in 1969 because Chrysler wouldn't let him drive Dodge Daytona (Chrysler insisted Petty stays with Plymouth). When Plymouth built 1970 Superbird he went back to them.

I'm looking forward to a 43 Petty Blue Fusion! Can someone photo shop that??

Good luck with that.

I think this is as far as Petty blue we'll see.

http://i659.photobucket.com/albums/u...s_0000/253.jpg

I know but I'm feelin better now that Kasey is back and then maybe just maybe Marcos will come home....

97svtgoin05gt: I hope the FR9 will have a positive effect, too--but Petty Enterprises won't do something with it that established Ford teams can't do as well or better.

Can someone--anyone--tell me what exactly it is that Petty Enterprises brings to the Yates table?

Like all racing, it ain't what you did back in the day--but what you can do this Sunday when the green flag drops. STP knows that and Chrysler knows that, which is why Petty Enterprises is sponsorless today.

As I said upstream in this thread: Wake me when a Yates/Petty vehicle wins a superspeedway event...:sleeping:

Greg "Eights" Ates

Uh.. How about two Sprint Cup Wins from 2009... and a driver in the 2009 Chase. its called Success.

How any Races did Yates win? How many Yates drivers are in the chase?

Outside of Menards, what sponsors have Yates been able to hold on to? NASCAR scripting Hendrick/Chevy/sometimes Toyota success has screwed over the ability of Ford and Dodge teams to hold onto sponsorship alone. Roush would be in the same boat if he weren't the smartest guy in NASCAR and hadn't signed on with Yates' first-class engines for his first-class chassises, even so just barely staying in the spotlight versus Hendrick. RPM and YR don't have Roush's resources or recent success to bring money in, by merging the Petty name with the Yates(+Roush) technical ability they're hoping to garner enough support to crawl back into the conversation.

I have no optimism left about FR9, by the way. Everything I've heard says it was done a year ago and NASCAR bolted it to a shelf to give GM time to negate any gains Ford has made. Which wouldn't be AS bad IF the GM and Ford engines currently had parity, but they don't and everyone knows it. NASCAR's giving GM (and possibly/probably Toyota) all the time in the world to make sure FR9 is just as far behind their engines as possible.

If this is true, they will lose me as a fan. I'm sick of the GM preference in the sport. Its trash.

Ford should just quit NASCAR and focus on some other competition.

Funny how Petty announces that they are moving to ford and Kahne's engine blows up..

Calling these modest accomplishments "success" doesn't impress me any more than it impresses Chrysler and STP, the corporations who felt it was better to go it alone than to go it with Petty Enterprises in tow. To be totally fair, codeman94, I don't see why anyone spends a cent on NASCAR in any form or fashion, so I admittedly harbor a kind of bias. I challenge Bill Ford or Alan Mullally to show proof that NASCAR involvement has sold one Ford in 2009, unless it was to NASCAR itself (wreckers, tow trucks, whatever) or to the families of NASCAR team members that campaign Fords on the circuit. I just can't see anyone shopping for a new car giving the slightest consideration to the NASCAR prowess of the manufacturer of the car. When I was a kid fifty years ago, I believe that NASCAR prowess did indeed sell cars--but I think that way o' thinkin' died out with the last bootlegger...

I certainly am not trying to sound mean or effete--I just don't think NASCAR success sells squat anymore--GM fanboyz would buy GM anyway, even if NASCAR wasn't in GM's back pocket. If NASCAR was to go belly up at the end of this year, say, the sales of GM, Ford, Toyota, and Dodge will not drop even one vehicle. Trust me on that.

Greg "Eights" Ates

I was thinking about the last post and got me thinking about, how and when I became a "Ford Guy".

Well it was 1987 and I had just became a Paramedic, and our company won the contract to do all the EMS for the track. During the process of getting to know the ins and outs of Nascar one of the drivers came into the med center and introduced himself and let us get really close to his car, trailer safety gear all the stuff and he invited us to eat with him and his crew after practice.. The next day we were invited into the Ford Motorsport Tent and I was sold on Ford forever...Ford gave us some goodies and I remember Him saying that if we were not there they would not be racing.. I have so many pics of that day but none in digital until I get off my ars and scan them.. The driver was Bill Elliott and that weekend was one of the best I had ever had meeting Alan Kulwicki, Dick Trickle, Mark Martin, Kyle Petty and Davey Allison.

Nascar has changed alot, not all I agree with but I cant get away from it. Don't know why but I feel a very certain loyalty to Ford, they have never given me anything but alot of pride.. Just my 2 cents worth.....

I wonder if that would have been GM, would I be a Ford guy or a GM Guy, I do know that I have not bought any other brand than Ford since then and the Challenger is my wifes...

I pretty much agree.... I don't think Nascar sells Ford Fusions. BUT. I do think NASCAR sells Mustangs and Ford Racing Products... just that same as any other racing series that Ford is involved with does. I would say they are probably spending too much on NASCAR, but to not be involved in it at all would rob Ford of a lot national TV face time and advertising opportunities.

I gave up on NASCAR when Mark Martin had to switch to Chevy so he could have a chance at a title after Roush and him were robbed by NASCAR years ago.

:agree::agree::agree::(

Probably more precise would be when Nascar allowed street cars one could buy off the showroom floor. "Win on Sunday SELL on Monday" meant the car was a raced vehicle on Sunday that could be bought off the dealer Monday! Now, If Nascar went back to that today, their dear Chevrolet would not fare so good! Nascar jumped on the Chevy bandwagon due to everybody (not me) being so Queer over the small block Chevy motor! They are cheap enough to build, that in the event they should blow up, which they do in short order, you just start over! Today, if Nascar went back to the OLD rules of stockcar racing, allowing stock cars to race, Ford would do very well, which is why Nascar will never go back to the old rules!

I think GM got NASCAR's loyalty back in early 1970s when everything went downhill with economy and gas prices. Ford and Chrysler left NASCAR then, during NASCAR's toughest times, but GM stayed. Since then GM has been doing whatever they wanted.

Red Star: That's the story I've heard, too. I gave up on NASCAR aound 1970 when my interest left cars and turned to motorcycles. I never became interested again because NASCAR "stockers" bear no more resemblance to streetcars than do dragstrip funnycars.

It is more than 50-50 likely that GM will soon fold anyway, as the Bailout money will be spent and no one will support a third Bailout. And when the next GM bankruptcy happens, I hope it takes NASCAR with it into the dusty annals of automotive history.

BTW, the last time that every make & model of car competing in NASCAR could be bought in a dealership showroom with the engines found under the hoods of their NASCAR equivalents was in 1962. That is a long, long time ago--most of the members of this forum were not born--or even close to being born--back then. And that is the tragedy that is/was NASCAR...

Greg "Eights" Ates

I really love Grand Am and I wonder if maybe they had the same TV coverage it would and could become a regular event on TV every weekend!!!

jacostang: Beware the Trojan Horse named "Popularity"! Too much coverage, too much attention, and too much publicity will encourage certain unscrupulous auto manufacturers to resort to cheating & bribery to see that their vehicles get wins. There was a time (and it may still be true, AFAIK, because I don't give a flying f**k about NASCAR so I don't keep tabs on their current affairs) when Chrysler sponsored one NASCAR superspeedway race, Ford sponsored one, and GM sponsored seven. Since TV rights and ticket sales (at least at the time) paid the costs of putting on the races, these "sponsorships" were essentially cash payments to NASCAR's top execs. So who's gonna get the rules breaks that virtually guarantee big wins--the two companies who each sponsor one race (a pay-off) or the company that sponsors seven races (seven pay-offs)? The Grand-Am's parent organization is NASCAR, so already the Camaro gets to run the largest engine in the Grand-Am's Koni Challenge, and gets to run it without a restrictor plate--the Challenger's smaller pushrodder must race with a restrictor plate (in a larger, heavier car) and the even smaller Mustang 'Cammer must race with a whopping seventy-percent restrictor plate.

According to an account in a biography of the late Mark Donohue, one of the Penske Camaro's crewmembers relates how in the late-'Sixties/early-'Seventies Trans-Am events they always brought two identical Camaros to the Trans-Am events--except the one that was sent through inspection had the regulation Z28 302 and the one that was sent to the starting grid had a 350 (the maximum engine displacement limit at the time was five liters--about 305 cubic inches). Grand-Am officials never caught on (or were instructed to look the other way if they happened to notice a second Camaro in the Penske transporters). This is what can happen when unscrupulous manufacturers notice that a racing series is getting really popular.

It's stories like this that make me hate GM all the more! And lately Nascar is running a close 2nd! If one goes, the second will follow!I hope Ford just steps aside and lets Nascar die with its bed partner. When ya lay with dogs, ya get fleas!

When you consider all the practices NASCAR has allowed that ain't kosher over the decades, how can anyone attend a NASCAR event without a paper bag over their heads?

Greg "Eights" Ates

Petty-Yates Merger supposedly a done deal: Richard Petty Motorsports officially became a Ford operation on Thursday. The merger deal was signed between principals from RPM and Yates Racing and the appropriate paperwork was filed with Ford Motor Company. Richard Petty Motorsports brings three additional teams to the table, the #9, #19 and #43. Ford officials have said repeatedly what a coup it was to gain #9-Kasey Kahne, who finished 10th in the Sprint Cup point standings, into the fold as well as 28-year-old #43-AJ Allmendinger. #19-Elliott Sadler will also join the driver roster which included #98-Paul Menard from the former Yates organization. RPM is currently operating out of Statesville, N.C. The former Yates Racing buildings in Concord, N.C. are currently being remodeled to accommodate all four teams. That move is scheduled for Speedweeks in February.(FoxSports)(12-4-2009)

And a clothes pin on their noses! You can smell "Corruption"!( Just lift the lid off any septic tank and you'll see what I mean!)Yet, here we are talking like we are still interested in Nascar and hoping RPM will make a difference! WHY?! Is it so that when it's all over but the shouting that Ford will reign supreme and Nascar is foiled again?! WE say we don't give a $h!t but really, WE DO ! NOBODY gets stronger and better when the rules are bent in your favor! When Ford has to fight an up-hill battle, they benefit and so do we! If Nascar can "bench" the FR9 because they feel it will overtake the others, that tells us volumns of how scared Nascar is of losing control of their control over the corrupt practices it promotes! GM is hanging off a cliff by their fingers and I can't get there to stomp on their fingers fast enough ! And Nascar is just below holding onto GM's ankles! I love it! After all the raw deals Nascar has dealt Ford over the years, I'll gladly take a leak on Nascar's grave!

Will Kahne bolt RPM? he could stay: The rumor mill already has #9-Kasey Kahne out the door at Richard Petty Motorsports when his current contract ends in 2010, with Stewart-Haas Racing as his most likely destination. Kahne, however, said Tuesday during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Media Tour that he wouldn't rule out staying with RPM, which completed its merger with Yates Racing in December. "I feel like I'm in a new deal rather than with the same team," Kahne said of the merger and RPM's technical alliance with Roush Fenway Racing. "I've given a lot, and I've worked really hard for the first six years of my Cup career, and I get to decide what I want to do after that. But like I've always said, it's about performance and how well we run, and I think this could be the best opportunity that I've ever had in the Cup series. This could be a great spot for me, really. I'm open right now, because I don't know exactly what we have. I feel like the change to Yates engines, the change to working with the Roush teams and still having everybody at RPMwe've done such a good job over the last yearI feel like it's something I definitely need to pay attention to and not say, 'Man, I don't want to be here,' because this could be a spot where I really do want to be as the season goes, depending on performance and how well we run."(Sporting News)(1-20-2010)

Richard Petty Motorsports Merger Now Complete: Rumors of a Richard Petty Motorsports/Yates Racing merger began circulating a few months ago but it wasn't until today that the racing community could stop calling them rumors. "I'm here to announce the best kept secret in all of motorsports, which is that the merger between Yates Racing and Richard Petty Motorsports is officially completed," said Foster Gillette, managing partner of Richard Petty Motorsports, in a press conference Tuesday morning. The merger, which happened in December, brought some big changes along with it. During the 2010 season Richard Petty Motorsports will be running Ford Fusions, ending its long relationship with Dodge. Also, RPM will leave behind its previous home in Statesville, N.C., moving to the Yates Racing facility in Concord, N.C. Filling the four driver positions at RPM will be #19-Elliott Sadler, #9-Kasey Kahne, #43-AJ Allmendinger and #98-Paul Menard. "The addition of a great team, great talent of drivers - we have Elliott, Paul, Kasey, and AJ adding to the fleet of Fords out there on every Sunday," said Jamie Allison, Director of Ford Racing. "That's something to be looking forward to." Richard Petty Motorsports will maintain the alliance that Yates Racing had with Roush Fenway Racing and Doug Yates will be in charge or the Roush Yates engine program.(Charlotte Motor Speedway Sprint Media Tour Notes)(1-20-2010)

Great News! Lets hope Fords new found financial rebound pays off on the track this year!!

Watching a post race interview last night, it looks like Kahne is very happy with performances of his Ford.

I like seeing a Budweiser Ford again. Reminds me of Bill Elliot back in the day. I was a huge Elliot fan.

I agree. Looks awesome! 2nd at the shootout too!

Kahne to Hendrick? [Stewart-Haas?] UPDATE: #9-Kasey Kahne, the hottest potential free agent in NASCAR entering the season, has signed a multiyear agreement to join Hendrick Motorsports in 2011, multiple sources close to negotiations confirmed to ESPN.com Tuesday. The details of the deal, such as which car Kahne will drive, are still being finalized, sources said. The prevailing thought is Kahne will occupy the #5 car currently driven by Mark Martin, sources said. Martin signed a contract extension last year through the 2011 season. There is room for Martin and Kahne in the Hendrick family. Stewart Haas Racing receives chassis, engines and technical support from HMS. So Kahne could be housed there until Martin's contract was up, if necessary. In 2008 Dale Earnhardt Jr. signed a five-year deal with Hendrick. Jimmie Johnson last year signed an extension through 2015, and Jeff Gordon has a lifetime contract. Kahne is in the final year of his contract with Richard Petty Motorsports, and plans to finish the season in the #9 Ford, sources said. It is unknown whether Kahne's sponsor, Budweiser, will accompany him to HMS [which sponsored Hendrick's #25 Chevy for years]. Hendrick Motorsports officials had no comment. Calls placed to Kahne, who turned 30 last weekend, and to his agent were not returned.(ESPN)
UPDATE: Richard Petty Motorsports announced that driver Kasey Kahne has informed the team he will not renew his contract at the conclusion of the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Kahne, driver the #9 Budweiser Ford Fusion, has been with RPM since entering NASCAR's premier series in 2004. "Kasey is a very talented driver and I have enjoyed watching him race. We all wish him nothing but the best and hope he succeeds in anything he chooses to do," said team owner Richard Petty. "Drivers like Kasey Kahne are the very reason we got into this sport. Kasey has helped us get to where we are today," George Gillett, owner of Richard Petty Motorsports said. "We wish him well in his future however we have the rest of this season to race together and we're looking forward to a successful remainder of the year."(RPM)(4-13-2010)

well, soo much for that. :shame:

On Race Hub on Speed last night they said that Petty had defaulted on a very big loan which sure isn't a good sign for their continued survival.

This sucks - and I surely won't be cheering for Kasey once he is in a gov't owned bowtie.

Failure is complete, to the dark side he goes.........

I cant really blame him. I mean, if Im going to get paid millions of dollars to drive a racecar, Id drive what ever they put me in... but it it was a chevy, I'd just never actually claim to drive it.

"Yeah, my car was a piece of crap today... these things really suck... good thing I'm such a good driver"
"Those ford drivers must really suck... I mean, if I had a car that awesome, I'd win every week."

Probably because Hendrick takes all the "good" drivers :shame:

48 team cheats, simple as that. Hamlin should be glad there wasn't a single additional lap in Texas or 48 would've notched another victory.

Could Kahne stay in a Ford for 2011?: And after qualifying at Infineon Raceway, Robbie Loomis, team manager for #9-Kasey Kahne, raised the intriguing idea that Kahne might stick around with his team for one more season  "Wouldn't that really be nice? And it sure would help us out." Whether Loomis was just raising an idea or whether there might be more to the issue was not clear. Kahne has signed a contract with Chevy rival Rick Hendrick beginning with the 2011 season; however Hendrick and Kahne have given no indication of what their game plan for 2011 might actually be. There is speculation that Hendrick might 'farm' Kahne out to team owner James Finch for 2011. Owners are now only allowed four Cup teams, and Hendrick already has four, before adding Kahne. But Loomis did work for Hendrick for several years, with Jeff Gordon, winning the 2001 NASCAR championship. And team owner Jack Roush, who provides engines and engineering for the Loomis-Kahne-Richard Petty-George Gillett operation, has expressed interest in how Hendrick might deal with that whole dilemma....particularly in light of NASCAR's own ruling that just forced Roush himself to cut back from five teams to four.(MikeMulhern.net)(6-18-2010)

Hmmmmmmmm.

Well isn't that interesting.

NASCAR can back down from their 4-team limit, thus exposing themselves as favoring a Chevy team over a Ford one. Or Hendrick can "farm out" to a new Chevy team, proving the team limit's only real lasting effect was to break down Roush since this would be an easy end-around. Or Hendrick can "let" Khane stay in his current ride until a seat opens up, showing NASCAR's current driver contracting rules (those few which exist) are laughably insufficient compared to the contract rules in every other major sport.

Then again, Martin will probably just retire. Or Junior gets fired (wouldn't THAT be interesting?)

Ford has been doing pretty much the same thing (Roush-Yates?).

True to an extent, and the Dodge and Toyota teams at times have been run as mega-teams with flimsy disguises as well. But that just reinforces my point: the team limit rule was created specifically to force Roush to downsize, and has not prevented "alliances" or "partnerships" which are even bigger than Roush was.

Kahne released from RPM ride UPDATE to #83?: Kasey Kahne was released from Richard Petty Motorsports on Wednesday night, clearing the way for him to join Red Bull Racing for the final five races of the season. RPM announced Kahne was out of the #9 Ford effective immediately, and Aric Almirola would drive the car this weekend at Martinsville Speedway. Almirola had been on NASCAR's entry list to drive the #83 Toyota for Red Bull. But the plans apparently were scrapped after Kahne's blowup Saturday night when his brakes failed at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Kahne exploded in anger on the radio when his brakes failed for the third time this season, second time in two races. It led to a wreck with Sam Hornish Jr., and Kahne refused to get back in the car after it was repaired. He cited illness for not going back on the track, and the team used J.J. Yeley to finish the race.(Associated Press)(10-20-2010)
UPDATE: Kasey Kahne will drive the #83 at Red Bull Racing for the final five races after being released by Richard Petty Motorsports on Wednesday night, a source close to the situation told ESPN.com. Aric Almirola will replace Kahne in the #9 Budweiser Ford at RPM at Martinsville. No plans were announced for the remaining four races, but a source said Kahne's release could pave the way for #47 JTG Daugherty's Marcos Ambrose to move into the car that he will drive full-time next season. That would open the door for #09/71-Bobby Labonte to replace Ambrose in the #47 Toyota he will drive next season. Sources said there were talks before Kahne's release about moving Ambrose into the #9 and Labonte into the #47, but Kahne's sponsorship obligation with Budweiser was a holdup. Kahne announced earlier in the year he will drive for Red Bull Racing in 2011 before moving to Hendrick Motorsports in 2012. Crew chief Kenny Francis, who will move with Kahne to Red Bull next season, told ESPN.com he will be with Almirola this weekend and he expects to remain with the team through the end of the season. "If they want me I will be there,"Francis said. Francis would not elaborate on why Kahne was released, saying it had been in the works all day (ESPN.com)(10-21-2010)

The more I hear about him the ,less I like him.........

What a prima-dona.

NOT a fan!