Official Announcement: Joey Logano Joins Penske Racing in 2013

It was announced today that Joey Logano is joining Penske Racing for a multi-year contract in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series beginning in 2013.  Joey joins Brad Keselowski under the Roger Penske roof.  Which sounds like an interesting young gun combo.  There's a very good possibility that Joey will also be running a few Nationwide races for the org also.

Sam Hornish Jr. will be sitting in the no. 22 car for the rest of the year and Penske is looking at the possibility of creating a Cup Series team for Sam, if that's a doable situation.  He'll also be driving full-time Nationwide for the team.

This follows suit from the announcement yesterday that Matt Kenseth joined Joe Gibbs Racing for the 2013 season moving forward.  The Kenseth announcement was timed in conjunction with, and waited for, when Logano/Penske could make their own announcement.

JGR had first touched base with Joey last year when the No. 22 ride opened up.

Here's the statement from Ford on Joey joining Penske

""We welcome Joey to the Penske Racing Ford program next season," said Jamie Allison, director, Ford Racing. "Joey is a proven winner in NASCAR, and we think he, along with Brad, will give the Penske Racing-Ford team a strong 1-2 punch to win races and help us win the manufacturers' championship.

"Joey now adds to our young lineup of Ford NASCAR drivers for the future, complementing the veteran, championship-battle tested drivers we have in our program right now. It's a great mix of Ford Racing drivers that we believe give us a strong outreach to the passionate fan base and a great opportunity to win NASCAR championships for many years to come."

Read more here: http://thatsracinluckydog.blogspot.com/2012/09/ford-racing-statement-on-joey-loganos.html#storylink=cpy#storylink=cpy

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[ford statement]

Matt Kenseth to Joe Gibbs Racing (It's Official); Spoiler for Logano Plans Let Out Also

Despite all the news that was reported last week that Matt Kenseth was moving to Joe Gibbs Racing, it became official just moments ago during the Joe Gibbs Racing press conference where they announced Kenseth as the driver of the No. 20 Home Depot car for 2013.

Kenseth's crew chief will be Jason Ratcliff.

On Joey Logano, there may have been a slip or two during the meet, as there were STRONG ALLUSIONS that Logano is going to the No. 22 seat in Penske Racing. (Something about not passing up the opportunity...)  So now we wait for THAT official word coming soon, I presume.

I just hope that Sam Hornish Jr. was at least given a heads up, rather than finding out this way!

Ford Cutting NASCAR Budget

Even when Ford renewed their deal with Roush Fenway Racing, they've looked at other corners to shave dollars out of their out-flow of cash.

In so sticking with Roush Fenway, they've cut their overall NASCAR marketing budget to keep things viable.

Despite the big cuts with their marketing program, they are also going to continue supporting Yates Racing and Wood Brothers Racing in the Cup series in 2009. They will also continue to lend its support to the Nationwide and Craftsman Truck series teams with contingency programs and engineering assistance.

This mix of budget decisions says a lot of what the execs at Ford think of Roush Fenway Racing versus their presence in the NASCAR realm as a whole. And I think it should be. Lots of fans don't flock to the TV to see the sport, NASCAR. They flock to the tracks and TV to watch their preferred drivers and teams.

Ford needs to keep a competitive balance in the field with the momentum that Toyota has added to the manufacturers race now that the manu race has 4 name tags in it. Ford needs to step up in the statistically ladened field of Chevys.

Good for Roush.

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Ford Re-Ups With Roush Fenway Racing

Ford has signed a five year deal with Roush Fenway Racing.

That's the good news.

The flip side of the coin is that Ford is pulling it's financial support of the Truck Series support next season.

That's the bad news.

Unlike Dodge though, they will still provide technical and engineering support.

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The Pepsi 400 - No More?

David Poole posted this article:

Next weekend’s Nextel Cup race at Daytona may very well be the last Daytona race called the Pepsi 400.

Sports Business Daily reported Friday that Coca-Cola is close to signing a deal to give it pouring and marketing rights at Daytona. That would end an almost 50-year relationship between Pepsi and the track.

The report says Pepsi’s deals with other International Speedway Corporation tracks at Phoenix, Talladega, Watkins Glen and Darlington will be dropped as they expire over the next few years.

Boo - I'm a Pepsi guy at heart, but it is what it is, and the show and all it's underlying contracts must go on!

ThatsRacin

Here's a link to the SportsBusinessDaily site, but you have to be a registered user to see the whole deal.

The Free Market System in NASCAR

"It's a free-market system," said Cary Agajanian, who represents many of NASCAR's top drivers at Motorsports Management International. "It always has been. It has wrongly been labeled free agency forever.

"That's what's so good about this sport. It's not controlled by the unions or anything else."

Not Everybody agrees.

That's the teaser snippet for an article I found over on ESPN.com, if you're intersted.