August 7, 2009
By Nick Blake
Guess which driver has been racing in NASCAR for 15 years, has 13 career Camping World Truck Series wins, plus a championship, two career Nationwide wins with 24 top fives in 164 starts and most importantly, job security.
It was Mike Bliss.
Now it seems he has be shown the door at Phoenix Racing, and it’s slammed shut behind him.
It is a shock to me, all of Mike’s fans, and Mike himself. Yet if we look deeper into this it may not be so surprising. Since Johnny Sauter drove for James Finch for the entire 2005 season in the #1 car, no driver has ever made it through a full season in that ride since then.
2006 saw Jason Keller behind the wheel, it was also the first time that Miccosukkee Resorts & Gaming was sponsoring Phoenix Racing in the Nationwide Series. After just eight races, Keller was mired outside the top ten in points, and was released from the ride, only having a best finish of 11th in the season opener at Daytona.
In 2007 J.J Yeley was behind the wheel, and the team also switched to Chevrolet with Hendrick power. Yeley was thought of to be a good choice because he was a high profile Cup driver in need of a boost, so running the full double duty schedule would help him gain confidence. Unfortunately, Yeley was never in championship contention, and Finch decided to go with other drivers when the series went to standalone events. At the end of the season, Yeley only had one top ten finish in 30 starts, and finished 17th in points. Needless to say, with results like that, Yeley was not invited back next season, and also lost his Cup ride…..to Kyle Busch.
The next driver to fall victim with Phoenix Racing was Johnny Sauter. After losing his cup ride at Haas CNC Racing, Sauter signed on to run the full season with Finch in the #1 car, but this time was released after just five races. His best finish in the car was a 13th, in the season opener at Daytona.
Mike Bliss, around the same time Sauter lost his ride, decided to leave Fitz Motorsports to look for a ride that had stable sponsorship, and sure enough, he landed at Phoenix Racing, where he then raced on to two top fives and 13 of his 15 top tens. His standings at the end of the season stayed the same from when he left the Fitz #22 car, 5th.
What did change was his confidence racing for the championship in 2009 with a competitive team.
Oh and that Fitz ride that Bliss bolted from because of sponsorship?
They sold off all their equipment, released interim drivers Josh Wise and Andrew Ranger, and Armando Fitz moved to the Truck Series, forming Trail Motorspots, a team that has since been shut down. Fitz also still has owners points in the Nationwide Series, with the SK Motorsports team, but no longer fields cars himself.
Bliss on the other hand, said this to Scene Daily back in February about his chances for an even better 2009.
“I think we’ve got just as good a shot as everybody else.”
And he meant it, problem was, he got out of the box really slow. In the first four races, he finished no higher than 13th, and was 19th in points. At that point, anyone could, and should kiss the championship goodbye.
The focus shifted to just gaining top ten results, but Bliss still struggled.
Following Richmond, he had moved up only to 15th, stuck behind Front Row Motorsports' Tony Raines, and just in front of Kevin Harvick, who had three fewer starts than Bliss. Bliss was also a whopping 516 points behind points leader Kyle Busch.
Two races later, Mike Bliss got an emotional win at Lowe’s in the Carquest Auto Parts 300, his first win in five seasons, ironically at the track where he got his first win period. The win boosted him to 9th in points, and the climb continued. Three top tens over the next five races got Bliss up to 6th place. It’s about as high as anyone can get. Leaving New Hampshire, there was a 130 point gap between 5th place Joey Logano and Bliss.
Then came Iowa this past weekend. A spin, and a blowing motor in the closing laps that led to a 14th place finish might have been the final blow to Mike Bliss’s season. The disappointing finish caused Bliss to miss out on a chance to move into the top-5 in the standings with Logano taking the week off.
It wasn’t the amount of wrecked race cars or 20th or worse finishes that cost Bliss his ride, he may just fall into common category that is, not being able to perform at the sponsors expectations. That could also fall under the “economy” category.
It’s the same reason why the likes of Johnny Benson, Sauter, Yeley, and Keller lost their rides with Phoenix Racing. Those drivers have all argued that the equipment wasn’t up to par with Sprint Cup owners that fielded Nationwide teams.
It doesn’t matter. It’s all about the sponsor. Maybe Miccosukee wanted a younger driver in the car, or a more proven veteran that has had better Cup success than Mike Bliss. Phoenix Racing gets that this weekend at Watkins Glen with the 2005 Nationwide at the Glen winner Ryan Newman. As far as a permanent replacement goes, I see more Sprint Cup drivers in this team’s future, but Michael McDowell only has a ride for two more races and Scott Lagasse Jr. is also out of a ride. Lagasse has impressed a bit this season, but wrecks not of his doing have hurt many potential Top 10 runs this season.
For now, it seems that Bliss is on the unemployed block. And even though he has great credentials as far as accomplishments go, at 44 years old, it’s doubtful that he will be able to find a ride better than, or as competitive as the one he had with Phoenix Racing.
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
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