{"id":1573198,"date":"2023-06-25T10:24:10","date_gmt":"2023-06-25T14:24:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/?p=1573198"},"modified":"2023-06-25T10:24:11","modified_gmt":"2023-06-25T14:24:11","slug":"nascar-mailbag-which-winless-driver-will-break-through-before-the-cup-series-playoffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/nascar-mailbag-which-winless-driver-will-break-through-before-the-cup-series-playoffs\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR Mailbag: Which Winless Driver Will Break Through Before the Cup Series Playoffs?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I can\u2019t believe the number of big names who still haven\u2019t won 16 races into the Cup Series season, but something tells me Chase Elliott, Kevin Harvick, and Ross Chastain will still be winless by the time the checkered comes down at Daytona. If I had to bet on a driver breaking through, my money would be on Brad Keselowski. (From F.P.)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ll second the nomination of Brad Keselowski<\/a> as a guy who\u2019ll win before we reach the Cup Series playoffs. The Roush Fenway Keselowski team has really stepped up this year after a rough introduction to Next Gen racing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keselowski already has posted as many top-10 finishes as he did in all of 2022. Three of those have come in the last seven races, though an average finish of 21st<\/sup> in the last three outings has been a disappointment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of the three others you named, I\u2019m most bullish on Kevin Harvick. The guy is not going to fade quietly into retirement. As for others, Ross Chastain has been a fashionable pick to win at Nashville, the home oval for Trackhouse Racing. But I\u2019ll give you a live longshot to beat everyone to their first win of the year: AJ Allmendinger<\/a> on the Chicago street course next week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your article<\/a> framed the Joe Gibbs Racing deal to bring in new minority owners<\/a> as a succession plan, but I see it as a detriment. Gibbs sold to a group of businessmen with no NASCAR history and such divergent investments that I don\u2019t see how they would be qualified or focused enough to run a Cup Series team. (From S.P.)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are two truths about big-money investors: They typically use someone else\u2019s money to finance most of the deal, and they invariably are smart enough to know what they don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"JGR
JGR team owner and Hall of Famer Joe Gibbs looks on during the NASCAR Cup Series Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway on May 14, 2023. | David Jensen\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the case of Harris Blitzer Sports Entertainment, the amount invested in Joe Gibbs Racing<\/a> last week probably wouldn\u2019t cover what it costs the consortium to do due diligence on bigger purchases like the Cleveland Guardians or, in Josh Harris\u2019 case, the Washington Commanders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is partly a vanity deal so that David Blitzer can say he owns a piece of a team in yet another major sport, but it does bring stability in the event of Joe Gibbs\u2019 death. HBSE almost certainly has negotiated to buy the remainder of the team in that case. At that point, the options are to operate the team themselves or to sell a majority stake to someone already in the business and interested in stepping into the Cup Series (hello, Dale Jr.?).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the meantime, Gibbs has already made the most important move of all in assuring continuity. He hired automotive industry veteran Michael Guttilla as chief operating officer this spring. So, whether The Coach is around or not, there is a racing guy at the helm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s time to get real and acknowledge Hailie Deegan is not going to be the next woman into the Cup Series or for that matter the Xfinity Series. She\u2019s had some better results this season with the switch in truck teams, but she\u2019s still a menace to everyone around her in races. As an owner, I\u2019d trade up to Toni Breidinger. (From W.Q.)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some variation of the subject comes up every time Hailie Deegan<\/a> is involved in an on-track incident, which is to say my inbox is seldom empty on a Saturday morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

"I'm sorry. I got free on the inside."- Hailie Deegan

Early trouble in Nashville. pic.twitter.com\/vwvWpImG4A<\/a><\/p>— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) June 24, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote>