The Official Danica Patrick Fan Site

Silly Season - 2013 NASCAR

A lot of rumors and announcements are starting for 2013... Thought it would be beneficial to have a single post to discuss.

Start with the following:

Sprint Cup:

#20 JGR - Expectation is Matt Kenseth will be driving this car in 2013 with Home Depot as the sponsorship. It is rumored to be announced this next week.

#22 Penske (Shell/Pennzoil) - Top rumored candidates are Joey Logano and Sam Hornish Jr. Penske claims there may be a couple of candidates no one has discussed.

#39 SHR - Ryan Newman is expected to return but ARMY won't be back and they are hunting for additional sponsorship. Newman has also been discussed as a possibility for the #22 Penske ride.

#51 James Finch - Kurt Busch may return if sponsorship can be found...reports also indicate Brian Scott may be trying to get this ride with his family's $$...Finch also has floated the possibility of not running in 2013

#12 Penske - Been discussed Penske could expand to 3 cars with Sam Hornish Jr and his sponsors moving up to Sprint Cup

#14 SHR - Office Depot has not renewed their 22 race commitment for 2013 but hopes to continue in a lesser role (associate sponsor?).

More to follow on Nationwide. Please add any rumors/announcements you have seen.

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Permalink Reply by Becky on January 1, 2013 at 12:17pm

Kasey Kahne continues to take care of his guy Brad Sweet...

http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/story/Kasey-Kahne-Brad-Sweet-to-dri...

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Permalink Reply by Damon on January 1, 2013 at 3:16pm

Maybe Sweet will be better in 2013 than 2012, but I'm not seeing it.........good sponsor get for JRM though with Great Clips.

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Permalink Reply by Becky on January 1, 2013 at 5:48pm

Obviously, he must be better in the sprint cars he races for Kasey because he hasn't really shown anything in the Nationwide series and you can't say he hasn't had decent equipment. Wonder what this means for Cole?

Damon said:

Maybe Sweet will be better in 2013 than 2012, but I'm not seeing it.........good sponsor get for JRM though with Great Clips.

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Permalink Reply by Becky on January 2, 2013 at 10:17am

Looks like Danica will be with Turner Motorsports in NNS...

http://espn.go.com/racing/nascar/nationwide/story/_/id/8802564/dani...

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Permalink Reply by vern m on January 2, 2013 at 11:17am

Thanks for the link comfirming who she will run with in NNS this yr. I was hoping though she could get in an RCR car as was rumored early on, as they are obviously faster/better cars. Turner still has the Hendricks equip which wasnt that great for her speed wise at JRM course they rarely gave her a car setup she could drive flat out moreso, so maybe Turner can do better for her. They mentioned Buescher winning at Daytona with Turner but for all that saw that race it was pure luck getting by all the wrecks at the end why he won--but still counts. However, thats not a testament of how good the Turner cars are really as they seldom ran upfront consistently like the RCR cars do all the time or did in yrs past but maybe Danica can do better? Oh well--we'll see?

Its too bad they couldnt get JRM to release the #7 car number to Turner for her to drive as this is going to mess up fans watching her and those buying her merchandise. Only running PT I doubt they willl produce any new diecasts or much merchandise, unless she wins of course? Yes--they did produce lots of merchandise when she started at JRM in Nascar with the #7 but she was brand new to Nascar then so way different, but maybe?

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Permalink Reply by Damon on January 2, 2013 at 12:21pm

She ran better at the end 2012, so that gives her the confidence going into 2013, even with a 10 race schedule, especially with three of the ten being at Daytona (February), 'Dega and Watkins Glen.

She's got a shot at winning those races (gotta have a little luck though at the plate tracks), after all, Turner won two of the three road course races in 2012.

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Permalink Reply by PhilipJames on January 2, 2013 at 12:54pm

I was more concerned about her getting the extra track time... now that she is using Turner car, and as we know it really helps her when she is running both series at a track, she just might surprise some of the dolt complainers this year.

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Permalink Reply by Becky on January 2, 2013 at 1:02pm

Interesting...as part of the deal to get Great Clips over to JRM (Great Clips is sponsoring 28 races)... Dale Jr will run 1 race in a Great Clips NNS car in 2013. Great Clips is sponsoring 27 races total for Kahne & Sweet. This leaves 6 races to be sold for the second car at JRM.

Oh yeah and that purported JRM mission of developing drivers for Sprint Cup...out the door in my opinion.

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Permalink Reply by Damon on January 2, 2013 at 1:10pm

Brad Sweet is a development driver (as in developing new cars because he tears up so many) , Becky :)

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Permalink Reply by Damon on January 2, 2013 at 1:13pm

Everybody has new cars this year so they all start from scratch, which will be interesting to see after the first few races who dials in their new package first.

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Permalink Reply by PhilipJames on January 2, 2013 at 1:37pm

I was thinking exactly the same thing Damon re the new cars... lets hope Stewart-Haas gets lucky on setup early which would be nice... personally, I think that Dillon would not be such a "great driver" if he were in less dialed in equipment from the family. Its interesting how one driver can run at the top one year and be crappy the next... which just proves the point that a lot of people keep forgetting or ignoring which is that the car makes the driver and not the other way around. Sure there are some drivers that are "gifted" and can make a crappy car look good... but they are very, very few. I would imagine that of the top 20 drivers, if you could put them all in exactly the same car, only two or three would consistently win. The rest are a toss up. For now, we should be happy if Danica is in the top 20 toss up her first full year.

In my mind, Danica does not have to win to have accomplished a lot... even though she tries to ignore it, she is the only woman running at this level and full time. And considering the ratios of men to women in racing and the obstacles to them even today, Danica has managed to rise above that by her skills, intelligence and her marketing genius.... plus luck.