That's the word that best describes the state of Richard Petty Motorsports in 2010.
It was a tough year for The King and those in his employ. They went from four cars to two. Lost their primo driver. And they suffered through layoffs and cutbacks in the process.
But there is one bright spot on what has lately been a dim horizon - and that's the 100-watt smile of Marcos Ambrose.
Ambrose will drive the No. 9 Ford for RPM next season. He takes the wheel from Aric Almirola, who drove the car when Kasey Kahne made a late-season jump to Red Bull Racing.
And Ambrose's infectious personality and determination to succeed may be just the shot in the arm the organization needs to regain momentum.
"I feel like I've got all the ingredients I need," Ambrose told the Associated Press in August. "I wanted to eliminate any question marks about the stuff around me and people around me."
"I feel like I can win four championships like Jimmie Johnson has done," he continued.
Time will tell if the racer from down under can top the five-time champ.
But one thing is certain - Richard Petty Motorsports is back in the game.
There were potholes, flying cars, green white checkers and a pit road feud.
And no, I'm not talking about Daytona.
Except for a nap-inducing green flag run somewhere in the middle, Sunday's race at Pocono had more action than we've seen there in years.
Here are a few of the highlights:
Rain, potholes and wind, oh my: Fans can deal with rain delays. And in NASCAR, they happen often enough. But when the word "pothole" began to be bandied about after the rain moved through, the NASCAR collective uttered an audible groan. As a fan who sat through Daytona's pothole-gate in person, I was expecting a similar multi-hour delay at Pocono. Fortunately, the offending pothole was at the exit to pit road and track officials solved the problem with a smack of epoxy and some strategically placed orange cones.
Bowyer dominates early: Clint Bowyer had the car to beat early on. But The Pocono 500 makes for a long race - and once Bowyer lost his lead position, he never regained his mojo. Blame it on the dirty air.
Hamlin's boneheaded burnout: Denny Hamlin had the smoothest moves of the day during the race. So it was lucky for him that he saved his most boneheaded move for last. While smoking the tires and celebrating his victory in front of the grandstand, Hamlin tagged the wall leaving some damage on the left front of his car.
Teammate trouble: This is the year of family feuds. Charlotte brought us the latest round with Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin. And, thanks to A.J. Allmendinger, Pocono was no honeymoon for Richard Petty Motorsports. Allmendinger's last lap block of his teammate Kasey Kahne could have consequences that were much more severe than loss of position. After being pushed by Allmendinger into the infield grass, Kahne slid back up the track and into the path of a passle of on-coming cars. He flew into the catchfence and the result was a scary multi-car smashup that could have resulted in a few injured drivers. Fortunately, all those involved were treated and released, but there was no love lost between Kahne and A.J. Per Kahne, "I don't talk to AJ hardly ever and I doubt I'm gonna talk to him about this."
Logano throws down: When Kevin Harvick bumped Joey Logano and sent the No. 20 car spinning during the last few laps, nobody expected Logano to go after the intimidating Harvick in such a vehement fashion. But Pocono was full of surprises and lo and behold, the sophomore racer drove right up to Harvick's car on pit road and barraged Harvick with an ephitet-laced tirade. The only thing that didn't help Joey's cred was his father who was right there telling him to go for it. Seriously, Joey. If you're gonna get any respect in the garage, tell your Daddy to stay out of it.
Whether or not Logano won over any fans or gained garage-side respect for his callout of Harvick is up for debate. But he does win for best sound bite of the day. When asked by a TNT reporter about his incident with Harvick, Logano worked in an insult aimed at Harvick's wife Delana, "His wife wears the firesuit in the family and tells him what to do." Touche.
You may think it's a bit early for silly season - but don't tell that to Kasey Kahne.
News broke today that Kahne will leave Richard Petty Motorsports at the end of 2010. And the early word is that he'll join Hendrick Motorsports in 2012, as the driver of the No. 5 car.
Which begs a couple questions.
First, what's Kahne going to do in in that pesky year between 2010 and 2012? The speculation has begun, with most folks opining that Kasey will take his curly-headed good looks over to the tough guys at Stewart-Haas Racing for 2011. This theory makes sense given that SHR is, for all intents and purposes, practically an extension of the powerhouse that is HMS.
Second question - does this mean NASCAR fans have just one more year to cheer on Mark Martin? Martin hardly seems ready to replace his race car with a rocking chair. However, Martin has already almost retired before. Maybe he's finally ready to hang up his firesuit.
OR will Kahne not take the No. 5 car at all? There have been online rumblings that ever since Gordon found himself in the family way, he has decided against racing into his dotage. It sure would be something if Gordon was the driver to exit HMS instead.
One thing's for certain. If Kahne wants to fit in at HMS, he's going to have to try to grow a beard.
Photo Info: Top - Kasey Kahne signs autographs at Talladega last Fall. Bottom - Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson pose at Daytona 500 practice in 2010.
So the US economy is basically in shambles, everybody and their brother is getting laid off, and retail spaces are closing left and right.
But amid all the dire fiscal news this year, there's one group of folks that you'd think would have it made in the paycheck department--NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers.
That's why I was rather surprised to read the news snippet on Jayski today, which revealed that Reed Sorenson is driving for Richard Petty Motorsports for the rest of the season--for nothin'! Yup, call it fallout from the Petty/Yates merger or the best deal a team owner ever got, but poor old Sorenson is racing each weekend for FREE.
When faced with the veritable Sophie's Choice of keeping a ride with no salary or losing a ride with no salary, Sorenson chose to keep racing--for the exposure alone. Suffice it to say, such a deal would probably ONLY work in NASCAR. I can't imagine a pro ball player of any sort, be it foot, base or basket, agreeing to play for free. Those cats strike every chance they get.
But such an ultimatum also wouldn't fly in my workaday world. I don't know of anyone in corporate, blue collar or political America who would show up every day for no pay (unless they were independently wealthy or on par with Mother Theresa).
So you gotta give Reed props. The guy just wants to race. However, Sorenson's raw deal leaves me wondering. What if he wins a race for RPM? For his sake, I hope The King springs for a profit-sharing plan.
When Kasey Kahne beat Tony Stewart to the punch on multiple late-race restarts, he surprised every fan, broadcaster and vintner in Sonoma. But Kahne's admittedly unexpected victory wasn't the only shocker on Sunday. There were a few more drivers who put on a decent outing at Infineon, despite the low expectations of pre-race pundits.
Rookie Joey Logano wheeled his Home Depot Toyota like a road course vet, moving deftly in and out of traffic and keeping his car clean for the majority of the race. By and large, Logano looked more lively than ringers like Scott Speed and Ron Fellows. But his day ended badly with some contact on the track and he left Sonoma with a 19th place finish--not indicative of the way he ran all day.
Dale Earnhardt Jr is usually so little of a threat at road courses that Direct TV didn't even broadcast his radio chatter this week. (The Junior Hot Pass channel is typically a race day staple). Running in the top 10 toward the end of the race, it looked like Junior was going to astound the NASCAR world with one his best finishes of the year. And then he was dive-bombed by Carl Edwards which effectively put the kibosh on a promising run.
Eliott Sadler managed to leave Cali with a top 10 finish--his first since the Daytona 500. Thankfully, Sadler had nothing to cry about this Sunday.
And AJ Allmendinger gave Richard Petty Motorsports the icing on the cake with his seventh-place run--and his third top 10 of the season. With Kahne in Victory Lane and AJ showing so strongly, Father's Day sure was kind to The King.
