 Image: SHR Twitter We can all probably list 4 or 5 very good suggestions in the pipeline, some very probable suggestions. I've got one that not many people have on their radar right now. Just a couple weeks ago, NASCAR went to Circuit of the Americas. At Circuit of the Americas NASCAR had 2 Former Formula 1 Champions in the field, one of which is rumored to have stated that they were so enthused by their experience in the Cup cars that they may be looking to run a full time driver. 2009 F1 World Champion Jenson Button ran what was essentially a 5th Stewart-Hass Racing Mustang at CotA in what became his first ever NASCAR start. Jenson suffered from the heat inside the car down in Texas (F1 obviously being open cockpit cars and NASCAR, enclosed). "Finished 18th after almost stopping because I had heat exhaustion. It was so hot. I don't have a fan in my seat, which really didn't help me too much," Button said."I stopped twice for a minute. They put ice on me, gave me loads of water, and I went back out." Jenson stated he was shocked by the close quarters racing and the steep learning curve. Although he was not a fan in the early goings of the race, he did come on the radio after the checkered laughing and talking about how fun the race became. Author and F1 journalist Joe Saward stated in his blog; "Jenson Button is so enthused by his recent adventure in NASCAR that he is seriously looking at trying to become a full-time NASCAR driver in the future, on ovals as well as road courses, and as international drivers are what NASCAR is desperate to get these days, that could happen. Jenson is certainly up for it." Jenson could almost certainly fill sponsorship and could even be a great bargaining chip for Stewart-Hass Racing to keep Anheuser-Busch onboard for at least 1 more season. Jenson could also become a season-long fill-in driver for the SHR team to continue developing a full-time Harvick replacement in a very shallow Ford Performance development pool.
Bringing more international eyeballs back to NASCAR after the loss of drivers such as Juan Pablo Montoya and Marcos Ambrose could also be a HUGE benefit to the sport as a whole. That would make it a win win for NASCAR & SHR. The sport gets possibly new sponsorship and viewership, SHR gets the same, plus an experienced and hungry new driver. By: Tom Luttermoser
0 Comments
 Written and image By: Tom Luttermoser For the first time since 2014 with Kurt Busch, a full time NASCAR Cup Series driver will attempt to complete "The Double." For those of you who may be new to the sport or younger, the Double is when either a Cup Series or IndyCar driver competes in both the Indi 500 in Indianapolis and the Coke 600 at Charlotte in the same day. News however broke Thursday of 2021 Cup Champion Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 Chevrolet Camaro for Hendrick Motorsports, will be attempting the double in 2024 racing for McLaren Racing down in Indianapolis. As more information comes available, we will of course keep you up to date! The best finishing driver in the history of the feat was Tony Stewart in 2004 when Smoke finished 6th at Indi for Chip Ganassi and then 3rd for Joe Gibbs at Charlotte. The double has only been attempted 10 times as of now and there are no reports on if any driver from either series intents to attempt the feat in 2023 as of yet. Image Below via: Hendrick  |