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Re: William Byron: NASCAR driver

Posted: August 9th, 2017, 12:42 pm
by LUAlum1215
BJWilliams wrote:He certainly has risen through the ranks quickly...and proven himself to be very competitive at every level from the K&N Series all the way up to where he is now in contention for the Xfinity Series title. With Hendrick backing him, I would not be surprised to see him becoming competitive very quickly in the Cup series
HMS always has solid equipment no doubt, but they've historically had problems maintaining 4 solid performing teams over the course of the season. Since the Chase/Playoffs were created in 2004, HMS has only put all four teams in the playoffs 3 times (12-14). In 2013, NASCAR put the 24 in the Chase as a rule change because of an on track issue at Richmond that cost him points needed to qualify for the playoffs. Even the years prior to the Chase in 2004, they never had 4 solid teams. 24/48 were usually good but the 5 was hit or miss and at the time 25 struggled.

I say that to say this- obviously I hope WB does well along with the rest of the camp. But their history paired with 2 brand new drivers in the building and 1 who has yet to win may come with some growing pains. I wouldn't be surprised if it takes him a year or two to win but he will certainly be capable of doing it sooner.

Re: William Byron: NASCAR driver

Posted: August 9th, 2017, 12:45 pm
by LUAlum1215
oldflame wrote:For the record, while it is certainly still a huge chunk of change, the going rate for sponsorship of a cup team is quite a bit less than it was just a few years ago. The money is just not out there like it used to be. There will likely be teams trying to compete next year with as little as 10 mil. Of course they are not Hendrick Motorsports teams, but with a young driver who will work relatively "cheap", I think it's safe to say the budget for the 5 car will be a good bit less than last year.
Agreed. Sponsors are paying less money but also getting fewer races on the cars. There's really no way to know, publicly, what a race costs to sponsor but it's definitely less than in recent years. As Dale Jr said last week, the cost to operate the team has gone up so that money has to come from somewhere which is why young guys are getting better rides over proven vets- they cost less.

Re: William Byron: NASCAR driver

Posted: August 9th, 2017, 1:17 pm
by Purple Haize
I'm actually surprised LU isn't a BIGGER sponsor

Re: William Byron: NASCAR driver

Posted: August 9th, 2017, 2:04 pm
by LUAlum1215
Purple Haize wrote:I'm actually surprised LU isn't a BIGGER sponsor
Typical sponsors are trying to sell their product. The same can be said for LU but it's more of a recruitment tool for prospective students. Each branch of the military used to sponsor a car at one point in time or another. The most recent was the Ntional Guard sponsoring Dale Jr. They decided to leave for a lot of reasons but cited the fact that for the years they sponsored the car (7 years I believe) they did not have a single person who actually joined that cited the sponsorship of the team or any involvement in motor sports as having any impact on their decision to join. Several organizations have sponsored teams as recruitment strategies but with little success. Doesn't seem to be the case with Liberty.

Re: William Byron: NASCAR driver

Posted: August 9th, 2017, 2:13 pm
by Class of 20Something
LUAlum1215 wrote:
Purple Haize wrote:I'm actually surprised LU isn't a BIGGER sponsor
Typical sponsors are trying to sell their product. The same can be said for LU but it's more of a recruitment tool for prospective students. Each branch of the military used to sponsor a car at one point in time or another. The most recent was the Ntional Guard sponsoring Dale Jr. They decided to leave for a lot of reasons but cited the fact that for the years they sponsored the car (7 years I believe) they did not have a single person who actually joined that cited the sponsorship of the team or any involvement in motor sports as having any impact on their decision to join. Several organizations have sponsored teams as recruitment strategies but with little success. Doesn't seem to be the case with Liberty.
Liberty is fighting for brand recognition right now. I think it might be a more subtle angle.

Re: William Byron: NASCAR driver

Posted: August 9th, 2017, 5:10 pm
by Purple Haize
Class of 20Something wrote:
LUAlum1215 wrote:
Purple Haize wrote:I'm actually surprised LU isn't a BIGGER sponsor
Typical sponsors are trying to sell their product. The same can be said for LU but it's more of a recruitment tool for prospective students. Each branch of the military used to sponsor a car at one point in time or another. The most recent was the Ntional Guard sponsoring Dale Jr. They decided to leave for a lot of reasons but cited the fact that for the years they sponsored the car (7 years I believe) they did not have a single person who actually joined that cited the sponsorship of the team or any involvement in motor sports as having any impact on their decision to join. Several organizations have sponsored teams as recruitment strategies but with little success. Doesn't seem to be the case with Liberty.
Liberty is fighting for brand recognition right now. I think it might be a more subtle angle.
This. Liberty can get in front of a whole lot of eyeballs for about what they pay for Football. You might make the argument a better ROI

Re: William Byron: NASCAR driver

Posted: August 9th, 2017, 6:12 pm
by LUAlum1215
Makes sense.

Re: William Byron: NASCAR driver

Posted: August 9th, 2017, 6:33 pm
by ballcoach15
ballcoach15 wrote:Kahane should be out of #5 car. A wasted seat in my opinion. With Hendricks' connection to LU, I think there's a good chance for Byron to get a Cup ride. Be good PR for LU to sponsor a Cup car, even as an associate sponsor.

I had planned to scale back following NASCAR after Earnhardt's final Talladega race in October. Now with Byron getting the 5 car, I will stick around.

I predict he will win a race in 2018.

Re: William Byron: NASCAR driver

Posted: August 9th, 2017, 6:39 pm
by Class of 20Something
ballcoach15 wrote:Kahane should be out of #5 car. A wasted seat in my opinion. With Hendricks' connection to LU, I think there's a good chance for Byron to get a Cup ride. Be good PR for LU to sponsor a Cup car, even as an associate sponsor.
26 April 2017.

Bravo BC15. Correct on all counts.

Re: William Byron: NASCAR driver

Posted: August 28th, 2017, 3:07 pm
by ballcoach15
I see that Byron, Jeff Gordon and Rick Hendrick will be speaking Convo Wednesday @ 2:00 p.m.

I think I will take off from work and attend my 3rd Convo ever.

Re: William Byron: NASCAR driver

Posted: August 28th, 2017, 4:34 pm
by Old Red
I think I may be there with you.

Re: William Byron: NASCAR driver

Posted: August 29th, 2017, 7:50 pm
by LUAlum1215
HMS is renumbering two of the Cup teams next year. Byron will drive the 24 while Chase Elliott will drive the 9. I'm surprised to see the 5 taken off the track as that is the number HMS first started with and has had on track since the team started in 1984.

Re: William Byron: NASCAR driver

Posted: August 29th, 2017, 8:14 pm
by LUminary
LUAlum1215 wrote:HMS is renumbering two of the Cup teams next year. Byron will drive the 24 while Chase Elliott will drive the 9. I'm surprised to see the 5 taken off the track as that is the number HMS first started with and has had on track since the team started in 1984.
https://www.motorsport.com/nascar-cup/n ... 18-946806/

Re: William Byron: NASCAR driver

Posted: August 30th, 2017, 10:52 am
by ballcoach15
Is Convo at 2 or at 11 ? I have seen both times listed.

Re: William Byron: NASCAR driver

Posted: August 30th, 2017, 11:11 am
by Old Red
2:00pm for this one. My guess is they had to work around Mr. Hendrick & Gordon's schedules

Re: William Byron: NASCAR driver

Posted: August 30th, 2017, 11:21 am
by ballcoach15
I saw some post on facebook that said they would be "live" at 11:00.

Re: William Byron: NASCAR driver

Posted: August 30th, 2017, 4:33 pm
by ballcoach15
I made it to convo. Outstanding convo.

Re: William Byron: NASCAR driver

Posted: August 30th, 2017, 7:56 pm
by Class of 20Something
ballcoach15 wrote:I made it to convo. Outstanding convo.
Saw some of the Snapchat from it. Looked like a crazy rave!

Re: William Byron: NASCAR driver

Posted: August 31st, 2017, 2:26 pm
by LUAlum1215
HMS announced LU is on the car for 12 races each of the next two years. Hefty commitment.

Re: William Byron: NASCAR driver

Posted: August 31st, 2017, 2:34 pm
by ballcoach15
I predict #24 will win at least 1 race in 2018. When it happens, I hope it's one of the 12 races.

I like to have a big vision, it be nice if he won Daytona 500.

Re: William Byron: NASCAR driver

Posted: August 31st, 2017, 9:04 pm
by LUAlum1215
Daytona and Talladega are really his best shot. In reality the team he's joining has struggled mightily over recent years but the restrictor plate tracks seem to be the great equalizer. I wouldn't think LU will be on the car for the D500 though. Axalta will want a presence in the race (Nationwide always has that race on the 88, so Axalta hasn't been in it since Jeff Gordon drove. But I've been wrong a lot here lately so who knows.

Re: William Byron: NASCAR driver

Posted: September 1st, 2017, 9:49 am
by ballcoach15
The #5 did struggle, but it had no good driver. At 19 years old, Byron is already a better driver than Kahane.

Re: William Byron: NASCAR driver

Posted: September 1st, 2017, 3:22 pm
by LUAlum1215
Also true. It's best year was with Mark Martin in 2009, 4 wins I believe. Im interested in who the crew chief ends up being. Not sure if his current CC will make the move with him or not.

Re: William Byron: NASCAR driver

Posted: September 1st, 2017, 3:34 pm
by flamehunter
LUAlum1215 wrote:Also true. It's best year was with Mark Martin in 2009, 4 wins I believe. Im interested in who the crew chief ends up being. Not sure if his current CC will make the move with him or not.
While Martin had more wins (5 according to Wikipedia) in 2009, Terry Labonte won the championship with it in '97. Some good history with that number which was the original number for Hendrick back in 1984 with Geoff Bodine. Interesting story was that in '84 Hendrick was ready to shut the whole team down after just seven races but Bodine won at Martinsville that weekend and gave them new life. The rest is history.

Re: William Byron: NASCAR driver

Posted: September 1st, 2017, 4:29 pm
by ballcoach15
They came very close to closing down. I remember it. Back then I followed racing closely.