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RPM may not run past Martinsville
RPM may not run past Martinsville: UPDATES: The house of cards is finally falling for George Gillett's Richard Petty Motorsports. The assembly line from Roush Fenway Racing and Roush Yates engines has stopped running to RPM. Engines have been picked up, cars have been repossessed, and sources on both sides -- RPM and RFR -- say no cars will be delivered beyond Martinsville this weekend. On Thursday morning, crewmen at RPM were told they may not have jobs after the race at Martinsville Speedway this weekend. Neither Petty team CEO Foster Gillett nor team Vice President Robbie Loomis could be reached for comment. RPM currently fields four cars in the Sprint Cup Series -- the #9, #19, #43 and #98. Kasey Kahne was released from his contract as of Wednesday night and is expected to drive for Red Bull Racing for the remainder of the year and in 2011. Elliott Sadler is expected to drive for Kevin Harvick Inc. next year. Paul Menard signed a multi-year deal to drive for Richard Childress Racing starting next year. His current crew chief Richard "Slugger" Labbe will continue his duties at RCR. AJ Allmendinger re-signed a multiyear deal to drive the #43 Ford this summer. Allmendinger is currently 20th in the point standings. Marcos Ambrose was signed to drive the #19 Ford in August. Ambrose currently drives for JTG/Daugherty Racing and is 26th in the point standings.(Fox Sports)(10-21-2010)
UPDATE: The story has now been updated to include: "Sources tell FOXSports.com that the Talladega cars were returned after 11 a.m. ET Thursday, but they do not have engines or gears yet."(10-21-2010) UPDATE 2: Multiple sources confirmed to SPEED.com on Thursday that Roush Fenway Racing, which builds RPM's cars, briefly repossessed RPM's Talladega cars and engines because of non-payment. Roush Fenway Racing allowed RPM to take the cars back Thursday morning, sources told SPEED.com. Additionally, sources said that one of the reasons Kahne was released from the team is that RPM owed him a substantial amount of back salary. A team spokesperson contacted Thursday afternoon declined to say whether or not Kahne was owed money, Roush Fenway Racing was owed money, when team owner George Gillett would publicly discuss his team's situation or what RPM's plans were beyond this weekend. "There's just nothing much to comment on right now," said Tiffany Breaux of Richard Petty Motorsports.(SPEED)(10-21-2010) |
Huh . .
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wow. that sucks.
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Shame....
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According to ESPN, RPM paid their bill to Roush so they'll probably run the rest of the season.
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From jayski.com
RPM to Toyota? Could there be a Toyota in the King's court? Multiple sources have confirmed to FOXSports.com that Richard Petty met with principals from Toyota and Michael Waltrip Racing at Martinsville on Sunday and the meetings continued through Monday in Charlotte. In the past week, Petty has scrambled to salvage what is left of his brand and the #43. This latest development, however, doesn't appear to involve Petty's current partner George Gillett, the majority owner of Richard Petty Motorsports. Currently, RPM fields four Fords in the Sprint Cup Series. [George] Gillett is named as the owner of record on the #s 9, 19 and 98. Petty's name is on the #43. The only sponsor signed for RPM in 2011 is Stanley Tools, a deal rumored to be worth $10 million and expected to be aligned with driver Marcos Ambrose. Gillett and Petty turned to Toyota once before in the summer of 2009, but the automaker could not match the eight-figure financial support that RPM had previously received as a factory-backed Dodge organization. RPM began the transition to Ford with select races at the end of the 2009 season.(Fox Sports)(10-27-2010) |
You gotta be kidding me ...
AJ is one of my favorite drivers and I don't wanna see him or Marcos in a Toyota ever again. Roush should kick Ragan out and sign Marcos to drive that #6 ... Although if Petty leaves and Ford signs Earnhardt Ganassi ... that would be a fair trade. :) |
Ford needs to find someone to buy Gillete's portion of RPM from him, he's so bad he's even driving Petty away.
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Well, Jayski's reporting that the team's debt holders may have forced Gillete out and put The King in charge of day-to-day operations for now. I'd say that's a positive development, not a cure-all but progress
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Well lets hope that the Toyota thing is going away because that will seal the Nutscar thing for me I will be done....
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I'm pretty sure Ambrose won't sign with them if they switch to a Toyota.
The main reason why Ambrose left JTG Daughterty is because they switched from a Ford to a Toyota. |
I think the Toyota thing was a panic move by Petty to get the 43 out from under Gillete, if he had broken with just one car off he would need another team to ally with and Waltrip's Toyota operation was probably the most accessible.
Petty still looking for control of RPM: Richard Petty continues to seek investors in a bid to purchase a controlling stake in the team that bears his name. In addition to Petty, at least one other group has expressed interest in making a bid for the financially troubled Richard Petty Motorsports team, but sources say Wachovia Bank -- lead lender for majority owner George Gillett and holder of a defaulted $90 note on the team -- is waiting for Petty to assemble his investor group. Petty's initial offer was said to be long on demands for operational control of the team, but short on cash.(Sirius Speedway)(11-2-2010) |
Boy I hope you guys are right, I just couldnt watch another season of this.....
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DeWalt is back with Ford!
Marcos Ambrose's #9 Ford for 2011 season. http://www.jayski.com/schemes/2011/c...ey-diecast.jpg http://www.jayski.com/schemes/2011/c...lt-diecast.jpg |
Great paintjob, great to see DeWalt back on a Ford where it belongs.
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Originally Posted by Jayski
Evernham to help Petty with RPM: Richard Petty Motorsports minority owner Ray Evernham confirmed today that Petty is assembling the financing necessary to bid for control of the troubled team, and said he will do whatever he can to ensure the success of that venture. Evernham told Sirius NASCAR Radio's Sirius Speedway with Dave Moody, "I'm going to do everything I can to help (Richard). The situation surrounding that team lately has been a... legal and financial nightmare. I don't have an interest in owning a piece of the team anymore, but if it comes down to helping Richard bridge a financial gap for the time being, I would absolutely do what it took to help him achieve his goal."
Evernham expressed confidence that Petty will be able to field a full roster of four cars in the remaining races of the 2010 season. "(Richard) has a lot of people behind him," said Evernham. "He is doing the right thing for racing and doing his best to keep a lot of people employed." Despite still owning a minority stake in the team, Evernham said, "I don't get communication from George Gillett. I haven't spoken to him in months. All I know is that there are good things happening from the Richard Petty side of things. The #43 and Richard Petty need to be in NASCAR, both now and in the future. There are lots of people -- including me and in addition to me who want to see him succeed." One of the team's drivers, Stanley Tools Ford driver Elliott Sadler, said news of Petty's involvement has helped calm fears among team employees about the future of the company. "I think people were more scared at Martinsville than they are now," said Sadler. "Richard Petty has gotten a lot more involved in the last couple of weeks and that has put people at ease. I'm confident that we're going to be here for the remainder of the season. Richard Petty deserves to be part of this sport. He's a good guy, and he's lots of fun to race for. It wouldn't seem right to be at the racetrack without seeing that cowboy hat and sunglasses."(Sirius Speedway)(11-3-2010) |
You guys just made my day!
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Looks like Sadler is leaving the Cup, signed a full-time Nationwide ride for next year. That means the #19 is in all likelihood done with RPM, who'll want to concentrate on stability and can do that better with fewer cars stretching their resources. With Menard taking his personal sponsor to RCR next year, #98 is likely done as well. So RPM would be down to just the 43 and the 9.
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#98 is actually moving to Richard Childress Racing, Menard made that decision a while ago. He'll be driving a #27 Chevy next year.
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By the way, Sadler's on the pole for tomorrow's race. Biffle is 2nd, Edwards 3rd and Ragan 5th. 4 Fords in the Top 5. :)
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