A Sea Of Red

flamehunter wrote:

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.

Labonte's crew chief was Dale Inman for that championship. Inman has the record for championships as a CC; he did the same job for Richard Petty and his 7 cups.

Granted, I was only 8 when Terry won the cup that year, but I only remember him running good a handful of races and won sporadically. Ive never known the 5 team to be consistently strong outside of 2009. Kyle Busch drove it for 3 years but only won 3-4 races.

It's interesting to think about the 5 "team" as being cursed, but in reality HMS is one big team with 4 cars. The 48 and 88 cars are built in one shop and the 24/5 in another just beside it. The cars themselves are interchanged amongst the teams at times with the wraps changing for the respective driver/race. Hopefully the "curse" or whatever you want to call it ends and they get all 4 cars running well again.

I used to cover Terry and the Labonte family in the '90s when I was doing sports for a station in Corpus Christi. My dad was pretty jazzed that William was going to be driving the 5 car for which he has a slew of Terry memoriabilia. But he's fine cheering on the 24 next season.

Most of Dad's NASCAR memoriabilia was above the water line when we cleaned ou the place. It just needs disinfected and it is going to to storage until housing can be figured out.

Interesting nugget from a story Bob Pockrass wrote about Kasey Khane's sponsor Farmers Insurance. Apparently they paid 7.6, 7.8, and 8 million for 12 races per year for the last three years. I believe LU signed on for 12 races for the next two years each. Of course each sponsorship agreement is different, but that probably puts you in the ballpark for how much LU is spending for a Cup team.

It's a lot of $$$$, but if he "runs up front", it will be good PR/advertising for LU. If he wins a race, that doubles or triples the exposure.

With Dale Earnhardt Jr. retiring, NASCAR needs a new popular driver. Maybe Byron can ascend to one of the more popular drivers. There's is currently no one in NASCAR who can even come close to replacing Earnhardt's fan base.

I predict Byron will win a cup race in 2018.

Earnhardt had the legendary status of his dad to ride on. His success on the track was no where near his dad's. Byron seems to be a likable guy so if he can see a lot of success early on he will quickly build a big fan base, but he has no coattails to ride on as far as name recognition. Driving the 24 may help resurrect some old Gordon fans.

Good observations reference the #24.

I really hope he's able to win next year but I'm hesitant to say he will based on other drivers that struggled their first couple of years. Joey Logano, Kyle Larson, and Chase Elliott come to mind. But he certainly will grow his fan base very quickily from having driven for JR and now heading to the 24. I think LU made a huge investment but can see how it's likely to pay big dividends.

LUAlum1215 wrote:I really hope he's able to win next year but I'm hesitant to say he will based on other drivers that struggled their first couple of years. Joey Logano, Kyle Larson, and Chase Elliott come to mind. But he certainly will grow his fan base very quickily from having driven for JR and now heading to the 24. I think LU made a huge investment but can see how it's likely to pay big dividends.

I think it's already starting. Just people talking about him moving up is getting the name out there. Once they start seeing "LU" on the hood for hours at a time, it's going to be pretty steep. Even with the decline in ratings, we are still talking about around three million viewers a week.

Guess we can't embed Twitter videos the way we can YouTube.

The Axalta paint scheme is pretty sweet. Every kid in the country is going to want a toy version.

It is just Jeff Gordon's paint scheme with the Axalta logo. I wonder if Liberty's look will be similar or if we go with the scheme used this year on our dates?

Class of 20Something wrote:

The Axalta paint scheme is pretty sweet. Every kid in the country is going to want a toy version.

I’m not sure Jeff Gordon’s paint scheme is going to do that much for Byron. Gordon was one of the most hated NASCAR drivers for the majority of his career. I don’t think the scheme is going to move the needle.

I do not like scheme. Hopefully the LU scheme will be better

I think the scheme is awesome. All of the schemes that were unveiled look great. The overwhelming majority of the NASCAR community (drivers, teams, media, etc) have expressed how great they think it looks as well. I was never a Gordon fan but I do think it will be one of the best looking cars on the track next year. I’m hoping the LU scheme looks as good. Honestly, I’m a little disappointed in the scheme he has this year. At first I like it because it’s pretty clean, but after seeing it on track this season I’m hoping they come up with something better next year. Maybe find a way to incorporate the screamin eagle into it

LUAlum1215 wrote:I think the scheme is awesome. All of the schemes that were unveiled look great. The overwhelming majority of the NASCAR community (drivers, teams, media, etc) have expressed how great they think it looks as well. I was never a Gordon fan but I do think it will be one of the best looking cars on the track next year. I’m hoping the LU scheme looks as good. Honestly, I’m a little disappointed in the scheme he has this year. At first I like it because it’s pretty clean, but after seeing it on track this season I’m hoping they come up with something better next year. Maybe find a way to incorporate the screamin eagle into it

The scheme looks fine, but it isn’t new. It’s the same one Gordon ran. I think they should have done something different if they wanted to make a splash. Just my two cents.

Looking forward to seeing the LU # 24 ball cap.

2018 Football has an off week the weekend of the Martinsville fall race.

The liberty car scheme will be revealed at halftime Saturday. I really hope the car is actually at the game.

Class of 20Something wrote:The liberty car scheme will be revealed at halftime Saturday. I really hope the car is actually at the game.

I hope he does burnouts on the Big South logo.

Class of 20Something wrote:The liberty car scheme will be revealed at halftime Saturday. I really hope the car is actually at the game.

"NASCAR driver William Byron, a sophomore at Liberty, will join his Liberty family on Saturday, taking part in the parade and unveiling his new Liberty-sponsored No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro during halftime of the Flames Football game versus Kennesaw State.

After the parade, which begins at 3:30 p.m., Byron will greet guests in a tent near the bookstore from 4:30-5:30 p.m."

I also hope car is at game. I not be there but hopefully there be lots of photos taken and posted.

Yet another reason why I am disappointed to not be at HC this year. Love the idea of the halftime reveal.

I was told this morning that the 9 car would be at the bookstore and that they would have the 24 car on the field for the unveil tomorrow during the game.

Byron won today in Phoenix and will be one of the four racing for the championship next week in Miami. 3 of the 4 are Jr Motorsports teams.

LUAlum1215 wrote:Byron won today in Phoenix and will be one of the four racing for the championship next week in Miami. 3 of the 4 are Jr Motorsports teams.

http://www.williambyron.com/news/JR-Mot ... port/67663

I predict he will win a Cup race next season. Hopefully NASCAR will not give Toyotas and Fords too much advantage, like they did this season.