Slim Jim Series Season 5 Analysis

Team Thunder is coming off from back-to-back team champion. Now re-branded as Maverick GP, it made splash moves to turn their great Season 4 lineup into a hall of fame lineup this season. Season 4 runner-up Cyrus LaTerza remains on the team's 17 as full-time driver. Then Maverick is going all out. DJ Kurtis gets a promotion to a full-time status in the 26 car, leaving Greg Marshall to go to Boost Autosports. Maverick keeps Foxy Duncan but splits the 16 car with Matt Duncan, coming off a breakout year in IES. Then former Slim Jim Series champion William Duncan convinced Will Lewis to come out of retirement. Lewis will drive the cursed 99 car. Maverick GP is heavy favorites to win the teams championship for the third straight season.

16 Matt Duncan/Foxy Duncan - This is the Duncan duo who is the favorite to win the split car championship easily. Matt Duncan finished in the top 5 in points back in Season 3 and enjoyed a huge breakout IES season last year. However, Matt Duncan never drove these new Slim Jim cars since leaving the series. Duncan could have a bad year. In testing, Matt is just as fast or even faster than his IES form. He will play a big part of the split car. Foxy Duncan got a good sophomore campaign and almost finishing in the top 10. Foxy has speed, but Maverick GP is all out to win driver's championship; it prevents Foxy to run the full schedule. It is possible to see the Duncan Duo in the top 25 in driver standings despite running twelve races each. Their goal is to win the split car championship.

17 Cyrus LaTerza - One has to wonder if LaTerza will ever be the same. The Battle at Indy hunts him to his day. But, it is a new season, and LaTerza is most likely to put it in the past. LaTerza is going to have a good season I think. Will it be same or better than last year? Maybe if his DNF rate is low. LaTerza have two DNFs last season. He does have a shot for the championship, but DJ Kurtis and Will Lewis are going to be a challenge. Once again, the schedule is going to be rough after the 1 in 80. I think a top 10 is good enough--at the very least.

26 DJ Kurtis - DJ Kurtis can finally fight for the Slim Jim Series champion for the first time since Season 1. It has been that long. Seasons 2 and 3 were miserable to watch. Somehow he got win despite The Keyblade Riders car performance. Kurtis even said that's a one-shot win. Season 4 helped Kurtis to bring back to form and is ready to square against Sean Angel. Kurtis has been the fastest driver out of the Maverick GP team. Everyone is picking Angel as their guy who win it all again and ranks him as number on. Well, it is valid argument, but Kurtis did show that he can compete for wins in a split car. He led the 26 team to a split car championship. Not only that, he finished in 21st in driver standings despite running half of the schedule. Kurtis has the most momentum out of anyone heading to Season 5. His goal is going to win the drivers championship.

99 Will Lewis - Lewis finished the last year 4th in points but felt disappointed for not winning the championship. With constant bad luck, Lewis was going to hang it up. But William Duncan used the power of persuasion to being Will Lewis for one last season (possibly). Plus Duncan wants to see the 99 car curse to be broken. It can go wrong very quickly. In testing, Will Lewis is still driving like a championship contender. Also, another thing to look at is becoming the most winningest driver in Slim Jim Series history. Alan Cavagnaro is still racing with a whooping 8 wins, compared to Will Lewis' 5 wins. It is unlikely to become the winningest driver but could stop Cavagnaro to win to be the king. Right now, Will Lewis' goal is going to win the Slim Jim Series championship.

S3 Motorsports will have the whole gang together, but Daniel Smith left the team and series voluntary. With a good lineup already, Charles Sandfer hired Jill Richards to drive the 88 car. It is a major boom signing that puts S3 Motorsports on the map to win the teams championship. But S3 needs to start to put more pressure on the driver standings. Despite finishing 2nd in teams, Dillon Young finished 6th in drivers, but the rest finished outside the top 15. Are the S3 Motorsports a serious championship team? I do not know, and explaining it will be difficult. Jill Richards is going to lead the team, but the rest needs to step up.

5 Dillon Young - Dillon Young had one of the best seasons in this Slim Jim Series career but not enough to win the championship. Young struggled in short tracks and technical road courses. The schedule is going to be rough, and I feel he could regress especially the talent coming in. Jill Richards will make Dillon Young irrelevant after the 1 in 80. He always get good results then follows up flat for a few races. What are his goals to be honest? A top 15 finish would be good enough.

24 Henry Sandfer - Dang, he is nothing like his brother. But the hype just died after last year's 1 in 70--which he missed. Henry showed some of the upside that he had in the Junior Series. However, he got more mediocre performances than anything. Sandfer can finally remove the rookie stripes, but his development might be too late. Henry needs to adapt to the Slim Jim Series field quickly, or he is going to be a huge bust in Slim Jim Series history. So far, he is doing okay right now in testing, but progression is going to be key as the year continues. His goal is to finish in the top 20.

48 Jake Baskinger - Baskinger is the weakest link in S3 Motorsports. I thought Baskinger is going to be a threat to the title. He did good in the first half but got a bad second half. I had hopes for Baskinger, but my patience for him ran out. Now he needs to do damage control as he is a bit off in testing. Baskinger This is a very tough schedule for Baskinger. With more short tracks, he may struggle big time. My analysis on Jake Baskinger is going to be low expectations. I suspect Baskinger to be in top 20. I think his prime is gone, and I suggest his outlook is going to be poor.

88 Jill Richards - I talked so much crap about Richards. Comeback Driver of the Year winner could have a championship campaign. Richards won a IRCA championship in several years ago. It's been like 8 years so it has been awhile. With a breakout season last year, her career came back to life and poised for a Slim Jim Series title. Richards, in top tier equipment, can now face the likes of Angel and Kurtis. In testing, Richards is relaxing, getting used to the car. Plus, I always see Richards as a slow starter. She will switch to a different gear after the 1 in 80. Her goal is to finish in the top 10 and be a championship contender.

Hamilton Autosports is the most complete team in Season 4. Their entire lineup finished in the top 10 which included Sean Angel winning the championship. However, Maverick GP got many upgrades so repeating it is going to be more difficult. Their lineup remains the same, and the team continues to lead the Toyota army. In testing, Hamilton has gotten faster, except for Sean Angel since his upside is peaked. They are going to due battle for teams championship against Maverick GP--despite being two drivers short(!!). We could see three drivers finishing in the top 5 in the same team.

11 Kyle Collins - If y'all play fantasy sports and got Kyle Collins, there is a good chance that he won your league. I knew Collins was going to be good. I was right but underestimated his performances. Hamilton Autosports are really  happy that it worked out. Collins ran his own races while Cavagnaro and Angel are going for the championship. With momentum going into this season, Kyle Collins is in the championship talk. He potential is incredible that I predict that he could finish in the top 10 and maybe a championship contender.

18 Alan Cavagnaro - Cavagnaro always like to finish 3rd. He can't find consistent results to be in the championship battle. Once we get to the second to last race, Cavagnaro was just flat. Although, two of the three penultimate race ended up wrecking. But he did achieved becoming the winningest Slim Jim Series driver in history. All he is missing is a championship. Alan Cavagnaro is looking great in testing. I wonder if we are going to see Cavagnaro at his best. I think Cavagnaro is one of the favorites to win the Slim Jim Series championship. That is still his main goal.

20 Sean Angel - Sean Angel is the favorite to win the championship. Angel does not need a whole of races, but it is some nice stats pad as tiebreakers and for his Hall of Fame resume. Season 5 is going to be more challenging than last year. He is consistent on ovals but can have bad qualifying. Angel thrives on track position. It does not matter if Angel started last; he always finds a way. In testing, he is good but not getting top 5's. Maybe he is saving his stuff in the latter part. Angel's goal is to be a double Slim Jim Series champion.

RJ Manson Racing had some ups and downs. But this is first time that no RJ Manson drivers finished in the top 10. They have an extremely young lineup, but, holy crap, they did some changes. Manson retired, Vonlanthen, Trigger, and Tsunemochi left, and Ryan Cooper became a meme before the season ended. So what the hell are they going to do? Here's what they did. Manson hired Chris Valentine to the 8 from the Junior Series; he raced in Slim Jim Series Season 2. Manson promoted Junior Series champion Christopher Bryant to the 15. The team also signed Henry Williams from a good rookie campaign in Pontiac. He will drive the 1 car. Overall, this is a good, young lineup. Those moves shaved their average age by twenty years. With a young lineup and a ton of potential, we could see some surprises.

1 Henry Williams - He had a good rookie campaign with Pontiac. He splits the 4 car with Dajon Weeks and proves to be ten times better than expected. He finished 36th in points which is misleading since he only ran half of the schedule. If Williams ran the full schedule, he is a top 20 driver. That's not bad rookie campaign. Good fantasy option if you are looking for value. Williams have shown some potential in testing and sneak out with a win. His goal is to finish in the top 15 in points.

8 Chris Valentine - Welcome back, Valentine. His rookie campaign in Season 2 was pretty bad. Valentine was not good and even got suspended by Team Thunder. Then, Talladega happened. Chris Valentine won Talladega with a dangerous move by Binky Louviere in a last lap pass. It is one of the craziest finishes in Slim Jim Series history. Since then, Chris Valentine improved his driving skills and performed like a top tier driver. They are some hype revolving around him --and for good reason. I think Valentine could finish in the top 15 in points.

15 Christopher Bryant -R- - The Slim Jim Series now has a Junior Series champion in the field of Christopher Bryant. Bryant is dominant on ovals but weak on road courses. Bryant is slowly getting better on road courses, but the Slim Jim Series is very road course heavy. He has to take Decatur very early and go to tracks he never been like Mill Valley, Watkins Glen, and Sliverstone. The silver lining is Decatur will be his wake-up call. The hype is really going to be huge. People think Bryant could win the Slim Jim Series championship. Crazy prediction, but that's not going happen. I think his goal could finish in the top 10, winning a race or two, and even ROTY.

Here's a meme that sums up their first season.



Yeah, so Porsche has some reability issues and bad luck during the latter part of last year. In testing, their issues are cleaning up but not entirely. Now, the team needs to compete without killing each other. Other than that, Porsche did have a good first year. The lineup is the same except Will Lewis did an anime plot twist. So they hired Raphael Vonlanthen who is looking forward to drive for Porsche--especially being from Europe. There are also some feud between Porsche and Finguy, but there is more coming up next. Porsche has the talent, but did they fix the issues?

2 Jeffery Finguy - Finguy is the most vocal driver out of the entire lineup. He is very determined to win a championship but often complains about the car and the field. IES fans seem to enjoy Finguy's EDP445-type rants, but Slim Jim Series fans are like, "Dude, that crap always happened." It is so bad that he and Porsche are having a feud, because the car always blow up. Finguy likes to take his opinion out to the media and bashes Porsche. The team may be getting sick of the constant attention. He can talk all he wants, but he needs to focus on his performances. Here's why: Finguy is one of the favorites to win the Slim Jim Series championship. In testing, he is extremely quick. Finguy even set some fastest laps. But the constant attention needs to stop; otherwise, the bridges are going to fall. The goal is to win the championship and finish in the top 5.

3 Raphael Vonlanthen - Vonlanthen enjoyed his first two seasons at RJ Manson Racing which included a win in Season 3 at Darlington. Now with Porsche, he is more motivated than ever. Vonlanthen has raw pace but needs some time with the Porsche car. Once he is comfortable, he is going to be a valuable pickup. Vonlanthen is also one of the favorites to win the 1 in 80. If he wins the biggest race of the season, he definitely has a shot for the championship. His goal is to get in the top 15 or maybe win the 1 in 80.

12 Ryder Smith - His boy got a four-position lead in ROTY. Then, he lost ROTY honors by six positions. Ryder Smith made everyone look dumb so good job, dude. Since it is now in the past, Ryder Smith is looking to win himself a Slim Jim Series championship. The hype died when he can no longer win ROTY, but it is back again. Ryder Smith is among the fastest driver on the track. Once he is out in front, Smith is impossible to catch up. But, there is a weakness: track position. Without track position, he is not going to do anything. Smith, along with Finguy, has top 5 odds to win the championship. Ryder Smith's goal is to win the championship.

Dodge Motorsports had an okay season last year. Without Jill Richards, the team would be off the radar. Now, Richards is gone. The team hired William Brock from the Baby Tribe 5000 from his split car, rookie season. There are no more major changes, but this team is still young. This is going to be an evaluation season for Dodge Motorsports, but they still have chances to win races in the split car team.

9 William Brock - William Brock actually got a good season despite the equipment from the Baby Tribe 5000. This is his first season with good equipment. William Brock would have been a top 25 driver so this would be his benchmark. Brock is trying to get as much experience as possible right now. This goal would be to finish in the top 20 in points.

10 Shane Carter/Marco Rossi - The 10 car continues their split car program with the same drivers. Once again, nothing will change in terms who will be driving where. But I know one thing: Shane Carter is the real deal. Carter won at Talladega last year and have some good performances. He may be the best driver on the team. As for Marco Rossi, he had a great showing at Yas Marina but makes careless and aggressive mistakes. But, Carter is better than Marco, and I expect Shane Carter to lead the 10 car. Since it is going difficult to beat Maverick's 16 car team, their goal is to be the 2nd split car. Carter's goal is a possible top 30 finish. Rossi's goal is need to improve his race craft and achieve more points than last season.

19 James Dalton - Dalton had the worst start out of any driver in the first five races. Then he won Phoenix and still finished in the top 25. Dalton has been average at best since his breakout year in Season 2. Considering when Dodge is in a tech alliance with The Wrecking Balls, it labels as disappointment. Since Jill Richards is gone, James Dalton is now the leader of the team. He's been okay in testing but not as fast as Richards. I expect Dalton to finish in the top 20.

The Wrecking Balls failed to win the split car championship, but they finally found the chance to promote their Junior Series drivers. Chip Davidson and Seong Nam-gi will split the 41. Raul Sanchez is demoted to the Junior Series while Chica Louviere is driving the 42. Chris and Binky Louviere still drive the same car respectively. Despite the issues, they are still competitive. Once Chris Louviere leaves, he will bring Makoto Yoshizawa and will make Nam-gi and Davidson full-time. It has been a painful progress, but Season 6 is finally when they start to fight for the championship. The Wrecking Balls never contend for the drivers championship since Season 1.

40 Chris Louviere - Chris Louviere is still here. This is most likely his last season. This is not a championship-contending driver, but he is going to try. Chris is a terrible qualifier but has great race pace. Get him in fantasy if possible. Chris is going to try to win before he leaves the series. Best shot has to be on an oval. I expect Chris to finish in the top 20.

41 Chip Davidson/Seong Nam-gi -R- The 41 lost the split car championship in heartbreaking action. Sadly, they don't have the lineup like they did last year, but the 41 team is still solid. Chip Davidson is back in the Slim Jim for the first time since the Richard Young race at Japan. Since then, he is quietly consistent. Nam-gi will be the first South Korean driver in SJS history to make an official start. Nam-gi is very good on road courses but face a very experienced oval-oriented field. Like with Dodge's 10 car, their goal is to make the 41 car the best of the rest. The drivers' main goal is to finish in the top 35. Nam-gi can win ROTY, but Bryant is going to be difficult to beat.

42 Chica Louviere - One half of the team is normal. The other half is dank as hell. Chica finished 27th in a Red Bull car. Why? Bring in Yoshizawa to the 42. Chris Louviere could if he want to, but his philosophy in teamwork and development is very conservative. Yoshizawa, so far, is entering his second season in the The Wrecking Balls program. So, Louviere is going to wait until Season 6--unless something crazy happen. Chica is not very good at all. Her goal is to finish in the top 30.

69 Binky Louviere - Yes, she is still there. And yes, se is getting better. And yes, she is the fastest out of the entire team. Analysts can't figure out how Binky is so successful in testing. It is a weird spike in the performance charts. And her biggest strength is...road courses. Science cannot answer this question. We just got to watch and see. Her goal is to finish...top 25. (help me go commit knife to throat)

This is looks very grim right now. PJ Williams is retired, the Fitzwaters are cut, and they are beginning to downgrade. Moore is still in the 29 while Infinity sign Devid Valzac to the cursed 31. Infinity Motors is sad to see a champion team to a walking corpse. It is done by team's poor car development. It's an upsetting truth. Infinity Motors need hope in order to succeed. Only hope to win is at Talladega and Arkansas.

29 Ghettson Moore - Moore just have a horrific season. PJ Williams finished in the top 15; how the hell Ghettson is going to repliecate Williams' results? Infinity cars are the worst in series history. Ghettson Moore is an underrated driver. This goal is to finish in the top 35. Yes, it is that bad of the car.

31 Devid Valzac - Former IES driver Devid Valzac enters the Slim Jim Series. He is a good road ringer, but that's it. He is a favorite to win at Talladega, but he is going to go 240 MPH. So have fun and don't die. However, it is extremely slow everywhere else. His goal is to be Princess Percle.

Mark Cuban did a good job in picking talent--except for Chica Louviere. So he hired Zachary Fitzwater. It's an upgrade at least. Nick Pericles is the guy leading the Red Bull flag. Red Bull Racing in testing likes to pack together. So Red Bull Racing's teamwork is the strongest point. Red Bull could push their way into the top 7 in teams. Like Porsche, Red Bull got mechanical problems, but they have to explore every problem before fixing the problems. Cuban, you got versions for a reason.

83 Zachary Fitzwater - The Aussie is pretty happy about getting a good ride. Let's see what he is going to do. Fitzwater is alright driver, so this is a real test in Red Bull's expectations. I expect Fitzwater to beat Chica Louviere's performances and finish in the top 25.

84 Nick Pericles - Nick Pericles is out of his shell. He got the breakout season that he needed. Nick Pericles went from dark horse to championship contender. The alarm is set to all teams to watch for. Pericles has been one of the fastest drivers in testing. He could be a huge factor in the championship. Pericles' goal is to win himself a Slim Jim Series title.

Pontiac is alive, really? Well, I guess so. And, they did alright. But testing is a bit of a hit or mess. Pontiac still is a work in progress to be a competitive team. Again, their lineup is underrated. Alex Constantine drives the 0 car for his full rookie campaign, extending the his contract. The 4 car continues to split but with Tommy Turbo and rookie Tyson McLean. Chris Dodd is going to lead the Pontiac team, driving the 32 car. Pontiac will try to make the best car possible for everyone.

0 Alex Constantine -R- - Constantine is some guy who showed up the 1 in 70 a Ferrari, then he makes the show. That's nice. Then he got the hot seat to drive Peter Sparrow's 0 car for the rest of the season. First race in Grand Detour, starts in 3rd and finishes in the top 10. After that, he just had a typical sub starts. The upside is there, but he needs the development for him to succeed. Constantine can get a top 30 finish.

4 Tommy Turbo/Tyson McLean -R- - The 4 is the best car on the team. Interestingly, it finished 3rd last year. Since the split car field is so low, the 4 car team could do some damage against the Dodges for split car. Tommy Turbo had a good rookie season with the Baby Tribe 5000. Turbo looks pretty right now in a Pontiac. As for McLean, the rookie is going to due battle against the likes of Bryant and Nam-gi for ROTY. RIP. That's okay though, but he has some upside for development. The goal is to be the best of the rest in split car championship.

32 Chris Dodd - Chris Dodd barely in the top 35 does not show how he performs. He is a good driver and encounters tons of bad luck. Dodd wants to show that he can lead Pontiac despite being very young. My analysis is not as good on Dodd because of constant poor luck. I feel Dodd can do a top 30 result. A top 25 is going to be a win for him.

Nexxus did not repeat what they did in Season 3. They did alright, but it was very disappointing. It was mainly due to the fact that the cars have technical problems. Other than that, they have a good lineup of James Shelly and Ashley Brock. Can Nexxus fix their issues before the season begins?

66 James Shelly - Oh Shelly, you got a good start to the season. Then you fell off the face of the earth. Shelly encountered some bad luck and car performance. Shelly is going good in testing right now. It is not a championship contending car, but he is a championship contending driver. Shelly managed to win Chicagoland which puts him in the 1 in 70 race automatically. James Shelly is a dark horse for the championship, and I think a top 15 finish could be good enough.

70 Ashley Brock - Ashley Brock has some moments in her rookie season. She is consistent but finishes in the top 20 range. It is not bad by all means, but Maverick wants to go all in. So Nexxus and Maverick made a deal to loan Ashley Brock. She is not feeling  good with the Nexxus yet. Brock could have a struggling season so he needs to finish in the top 30 cars.

This team is still alive. How is it possible? Baby Tribe 5000 will remain the same crappy team as always. They downgraded to three cars. The Percles and Ryan Cooper are going to take the team to the sky's limit, at least trying to.

00 Jason Percle - He is the most underrated driver in the field. Jason just got poor luck and cars. He is going to try fight back against all odds. They have many rumors that other teams to look into his services. Jason Percle is the top free agent on the market despite on one of the worst teams in the grid. His goal is to finish in the top 35.

44 Alex Percle - Alex needs to do something about his car and his driving. Alex seems very relaxed and just wants to have fun. Having fun is one thing, but causing some crap is another thing. He is the worst driver on the team but not as bad as Valzac. His goal is to finish top 35.

55 Ryan Cooper - Man, what happen to you? Well, he dumped his former boss, RJ Manson, in Willow Springs. GG. And Manson is done with him. Cooper finished last in rookie standings. Cooper has some potential, but he needs to clean up his mistakes. Otherwise, his career is going to be dead. His goal is a top 35 finish.

An open wheel racing team is going up to the new level. The sister team of Maverick GP brought out The Keyblade Riders. Despite being a new Slim Jim team, they already have a shot for the championship. They got the lineup of Marshall, Burndfart, and Trigger. In fact, they have a good chance to be a Power 7 team and a dark horse for a drivers championship.

28 Greg Marshall - Fun fact, he is a champion himself 10 years ago. Yeah, so don't feel bad Ryder Smith. Other than that, Marshall is dang good. He has been very quick in testing. Marshall is a dark horse for the championship. However, it is going to be difficult since you got Maverick GP. It is going to be very interesting to see how Boost is going to win a drivers title. Marshall's goal is to finish in the top 20.

38 Cale Burndfart Jr. - He is doing pretty good despite his age. In testing, Burndfart has championship speed. Yeah, no joke. He is a championship contender. What the hell is going on with this series? Time will tell. The Tabasco Open is going show us if he is the real deal. Burndfart's goal could be becoming a dark horse contender and finish in the top 15. Burndfart has top 10 odds to win the championship so bet on him if you want to.

98 Luke Trigger - Trigger had a average season last year. He did hundred times better than Ryan Cooper. Trigger proved it by winning a race in Oxford. Now with better support, Trigger could win another race. Trigger has average speed, but he is trying to get used to the car. I expect Trigger to have a 20 finish.

Okumura Motors is a brand new Japanese team in the Slim Jim Series. They are going to be running Subarus. So Okumura is going to challenge the likes of Toyota. The team have great potential especially their lineup: Kazuki Takamoto and Nasu Tsunemochi. Japan is very hype for this, and Okumura could the Slim Jim Series for a show.

86 Kazuki Takamoto -R- - A former Junior Series driver is making the call up to the big boys. Takamoto looks good in testing so he could challenge Bryant and Nam-gi for ROTY. I have no idea how well he is going to do with a rookie driver in a rookie team. A top 20 finish and top 3 in rookie is not bad of a goal.

87 Nasu Tsunemochi - Tsunemochi had a season to remember. He sucked for most of the season, then he got good. Oh, he also got a win in Indianapolis. Tsunemochi has shown great pace but lacks the consistency. He needs to find the consistency in order to battle for more wins and even a championship. With a new team, it is unlikely for Tsunemochi to win the drivers title. With the building hype, his goal is a top 10 finish.

Man, why do I have to talk about this team? This is a cursed team. Dogecoin somehow a full-time team in the Slim Jim Series. They are showing off their monster of a car. It is supposed to be crazy fast. It's so fast that anyone can win. And this is where Princess Percle comes in. Princess Percle is one of the pioneers in Dogecoin Racing Team founded in Season 3. With Princess on board, he may cause some problems with every one.

94 Princess Percle - So she is back again. Princess is going to continue to be Princess. I doubt Princess is going to use the powerful Dogecoin car. We have seen her in testing and still finishes in last. How the hell you manage to do that? Her goal is not to cause trouble and World War III.