--- In wardburton2@yahoogroups.com, elkrun22 <no_reply@...> wrote:
>
> Any light to shed on these last 2 posts? Any tidbits would be
> appreciated. It is hard to wade through the mush at 22 FF site.
> You do great over there to put awful speculation away.
> Miss your comments.
>

Hi Elkrun!

The lastcowboys.com writer, Clint, believes that Ward will/or already
has a ride. Clint had written up several drafts of possible rides
Ward might end up in. Somehow (I'm not a computer guru) one of his
saved (but unfinished) documents got pulled over onto Jayski.com. No
good deed goes unpunished. I'm making a big assumption here...I'm
guessing that Clint uploaded the draft as a new document on his
server rather than save it to his PC.

Jayski updates frequently, so Clint didn't see it until the next
morning after half of the world had already seen it. Big snafu on
Clints part, but he's a good guy with a *Ward* heart.

I don't know anything about any Ward deals/rides. Even if I did, I
wouldn't tell anyone. I believe it is Ward's business. Period. We
don't know what is going on behind the scenes, and I believe Ward
will tell us what's up when it is appropriate. Loose lips sink
sponsorships.

I will say that at Daytona, from published reports and from fans on
the scene, that it was an interesting visit. Ward was there for the
10 Years of Past Champions of Daytona Ceremony. I guess there is
some fan zone above the garages where about 200 fans were. When the
fans caught sight of Ward they were yelling to him. Keep in mind
this is NASCAR in general--fans of all the drivers mixed in. But who
were they yelling for? Ward! The tried and true fans of na$caJr
want Ward back.

I find that very telling. Sponsors and owners should take note.

When some Ward fans started writing to RYR, they were told the
sponsors dictate who drives now. M&Ms racing/marketing group said
the owners decide. Um...Yeah right.

It just goes to prove that:
he who controls the sponsor controls his own destiny.

I really wish BASF would pick up Ward to sponsor. BASF has a
conservation program and is a competitor of DuPont. BASF has some
afflilation with the WBWF already. Ward is a tremendous asset to any
company's marketing program. It goes way beyond hunting,
construction, or conservation type of sponsors.

If they hire him, the fans will come.

Ward's Myer's Briggs personality profile is the rarest of all sixteen
types. His type IS A NATURAL SPOKESMAN for companies. It is one of
the top things they do best. Ward has already been a national
spokesman way beyond the Caterpillar days.

One of the most strking things about Ward's profile is that they
are "capable of great things." All Ward needs is a top notch team to
do their part, and Ward WILL do the rest.

I can count over 10 races where the BDR team mistakes caused Ward to
lose a race. I can't count how many times his car broke or someone
Bodined him. It is my opinion that Ward would have had a least 10
more wins under his belt were it not for other's mistakes. Just this
week, there was some Bill Davis retrospective where they talked about
winning the Southern 500 and Daytona 500 with Tommy but no mention of
Ward. It was as if Ward never existed at BDR and got Bill Davis ALL
OF HIS WINS in CUP.

As for HAAS racing...well, we kept being told that Gene Haas had tons
of money to sink into the team and they were aligned with Hendrick.
Yet, they didn't start using Hendrick setups until Indy, and boom,
then they give Ward the boot. It was curious to see that Gene Haas
was arrested by the Feds. It should be an entertaining trial to see
what was really going on behind the scenes with Haas Racing.

Ward is not a good driver. He is a VERY GOOD driver and a Great
Spokesman. It's high time the sponsors woke up to that fact.


End IMHO rant.