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SPENCER: It Was Time
The time had come for Kasey Kahne to vacate the No. 9 Ford and move on to his new deal at Red Bull Racing...
Jimmy Spencer  |  Posted October 21, 2010   Charlotte, NC
Jimmy Spencer calls it like he sees it on SPEED. (Photo: SPEED)
Despite how much I like Kasey Kahne and respect him as a driver, it was time for him to move on.

Judging from comments he made in published reports last Sunday at his charity walk in downtown Charlotte, Kahne obviously wasn’t getting along too well with his No. 9 Richard Petty Motorsports team.

So, it was time for Kahne to vacate the No. 9 Ford and move on to his new deal at Red Bull Racing, and he did just that late Wednesday. Kahne, who already has signed with Red Bull for 2011, wasn’t getting along too well with his crew members, a scenario that usually hurts a team’s performance.

After he wrecked in Saturday’s race at Charlotte Motor Speedway and his team repaired the car, Kahne said he felt too ill to complete the race and JJ Yeley jumped in for him. Kahne ran a 5K the next morning and then told the Associated Press that one of his crew members told him he needed to start doing his part. Kahne went on to say that he hasn’t ever been as mad in a race car as he was Saturday night after his brakes failed. He added that his team “runs stuff that’s not very good compared to some of the other teams.”

Ouch.
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For the sponsor’s sake, Richard Petty needed to take Kahne out and put in Marcos Ambrose, who is signed to drive the No. 9 car next year. Ambrose isn’t in the Chase with his No. 47 Toyota and his team isn’t in danger of falling outside the top 35 in points, so it would benefit all parties to part ways now. RPM is giving up a valuable five-race test session in the remaining five races this season if it doesn’t negotiate a way for Ambrose to get out of his contract with the No. 47 and get a jump start on the 2011 season behind the wheel of the No. 9.

Of course, there are contracts to negotiate and sponsor commitments to fulfill, but Budweiser, which has been a great sponsor to RPM, wasn’t receiving the full benefit of its sponsorship with its team and driver at odds. The livelihood of this sport hinges on sponsors, but these companies would receive more return on their investment if their team and driver were functioning as one and giving it their full effort.

Petty needs to put someone in the car who will show what that equipment is capable of. I’m not saying Kahne wasn’t giving 100-percent because I think all drivers try to win every weekend, but since he doesn’t have a good relationship with the crew guys right now, it’s not doing their performance any favors. Budweiser deserves better.

I’ve been in a similar situation before. In 1992, Bobby Allison was going through a chain of drivers and asked me to drive his car in the last four races of the season. We finished fourth, 11th, fifth and fourth, and put the car inside the top 20 in points. Allison proved to the sponsor that he did indeed have a good race team when he got rid of the dead weight.

I admire a car owner who has the guts to kick a driver out when he’s not performing to his potential for whatever reason. Owners nowadays cater too much to the drivers when they really need to stand threaten to boot them out of their rides for poor performance or attitude.

Like any bad marriage that’s run its course, it was time for Kahne and RPM to separate and move on. It’s in the best interest of everyone involved.

Jimmy Spencer calls it like he sees it on his “Getting Primed with Jimmy Presented by Kilz Primer” segment on NASCAR Race Hub on SPEED. He retired from driving with two NASCAR Sprint Cup, 12 NASCAR Nationwide and one NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory, putting him in an elite group of drivers who have logged wins in all three of NASCAR’s premier divisions. In 478 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts, Spencer amassed 28 top-five and 80 top-10 finishes. He won back-to-back NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championships in 1986 and 1987 on the heels of 15 victories, becoming the first driver ever to earn consecutive titles in the series. He earned the nickname “Mr. Excitement” for his flamboyant and aggressive driving style early in his racing career.

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The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED
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