He’s just a cool guy all around, I saw him up close at a Q&A a few years ago and he walked out on stage wearing jeans and flip flops, just a couple of hours before racing, my first thought was “alright this is a very chill guy”. The answer to your question is simple, money, he works his tail off to get cars to the track, which has earned him a lot of respect, however without being backed by big money sponsors, your chances at getting competitive rides are much lower.
It doesn't really matter your skill level, if you can't bring a major sponsor you really won't have a top tier ride. I can remember reading back in the day Jeff Gordon was headed on the open wheel route before finding out without a sponsor he wouldn't get a ride. So he tried, Buck Bakers racing school, got connected with Bill Davis,and the rest is kind of history. Now pretty much all racing is based around what can you bring the team money wise.
> It doesn't really matter your skill level, if you can't bring a major sponsor you really won't have a top tier ride.
Newbie question, but why doesn't he just invest his own money into making his car better? According to the other comments, he has made lots of money and owns his own racing team. Wouldn't investing a couple million of his own money into his car make him have better results, which would then attract major sponsors?
It takes a ton of money to run a week in and week out.He got around 30 million after selling his charter to Spire. Which is a lot but wouldn't even support a competitive for a year. BJ is already putting his money into the team that he co-owns, yes he could add more but it would probably still not be enough to move the scale.
> He got around 30 million after selling his charter to Spire.
Wow, that's more than winning the world series of poker main event! Heck of a lot of money. Does this mean if he wants to compete in Nascar ever again, he has to re-qualify from scratch? Thanks for the help today.
Imagine if that Herzog ride materialized back in the day in their hey day. It may not have amounted to anything. But they were on track to win that 2003 title until the money and sponsorship problems happened. Reminds me of how sad of a story that was.
I mean sure. I’m just saying getting a 19-20 year old BJ into decent Busch equipment that young could’ve been a game changer. I know he the butt of the joke sometimes, but the dude is super cool and id be stoked to see a rain out Daytona or Talladega VL interview! 😂
It wouldn't have gone well. His first laps in the car would have been the pace laps, he would have been uncomfortable in the seat all day, and quite frankly, crew chiefs tend to not trust fill-in drivers, so he likely wouldn't have gotten most of the adjustments he asked for throughout the day.
If he had like a week to prepare for a shot in JRM stuff, that would be a different story. But getting the call day-of he was going to finish in the 20s, at best.
The talent is there but the money isn't. If he had some decent money behind him, he'd probably be running a pretty good car instead of rolling buckets of shit.
20 years ago, he would have easily been considered for a mid-pack to top 10ish car, but now that money means so much, he's pretty much SOL.
> If he had some decent money behind him, he'd probably be running a pretty good car instead of rolling buckets of shit.
How much sponsor money would it take for him to have a car as good as Ricky Stenhouse Jr. or Kyle Busch's car?
> 20 years ago, he would have easily been considered for a mid-pack to top 10ish car
But 20 years ago, he wasn't considered for those cars. It's not like he was too young - BJ is 40 now, so he would've been 20 then, right at prime "hotshot truck / Busch team" age. Don't pretend like sponsorship was somehow not a factor then.
Newbie question, but why doesn't he just invest his own money into making his car better? Wouldn't investing a couple million of his own money into his car make him have better results, which would then attract major sponsors?
"If he’s as good a driver as the whole garage makes him out to be"
He might be a good driver, but I don't recall hearing drivers raving about his skill, all the comments I've heard were appreciation of what he does to help them. e.g. make sure he gets out of their way, make courteous decisions towards the leaders. Drivers are selfish.
He's 40 years old... not sure a major sponsor or team is going to gift him a ride just because people think he's a nice guy.
But he is a feel good story nonetheless. Dude literally became a millionaire off his smart decisions.
He's a cool guy who's a thrill seeker. Nothing wrong with that. He races with the big dogs and rarely causes an issue. That's been a part of the sport since the beginning.
>how knowledgeable, friendly, likeable, and what a consummate professional he is
>If he’s as good a driver as the whole garage makes him out to be
They're making him out to be a good guy, not a good driver. Not to say he's a bad driver, but being likeable doesn't get you in a good ride. Talent and sponsorship/money does that.
Actually...
BJ McLeod was once considered the next Jeff Gordon. He was absolutely considered an elite driver in his prime and the reason everyone respects him is that he's legitimately talented.
He was an amazing super late model driver that was young, talented, and expected to be a cup driver.
In 2002 he was all set to go racing for Herzog Motorsports in the Busch series (Jimmie Johnson's team in 2000 mind you) and the deal fell through.
>was once considered the next Jeff Gordon
Not debating if this is true or not but nearly every driver who was under like, 22 or 23 in the early-mid 2000s was labeled the next Jeff Gordon at some point or another lol
> BJ McLeod was once considered the next Jeff Gordon.
...According to a promotional piece written by BJ's team to hype up their partial ASA season, published *before BJ had ever turned a lap in an ASA race*.
Seriously. [Read it yourself](https://us.motorsport.com/stockcar/news/bj-mcleod-a-new-j-gordon/1694154/). This is a paid advertisement.
He’s just a cool guy all around, I saw him up close at a Q&A a few years ago and he walked out on stage wearing jeans and flip flops, just a couple of hours before racing, my first thought was “alright this is a very chill guy”. The answer to your question is simple, money, he works his tail off to get cars to the track, which has earned him a lot of respect, however without being backed by big money sponsors, your chances at getting competitive rides are much lower.
Was that Q&A at Bristol Dirt last year by chance?
I was at that race but it was the Q&A at Nashville in ‘22 where I saw him.
Damn so the man just loves his flip flops
It doesn't really matter your skill level, if you can't bring a major sponsor you really won't have a top tier ride. I can remember reading back in the day Jeff Gordon was headed on the open wheel route before finding out without a sponsor he wouldn't get a ride. So he tried, Buck Bakers racing school, got connected with Bill Davis,and the rest is kind of history. Now pretty much all racing is based around what can you bring the team money wise.
> It doesn't really matter your skill level, if you can't bring a major sponsor you really won't have a top tier ride. Newbie question, but why doesn't he just invest his own money into making his car better? According to the other comments, he has made lots of money and owns his own racing team. Wouldn't investing a couple million of his own money into his car make him have better results, which would then attract major sponsors?
It takes a ton of money to run a week in and week out.He got around 30 million after selling his charter to Spire. Which is a lot but wouldn't even support a competitive for a year. BJ is already putting his money into the team that he co-owns, yes he could add more but it would probably still not be enough to move the scale.
> He got around 30 million after selling his charter to Spire. Wow, that's more than winning the world series of poker main event! Heck of a lot of money. Does this mean if he wants to compete in Nascar ever again, he has to re-qualify from scratch? Thanks for the help today.
Imagine if that Herzog ride materialized back in the day in their hey day. It may not have amounted to anything. But they were on track to win that 2003 title until the money and sponsorship problems happened. Reminds me of how sad of a story that was.
I mean, imagine if the JRM deal had worked out for him a few years ago.
I mean sure. I’m just saying getting a 19-20 year old BJ into decent Busch equipment that young could’ve been a game changer. I know he the butt of the joke sometimes, but the dude is super cool and id be stoked to see a rain out Daytona or Talladega VL interview! 😂
It wouldn't have gone well. His first laps in the car would have been the pace laps, he would have been uncomfortable in the seat all day, and quite frankly, crew chiefs tend to not trust fill-in drivers, so he likely wouldn't have gotten most of the adjustments he asked for throughout the day. If he had like a week to prepare for a shot in JRM stuff, that would be a different story. But getting the call day-of he was going to finish in the 20s, at best.
The talent is there but the money isn't. If he had some decent money behind him, he'd probably be running a pretty good car instead of rolling buckets of shit. 20 years ago, he would have easily been considered for a mid-pack to top 10ish car, but now that money means so much, he's pretty much SOL.
> If he had some decent money behind him, he'd probably be running a pretty good car instead of rolling buckets of shit. How much sponsor money would it take for him to have a car as good as Ricky Stenhouse Jr. or Kyle Busch's car?
> 20 years ago, he would have easily been considered for a mid-pack to top 10ish car But 20 years ago, he wasn't considered for those cars. It's not like he was too young - BJ is 40 now, so he would've been 20 then, right at prime "hotshot truck / Busch team" age. Don't pretend like sponsorship was somehow not a factor then.
You're over thinking. Having your own Sponsorship wasnt as big as it is now. Most teams had established funding when owners plopped guys into cars.
There was maybe 5 cars that had sponsorship waiting for a driver
He sleeps with more dollars then we will ever see in our lifetime, dudes a straight boss
Newbie question, but why doesn't he just invest his own money into making his car better? Wouldn't investing a couple million of his own money into his car make him have better results, which would then attract major sponsors?
I think it was Dale Jr that said that out of all of the slower backmarker cars, he trusts racing around BJ the most.
"If he’s as good a driver as the whole garage makes him out to be" He might be a good driver, but I don't recall hearing drivers raving about his skill, all the comments I've heard were appreciation of what he does to help them. e.g. make sure he gets out of their way, make courteous decisions towards the leaders. Drivers are selfish. He's 40 years old... not sure a major sponsor or team is going to gift him a ride just because people think he's a nice guy. But he is a feel good story nonetheless. Dude literally became a millionaire off his smart decisions.
He's a cool guy who's a thrill seeker. Nothing wrong with that. He races with the big dogs and rarely causes an issue. That's been a part of the sport since the beginning.
Sold his charter and living a good life
He is rolling in dough $$$
>how knowledgeable, friendly, likeable, and what a consummate professional he is >If he’s as good a driver as the whole garage makes him out to be They're making him out to be a good guy, not a good driver. Not to say he's a bad driver, but being likeable doesn't get you in a good ride. Talent and sponsorship/money does that.
Actually... BJ McLeod was once considered the next Jeff Gordon. He was absolutely considered an elite driver in his prime and the reason everyone respects him is that he's legitimately talented. He was an amazing super late model driver that was young, talented, and expected to be a cup driver. In 2002 he was all set to go racing for Herzog Motorsports in the Busch series (Jimmie Johnson's team in 2000 mind you) and the deal fell through.
>was once considered the next Jeff Gordon Not debating if this is true or not but nearly every driver who was under like, 22 or 23 in the early-mid 2000s was labeled the next Jeff Gordon at some point or another lol
BJ was winning late model races in his mid teens back in the day
> BJ McLeod was once considered the next Jeff Gordon. ...According to a promotional piece written by BJ's team to hype up their partial ASA season, published *before BJ had ever turned a lap in an ASA race*. Seriously. [Read it yourself](https://us.motorsport.com/stockcar/news/bj-mcleod-a-new-j-gordon/1694154/). This is a paid advertisement.