Tell me that it isn't true

Is this what the rest of the season is going to be looking like for RG? I am hoping not but I can only assume the money has run out to put the car in full time...please help me out with this? As I am a true diehard RG fan I will be disappointed. But hopefully he will be moving on to bigger and better things...

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Permalink Reply by WJM on May 8, 2011 at 4:24pm

Furniture Row owner, Barney Visser, is no stranger to racing. He used to race late models down the road from me at Colorado Nat'l Speedway. Barney made a killing in the waterbed market back in the 70's and 80's with Big Sur Waterbeds before starting up Furniture Row.

Barney went into NASCAR with a another local driver, Jerry Robertson, in 2005, the same year Robby formed his own Cup team with Jim Smith. Barney has been steadfast in doing things his way; no outside sponsor pressures or distractions and basing the team close to home in Denver away from North Carolina and the NASCAR cottage industry. It's been a rough road:

	Att	St	Win	T5	T10	DNF	DNQ
2005	2	2	0	0	0	1	0
2006	32	19	0	0	0	4	13
2007	34	19	0	0	0	5	15
2008	37	33	0	0	0	7	4
2009	20	18	0	0	0	3	2
2010	36	36	0	0	0	3	0
2011	10	10	1	1	2	2	0
Total	173	137	1	1	2	25	36

It's taken 7 years and 128 races with 5 different drivers for Visser to finally get a top 10 finish, 7th at Daytona this year. Joe Nemechek did put the 78 on the pole at Talladega in '08, but prior to this year it's been a real struggle. Congrats to Barney, Joe Garone and the guys. They certainly paid their dues.

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Permalink Reply by Sherri Fryer on May 8, 2011 at 5:18pm

It was really nice to see the 78 cross the finish line first last night . I think this team proves that if you keep working hard you will get great results. Congrats to the entire team .

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Permalink Reply by dastexan on May 8, 2011 at 5:19pm

There is some truth to what was said on Page 1

It would be nice to actually KNOW which races Robby is fully planning on racing ahead of time, instead of looking at the schedule and guessing.

I"m all for audibles and what not. Putting out a presser saying these are the 16-20 races we are all in at would be kinda nice to his fans, so they can plan accordingly.

Just sayin, though I"m sure the usual stock response will be given if any.

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Permalink Reply by Bigzoom on May 8, 2011 at 6:51pm

I think sometimes RGM has pending deals that IF they work out they race, IF they don't they can't (think audibles). I know I messaged TOG about Dega and he told me Robby would race. It's not that TOG is trying to keep info from us, sometimes it's just not concrete, but pending. They could be working on a company interested and IF everything works out then Robby races...IF not alternative plans like Start & Test or Start & Park go into effect. This is the year to build for next year. Sell SPEED, hoepfully it catches on and starts building a huge return. Even if SPEED trailed the Top 10 energy drinks, it could earn enough to fully support RGM.
If you want to see Robby race more...buy more SPEED ENERGY!

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Permalink Reply by dastexan on May 9, 2011 at 1:16am

16-20 races were announced back in February. What are they? Has that ever been actually announced or is it supposed to be a guessing game as far as what races I need to actually pay attention to if I want to see Robby race.

Look, I want to see Robby there in all 36 and racing in all 36. That doesnt seem possible. And that's fine. It's not exactly like its going to come as a surprise when Robby isnt at a place to race.

I like that the 7 has been at every event.

I'm all for more races being added and thats a great bonus. It just means I have more to do on the weekends when these races are added. I find the majority of these races to be often boring thanks to the coverage on the tv by and large. If Robby is in it, I'll make the effort to watch.

I'd just like RGM to actually come out and say ahead of time, which are these 16-20 races already on the schedule. If its already done, is that really too much to ask? Or is it just something we have to continue to guess at?

I'm really hoping this isnt coming off as negative, more of a flat out frustration at not knowing.

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Permalink Reply by RG7FAN on May 8, 2011 at 7:07pm

As per Boris "sell more cases get more races"...I know I have said that statement before, however it is true

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Permalink Reply by Mike Kenyon on May 8, 2011 at 8:21pm

NIKAL cover'd this in round numbers just the other day.
http://www.planetrobby.com/forum/topics/2011-darlington-race-weeken...
While I call it start money,it's really not.There's purse money that starts at the win and finishs at dead last.

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Permalink Reply by Alex on May 8, 2011 at 8:03pm

The Politically Correct term is Go-Getter

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Permalink Reply by Bigzoom on May 8, 2011 at 8:57pm

I know for years I've seen many post "why can't we as fans sponsor Robby?" ...well you finally can! Buy a ton of SPEED ENERGY!

Tell your local stores you want it! Tell them where to order it! Help sell the mess out of this stuff and it helps add more races! Look at what "Rally for Robby" did... I think as fans, we could locate a couple of email addresses & contacts for us all to email and start getting SPEED into stores! Alabama needs it! It's frustrating to sample it at the track and then can't find it anywhere in the state. Online shipping will work...but would be nice to pull up somewhere and get a cold one!

http://www.thepantry.com/ is one of the largest in the southeast!!

http://www.circlek.com/

http://inland-stores.com/store_locations.php is another chain

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Permalink Reply by Bigzoom on May 8, 2011 at 9:19pm

Everybody send them a request for SPEED Energy here in your state! If they get tons of emails requesting surely they will take notice!

http://www.thepantry.com/EmailForm.aspx?param=General

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Permalink Reply by Christopher Lutz on May 9, 2011 at 8:44am

Ah - here I go again, allowing the PR regulars to get me typing....

Firstly - thanks for the link to the NIKAL post - those are some big numbers....and s/he didn't even scratch the surface.

Secondly, I'm not sure why folks here are frustrated? RGM seems to be doing well.....at least as well as they were doing with Beam/etc, and this new plan has a much higher upside.

This "season" involved a manufacturer change AND trying to launch an energy drink. From a Return on Investment (ROI) standpoint....imagine how Hendrick feels. He's pouring money into the other Gordon, Martin and Earnhardt.....and aren't winning every week.

Each week I read how frustrated everyone is with NASCAR and in the very next sentence, these same people are wondering why RG doesn't focus more on it. Think about it.

As TOG points our regularly......this season is ALREADY better attended than RGM planned. Some of you must be the short memory folks who re-elected Marion Barry.

Every sport has rebuilding years....you get the rookies in and need to cultivate them for a while until you can contend for playoffs again. Think of this year that way.

RG is getting a stable of cars ready, assembling set-up information and launching a business. Enjoy it for what it is....and for the versatility....Dakar, Super Cross, SCORE, etc.

Not shift gears - but, I'm sort of wondering where the Monster Truck is......I don't always watch MT...but, I don't recall seeing an Energy Drink Sponsor there?