Kenseth Out, Stenhouse In.

[Glanvilles Grits 142]

UPDATE: Roush Fenway Racing announced that 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will compete for the team full-time in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competition beginning in 2013, while Matt Kenseth and Roush Fenway will part ways at the conclusion of the 2012 season. "Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has more than proved his abilities on the race track," said team co-owner Jack Roush. "We feel that he is not only a key piece of our team's future, but a key piece of the future of the sport. Roush Fenway is an organization with a wonderful past and present, as well as an extremely promising future, and I can't think of a better candidate than Ricky to usher in the next era of success for the team. Of course, I'd like to thank Matt Kenseth for his many years of loyal service," added Roush. "Matt has been an integral part of this organization for well over a decade, and we are extremely appreciative of his accomplishments and contributions to the team, and will always consider him a part of the Roush Fenway family."(Roush Fenway Racing)(6-26-2012)

 

Now they are saying that Andretti could be moving over to Nascar and basing a shop out of the old Evernham Motorsports shop, which would be a likely landing place for Kenseth with Dodge or Toyota.

 

This strikes me as a surprise really, I have always figured that Kenseth would go the entire length of his career with Roush. He's pretty much the definition of consistency in a driver.

 

What strikes me more surprising though is the fact that a Cup Champion, who seems to always run near the front of the field and win races every season can be on his way out the door due to sponsorship issues. I'm not sure if this is a Roush Racing issue, or more of an issue having to do with the sport itself.

[karl 3]

This shocked me as well. If I had to pick one of the 3 Roush guys to get fired I would have taken Biffle first. You're right though, the fact that a previous Cup champion and current point leader (probably the quietest champion we've ever had) is getting essentially fired because of sponsorship issues is pretty ridiculous.

 

This begs the question where will he go? I can't see him finding his way onto Stewart-Haas only because they're full (unless they get rid of the second Go Daddy car, which would be well worth it lol). Don't see a chance at Hendricks. Childress would have to get rid of the dead weight that is the 33 car. I'm not sure if Kenseth is up to being the face of a poor-boy's team and trying to bring them to glory or not, but I think he can make a solid effort at it.

[oochymp 2,393]

there's a difference between getting fired and not getting renewed, I know I'm kinda splitting hairs, but Kenseth's contract is up after this year so he's essentially a free agent, RFR is basically just saying they're not going to pursue keeping him, and teams not pursuing their high profile free agents happens in every sport, especially when you've got somebody ready to take his spot, and Biff or Edwards are both more than capable of being the lead driver for RFR, I mean Edwards was in that spot last year when he finished just short of a championship