Good night for Labonte too

It's good to see Bobby Labonte landed on his feet. He's running well considering he is in a start and park ride.

Yeah, top-20 is great for Bobby and that team.

TeamBlueOval wrote:

Yeah, top-20 is great for Bobby and that team.

Better than what they are used to. Usually they start and park and when they attempt to race, it doesn't run out well. They have to be happy to have Labonte on board.

Imagine being Gilliland, you get dumped by Yates, which lets be honest, we are a 3rd tier organization, you get picked up by a start and park team and they kick you to the curb for a guy who has never been in a car before in Lally and then boot you for 7 more races to put Labonte in there. His career is on a downward spiral. It's a shame, I was happy we signed him several years ago, he just wasn't ready.

I think that Gilliland is a good driver. He has just had junk rides for his whole Cup career.

They are happy to have Bobby's provisional for the next 6 races he runs. However, 3 or 4 of them are not sponsored, and if they are not sponsored, Bobby will then be in a Start and Park.

And oh, since you are talking about Gilliland, he had something break on his car. Hyder said he knew what it was, but it wasn't a fix for pit road. David also had a top 20 run, right behind Bobby!

And the 71 should have done well. It was the same car they used at Bristol. Evidently they replaced a bunch of parts on it, like the lower control arm that broke from stress and being used for about 20 races.

It will stink to see Bobby Labonte start and park.... that's a tough deal.

TeamBlueOval wrote:

It will stink to see Bobby Labonte start and park.... that's a tough deal.

At least he gets to keep his streak alive.

Merri wrote:

They are happy to have Bobby's provisional for the next 6 races he runs. However, 3 or 4 of them are not sponsored, and if they are not sponsored, Bobby will then be in a Start and Park.

And oh, since you are talking about Gilliland, he had something break on his car. Hyder said he knew what it was, but it wasn't a fix for pit road. David also had a top 20 run, right behind Bobby!

And the 71 should have done well. It was the same car they used at Bristol. Evidently they replaced a bunch of parts on it, like the lower control arm that broke from stress and being used for about 20 races.

That is what I love about the Gilly Gang - they are always the optimist! If it weren't for car parts, he would probably be in the Chase this year...

eehwkram wrote:

Merri wrote:

They are happy to have Bobby's provisional for the next 6 races he runs. However, 3 or 4 of them are not sponsored, and if they are not sponsored, Bobby will then be in a Start and Park.

And oh, since you are talking about Gilliland, he had something break on his car. Hyder said he knew what it was, but it wasn't a fix for pit road. David also had a top 20 run, right behind Bobby!

And the 71 should have done well. It was the same car they used at Bristol. Evidently they replaced a bunch of parts on it, like the lower control arm that broke from stress and being used for about 20 races.

That is what I love about the Gilly Gang - they are always the optimist! If it weren't for car parts, he would probably be in the Chase this year...

Wow...that is a bit ummm...sarcastic?

And is there really something wrong with being optimistic?

And BTW I was talking about the CAR! The car WAS running 8th at Bristol, when a part broke. That is a fact. And it was the same car they used for Atlanta. It is one of their better cars. I didn't say anything about being in the Chase! It was also the same car they had in Atlanta, when they were caught on pit road by a tire running out into the infield. I believe they were running top ten, then!

Merri wrote:

eehwkram wrote:

Merri wrote:

They are happy to have Bobby's provisional for the next 6 races he runs. However, 3 or 4 of them are not sponsored, and if they are not sponsored, Bobby will then be in a Start and Park.

And oh, since you are talking about Gilliland, he had something break on his car. Hyder said he knew what it was, but it wasn't a fix for pit road. David also had a top 20 run, right behind Bobby!

And the 71 should have done well. It was the same car they used at Bristol. Evidently they replaced a bunch of parts on it, like the lower control arm that broke from stress and being used for about 20 races.

That is what I love about the Gilly Gang - they are always the optimist! If it weren't for car parts, he would probably be in the Chase this year...

Wow...that is a bit ummm...sarcastic?

And is there really something wrong with being optimistic?

And BTW I was talking about the CAR! The car WAS running 8th at Bristol, when a part broke. That is a fact. And it was the same car they used for Atlanta. It is one of their better cars. I didn't say anything about being in the Chase! It was also the same car they had in Atlanta, when they were caught on pit road by a tire running out into the infield. I believe they were running top ten, then!

I was messing around, there's nothing at all wrong with it. I know I am as big a fan of my teams as anyone, but I tend to lean more toward the realistic side of things. I can admit that right now, Yates Racing is a third tier type of organization. We're hoping for better days. The Gilliland fans though tend to think he is better than what he is. That isn't to say that he is terrible, he is a mid pack type of guy.

eehwkram wrote:

Merri wrote:

eehwkram wrote:

Merri wrote:

They are happy to have Bobby's provisional for the next 6 races he runs. However, 3 or 4 of them are not sponsored, and if they are not sponsored, Bobby will then be in a Start and Park.

And oh, since you are talking about Gilliland, he had something break on his car. Hyder said he knew what it was, but it wasn't a fix for pit road. David also had a top 20 run, right behind Bobby!

And the 71 should have done well. It was the same car they used at Bristol. Evidently they replaced a bunch of parts on it, like the lower control arm that broke from stress and being used for about 20 races.

That is what I love about the Gilly Gang - they are always the optimist! If it weren't for car parts, he would probably be in the Chase this year...

Wow...that is a bit ummm...sarcastic?

And is there really something wrong with being optimistic?

And BTW I was talking about the CAR! The car WAS running 8th at Bristol, when a part broke. That is a fact. And it was the same car they used for Atlanta. It is one of their better cars. I didn't say anything about being in the Chase! It was also the same car they had in Atlanta, when they were caught on pit road by a tire running out into the infield. I believe they were running top ten, then!

I was messing around, there's nothing at all wrong with it. I know I am as big a fan of my teams as anyone, but I tend to lean more toward the realistic side of things. I can admit that right now, Yates Racing is a third tier type of organization. We're hoping for better days. The Gilliland fans though tend to think he is better than what he is. That isn't to say that he is terrible, he is a mid pack type of guy.

And yet, how do we know, 100%, that he is mid-pack? As he gets in better equipment, we can then see what happens. I just hope that the rumored 3 rides with Gibbs are not R&D, but a sponsor committment to run well, rather than test out stuff for next year.

And while you hope for better days from Yates Racing, keep in mind, that is what fans of Gilly are doing also.

As far as optimism vs realism, I remember your realism! In my mind, the realism needs to be based on the whole story. If one only looks at the finishing result, then one may not get a full picture to use as a basis for realism. Hence, my discussion on the CAR that Bobby was in, and that TRG used all of the notes that Slugger and David created together, and worked on together, up until Wednesday of last week.

I'm not going to try and sell Gilliland as a Chase quality driver, at least not right now.

However, I think he is better than ANY of the equipment he has had in his entire career. That NW team he drove for was normally a start-and-park and he pulled off a win. That's a pretty big deal.

Yates Racing also has been sorely off the pace since 2006. I'm hoping to see things turn around soon, but DG probably got the short end of the stick at Yates.

And now that he's at TRG, that's no better. Their cars tend to be top-25 caliber when they run the entire race; unfortunately, it seems like they end up doing the start and park deal for the majority of races.

David gave the 21 car a good run yesterday at Atlanta. He ran as well or better than Bill Elliott this year. That's a pretty solid accomplishment as well.

I think the real judge of David's talent will be those races he does in the 4th Gibbs car at the end of the season. Don't look for it to be too much of an R&D effort because State Farm isn't going to go for that. They are paying good money to sponsor the car and they'll want it running well. A few years ago, Mike Bliss got a top-5 in a 3rd (I don't think they had the 11 yet) Gibbs car #80.

I will be the first to say that Yates had (and still has) substandard equipment. The thing though is that in both years that Gilliland was with Yates, his results were second best. Kvapil was better (and the results indicated that) last year and in 2007 Rudd was much better (though he finished behind Gilliland in the points after missing 5 races with an injury). Now either of them could legitimately make the argument that since they posted the best results in a bad organization, they were more talented than the equipment provided. But if Gilliland was this great talent, deserving of great equipment, shouldn't he have been the top driver on the Yates roster those two years? Again, not only do I not have anything against Gilliland, I visit his site and hope he does well (of course not better than the Yates drivers or Kahne or Vickers).

eehwkram wrote:

I will be the first to say that Yates had (and still has) substandard equipment. The thing though is that in both years that Gilliland was with Yates, his results were second best. Kvapil was better (and the results indicated that) last year and in 2007 Rudd was much better (though he finished behind Gilliland in the points after missing 5 races with an injury). Now either of them could legitimately make the argument that since they posted the best results in a bad organization, they were more talented than the equipment provided. But if Gilliland was this great talent, deserving of great equipment, shouldn't he have been the top driver on the Yates roster those two years? Again, not only do I not have anything against Gilliland, I visit his site and hope he does well (of course not better than the Yates drivers or Kahne or Vickers).

He was also a Rookie for his first year at RYR. Actually, year and a half. Amazing that one can laud Darnell for getting a 30th in his substandard equipment as a rookie, but one doesn't give credit to what Gilly had to do in bad equipment. And Darnell had a lot more time in lower series than David had. As did Rudd, of course, and Kvapil.

I think that the deserving great equipment commentary is happening now. And remember, Gilly stated that the Wood Brothers car was the best car he had been in. Now that is a sad commentary! A part-time team having cars better than Yates.

Yes, you have been noticed that you are visiting DG's site. And, I am glad to note that you are now spelling his name correctly.

Merri wrote:

eehwkram wrote:

I will be the first to say that Yates had (and still has) substandard equipment. The thing though is that in both years that Gilliland was with Yates, his results were second best. Kvapil was better (and the results indicated that) last year and in 2007 Rudd was much better (though he finished behind Gilliland in the points after missing 5 races with an injury). Now either of them could legitimately make the argument that since they posted the best results in a bad organization, they were more talented than the equipment provided. But if Gilliland was this great talent, deserving of great equipment, shouldn't he have been the top driver on the Yates roster those two years? Again, not only do I not have anything against Gilliland, I visit his site and hope he does well (of course not better than the Yates drivers or Kahne or Vickers).

He was also a Rookie for his first year at RYR. Actually, year and a half. Amazing that one can laud Darnell for getting a 30th in his substandard equipment as a rookie, but one doesn't give credit to what Gilly had to do in bad equipment. And Darnell had a lot more time in lower series than David had. As did Rudd, of course, and Kvapil.

I think that the deserving great equipment commentary is happening now. And remember, Gilly stated that the Wood Brothers car was the best car he had been in. Now that is a sad commentary! A part-time team having cars better than Yates.

Yes, you have been noticed that you are visiting DG's site. And, I am glad to note that you are now spelling his name correctly.

That is the first time Darnell was in the seat of a COT. In 2007, other than horsepower and weight, the car used in the top two levels were a lot a like handling wise. They are night and day now. I think Darnell did a great job, hopefully we can build on it from here.

I can think of about 4-5 different races this year alone where Gilliland has said that it is the best car he has had - so I don't know how much that means.

You won't see me defending Yates equipment - read over this forum - we are lacking. We are a third tier organization. Which makes Gilliland's release an even sadder commentary! To be told by a third tier organization that you are no longer needed, and then to be taken out of your ride by a start and park organization - I don't know if I would be throwing stones if I were a Gilliland fan.

No stones being thrown at all...merely a discussion point. And really now, taken out of a start and park ride,when it is only because of the a past champions provisional? And then Yates dumps a driver for sponsorship dollars, both Gilliland and Labonte? I don't think either of those reasons are a testament to whether or not of a drivers capability. Drivers are being taken out of rides across all three series, for instance, Champion Johnny Bensen out of a ride because of a kid comeing in with sponsorship. If Iweren't already familiar with your brand of 'messing around' I might consider your comment to be a thrown stone!

Gilly has not said it that much, about being in the best car he had ever been in. If he had, then that tells you that the cars have been pretty pathetic. And of course you don't know what to make of what David has said, because you only really cared about the final results. Or have you finally listened to scanner reports? I know what I have heard on the scanner as he talks to his CC. I hear of parts braking, tranny's being used for 6 or 7 races, Slugger apologizing because they couldn't get better brakes, Slugger sending crewman over to get tires from other teams, rental pit crew members, and Slugger telling David that he will have to live with the tires he has, as they can't afford any more.

And actually, humiliating is being a driver in the Nationwide series being taken out of his car, when his Daddy is the sponsor...now, that one BITES!

Quote :

And really now, taken out of a start and park ride,when it is only because of the a past champions provisional?

How many races has the 71 team missed this year? I'm thinking only one - the Daytona 500. So, why would they need the provisional?
Although, I do agree that he was not taken out because of performance, but because Bobby Labonte is a bigger name.


John Wes has struggled mightily, so he deserves to be taken out for a while... maybe daddy is giving him a "time out."

I believe it was name driven as well. Labonte is on the downside of his career, but he's a much bigger name than Gilliland.

So in what he described as the best car he has been in, combined with his incredible talent, and he still finished behind both Yates terrible car driven by daddy's boy Menard and the park and ride that dumped him for Labonte. With that great car and talent, you would think he would have been ahead of those two, but he wasn't - and of course, it had nothing to do with his ability - afterall, he's incredible. Without a doubt one of the best.

The truth is, he finished where he did mostly due to whoever made the pit calls. He was back in 29th and a lap down when they stayed out to get a lap back on the wave around to move up to 21st. Was lapped again, but once again the crew chief had him stay out and get his lap back.

Don't get me wrong, anyone could have done it and his crew chief deserves credit for the great call which resulted in a so-so finish. I can see why they didn't do it for Darnell - with them wanting him to get laps without really worrying about the finish.

Just for the record, Labonte got into the top ten because of 'pit strategy.; He short pitted, got out early, then fell back from that top ten to 18th.

On the last run for Gilly, pit strategy had him at 23rd, fell back to 24, and moved forward to get to 19th.

As far as Menard, well isn't it about danged time he actually started showing some promise? Lots of money being poured into him, by Daddy, and that money was supposed to make Yates do even better than they did last year. He even has a hot-shot CC from Roush, and has all of the engineering and support that Yates gets from Roush. (And no matter how little that is, it is a lot more than TRG gets from anyone, and far more than Wood Brothers gets!)

I still am perplexed as to why you appear to dislike Gilly so much. Being a realist would seem to make someone see all sides of the story. In your case, I wonder how much emotion is coloring your 'realism." And your sarcasm is not becoming of being a realist.

TRG actually gets (or got at one time) a good bit of support (and parts) from RCR, if I'm not mistaken.

And Ford Racing gives the Wood Brothers a lot of assistance in the way of engineering support and wind tunnel time, etc.

TeamBlueOval wrote:

TRG actually gets (or got at one time) a good bit of support (and parts) from RCR, if I'm not mistaken.

And Ford Racing gives the Wood Brothers a lot of assistance in the way of engineering support and wind tunnel time, etc.

RCR gets engines and tuning support only from RCR. Most of their chassis and cars are from last years cast-off's from EGR.

But I don't believe that WB has gotten the support from RFR that Yates supposedly gets. I believe their engine support is based only on the fact they buy/lease engines from Roush/Yates, so they would get the engine support.

Merri wrote:

I still am perplexed as to why you appear to dislike Gilly so much. Being a realist would seem to make someone see all sides of the story. In your case, I wonder how much emotion is coloring your 'realism." And your sarcasm is not becoming of being a realist.

Therein lies the problem - if any post other than one singing his praises is made, that person dislikes him? Go back to the Gilly forum and read my posts from when he was with Yates. When he did well, I was always one of the first to point it out. On the other hand, when he didn't, I pointed that out as well. I do the same thing on here. Read down the forum. When Menard/Labonte/Yates have a good outing, I compliment them, when they have a bad one - I take them to task for it. Does that also mean that I dislike Menard/Labonte/Yates as well?

I don't believe that being a fan means checking your sense of reality at the door. Gilliland is an average driver - and Yates is an average organization. Hopefully - since I have been a fan of theirs since day one - they can turn it around. And for the sake of Gilliland's fans, hopefully he'll improve too.

I didn't say that the Woods get support from RFR; I said that the Woods get support from FORD RACING, which they do. Ford Racing is committed to NASCAR and do all they can to help the teams succeed.

Ya when I heard the Darnell/Gilliand/Labonte soap I was like- Gilly sure got the good end of the stick when he's a Woods- now that's not good when he basically says the same thing