Xtreme Racing News

As I'm sure everyone knows by now, either via Hendrick Motorsports or any sports page in general, Hendrick did confirm this morning on Twitter that Dale Earnhardt Jr will be retiring after this season for the Cup Series, this will not affect JRM, his Xfinity team, in any way. He will still be at the shop and some tracks with the team, whoever it may be, and his sister Kelley will still run it. This year Elliott Sadler, Michael Annett, Justin Allgaier and William Byron are on the team with Byron the rookie, Sadler and Allgaier are returning, both former Cup drivers, and Annett coming back to the series after HScott Mortorsports dropped out of the Cup Series due to sponsorship and money problems. Now we ask, who replaces Jr? I can tell you 2 drivers already: William Byron and Carl Edwards. This is not going to be like the Edwards situation at JGR where Daniel Suarez was called up from the series the day after. Edwards is not coming back at this point, he hinted about joining government and I think that's where he needs to go, he needs to stay healthy, one reason why Jr is retiring because of his concussion from last year in July. Byron on the other hand, I personally don't think he's ready yet. Yes, I'm a JGR/KBM guy saying a former driver is not ready yet. Why? He needs more experience. Byron is a former developmental driver for JRM and drove for Kyle Busch in Trucks last season and was 8 laps from going into the Final Four but blew his engine, if it wasn't for that, he would've won the title because he won at Homestead. He's now back at JRM for Xfinity with his college, Liberty University, backing him up again, along with Axalta Paint. Suarez won the Xfinity title last year to prove he was ready for Cup, but he wasn't ready either. Erik Jones would have been the driver if he didn't already sign a deal with affiliate FRR. They could implement a driver swap where Jones could go to JGR, where he runs his Xfinity races, and Suarez to FRR, depending on how this year turns out. Byron just isn't ready being so young and as these Cup cars improve, the more dangerous it can get sometimes. Byron is probably a target but give him a year. I suggest Alex Bowman, former Cup driver for BK Racing and the man who filled in for Jr last year. His performance every week, including Phoenix, where he almost won, was outstanding. A former Cup driver that's pretty good depending on the track size, makes sense for a team like Hendrick. I would say Cole Custer since he drove some last year for JRM, but now with Stewart-Haas in Xfinity, he falls into the same boat as Byron, young, not as experienced and just unprepared. Hendrick needs to feel professional, and his fight at MoSport last year kinda hurt the professionalism, it was uncalled for and dangerous. I say Alex Bowman if he can get a sponsor, for Hendrick that's no problem, then wait on Kahne to think, because knowing Kahne as I do some stuff for his Sprint Car team, I think he needs to back to dirt, he'll run more races and he's successful on dirt, he's been struggling in NASCAR for the last few years, I say he retires within 2 2 years to get back on the dirt, that's where Byron can come in. Sadler's full-time Cup career is pretty much done, I think we can all agree on that. Allgaier, I think he would fit perfect, former Cupper, ran pretty decent in not so great equipment, can run better with Hendrick. Now the waiting game begins...