Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
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What's going on with Joey this year? Not running too well....I'm a huge fan so I'm looking forward to seeing him improve moving forward!!!!!

Welcome to Hoseheads...

I haven't seen him race in person yet but the talents there. He's on a new team so I'll give him that however to crack the top 6 in points is so tough this season. The top 3 are pretty consistent however the next 4 -5 teams could easily interchange next year. 

If he was on his second and 3rd year with this team and not at least 7th place in the points I'd be more concerned, however the young guys of Sheldon and Logan will have that many more races under their belt. 

I know some of the people stuck in the 70s and 80s will say the field is weak but IMO this year may be the strongest top to bottom. 

Keep It Real

I would say the majority of the issue is indeed being on a new team, also one that is making it's inagural tour on the WoO. However, I do think that Saldana is getting to the point where he isn't gonna be one of the top dogs everyrace now. Not to say he won't be competitve but I think that with the influx of young talent the wins will be far and few between. I'd say he wins at max 3 races this year but that's just my relatively low valued opinion as a fan. He'd still smoke a lot of non-WoO drivers, just in WoO it's getting stronger each year lately.

Not that I am a Ford basher but arent they running Ford in the 17,Joey has not been fast since crash in Florida.Alot of teams are struggling right now Pittman is missing something and Shane Stewart is still winless.

Last weekend was the worst i have seen Hodnett run in all the years hes raced in Pa.

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Agree with both of you.  Not saying his skills have diminished dramatically, but he is obviously getting older and some driver's skills decline quicker than others.  I seriously doubt he has lost more than a 1/10 of a step but as you both eluded to, the competition is fierce this year.  You won't have to be off much (whether it be personal ability or team experience) to look like you are off the pace.  He hasn't looked like the Joey of old over the last couple of years.  No one can deny that.  Over the last couple of years he has been fast during qualifying many times only to fade during the racing program.  This year, I haven't seen him in the picture much when watching highlights.  

I like Joey and hope it is merely getting used to the new team.  However, it may not be unrealistic to think his better days are by him.  

No Ford

He has had the name. That alone got his foot in the door on opportunities that I'm  sure have been beneficial to Saldana. I don't dislike the guy, but, I think his ranking would be at best the lower side of top 10. Which is nothing to complain about. He has been on the tour for a lot of years. It has always seemed like they just don't keep up with track changes.  Someone mentioned the 27 team struggling, you ever think the competition has a little to do with that ?

He didn't run that good last year did he? 

Hodnett and the Michael Heffner team were debuting a new car last weekend.  It, as you say, was not a good weekend.  I am sure they will get things ironed out quickly.

Joeys first time in a J&J may have something to do with it??? I know of another old fast guy coming back this year to a J&J so we'll see what happens...

I know he's had three new teams in the las four years or something close to that.... Donny Schatz has a for emblem on the side of his ride, so I don't know if it's a ford issue, though it would be interesting to see some dyno numbers!!??   

To say Joey is on a "new team" not totally...He ran for Roth last year. Still has Roth on his car and under the hood.

still has the same crew chief swanky, as far as new team a new owner. But lots of his stuff is the same.

maybe it's the j and j Joey having a hard time. 

Has joey ever won an outlaw championship? And has he won the Knoxville nationals? And at what age did he start running the outlaws? Anyone have this info 

never won a WOO championship....no Nationals Win...I would say his Two Kings Royal Victories are his biggest wins? I think he's finished 2nd in WOO points a couple of times. 

No one is running a 410 Ford engine on tour...yet.  TSM is working with Ford on developing a 410 engine, but it's still in development.  One of Saldana's major sponsors is car dealership Elk Grove Ford, hence the ford logo...

Some may have forgotten or don't know that Shane is on his 3rd crewchief in 3 years. That has to be having an affect on his results. I'll always wonder what he and Paul Silva could accomplish on the big tour.

Joey did win 21 WoO races one year back when he was still with KKR.   He lost the championship that year because Schatz beat him on qualifying points if I remember correctly.    I'm sure this team will start running better, I think it's only a matter of time.  

You know it's only May!   Plenty of racing season left.    I would look for improvement from Stewart, Saldana, and probably Pittman too.   Will it matter?    I guarantee you Schatz will get hot and we'll see if Gravel and the rest of those guys can keep up then.    At the end of the year I fully expect Schatz to be the champ again.

I know it's hard to say what have happened for certain, but Joey led 30+ laps of the Nationals A in 2009 before losing a nose wing sideboard. Schatz may have passed him anyways, but Joey easily could have been a Nationals winner if not for that bad luck.

Patiently waiting for the Ford. Joey has never been an outlaw front runner without something other than a chev. 

Luna's Ford engine style that won 2 WoO titles and 3 
Kings Royals before a weight rule against the best EVER
in their prime and now DOMINATES super dirt late model
racing is no longer allowed/wanted in a WoO sprint
car.... Was Luna a miracle worker?

Just last year, Joey led 60 laps at the Grove, and nearly won the Natty Open.