Dale Jr. Signs McGrath

[Okiewan]

Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s JR Motorsports will announce that it is signing seven-time Supercross champion rider Jeremy McGrath to a developmental driver contract, according to SportsBusiness Journal.

Read It Here.

 

[XRpredator]

whoa . . .

 

[lwsmithjr]

Okie, I guess you wouldn't believe me if I said I really looked the board over before I posted in the other section. Shoulda got my wife to come find it for me! :)

(4 1/2 years and I got my first thread closed by the man!)

 

[kx__ken]

Another one going over to the dark side of left only turns.

I gotta think this is all about money.

 

[Chili]

I gotta think this is all about money.

Absolutely, what a greedy bastage that MC is, who does he think he is to move on to some other challenge he finds interesting in his retirement. :coocoo:

 

[Okiewan]

Absolutely, what a greedy bastage that MC is, who does he think he is to move on to some other challenge he finds interesting in his retirement. :coocoo:

and yes, get's paid for it. :cool:

 

[High Lord Gomer]

Okie, I guess you wouldn't believe me if I said I really looked the board over before I posted in the other section. Shoulda got my wife to come find it for me! :)

(4 1/2 years and I got my first thread closed by the man!)

Damn the man...keeping you closed down!

 

[TrailDawg]

Honestly, I'm glad to see this. Why you ask? Simple...

We never really got to see Carmichael and McGrath duel it out in motocross or Supercross. By the time Ricky jumped up to the 250cc class Jeremy had already stopped racing the outdoor Nationals and it was also his last full season of Motocross. Ricky had a lack-luster year that first year on 250's in Supercross so we really didn't get to see them dice it up all that often.

While the venue might be different, I'm looking forward to the possibility that we might get to see these two banging bars (err....doors) again.

Who knows, maybe Rick Johnson will see all this and decide to leave CORR and head to the oval track as well. Wouldn't that be a hoot! All we'd then is Jeff Stanton, Jeff Ward, Johnny O'Mara, Brock Glover and a few other old greats to join in and they could have a "Best of the Best" race on 4-wheels.

 

[little Kawi]

I think it is a great move. It is good to bring two of the worlds most wonderful sports in the world together like this.

 

[kx__ken]

I like MC and RC. I liked RC when everybody else hated him in the early days. I'm disappointed in both of these guys more than anything else. I figured they might want to move on to some other form of left and right turn racing like TP did (funny how he got so much criticism). How about moving on to Supermoto? Not enough money I guess. I don't know.

 

[Okiewan]

We never really got to see Carmichael and McGrath duel it out in motocross or Supercross

In SX we did.

 

[Chili]

I like MC and RC. I liked RC when everybody else hated him in the early days. I'm disappointed in both of these guys more than anything else.

When you retire let us know what you decide to do for a hobby so we can let you know if you've disappointed us or not. :coocoo:

 

[BSWIFT]

I think the move to NASCAR is a no brainer (pun intended). It would be nice to see them start there own MX/SX teams. Young riders could really advance under their leadership and training ethic. I hope RC and MC acheive a high level of success in their new endevor.

 

[TrailDawg]

I think the move to NASCAR is a no brainer (pun intended). It would be nice to see them start there own MX/SX teams. Young riders could really advance under their leadership and training ethic. I hope RC and MC acheive a high level of success in their new endevor.

RC and MC are both still relatively young and very competitive, so becoming a business manager (ie team owner) probably isn't anything either are interested in. They still want to be in the action mixing it up, not crunching numbers from the sidelines.

I also don't think SX or MX needs privately owned teams persay like NASCAR and other auto sports. Do we really want MX and SX to become nothing more than a "who's willing to pay the most to get the best rider" sort of thing like NASCAR and so many other venues?

Let the factories and the larger industry corporations continue footing the bill for the pro teams. Privateer teams have a hard enough time competing as it is now without having to factor in dozens of privately owned big money teams.

 

[XRpredator]

. . . Do we really want MX and SX to become nothing more than a "who's willing to pay the most to get the best rider" sort of thing like NASCAR and so many other venues?

It's not like that already?

 

[TrailDawg]

In SX we did.

Yes they raced against one another for 4 seasons (1999-2002), but when you factor in variables they really didn't race head-to-head all that much.

In 1999 RC suffered an early season injury that pretty much ruined that season for him. This was also the start of MC's "SX Only" contract period.

In 2000 RC got his first win and 5 podium finishes, but it wasn't a great season with terrible starts and lots of small mistakes.

In 2001 RC finally dethroned MC for the 250SX championship with 14 overall wins, but it was also obvious MC had slacked off in training and/or was getting older and couldn't run the same pace he used to. He also developed somewhat of a whiney-boy mentality when interviewed.

In 2002 RC had an early season injury but still ended up winning the championship with 7 overall wins. MC's age was a major factory at it was obvious his reign was over for good.

In 2003 RC dominated again and won the championship. MC on the other hand had signed with KTM but ultimately decided to hang up his boots after a pre-season crash during testing.

MC made a lack-luster "comeback tour" at limited SX events in 2005 and 2006, and while he had several top 10 finishes it was obvious he was no longer nor ever would be a championship contender again. After round 6 of the 2006 season he announced he wouldn't be participating in any more SX events that year and officially retired for a second time.

Now, considering MC quite racing outdoors the same year RC came to 250's, that eliminates that whole series of their racing together. In SX 2000 was really the only season these two butted heads week in and week out for the SX title as by 2001 MC was fading.