Updated TK 2014 Article

[skye]

http://www.racer.com/robin-miller-on-tony-kanaans-struggle-for-a-ride/article/308997/

Would be great to see TK finish his career & come full circle at AA. Are Dr Pepper/Snapple & GoDaddy tied to AA, the drivers, or tied to AA contingent that those are the drivers there? If tied to AA, TK could benefit if one of the free agent AA drivers decides to go elsewhere.

[Racing Steward]

Just think AA could have a team of RHR / Marco / Kanaan / Montoya / Munoz or Hinchcliffe next year. Hows that for a juggernaut?

Will say though the way I have read the rumors about the 4th Ganassi car is NTT Data wants TK, Briscoe or Hinch (They are talents AND are marketable), to me Chip wants Wilson or Bourdais who were included on the back of the list. I dont deny Chip wouldnt be happy to have one of the first 3, but in my speculative opinion those 3 are NTT's top choices because of not just the talent aspect, but the marketing aspect as well. As talented as Bourdais & Wilson are, they dont compare to TK or Hinch in Marketability. THAT is what NTT seeks on top of talent IMO. I think Wilson & Bourdais are Chip Ganassi options because outside of the track they dont offer NTT as strong of an overall package as TK-Hinch-Briscoe do.

Having said that, it appears atleast for the moment that TK is more likely headed back to KV than to TCGR or AA. AA has a strong chance to keep Hinch if Go Daddy stays. Briscoe is going to Panther foolishly to sink his career. That leaves Wilson & Bourdais. Could Wilson finally get the ride and chance he has always deserved but really never gotten (NH-08 to me has an asterisk next to it). Like I said IMO, Bourdais is the better driver by a very slim margin but he's had his glory in great equipment, J-Wilson never really has and he has paid his dues driving for highly UNsuccessful teams, its time he gets the chance and IMO he deserves the ride more than anybody on Chips list. My vote goes to Justin Wilson.

[MichaelP]

"they dont offer NTT as strong of an overall package as TK-Hinch-Briscoe do."

Briscoe lumped in with TK and Hinch as far as marketability?

[TUBORG-fan]

http://www.racer.com/robin-miller-on...rticle/308997/

Would be great to see TK finish his career & come full circle at AA. Are Dr Pepper/Snapple & GoDaddy tied to AA, the drivers, or tied to AA contingent that those are the drivers there? If tied to AA, TK could benefit if one of the free agent AA drivers decides to go elsewhere.

Sounds like an arrogant d... TK. What a jerk.

[WillMazeo]

Sad article and yet people think it's all kittens and rainbows.

[Grinder-Tank]

Posturing, jockeying for more money during contract time. It's not a new phenomenon.

[Cooper5]

It's so unfortunate these days

[Upmygreen]

Hell, it wouldn't be the first time TK used Miller for posturing.

[flyfishin]

I like TK, but he's always had this "woe is me attitude". It kind of gets old.

[ttturner68]

Like TK as a driver, but Sponsor's Dream? Come on Miller. Your idea of a dream and Sponsor idea of dream are 2 different things.

You cannot have it both way if he is a Sponsor dream then it would be no problem for him to bring Sponsorship to a team the is tethered to him. But then nearly out of the same breath Miller laments that a Fully funded team with Sponsorship in place isn't hiring him. It is a logic trap.

The fully funded teams with independent sponsorship are rare and full in every series.

Who is he going to replace Helio, Dixon, Paegnaud, Franchitti, RHR?

Really the only open seat is with John Barnes, good luck with that TK.

[Indyfred]

Like TK as a driver, but Sponsor's Dream? Come on Miller. Your idea of a dream and Sponsor idea of dream are 2 different things.

You cannot have it both way if he is a Sponsor dream then it would be no problem for him to bring Sponsorship to a team the is tethered to him. But then nearly out of the same breath Miller laments that a Fully funded team with Sponsorship in place isn't hiring him. It is a logic trap.

The fully funded teams with independent sponsorship are rare and full in every series.

Who is he going to replace Helio, Dixon, Paegnaud, Franchitti, RHR?

Really the only open seat is with John Barnes, good luck with that TK.

I have thought about Panther and TK may be the one person who could turn that team around. Kanaan stated in the Pruett article a couple of weeks ago that he could bring his engineer and crew with him if he left KV. Pruett referred to it as a turn key operation. Let Barnes spend the National Guard's money, and let Kanaan and his crew handle the on track work. And Panther is the only open seat that is a paying ride for the driver.

[Chris R]

TK is a marketable guy - what he does, is not particularly marketable these days.... It is too bad - but if he can make a nice 6 figure income doing this I think it would be hard to complain... Racecar drivers do face the risk of death or serious injury - but I would say it is probably a safer profession than many other high risk jobs these days that pay a lot less. The good thing is that if you get through your career injury free you will be a perfectly healthy person - unlike other sports that literally ruin your body...... So, I am not sure the risks of being a modern driver quite justify the salaries they once did...

The sport needs to grow if guys like TK are going to get what they perceive themselves to be worth......

[ttturner68]

I have thought about Panther and TK may be the one person who could turn that team around. Kanaan stated in the Pruett article a couple of weeks ago that he could bring his engineer and crew with him if he left KV. Pruett referred to it as a turn key operation. Let Barnes spend the National Guard's money, and let Kanaan and his crew handle the on track work. And Panther is the only open seat that is a paying ride for the driver.

Well if Sato continues his late year skid, the 14 might be a open seat also

[Buellboy]

Sad article and yet people think it's all kittens and rainbows.

Kittens and Rainbows? Since when? I thought Indycar was domed...

[Count Tracula]

TK is good people. Smart, tough, talented. He is also fairly self-centered and narcissistic. But TK is no different from most people who receive a handsome salary to drive race cars well. In fact, those "qualities" are assets and practically requisite. This is a selfish sport, requiring selfish action. TK is looking out for himself, as he should, and it is truly a shame a race car driver of that caliber is in a position where he may very well be required to bring cash. That is not his fault or yours. It is the state of the sport. And it has been this way for a long time, off and on, perhaps. This happened to Luyendyk after his 1990 win at the Speedway, for example. The late Wheldon more recently, as another. It is simply where this expensive, extravagant sport is at and has been for years. I don't know that it is all that much of a story.

Miller's gig is hyperbole and indirect driver representation as a psuedo-journalist. And he is a sh-t stir specialist, which he knows is requisite in keeping employed. It worked for years at the Star and still does on the 'net and TV, but in truth he remains employed simply because he has been around so long and is one of the few "journalists" (term used loosely) who actually knows the sport well enough and can still cover it and care. If there were a half a dozen young Chris Economaki's going to work every day on Indy Car coverage, Miller would be a lonely old man, sitting at home and watching IndyCar on TV in his apartment, eating Top Raman and awaiting his unemployment/disability check.

Miller is no different from most of the race car drivers he idolizes, including TK. Keep that in mind. He is self-centered, cocky, and out for Robin first. So be it. This story is somewhat worthy but much ado about something not at all unusual is this sport. Miller knows that.

A more intelligent story and more pertinent would be the fact that race car drivers making $3 Million per year not long ago, are now down to half a mil at best, and maybe only staying on as pay drivers (the Indy 500 Champ included!) as most of the field is now. Against that backdrop, that perhaps the time has come for this fading sport to examine the economics and down-size to reality. Really downsize. That means drivers who get paid a little, win some at the races, and work in the off-season. Nothing wrong with making the Speedway, getting a nice check for a T-10 at Pocono, and driving a truck in the off-season or working down at the insurance agency, or fabricating next season's Sprinters in a warm garage in Ft. Wayne. The days of the wealthy, celebrity, Indy car racer, hanging out by the pool with a bevy of babes all off-season long in the Bahamas are loooooooonnnnggggg gone.

Maybe Miller should wise up and denote that fact and quit trying to pretend it is an outrage the 500 winner can't get a big check to run. But that would require some intellectual depth and hard work. So don't count on it.

Let's hope TK finds a ride that pays decently for 2014. He is still good and can win.