So I’ve been working as an EMT-basic at a private ambulance company for 2 years. I’ve also worked in an ER for 7months while simultaneously working 24hr ambulance shifts either before or after ER shifts. It’s been a rough ride and deciding whether to go paramedic/firefighter or nursing has been so exhausting for me to figure out as both fields are full of their own problems and achievements that don’t seem to be worth the suffering to get them. It’s a grueling job and while it has its pros it also has its cons that I won’t go into right now. But I’ve been leaning toward making a career change from medicine to working in a trade. I’m EXTREMELY new to all things machines and tools and stuff. I’ve worked at Menards doing outside yard work with different types of wood and on a forklift and I’ve worked various food jobs jus so you guys get an idea that I can work with my hands pretty well. And not to mention it’s hard to maintain attention for a 4year university. I think changing to a field that provides me with exciting craftsmanship and a different set of challenges is better for me than what medicine provides for me. If you know what it’s like to go day in and day out with patients, it’s not always fun. Maybe the passion has fled for me but also maybe I’m jus realizing it’s a traumatizing job that doesn’t seem worth what I receive for it (you would laugh at how much I get paid)
What do you guys think and what advice can you give me as I start this new path?

So I’ve been working as an EMT-basic at a private ambulance company for 2 years. I’ve also worked in an ER for 7months while simultaneously working 24hr ambulance shifts either before or after ER shifts. It’s been a rough ride and deciding whether to go paramedic/firefighter or nursing has been so exhausting for me to figure out as both fields are full of their own problems and achievements that don’t seem to be worth the suffering to get them. It’s a grueling job and while it has its pros it also has its cons that I won’t go into right now. But I’ve been leaning toward making a career change from medicine to working in a trade. I’m EXTREMELY new to all things machines and tools and stuff. I’ve worked at Menards doing outside yard work with different types of wood and on a forklift and I’ve worked various food jobs jus so you guys get an idea that I can work with my hands pretty well. And not to mention it’s hard to maintain attention for a 4year university. I think changing to a field that provides me with exciting craftsmanship and a different set of challenges is better for me than what medicine provides for me. If you know what it’s like to go day in and day out with patients, it’s not always fun. Maybe the passion has fled for me but also maybe I’m jus realizing it’s a traumatizing job that doesn’t seem worth what I receive for it (you would laugh at how much I get paid).
What do you guys think and what advice can you offer me as I head into this new direction?

iRacing has posted the Pre-Release Version of the 2023 Season 2 Release Notes!
Read it here: https://forums.iracing.com/discussion/38063/2023-season-2-release-notes-pre-release-version#latest
​
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IMPORTANT REMINDER: This is a Pre-Release Version of the 2023 Season 2 Release Notes! This Release Notes post will be updated on Release Day with any additional last-minute changes that are to be included in the 2023 Season 2 Release.

2023 Season 2 Release Notes [Pre-Release Version]

It is time for iRacing to shift into 2023 Season 2! This release contains both content and upgrades for 2023 Season 2, which officially starts on March 13th! This season update includes three new cars: Late Model Stock, Ray FF1600, and Renault Clio R.S. V. Circuito de Jerez - Ángel Nieto joins the iRacing roster of racetracks. The iRacing UI has undergone an architectural and stylistic refresh, and has been rebranded as iRacing! A new Auto Fuel feature has been added, and we have improved our Start Zone logic for jump start assessments. A new dynamic brake audio system has been enabled for the GT3, GT4, GTE, and Touring Car classes. The New Damage Model is now also in effect for Late Model Stock, Ray FF1600 and Toyota GR86. Our iRacing AI have completed their latest round of training which includes 4 new cars and 26 new track configs. Welcome to iRacing 2023 Season 2!
Season highlights include:

• Late Model Stock
• Ray FF1600 (FREE!)
• Renault Clio R.S. V
• Circuito de Jerez - Ángel Nieto (2 configs)
• iRacing (UI) Visual Refresh
• New “Auto Fuel” refuel mode
• Start Zone Jump Start Assessment Improvements
• Dynamic Brake Audio System (GT3, GT4, GTE, and Touring Cars)
• New Damage Model for Late Model Stock, Ray FF1600 and Toyota GR86
• AI Racing for 4 Cars (Late Model Stock, Mercedes-AMG W13 E Performance, Ray FF1600, and Renault Clio R.S. V)
• AI Racing at 26 Track Configurations (Atlanta Motor Speedway - Oval, Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya - Club, Historic, Moto, and National, Circuito de Jerez - Ángel Nieto - Grand Prix and Moto, Circuit Park Zandvoort - Chicane, Club, Grand Prix, National, and Oostelijk, Circuit Zolder - Alternate and Grand Prix, Darlington Raceway, Detroit Grand Prix at Belle Isle, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Nashville Superspeedway, Oxford Plains Speedway, Pocono Raceway, Suzuka International Racing Course - East, Moto, West, and West w/chicane, Twin Ring Motegi - Grand Prix and West.)
• Hundreds of new and optimized official iRacing vehicle setups

Visit our 2023 Season 2 features page here: https://www.iracing.com/seasons/2023-s2/
Full 2023 Season 2 Release details are below.
​

iRACING:

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General

• iRacing has had some underlying architecture and components completely swapped out for new modern versions that will ultimately behave and function exactly the same.
• - - This architecture change includes a new overall visual aesthetic for iRacing.
• - - This is a large background and development change that will make things easier for our software team going forward.
• License displays in the status bar have been improved.
• The button to open the Settings window has been moved from the top-right helmet drop-down menu to the bottom-left corner of the main navigation list.
• The Reset button from Options & Settings now also clears all favorites, shows all confirmations, and auto-starts all tours.
• Fixed an issue where external URLs, such as Twitch links, would not open.

Profile

• Fixed Member Club icon showing up twice in the Profile modal.
• Fixed the issue where the Member Profile window did not open at the correct size if accessed directly from the Home > Dashboard > My Career button.
• When viewing someone else’s profile, a note has been added that displays when that user was last online.
• Removed user managed Personal Information fields except Nickname and League Website and renamed the Personal Information section to About.

Go Racing

• Fixed an issue that caused non-repeating events to disappear from the Race Guide if the selected time was after the events began.
• Fixed an issue where the “Go Racing” menu was displayed behind the Sort/Tags options.

Series

• The Season Results tab on the Series modal window has been renamed “Series Results” to better reflect the tab’s contents.

Results

• A new column, “Field Size” has been added to the Series Results List by day.
• - - Season Session Results have been updated with a mouse-over tooltip showing the breakdown of car class entries for the Field Size value.
• Resolved an issue on the Results & Stats page where Rookie Licenses were displaying iRating in the Series Stats table.

AI Racing

• A Time of Day warning about missing stadium lights will now appear when creating AI Racing sessions if one is needed.

Leagues

• A new option for League Seasons has been added: “No Drops on or After Week X”. This allows the user to specify that race weeks cannot be dropped after a given week number. This feature is only enabled if the number or drop weeks is not 0.
• Optimized some Search queries for Leagues.
• Resolved an issue when creating a Hosted Event and clicking "Enable League Racing", the dropdown list of a user's leagues was not populating.
• Resolved an issue where "My Leagues" was not properly loading when it was the last viewed page of the interface before it was last closed.
• Resolved an issue where returning to My Leagues or initially loading the page caused a reference error when "Favorites" were applied as a filter on the page.

Paint Shop

• Fixed an issue that could cause spacing between letters to be too wide or narrow when painting driver names on some cars.

Stats & Standings

• The width of the Position column has been increased for the “My Relative Standings” section.
• Fixed an issue where extra unneeded data requests were being made for the background image for Recent Series, which could cause the page to error.

Replays

• Resolved an issue that could occur when deleting multiple replays in a row.
• Fixed an issue with the Display Mode modal window not closing correctly.

​

SIMULATION:

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Connectivity

• When reconnecting to a race, a fresh repair is now always sent to the server in case there was a meatball penalty state conflict. For example, someone disconnects right after getting a meatball, but their car state didn't get saved, so when they reconnect they get a car without meatball damage, but still have the meatball penalty, and now it won't clear. This update-on-reconnect should make sure the server's meatball is back in sync with the car state.

Race Control

• The method for detecting Jump Start Penalties for the second line leader has been updated to incorporate comparing speed and distance to the leader.
• Pace Speed rules for rolling starts have been updated to allow cars on the outside of a corner to go a little faster than expected so they may keep up with the inside line since the outside line is slightly longer.
• Fixed an issue where some Pit Entry Black Flags were being cleared if a clean pit exit was driven for Road Courses. This should only be the case at Ovals.
• To help drivers realize that issues might be impacting laps they're registering, Race Control will now inform a Driver upon completion of a lap if that lap was flagged as "invalid". This is mostly intended to help identify when a driver might be having communications issues, causing an "interpolated crossing" or a "discontinuity". The notification is just like the "Incident" notifications - a text chat message from Race Control.

Active Reset

• Fixed an issue where the weight of some removable car parts was not being restored after the car was reset. The detached parts were restored, but their weight was not. The driver could therefore crash and detach those parts again, losing their simulated weight a second time. This process could have been repeated to impactfully reduce vehicle weight over time.
• Fixed an issue with Active Reset not saving the windshield and visor state, which includes tear-off state.
• Fixed an issue where broken wheels would sometimes not be repaired or be locked for a short duration when Active Reset was run.

Dirt Racing

• Updated the manner in which dirt racing track surfaces update their geometry as dirt levels change, especially near walls, to minimize excessive bumpiness that can occur along track-side retaining walls.
• - - This fixes an issue where some calculations for dirt track surface heights were getting their data corrupted by nearby non-racing terrain, such as the grass terrain at a different height behind an abutting retaining wall.
• Our ongoing efforts into improving Dirt Racing continue. Rest assured, we are making progress in development, and plan to have something for you in the near future. Learn more about this project here:
• - - https://forums.iracing.com/discussion/36647/iracing-development-update-on-a-few-things#latest

AI Racing

• AI Drivers have earned their racing stripes behind the following new sets of wheels:
• - - Late Model Stock
• - - Mercedes-AMG W13 E Performance
• - - Ray FF1600
• - - Renault Clio R.S. V
• AI Drivers have learned to race at the following new track configurations:
• - - Atlanta Motor Speedway - Oval
• - - Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya - Club
• - - Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya - Historic
• - - Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya - Moto
• - - Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya - National
• - - Circuito de Jerez - Ángel Nieto - Grand Prix
• - - Circuito de Jerez - Ángel Nieto - Moto
• - - Circuit Park Zandvoort - Chicane
• - - Circuit Park Zandvoort - Club
• - - Circuit Park Zandvoort - Grand Prix
• - - Circuit Park Zandvoort - National
• - - Circuit Park Zandvoort - Oostelijk
• - - Circuit Zolder - Alternate
• - - Circuit Zolder - Grand Prix
• - - Darlington Raceway
• - - Detroit Grand Prix at Belle Isle
• - - Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
• - - Nashville Superspeedway
• - - Oxford Plains Speedway
• - - Pocono Raceway
• - - Suzuka International Racing Course - East
• - - Suzuka International Racing Course - Moto
• - - Suzuka International Racing Course - West
• - - Suzuka International Racing Course - West w/chicane
• - - Twin Ring Motegi - Grand Prix
• - - Twin Ring Motegi - West
• AI Drivers have completed some additional focus training with the following vehicles:
• - - Mercedes-AMG GT3 2020
• - - NASCAR Cup Series Next Gen Class Cars
• - - Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992)
• AI Drivers have completed some additional racecraft training at the following track configurations:
• - - Long Beach Street Circuit
• - - Watkins Glen International (ALL)
• - - Winton Motor Raceway - National
• The AI Racing Pace Car driver has lost a bet and the default AI Pace Car is now the iRacing Sedan instead of the Porsche.
• AI Drivers have completed their Winter 2022-23 iRacing curriculum, which included the following training materials:
• - - Steering Class LV2: Maintaining control on banked or bumped track surfaces
• - - Never Put Anything Over Zero - An AI Safety Awareness Campaign
• - - Pace Car Etiquette for Distinguished Digital Ladies & Gentleman
• - - One Simple Trick to NOT Jump the Green Flag! (WOW!) SO EASY!
• - - Serv-O-Droid Inc.’s Guide to Gear Ratio Selection at Superspeedways
• - - Road Course Racecraft by Sir Foster Saunders Hinkle Pattinson XIV
• - - Brain Software Update 022388 - Rolling Starts for Line-Leaders
• - - Fireside Chats with Mr. ABS
• - - Lessons on Skidding from Star Cup Winners
• - - Don’t get DQ’d - Change Your Tires Instead!
• - - Predicting Pace Car Lines and Other Advanced Mathematical Formulae
• - - 101 Lessons on Patience for Serving Gain-Time Penalties
• - - Chicanery While Pacing 2-Wide
• - - The Evasion Feat: Dodging Missiles and Faster Cars
• Fixed a Simulator crash that could occur from AI Driver steering inputs.

Soft Surface Modeling

• Gravel properties have been updated to stop vehicles slightly faster.

Auto Fuel

• A new refueling option is now available for use: Auto Fuel.
• - - This option provides you with enough fuel to reach the end of the event, or a full tank if needed. The amount is determined by the car, track, your driving behavior throughout the Event, and other variables.
• - - - - Auto Fuel requires some fuel economy data to be generated by you with the current car at the current track before it will work correctly. For example, at the beginning of a Practice Session, it will inform you it does not have enough data yet. After you have completed some laps, it will update to an accurate estimate and work effectively.
• - - Additionally, you may select a desired margin for error using the Fuel Black Box.
• - - - - Auto Fuel calculations do not incorporate Caution Laps, which could skew data.
• - - - - One additional lap of fuel is automatically integrated into the calculations for timed races to account for events where the race time could expire just after a new last lap begins.
• Learn more about the Auto Fuel feature by visiting our Customer Support page on the topic here: https://support.iracing.com/en/support/solutions/articles/31000169381-how-to-use-autofuel
• This new refueling option is available for the following cars:
• - - GT3 Cars
• - - GT4 Cars
• - - GTE Cars
• - - NASCAR Cup Series Next Gen Cars
• - - NASCAR Trucks
• - - NASCAR Xfinity Class Cars
• - - V8 Supercars Cars
• - - Touring Class Cars
• - - ARCA Menards Chevrolet Impala
• - - Aston Martin DBR9 GT1
• - - Audi 90 GTO
• - - BMW M Hybrid V8
• - - Chevrolet Corvette C6.R GT1
• - - Dallara F3
• - - Dallara iR-01
• - - Dallara P217
• - - Ford GT GT2
• - - Formula Renault 3.5
• - - Global Mazda MX-5 Cup
• - - Indy Pro 2000 PM-18
• - - iRacing Formula iR-04
• - - Late Model Stock
• - - Lotus 79
• - - Nissan GTP ZXT
• - - Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992)
• - - Radical SR10
• - - Ray FF1600
• - - Renault Clio R.S. V
• - - Super Late Model
• - - Toyota GR86
• - - USF 2000

Graphics

• A variety of updates have been made to how iRacing handles SpeedTrees and your performance when they are in the world should be improved. This updates include the following:
• - - SpeedTrees are now culled on a per-portal basis. This should help with performance when multiple mirrors are being rendered.
• - - SpeedTree’s memory usage process has been improved.
• - - The SpeedTree self-shadow option is now disabled by default for all graphics performance classes. Previously, it had been enabled in all graphics performance classes, but it requires two extra renders of the trees and may have contributed to stuttering or a general performance hit.
• Fixed an issue where the car shader was being set to the incorrect detail level when the Low Quality graphics preset was selected.
• Fixed an issue where the ghost car was occluding objects. It should once again be properly ghostly.

Visual Effects

• The PopcornFX particle system has been updated to the latest version.
• Fixed an issue where driver shifting animations were not playing correctly when using the automatic shifting driver aid.
• Haulers, trailers, and other parked vehicles now have specular maps to showcase shine and reflectivity.

Audio

• A new audio feature, dynamic brake audio, has been added to several classes of cars including: GT3, GT4, GTE, and Touring Cars.
• - - Dynamic brake audio controls brake squeaks, squeals, and volume using brake temperature and pedal pressure data generated from the car physics. Brake sounds tend to fade at higher temperatures and return when cooler. These noises will react dynamically to brake pedal pressures, becoming louder with more pressure, and softer with less. These updated sounds can be very useful audio cues for brake behavior and optimal brake applications.
• Authentic Australian PA announcements have been added at authentic Australian tracks.

Spotter

• Updates have been made to the damage spotter for front/rear wing and suspension damage:
• - - Messages can trigger multiple times as more damage is taken, and if the part is partially repaired and damaged again (as opposed to only once for initial damage, resetting only if the part is fully repaired).
• - - Queued messages can cancel themselves if the part is repaired or if major damage is taken in the meantime.
• - - - - These fixes are intended to fix erroneous damage messages, such as when a team spectator receives an inaccurate damage state from their driver's car that triggers these messages, as well as messages right out of the pits.
• The Spanish Spotter Pack from Ari Cejas has been updated.
• - - Thank you, Ari!
• The Portuguese Spotter Pack from Guto Colvara has been updated.
• - - Thank you, Guto!

Cameras

• The cockpit model now correctly casts shadows outside the car for cameras that are inside the cockpit.

Replays

• With replay spooling enabled, the "_spool.tmp" file is now written inside the “%LOCALAPPDATA%” folder instead of the “%USERPROFILE%\Documents” folder.
• - - This is in an attempt to avoid having Microsoft OneDrive sync the replay system's temporary “_spool.tmp” file to the cloud, thus consuming some of your "upload" bandwidth.
• - - To restore the old behavior, you can edit your “app.ini” file to the following relative location: [Replay] spoolRecordingToDir=C:\users\user_name\documents\iracing\replay
• Fixed an issue where water could sometimes appear to show at track edges. Nothing to see here. Yet.
• Fixed an issue where some Replays could appear to be missing the clouds that were actually present during the event.

Voice Chat

• Fixed an interface issue that could cause changes to voice chat volume to appear to be changing a different volume input.

Controllers

• Gamma corrected keyboard backlighting on both Razer and Logitech keyboards so their response is more linear. A small amount of backlighting has also been added to Logitech keyboards when the Simulator is booting up so the keys are still legible.

Force Feedback

• Support has been added for the 360 Hz FFB mode provided by some Logitech wheels. This is enabled by default, but can be turned off via the “[Force Feedback] enableFFB360HzInterpolated=0” entry in the “app.ini” file.
• Brake calibration now asks the user if the brake pedal is a load cell pedal and corrects the brake curve automatically if so.
• The Auto button is now more consistent from run to run.
• Fixed an issue with the new crash suppression logic that let some of the crash forces bleed through. This should be a lot more quiet when wrecking.

Telemetry

• A new variable, “IsGarageVisible”, has been added to iRacing Telemetry.
• - - This variable is True if the Garage UI screen is being shown. This is related to the existing variable, “IsInGarage”, that indicates the car is using garage physics. This new variable is useful for a Team Session - for example, the crew chief may have the garage screen open, but not have the car pulled into the garage yet. This can then indicate to your broadcasting software to blur out the garage values anyway.

​

CARS:

--------------------------------------------------------------

GT3 Cars

• Improved ABS system with faster response and better control and performance.
• Increased suspension droop travel when these cars are driven on the Nordschleife.
• The engine will no longer be able to be disengaged by the clutch when the car is at racing speeds as a fuel saving method.
• Drag effects on following cars have been reduced.
• The dynamic brake audio system has been added to these cars. This is custom brake audio logic uniquely tuned to the temperature and pressure logic of these cars. The squeaks and squeals will fade out at higher temps and return when cooler. These noises are dynamic with brake pressures.
• iRacing setups have been updated.

GT4 Cars

• Drag effects on following cars have been reduced.
• The dynamic brake audio system has been added to these cars. This is custom brake audio logic uniquely tuned to the temperature and pressure logic of these cars. The squeaks and squeals will fade out at higher temps and return when cooler. These noises are dynamic with brake pressures.

GTE Cars

• The dynamic brake audio system has been added to these cars. This is custom brake audio logic uniquely tuned to the temperature and pressure logic of these cars. The squeaks and squeals will fade out at higher temps and return when cooler. These noises are dynamic with brake pressures.

NASCAR Classic 1987 Cars

• iRacing setups have been updated.

NASCAR Cup Series Next Gen Cars

• Tire parameters have been updated.
• Drafting parameters have been updated.
• Engine rev limiters have been reduced.
• Shift light RPM have been updated.
• These cars now report brake pressure bias in the garage which matches with the “dcBrakeBias” value in telemetry.
• Level-of-detail camera draw distances for removable parts have been updated to better match the chassis. This prevents vehicle pieces from disappearing at certain distances.
• iRacing setups have been updated.

NASCAR Trucks

• iRacing setups have been updated.

NASCAR Xfinity Cars

• iRacing setups have been updated.

V8 Supercars Cars

• iRacing setups have been updated.

Touring Cars

• Reduced aero drag effect of the draft for following cars.
• Improved ABS system with faster response and better control and performance.
• The dynamic brake audio system has been added to these cars. This is custom brake audio logic uniquely tuned to the temperature and pressure logic of these cars. The squeaks and squeals will fade out at higher temps and return when cooler. These noises are dynamic with brake pressures.
• iRacing setups have been updated.

[Legacy] V8 Supercar - 2014 Cars

• The low front roll center option has been removed.

ARCA Menards Chevrolet Impala

• Fixed an issue with dirt appearing on the windshield pull tabs, adjusted the nose lower grill texture, and fixed an issue with the number block layering on the paint template.
• iRacing setups have been updated.

Audi 90 GTO

• Maximum brake pedal force has been adjusted.

Audi R8 LMS GT3

• Fixed an issue where the pedals were missing from the interface model for this car.

BMW M4 GT3

• Dashboard display has been updated to match the current driver manual.

Chevrolet Corvette C8.R GTE

• New backfire audio effects, triggering logic, and visual effects have been added.

Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS

• With this Season update, this vehicle is becoming Retired content.
• - - The Late Model Stock is replacing the existing iRacing Late Model vehicle, the Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS.
• - - - - This replacement will cause the Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS to enter a [Retired] state, removing it from use for all events and the iRacing Store. Records and stats for the Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS will remain intact. Replays for the Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS will no longer function.
• - - - - All customers who owned the Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS will be granted ownership of the new Late Model Stock for free.
• - - - - All Non-AI Hosted Sessions scheduled for the future that were to use this car have been updated to instead use the new Late Model Stock.
• - - - - All AI Hosted Sessions scheduled for the future that were using AI Rosters with this car have been rejected. Customers have not been charged for these Sessions. If you wish, please recreate them using a new Late Model Stock AI Opponent Roster!

Dallara F3

• iRacing setups have been updated.

Dallara iR-01

• A new combination of aerodynamic model and tire properties have been developed for improved Oval Racing with this car.
• Aerodynamics model and tire parameters have been updated.
• Setup adjustment ranges have been updated.
• iRacing setups have been updated.

Dallara IR18

• Visor tear-off control binding has been removed for this vehicle.
• iRacing setups have been updated.

Dallara P217

• Draft parameters have been updated.
• The engine will no longer be able to be disengaged by the clutch when the car is at racing speeds as a fuel saving method.
• Brake bias adjuster increment has been increased to 0.25.

Dirt Street Stock

• The display of some car parts has been adjusted based on camera distances for improved graphics performance.

Ford Mustang FR500S

• Fixed a misprint on the tachometer - this car’s RPM were not calculated in multiples of 10,000 as advertised.
• Fixed an issue with fuel and oil pressure conversions on the dashboard, and their warning lights.

Formula Renault 2.0

• Fixed an issue where the tires were using an incorrect model version for cockpit camera views.

Formula Renault 3.5

• Rear floor durability has been increased.
• iRacing setups have been updated.

Global Mazda MX-5 Cup

• Improved ABS system with faster response and better control and performance.

Honda Civic Type R

• 2023 Season 2 BoP Adjustments: Mass reduced slightly, and engine torque reduced slightly.

Hyundai Elantra N TC

• 2023 Season 2 BoP Adjustments: Mass increased, and engine torque reduced slightly.

Hyundai Veloster N TC

• 2023 Season 2 BoP Adjustments: Mass increased slightly, and engine torque reduced slightly.

Indy Pro 2000 PM-18

• A New Damage Model tuning pass has been completed: lowered break limits for sidepods, and front and rear wings.
• iRacing setups have been updated.

iRacing Formula iR-04

• iRacing setups have been updated.

Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO

• Backfire audio effects have been improved.

Late Model Stock

• NEW CAR!
• A new stock car, the Late Model Stock, is now available for purchase and use with iRacing!
• - - Used in series like the CARS Late Model Stock Tour and throughout the Carolinas, the Late Model Stock Car is an important step in the career of many of stock car racing’s top stars. The names that have progressed through the series on the way to national-level glory range from current NASCAR Xfinity Series front-runners like Josh Berry, Sam Mayer, and Myatt Snider to NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series drivers like Hailie Deegan and Christian Eckes and even 2023 NASCAR Cup Series rookie Ty Gibbs. The Late Model Stock Car is powered by a 350 cubic inch engine - both crate and custom engines are available - that produces well over 400 horsepower. Fiberglass body panels help keep the car on the lighter side, but are still durable enough to take on the full-contact nature of short track racing. LMSC racing puts on some of the best shows in short track racing anywhere it goes, and the CARS Tour takes them to many of iRacing's most popular short tracks, including Southern National Motorsports Park, Hickory Motor Speedway, Langley Speedway, South Boston Speedway, and North Wilkesboro Speedway.
• The Late Model Stock is replacing the existing iRacing Late Model vehicle, the Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS.
• - - This replacement will cause the Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS to enter a [Retired] state, removing it from use for events and the iRacing Store. Records and stats for the Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS will remain intact. Replays for the Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS will no longer function.
• - - All customers who owned the Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS will be granted ownership of the new Late Model Stock for free.
• Add the Late Model Stock to your collection by purchasing it from the iRacing Store here: https://members.iracing.com/membersite/membeCarDetail.do?carid=164
• The New Damage Model is enabled for this car!
• AI Racing is available for this car!

Legends Ford '34 Coupe

• Fixed an issue where the right-side spun tire texture was reversed.
• iRacing setups have been updated.

Lotus 49

• iRacing setups have been updated.

Lotus 79

• iRacing setups have been updated.

Mercedes-AMG GT3 2020

• 2023 Season 2 BoP Adjustments: Center of gravity has been raised slightly, rear suspension geometry has been updated, aerodynamic balance has been shifted forward slightly, rear tire heat generation rate has been reduced slightly.
• Fixed an issue with opponent cars’ LED roof light strips.

Mercedes-AMG GT4

• The engine will no longer be able to be disengaged by the clutch when the car is at racing speeds as a fuel saving method.
• Cockpit fuel fill position art has been adjusted slightly.
• Steering gear has been added to the interface model for this car.
• Fixed an issue where the brake bias knob was missing from the interface model for this car.

Mercedes-AMG W12 E Performance

• External RPM lights have been adjusted.

Mercedes-AMG W13 E Performance

• AI Racing is available for this car!
• External RPM lights have been adjusted.
• Driver paddle shifting animation has been added to this car.
• Removed the black Monza roll-hoop stripe.
• Side-mirror models and textures have been updated.
• iRacing setups have been updated.

Modified - SK & NASCAR Whelen Tour Modified

• (Both) - iRacing setups have been updated.

NASCAR Classic Buick LeSabre - 1987

• Fixed an issue where the dashboard gauge lenses were opaque when the New Damage Model was not in use with this car. This was reportedly making it difficult to use the dashboard.

NASCAR Cup Series Next Gen Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

• Fixed an issue where the nose of the car could disappear when viewed from certain distances via a mirror.

NASCAR Cup Series Next Gen Toyota Camry

• Texture mapping for the front fenders has been improved.
• Fixed an issue with phantom damage appearing at certain camera distances.

Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992)

• The New Damage Model has been enabled for this vehicle!
• Fixed an issue where some mirrors could appear to swap locations at certain camera distances.
• iRacing setups have been updated.

Radical SR10

• Car physics parameters have been updated slightly.
• For the New Damage Model, yield and break limits for body panels have been reduced.
• iRacing setups have been updated.

Ray FF1600

• NEW CAR!
• A new open-wheel road car, Ray FF1600, is now available for use with iRacing, and has been granted to all Members for FREE!
• - - For more than half a century, the British-based Ray Race Cars has been building entry-level open-wheel race cars that have launched the careers of countless racing stars. But few cars at that level have approached the place in motorsport culture held by the FF1600 formula, which has been a constant presence since the late 1960s after driving schools sought an affordable formula for aspiring Grand Prix drivers to be able to practice with. The most defining characteristic of the FF1600 compared to other junior formulae is its lack of wings; without that downforce to work with the 1.6-liter engine, these cars require greater care through the corners than their winged counterparts, but also tend to be closely matched on the track with plenty of passing. Combine that with relatively open regulations, aided by a space frame chassis, the FF1600 formula is popular the world over as an affordable way to go open-wheel racing. Ray Race Cars has won many of these championships around the world, most recently claiming the New Zealand national title in April 2022 with Alex Crosbie.
• Learn more about the Ray FF1600 on the Car Details page here: https://members.iracing.com/membersite/membeCarDetail.do?carid=163
• This car is now included as part of the Base Content for iRacing, and is available to all Members for free.
• The New Damage Model is enabled for this car!
• AI Racing is available for this car!

Renault Clio R.S. V

• NEW CAR!
• A new road car, Renault Clio R.S. V, is now available for purchase and use with iRacing!
• - - Single-make championships by Renault have been some of Europe's most approachable lower-level road racing series for nearly six decades. Originating in 1966 in France with the Gordini, the first-generation Clio debuted in 1991, by which point most major European countries had a series of their own. After a brief hiatus, the Clio became the marque of choice once again in the early 2000s, and has been Renault’s car of choice ever since. The fifth-gen Renault Clio Cup car debuted in 2020 and has since been adopted by the five active Clio Cup series across Europe. Powered by a Renault HR13 engine, the car weighs just 1030 kilograms with a 2579 mm wheelbase, making it quick and agile, and a fun experience for drivers of all skill levels. Past Renault single-make champions have included WRC and Dakar legend Carlos Sainz, Le Mans winner Jan Lammers, touring car icon Jason Plato, and open-wheel champion and X Games gold medalist Kenny Brack-could the next great racer be running a Clio in the real world as we speak?
• Add the Renault Clio R.S. V to your collection by purchasing it from the iRacing Store here: https://members.iracing.com/membersite/membeCarDetail.do?carid=162
• AI Racing is available for this car!

Silver Crown

• iRacing setups have been updated.

Street Stock

• Fixed an issue where side-mirrors would disappear completely from all cars except the camera focus car.
• iRacing setups have been updated.

Supercars Ford Mustang GT

• Fixed an issue where the interface was using the incorrect detailed car model for this car.

Super Late Model

• iRacing setups have been updated.

Toyota GR86

• The New Damage Model has been enabled for this car!
• Improved ABS system with faster response and better control and performance.
• Some tire artwork has been updated.

USF 2000

• A New Damage Model tuning pass has been completed: lowered break limits for sidepods, and front and rear wings.
• iRacing setups have been updated.

​

TRACKS:

--------------------------------------------------------------

Atlanta Motor Speedway

• (Oval) - AI Racing is now available at this track configuration!

Canadian Tire Motorsports Park

• Patched a hole in the pit exit wall.

Chicago Street Circuit

• Track surface bumpmap has been regenerated.
• Fixed a number of minor wall issues in Turns 3, 4, and 6.

Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya

• (Club, Historic, Moto, & National) - AI Racing is now available at these track configurations!

Circuito de Jerez - Ángel Nieto

• NEW TRACK!
• A new road course, Circuito de Jerez - Ángel Nieto, is now available for purchase and use with iRacing!
• - - Opened in December 1985 and hosting its first Spanish Grand Prix just four months later, Circuito de Jerez has been one of the premier racing facilities in Spain for nearly four decades. It brought the World Driver’s Championship back to the country after a four-year hiatus, and even after giving up full-time status to Barcelona in 1991, returned as host of the European Grand Prix multiple times—most notably as the season finale in 1997, when Jacques Villeneuve and Michael Schumacher set up a title-deciding thriller by posting identical qualifying laps and colliding during the race, with Villeneuve surviving the collision and winning the title. Jerez has only seen minor modifications since it was first opened, settling into its current 2.751-mile, 15-turn layout in 1994. Many of these are tight, heavy-braking corners, such as the Curva Dry Sac where Villeneuve and Schumacher made contact, or the Curva Lorenzo that sets drivers up for the final straightaway. The track also features a chicane named for Ayrton Senna, who won the 1986 and 1989 Spanish Grands Prix.
• - - Circuito de Jerez - Ángel Nieto has two track configurations: Grand Prix, and Moto.
• AI Racing is available at both track configurations for this track!
• Add Circuito de Jerez - Ángel Nieto to your collection by purchasing it from the iRacing Store here: https://members.iracing.com/membersite/membeTrackDetail.do?trkid=473

Circuit Park Zandvoort

• (Chicane, Club, Grand Prix, National, & Oostelijk) - AI Racing is now available at these track configurations!

Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps

• (Grand Prix Pits) - Realigned pit grid stalls.

Circuit Zolder

• AI Racing is now available at both track configurations!

Crandon International Raceway

• Fixed an issue where the pit entry and pit exit cones had swapped jobs.

Darlington Raceway

• AI Racing is now available at this track!

Daytona International Speedway

• Fixed an issue with some terrain poking through SAFER barriers.
• Patched a terrain seam in Turn 7.

Detroit Grand Prix at Belle Isle

• AI Racing is now available at this track!

Dover Motor Speedway

• Fixed an issue with taking damage when resetting to the Qualifying stall.

Knockhill Racing Circuit

• (National) - Fixed an exploit that allows users to use the International final corner to get a better run to the start line on their Qualifying lap.
• Fixed a Z-fighting issue on the first post of some fence models.

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

• AI Racing is now available at this track!

Michigan International Speedway

• Grid stall amount has been increased to 60.

Mount Panorama Circuit

• Fixed a wall snag issue on the inside of Turn 19.
• Fixed a wall alignment issue at Turn 4.

Mount Washington Auto Road

• (Descent) - The reset stall location has been adjusted to sit on a more flat area.

Nashville Superspeedway

• AI Racing is now available at this track!

New Hampshire Motor Speedway

• (Road Course) - Some cones have been earthbound.

Oxford Plains Speedway

• AI Racing is now available at this track!

Pocono Raceway

• AI Racing is now available at this track!

Sonoma Raceway

• (Open Wheel 2012-2018) - Fixed an issue with an incorrect surface type on the apron near pit entry.
• (Open Wheel 2012-2018) - Fixed an issue that could cause phantom yellow and spotter messages.

Suzuka International Racing Course

• AI Racing is now available at all five track configurations!

Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park

• A variety of holes and seams in the terrain have been patched.

Twin Ring Motegi

• (Grand Prix & West) AI Racing is now available at these track configurations!
• (East) - Checkpoints have been added to pit entry to prevent course cutting when entering the pits. Cones have also been added to pit entry to visually help define pit entry path.

Virginia International Raceway

• Brake markers have been added.

Please add more random stats in the comments.
1) Kyle Busch moves to sole position of 9th place in career wins, passing Kevin Harvick. For modern era wins (1972 to present) he moves to 6th, passing Kevin Harvick and Richard Petty.
2) Kyle Busch finishes California Speedway being second in wins, Top 5s, Top 10s, and laps led at the track. Jimmie Johnson is first in all those categories.
3) 10 drivers have finished on the lead lap in both races this season, which includes Corey LaJoie, Ricky Stenhouse, and Chris Buescher. 11 drivers do not have a lead lap finish, which includes Tyler Reddick, William Byron, and Kyle Larson.
4) Kevin Harvick's Top 5 ties him for 9th All-Time with Buck Baker. Harvick is 9 away from Cale Yarborough for 8th. Ross Chastain's Top 5 ties him for 117th on the All-Time list, tied with Elliott Sadler. Daniel Suarez's Top 5 ties him for 132nd on the All-Time list, tied with AJ Allmendinger, Robby Gordon, and Tyler Reddick.
5) Austin Dillon had his 69th career Top 10. That is 102nd on the All-Time list, tying him with AJ Allmendinger, Paul Menard, and Elliott Sadler.
6) Kyle Busch has tied Jimmie Johnson for 9th most laps led All-Time. 18,941 laps. Noah Gragson led his first career lap.
7) Ross Chastain (91), Michael McDowell (6), Austin Dillon (3), Noah Gragson (1), and Christopher Bell (1), all led their first (and last) laps at California Speedway.
8) The driver that ended up with the most laps run, with zero laps led at the track, is Sterling Marlin. 3,041 laps. 0 led. 3 Top 10s in 14 races.
9) Drivers with most of each category without winning at the track: Races - 25 (Dale JNewman), Top 5s - 7 (Logano), Top 10s - 9 (Hamlin/Logano/Newman), Laps Led - 158 (Hamlin), Average Finish - 10.7 in 7 races (Chase Elliott), Running at the Finish - 23 (Jamie McMurray, also had 0 DNFs), Lead Lap Finishes - 17 (Jamie McMurray)
10) Kevin Harvick's is on 750 race consecutive start streak. He has started every race in a season since 2003. Other long streaks are Keselowski - 2010, Joey Logano - 2009, Martin Truex Jr. - 2006.

Happy first race of the season. Please add more random stats in the comments.

1. Stenhouse won his 3rd career Cup race. That ties current drivers Aric Almirola, Erik Jones, and Tyler Reddick for 101st on the All-Time wins list. His 21st career Top 5 ties him with Austin Dillon. His 46th career Top 10 ties him with Marcos Ambrose.
2. Stenhouse has 3 wins, all at Daytona/Talladega. Michael Waltrip (with 4) has the most wins of anyone with no wins anywhere else. Two drivers have 2 wins at those tracks with none anywhere else, Jimmy Spencer and David Ragan. *corrected*
3. Riley Herbst has Top 10s in his first start in all three main series: 8th at Gateway - Trucks, 6th at Iowa - Xfinity, 10th at Daytona in Cup
4. Joey Logano's Top 5 moves him to 26th on the All-Time list, passing Dale Earnhardt Jr. Alex Bowman's Top 5 moves him to 91st on the All-Time list, tying AJ Foyt.
5. AJ Allmendinger's 69th career Top 10 moves him to 102nd on the All-Time list, tying Paul Menard and Elliott Sadler.
6. Chase Elliott, Erik Jones, and William Byron all had their 28th career DNF.
7. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has as many Top 5s at Daytona than Martin Truex Jr. and Stenhouse has led 3 more career laps at the track. Truex has 14 more career races at Daytona than Stenhouse.
8. Christopher Bell had his first career Top 5 and Top 10 at Daytona. His previous career best at the track was 13th.Daniel Suarez had his first career Top 10 at Daytona. He has 9 DNFs in his 12 races at Daytona.Alex Bowman had his first career Top 5 at Daytona, in 14 career races. He only has 1 DNF there. Finishing 13 out of 14 races ties him with Davey Allison (also 13 of 14) for highest percentage of races finished among drivers with that many starts at Daytona.
9. Brad Keselowski moves from 24th to 19th on the Daytona laps led list. He passes Ken Schrader, Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch, Darrell Waltrip, and Dale Jarrett.
10. Ryan Preece has as many career laps led as... Cole Custer.

Sometimes, certain drivers put out a statistically solid season that leaves us fans retroactively scratching our heads on how they managed such feats. I decided I'm going to list these drivers and their specific seasons dating back to 1990. I'll include their before and after seasons to give some insight on why I chose who for a given season.
I will not be including drivers such as Aric Almirola's 2018 season. While the best of his career to that point, has yet to have a truly bad season outside of his 2021 season since he signed with Stewart-Haas. Also, I will not be taking championship standing positions as seriously during the playoff era due to drivers potentially being significantly higher or lower than they would otherwise be.
Lastly, what I consider a "good season" differs from teams and drivers and their circumstances. 15th in points may be a poor result for a team like Hendrick Motorsports, for JTG Daughterty it would be one of their best years.
I'll mostly be looking at the season in questions as well as the drivers before and after seasons. The only handful that does not follow this procedure will be noted.
Let me know what y'all think and if there's any other pics for a given year you all would have!
2022: Michael McDowell: 2 top-5's, and 10 top-10's, 23rd in points. 2020, 2021: 1 win, 2 top-5's, 9 top-10's 16th and 23rd in points.
2021: Alex Bowman: 4 wins, 8 top-5's, 16 top-10's, 14th in points. 2020, 2022 (31 races): 2 wins, 10 top-5's 27 top-10's, 6th, 16th in points.
2020: Matt DiBenedetto: 3 top-5's, 11 top-10's, 13th in points. 2019, 2021: 6 top-5',s 16 top-10's, 22nd, 18th in points.
2019: Daniel Suarez: 4 top-5s, 11 top-10's, 17th in points. 2018, 2020: 3 top-5's, 9 top-10's, 21st, 31st in points.
2018: Clint Bowyer: 2 wins, 9 top-5's, 16 top-10's, 12th in points. 2017, 2019: 13 top-5's, 31 top-10's, 17th, 9th in points.
2017: Ryan Newman: 1 win, 7 top-5's, 13 top-10's, 16th in points. 2016, 2018: 2 top-5's, 19 top-10's, 18th, 17th in points.
2016: AJ Allmendinger: 2 top-5's, 9 top-10's, 19th in points. 2015, 2017: 1 top-5, 8 top-10's, 22nd, 27th in points.
2015: Paul Menard: 2 top-5's, 5 top-10's, 25 top-20's, 14th in points. 2014, 2016: 5 top-5's, 16 top-10's, 21 finishes of 25th or worse, 21st, 25th in points.
2014: Aric Almirola: 1 win, 2 top-5's, 7 top-10's, 16th in points, 2013, 2015: 4 top-5's, 12 top-10's, 18th, 17th in points.
2013: Jamie McMurray: 1 win, 4 top-5's, 9 top-10's, 15th in points. 2012, 2014: 7 top-5's, 16 top-10's, 21st, 18th in points.
2012: Martin Truex, Jr.: 7 top-5's, 19 top-10's, 11th in points. 2011, 2013: 1 win, 10 top-5s, 27 top-10's, 18th, 16th in points.
2011: AJ Allmendinger: 1 top-5, 10 top-10's, 15th in points. 2010, 2012 (21 races): 3 top-5's, 11 top-10's, 19th, 33rd in points.
2010: Jamie McMurray: 3 wins, 9 top-5's, 12 top-10's, 14th in points. 2009, 2011: 1 win, 3 top-5's, 9 top-10's, 22nd, 27th in points.
2009: Brian Vickers: 1 win, 4 top-5s, 13 top-10's, 12th in points. 2008, 2010 (11 races): 3 top-5's, 9 top-10's, 19th, 40th in points.
2008: Travis Kvapil: 4 top-10's, 23rd in points for the dying Robert Yates Racing. Outscored teammate David Gilliland by over 300 points.
2007: Reed Sorenson: 3 top-5's, 6 top-10's, 22nd in points. 2006, 2008: 2 top-5's, 7 top-10's, 24th, 32nd in points.
2006: Scott Riggs: 1 top-5, 8 top-10's, 20th in points (35 races). 2005, 2007 (27 races): 2 top-5's, 5 top-10's, 34th, 36th in points.
2005: Rusty Wallace: 8 top-5's, 17 top-10's, 8th in points. 2003, 2004: 1 win, 5 top-5's, 21 top-10's, 14th, 16th in points.
2004: Elliott Sadler, 2 wins, 8 top-5's, 14-top 10's, 9th in points. 2003, 2005. 3 top-5's, 21 top-10's, 23rd, 13th in points.
2003, Terry Labonte: 1 win, 4 top-5's, 9 top-10's, 10th in points. 2002, 2004: 9 top-10's, 24th, 26th in points.
2002: Ricky Craven: 3 top-5's, 9 top-10's, 15th in points. 2001, 2003: 2 wins, 7 top-5's, 15 top-10's, 21st, 27th in points.
2001: Bobby Hamilton: 1 win, 3 top-5's, 7 top-10's, 18th in points. 2000, 2002 (31 races): 5 top-10's, 30th, 32nd in points.
2000: Joe Nemecheck: 3 top-5's, 9 top-10's, 15th in points. 1999, 2001 (31 races): 2 wins, 2 top-5's, 7 top-10's, 30th, 28th points.
1999: Mike Skinner: 5 top-5's, 14 top-10's, 10th in points, 1998 (30 races), 2000: 5 top-5's, 20 top-10's, 21st, 12th in points.
1998: Chad Little: 1 top-5, 7 top-10's, 15th in points (32 races). 1997 (26 races), 1999: 5 top-10's, 36th, 23rd in points.
1997: Kyle Petty: 2 top-5's, 9 top-10's, 15th in points. 1996 (27 races), 1998: 4 top-10's, 27th, 30th in points.
1996: Rick Mast: 1 top-5, 5 top-10's, 18th in points. 1995, 1997 (28 races): 5 top-10's, 21st, 32nd in points.
1995: Ted Musgrave: 8 top-5's, 13 top-10's, 7th in points. 1994, 1996: 3 top-5's, 15 top-10's, 13th, 16th in points.
1994: Lake Speed: 4 top-5's, 9 top-10's, 11th in points. 1993 (21 races), 1995: 3 top-10's, 34th, 23rd in points.
1993: Dale Jarrett: 1 win, 13 top-5's, 18 top-10's, 4th in points. 1992, 1994 (30 races): 1 win, 6 top-5's, 17 top-10's, 19th, 16th in points.
1992: Alan Kulwicki: 2 wins, 10 top-5's, 17 top-10's, 1st in points. 1990, 1991: 2 wins, 9 top-5's, 24 top-10's, 8th, 13th in points.
1991: Hut Stricklin: 3 top-5's, 7 top-10's, 16th in points. 1990 (24 races), 1992 (28 races): 6 top-10's, 27th, 28th in points.
1990: Brett Bodine: 1 win, 5 top-5's, 9 top-10's, 12th in points. 1989, 1991: 3 top-5's, 12 top-10's, 19th in points both seasons.

TL/DR: Bosses hired me. I am 6 months in and I am their WHOLE marketing department. They have ton's of tasks for me in the hopes their slowing business will pick up because of my tasks, despite the fact that they themselves don't focus on the number one source of RE business, their sphere, and the fact that it is a literal DOWNshift for RE as a whole. They love to waste time trying to chase every lead and not focus on their sphere. I have tons of tasks, with high expectations that most certainly won't be met, all while I am trying to start my freelancing career. I get burnt out after work because of my bosses and then I hate myself for not working on my business at home. And the worst part is, I was told I could get a raise at 6 months when I got hired, and now they are saying they need to discuss it after they do taxes.
For the sake of time and your reading, I will withhold the information and details that my bosses essentially treat me as their in-house assistant for when they can't rely on our VA. I don't like being randomly told that they need me to print something for them, or go mail their letters for them (by leaving my productivity and desk to go to the post office). Those are just a few examples.
Hi everyone, today I ask for advice.
Backstory:
First Job after graduating college with Bachelor's in Marketing, M23. Looking to start my own freelancing business to take control of my hours and time. I have been at my current Job since August. Oh.... and I have ADHD so this will be a ramble. My apologies - My brain thinks it is all relative to the story.
I have been working for a Real Estate Team since August and have now officially been on the team for 6 months, outlasting anyone who has been in this position before. They are a small team in an average market that wasn't hit all too hard from the extremely weird Real Estate Market we have had over Covid. From 2016-2021, they consistently sold about 80-120 homes a year. Fast forward to 2022. My bosses are late 50's and (not trying to bring politics into this) actually quite conservative in terms of job rights. They have openly said (I heard this through the grapevine from another agent who works in the office) that are willing to give me a $.10 cent raise since that is what my boss received at Menards in 2010 when he was the manager. Like if that's not what a conservative work mindset is, I don't know what is. I don't get benefits because they tell me that since they don't have more than 10 employees, they don't have to. I get that, whatever. Anyways - the gist is I get tons of work and responsibility, for low pay and tons of stress all while I want to start my agency.
1st concern:
They went from 8 agents to 4, and I have begun to notice that no one they have hired has stayed longer than a year. For example, their last dedicated marketing person was fired after one check, and their last social media person (an agent who was in her first year as an agent and needed money) left within a month of me being hired (she asked to transition to agent only). All in all, point one that I am making is everyone is leaving fast and it gives me a bad vibe.
2nd Concern:
I do everything, and am their one man marketing department (with a wage of 26K after taxes to boot) and their are no signs of a wage increase despite being told I'd get one after 6 months and my 3 month review being spick and span (they love that I say yes to basically anything and don't need to be hand held like their previous marketing person). I feel as though I am being undervalued and could be making more somewhere else.
My current goals they gave me are:
run ads for my bosses teachable course and her goal is to have as many impulsive purchases as possible, essentially, she wants to hook beginner agents into dropping $200 on a course of basic information from her 15 years of experience and a couple of her scripts.
They want me to bring a 2 year old FB group (was created and only posted in 5 times pre-pandemic) back to life in order to gain Referrals from other agents (group is neighbor state agents, meant for them to have a place to speak with team about real estate in our state, since we are on a border).
I also Operate our social media, while including reels, carousels, themed posts everyday, and manage my bosses networking group FB page. I need to create content for all of it, AND the FB Groups they run (one for her coaching and one for the referral group).
Lastly, I am now building and designing their new website, all while my boss bombards me with random, no-context facebook posts about different ideas of what other realtors are doing for mailers at the hours of sunday after 11 pm, or a monday morning at 5 am. I call that her Boomer Social Activity.
Here's the problem I am having: All of the things they are having me do, I have no problem dong them, I enjoy marketing as whole, it is their expectations that surround it.
My boss complains that she doesn't have students in her course (the course looks like it was filmed on a potato in 2012 to a basic powerpoint presentation and she does not lead gen for it, or even build rapport with the 100 agents in her group, or focus on it at all because she truly thinks of it as passive. They complain they don't get any referrals from other agents anymore, and that they are just slowly losing business. I could go on about their lack in discipline as Realtors when it comes to their sphere and past clients, they typically don't talk to them and catch up like they were taught. However, they all pinpoint me as the source of their problems AND their solution. They think that digital marketing is the source of their gold, and that if they "Just do it" business will come.
I have set the expectation that it takes a while to go from no online presence to getting a consistent pipeline of business. They have verbally acknowledged that, It doesn't happen overnight, digital marketing never does. Sometimes, it might even take a couple years at least. Not everyone goes viral, especially a small team in a small market, in a small town.
Anyways, I am stressed, feel overwhelmed, and when I am done working during the day, I come home burnt out and absoluletly hating myself for not having the energy to work on the framework of my agency that I need before I go after the 1st client.
My heart and feelings say run. My mind says, hang on, breathe, get your freelancing off the ground, get a few clients and quit this job.
What would you do if you were in this situation?

TL/DR: Bosses hired me. I am 6 months in and I am their WHOLE marketing department. They have ton's of tasks for me in the hopes their slowing business will pick up because of my tasks, despite the fact that they themselves don't focus on the number one source of RE business, their sphere, and the fact that it is a literal DOWNshift for RE as a whole. They love to waste time trying to chase every lead and not focus on their sphere. I have tons of tasks, with high expectations that most certainly won't be met, all while I am trying to start my freelancing career. I get burnt out after work because of my bosses and then I hate myself for not working on my business at home. And the worst part is, I was told I could get a raise at 6 months when I got hired, and now they are saying they need to discuss it after they do taxes.
For the sake of time and your reading, I will withhold the information and details that my bosses essentially treat me as their in-house assistant for when they can't rely on our VA. I don't like being randomly told that they need me to print something for them, or go mail their letters for them (by leaving my productivity and desk to go to the post office). Those are just a few examples.
Hi everyone, today I ask for advice.
Backstory:
First Job after graduating college with Bachelor's in Marketing, M23. Looking to start my own freelancing business to take control of my hours and time. I have been at my current Job since August. Oh.... and I have ADHD so this will be a ramble. My apologies - My brain thinks it is all relative to the story.
I have been working for a Real Estate Team since August and have now officially been on the team for 6 months, outlasting anyone who has been in this position before. They are a small team in an average market that wasn't hit all too hard from the extremely weird Real Estate Market we have had over Covid. From 2016-2021, they consistently sold about 80-120 homes a year. Fast forward to 2022. My bosses are late 50's and (not trying to bring politics into this) actually quite conservative in terms of job rights. They have openly said (I heard this through the grapevine from another agent who works in the office) that are willing to give me a $.10 cent raise since that is what my boss received at Menards in 2010 when he was the manager. Like if that's not what a conservative work mindset is, I don't know what is. I don't get benefits because they tell me that since they don't have more than 10 employees, they don't have to. I get that, whatever. Anyways - the gist is I get tons of work and responsibility, for low pay and tons of stress all while I want to start my agency.
1st concern:
They went from 8 agents to 4, and I have begun to notice that no one they have hired has stayed longer than a year. For example, their last dedicated marketing person was fired after one check, and their last social media person (an agent who was in her first year as an agent and needed money) left within a month of me being hired (she asked to transition to agent only). All in all, point one that I am making is everyone is leaving fast and it gives me a bad vibe.
2nd Concern:
I do everything, and am their one man marketing department (with a wage of 26K after taxes to boot) and their are no signs of a wage increase despite being told I'd get one after 6 months and my 3 month review being spick and span (they love that I say yes to basically anything and don't need to be hand held like their previous marketing person). I feel as though I am being undervalued and could be making more somewhere else.
My current goals they gave me are: run ads for my bosses teachable course and her goal is to have as many impulsive purchases as possible, essentially, she wants to hook beginner agents into dropping $200 on a course of basic information from her 15 years of experience and a couple of her scripts. They want me to bring a 2 year old FB group (was created and only posted in 5 times pre-pandemic) back to life in order to gain Referrals from other agents (group is neighbor state agents, meant for them to have a place to speak with team about real estate in our state, since we are on a border). I also Operate our social media, while including reels, carousels, themed posts everyday, and manage my bosses networking group FB page. I need to create content for all of it, AND the FB Groups they run (one for her coaching and one for the referral group). Lastly, I am now building and designing their new website, all while my boss bombards me with random, no-context facebook posts about different ideas of what other realtors are doing for mailers at the hours of sunday after 11 pm, or a monday morning at 5 am. I call that her Boomer Social Activity.
Here's the problem I am having: All of the things they are having me do, I have no problem dong them, I enjoy marketing as whole, it is their expectations that surround it.
My boss complains that she doesn't have students in her course (the course looks like it was filmed on a potato in 2012 to a basic powerpoint presentation and she does not lead gen for it or focus on it at all because she truly thinks of it as passive), that they don't get any referrals from other agents anymore, and that they are just slowly losing business. I could go on about their lack in discipline as Realtors when it comes to their sphere and past clients, they typically don't talk to them and catch up like they were taught. However, they all pinpoint me as the source of their problems AND their solution. They think that digital marketing is the source of their gold, and that if they "Just do it" business will come.
I have set the expectation that it takes a while to go from no online presence to getting a consistent pipeline of business. They have verbally acknowledged it that, It doesn't happen overnight, digital marketing never does. Sometimes, it might even take a couple years at least. Not everyone goes viral, especially a small team in a small market, in a small town.
Anyways, I am stressed, feel overwhelmed, and when I am done working during the day, I come home burnt out and absoluletly hating myself for not having the energy to work on the framework of my agency that I need before I go after the 1st client.
My heart and feelings say run. My mind says, hang on, breathe, get your freelancing off the ground, get a few clients and quit this job.
What would you do if you were in this situation?

The Smarkies, or the Best of Wrestling in 2022

Best Overall Wrestler

Nominee	Percentage
Jon Moxley	20.5%
Will Ospreay	16.9%
Roman Reigns	12.9%
GUNTHER	12.8%
Sami Zayn	6.6%
Kenny Omega	5.9%
Seth Rollins	5.8%
Maxwell Jacob Friedman	3.7%
Dax Harwood	2.2%
"Hangman" Adam Page	2.0%

Best Male Wrestler

Nominee	Percentage
Will Ospreay	19.2%
Jon Moxley	17.7%
GUNTHER	13.8%
Roman Reigns	12.2%
Bryan Danielson	8.0%
Sami Zayn	6.1%
Seth Rollins	5.2%
Maxwell Jacob Friedman	3.9%
Dax Harwood	2.5%

Best Female Wrestler

Nominee	Percentage
Jamie Hayter	28.1%
Bianca Belair	21.1%
Rhea Ripley	19.1%
Giulia	4.8%
Becky Lynch	4.8%
Hikaru Shida	4.1%
Toni Storm	2.6%
Syuri	2.6%
Jade Cargill	2.0%

Best Tag Team or Trio

Nominee	Percentage
FTR	39.0%
The Acclaimed	21.8%
The Usos	18.6%
The Briscoes	7.5%
Death Triangle	4.5%
The Young Bucks	3.4%

Best Non-Wrestler

Nominee	Percentage
William Regal	23.6%
Pat McAfee	19.3%
Paul Heyman	14.7%
Excalibur	12.5%
Taz	10.3%
RJ City	5.7%
Michael Cole	4.3%
Stokely Hathaway	3.2%
Tony Schiavone	2.5%

Best Faction

Nominee	Percentage
The Bloodline	56.7%
Blackpool Combat Club	11.6%
Judgement Day	6.2%
The Elite	5.9%
House of Black	5.1%
Death Triangle	3.3%
Best Friends	3.2%
Suzuki-Gun	3.1%
United Empire	2.2%

Match of the Year

Nominee	Percentage
GUNTHER vs. Sheamus, Clash at the Castle	16.9%
Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Rollins, Hell in a Cell	16.3%
FTR vs. The Briscoes, Double Dog Collar Match, Final Battle	14.4%
CM Punk vs. MJF, Dog Collar Match, Revolution	8.3%
Bryan Danielson vs. "Hangman" Adam Page, Dynamite	6.3%
Will Ospreay vs. Orange Cassidy, Forbidden Door	6.3%
FTR vs. The Briscoes, Death Before Dishonor	5.1%
FTR vs. The Briscoes, Supercard of Honor	4.8%
Will Ospreay vs. Kazuchika Okada, G1 Climax Finals	4.1%
Sami Zayn vs. Johnny Knoxville, WrestleMania	4.1%
Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar, Last Man Standing, SummerSlam	3.7%
Anarchy in the Arena, Double or Nothing	3.6%

Event of the Year

Nominee	Percentage
Forbidden Door	30.3%
WrestleMania 38	19.5%
Clash at the Castle	14.3%
All Out	9.5%
Full Gear	9.2%
Revolution	5.4%
SummerSlam	4.9%
Survivor Series	2.8%

Breakout Star

Nominee	Percentage
The Acclaimed	24.4%
Konosuke Takeshita	16.6%
Logan Paul	11.0%
Jamie Hayter	9.5%
Solo Sikoa	7.4%
Dominik Mysterio	6.1%
HOOK	5.7%
Ricky Starks	4.2%
Bron Breakker	3.3%
"Speedball" Mike Bailey	2.5%

Best Face

Nominee	Percentage
Sami Zayn	24.8%
"Hangman" Adam Page	16.2%
Cody Rhodes	14.6%
Jon Moxley	12.0%
Orange Cassidy	6.2%
Bianca Belair	5.1%
Eddie Kingston	5.1%
Ricky Starks	4.1%
Willow Nightingale	3.4%
Darby Allin	2.9%
Konosuke Takeshita	2.3%

Best Heel

Nominee	Percentage
Maxwell Jacob Friedman	40.1%
Roman Reigns	31.2%
Jay White	6.7%
GUNTHER	4.7%
Rhea Ripley	3.4%
Dominik Mysterio	3.3%
Christian Cage	3.1%
Swerve Strickland	3.0%
Will Ospreay	2.4%

Best Talker (Wrestler)

Nominee	Percentage
Maxwell Jacob Friedman	38.5%
Eddie Kingston	10.4%
Sami Zayn	10.2%
CM Punk	9.7%
LA Knight	7.7%
Roman Reigns	6.0%
Jon Moxley	4.6%
Ricky Starks	3.2%
Max Caster	2.9%

Best Talker (Non-Wrestler)

Nominee	Percentage
Paul Heyman	29.8%
William Regal	21.4%
Pat McAfee	14.5%
Excalibur	13.1%
Taz	8.2%
Stokely Hathaway	5.7%
RJ City	4.4%
Renee Paquette	2.4%

Most Improved

Nominee	Percentage
The Acclaimed	31.9%
Dominik Mysterio	30.2%
Jamie Hayter	10.4%
Rhea Ripley	6.8%
Julia Hart	4.9%
Powerhouse Hobbs	2.7%
Tiffany Stratton	2.5%
Mina Shirakawa	2.2%
Master Wato	2.0%

Most Underrated

Nominee	Percentage
Chad Gable	19.2%
Jey Uso	9.9%
Ethan Page	8.6%
Hikaru Shida	8.0%
Dalton Castle	7.7%
Cash Wheeler	6.8%
"Jungle Boy" Jack Perry	5.6%
Jeff Jarrett	5.2%
Iyo Sky	4.8%
Kip Sabian	4.6%
El Desperado	4.2%
Dakota Kai	4.0%
Emi Sakura	3.8%
Matt Menard	2.9%

Best Brand or Promotion

Nominee	Percentage
AEW	51.9%
SmackDown	27.1%
RAW	4.6%
NJPW	4.5%
Stardom	4.0%
NXT	2.4%
WWE Combined	34.3%

"Markout Moment" of the Year

Nominee	Percentage
Cody Rhodes returns at WrestleMania	14.3%
Stone Cold comes out of retirement	13.5%
Brock Lesnar flips the ring with a tractor	11.6%
Eddie Kingston emerges covered in blood and carrying a can of gas	11.3%
Cody Rhodes wrestles through a torn pec	10.9%
Hearing the coin drop on Dynamite	5.6%
Bray Wyatt returns	5.5%
Wee Man slams Sami Zayn	4.1%
Wardlow gives CM Punk the Dynamite Diamond Ring	3.7%
Action Andretti beats Chris Jericho	3.5%
Jamie Hayter wins the AEW Women's World Championship	2.4%
William Regal's AEW debut	2.4%
Hangman Page and Kenny Omega dragging their partners to make the tag at All Out	2.0%

Best Entrance

Nominee	Percentage
Cody Rhodes, WrestleMania	23.6%
CM Punk, Revolution	18.2%
The Elite, Full Gear	12.0%
Bray Wyatt, Extreme Rules	10.4%
Stone Cold Steve Austin, WrestleMania	7.2%
Kenny Omega's return, Dynamite	7.2%
Seth Rollins, Royal Rumble	6.1%
Drew McIntyre, Clash at the Castle	6.1%
Very Evil Danhausen, Full Gear	4.0%

Best Attire

Nominee	Percentage
Seth Rollins, Shield Attire, Royal Rumble	20.4%
House of Black, All Out	13.9%
CM Punk, Revolution	12.8%
Sasha Banks, Sailor Moon, Royal Rumble	12.7%
Seth Rollins, Dusty Rhodes homage, Hell in a Cell	11.9%
Jade Cargill, She Hulk, All Out	8.4%
Chris Jericho, Lionheart throwback, All Out	8.3%
Becky Lynch, WrestleMania	4.2%
Dark Starlight Kid & El Desperado, Hybrid Masks, Historic X-Over	3.8%
KAIRI, Historic X-Over	2.4%

Promo of the Year

Nominee	Percentage
Sami Zayn - "Hasn't been very Ucey"	25.9%
MJF - "Fire me you fucking Mark!"	23.7%
MJF lays out his backstory in a face promo	13.6%
MJF vs. CM Punk, face-to-face	12.7%
"Hangman" Adam Page - "I'm anxious, I'm depressed, the medicine is not working but I am still here because I'm am A MAN"	7.8%
Jon Moxley's return promo	5.9%
Eddie Kingston - "I drink to drown my demons, but they know how to swim"	4.9%
Ricky Starks tears down MJF	4.2%

Feel Good Moment of the Year

Nominee	Percentage
Jey Uso and Sami Zayn hug at the end of WarGames	21.7%
Roman Reigns gives Sami Zayn a new shirt	17.9%
The Acclaimed win the AEW Tag Team Championship	17.7%
Stone Cold Steve Austin wrestles his first match since WrestleMania 19	12.9%
Shibata returns to the ring at Wrestle Kingdom	9.5%
Jamie Hayter wins the AEW Women's World Championship	5.9%
Eddie Kingston defeats Jun Akiyama	3.8%
Moxley cancels his vacation time	3.7%
Martha Hart's speech after the Owen Hart Tounament	3.6%
Final Suzuki-Gun Match and Promos	2.8%

Gimmick of the Year

Nominee	Percentage
Honorary Uce Sami Zayn	51.5%
Daddy Ass	12.1%
William Regal's love of Man in the Mask	9.2%
Danhausen	5.8%
Ezekiel, Elias's younger brother	5.1%
Death Match King Matt Cardona	3.8%
Dominik Mysterio	3.6%
Maximum Male Models	3.0%
Orange Cassidy	2.6%

Best Ancillary Content

Nominee	Percentage
Botchamania	23.9%
Hey! (EW)	14.7%
BTE	11.0%
OSW Review	8.8%
Cultaholic	8.3%
Partsfunknown	6.8%
Simon Miller's Ups and Downs	6.4%
Deadlock	5.2%
Making it Maximum	4.1%
Kliq This	3.9%

Best Video Package

Nominee	Percentage
Drew McIntyre - Clash at the Castle	28.2%
MJF's Dark Side of the Ring	22.0%
The Acclaimed music video on Slap Nuts	18.5%
William Regal's Blackpool Combat Club vignette	10.9%
The House of Black reborn	9.0%
Hookhausen training montage	5.9%
Ilja Dragunov doesn't feel pain	4.7%

The Botchies, or the Worst of Wrestling in 2022

Worst WWE Event

Nominee	Percentage
Crown Jewel	43.0%
Royal Rumble	37.3%
RAW after Mania	8.8%
Elimination Chamber	7.9%
Money in the Bank	3.1%

Worst AEW Event

Nominee	Percentage
All Out	27.0%
Battle of the Belts 4	19.8%
Battle of the Belts 2	19.6%
AEW Rampage - August 12	16.9%
AEW Rampage - October 28	16.8%

Worst International Event

Nominee	Percentage
AAA Rey de Reyes	51.9%
CMLL Super Viernes	26.1%
Stardom New Blood 6	13.1%
NOAH Gain Control	9.0%

Worst Other Event

Nominee	Percentage
Ric Flair's Last Match	53.7%
Control Your Narrative 1	28.4%
NWA Hard Times	8.5%
The Wrld on GCW	7.1%
XPW Halloween in Hell	2.4%

Worst AEW Match

Nominee	Percentage
Marina Shafir vs. Thunder Rosa	27.4%
Wardlow vs. 20 Security Officers	19.5%
Tay Melo & Sammy Guevara vs. Ruby Soho & Ortiz, All Out Zero Hour	14.1%
Chris Jericho vs. Eddie Kingston, Barbed Wire Death Match	13.1%
CM Punk vs. Jon Moxley, Dynamite	13.0%
Athena vs. Jade Cargill, All Out	4.5%
Anna Jay vs. Jade Cargill, Double or Nothing	4.4%
Ricky Starks vs. Powerhouse Hobbs, All Out	4.1%

Worst International Match

Nominee	Percentage
House of Torture vs. CHAOS, Dog Cage Match	38.8%
EVIL vs. Tomohiro Ishii	27.6%
Rayo de Jalisco Jr. vs. Blue Demon Jr., TripleMania Monterrey	21.6%
Ava White and Alex Windsor vs. Jazzy Gabert and Kanji, Royal Quest	12.0%

Worst WWE Match

Nominee	Percentage
Men's Royal Rumble	31..9%
Pat McAfee vs. Vince McMahon, WrestleMania	20.6%
Shotzi vs. Ronda Rousey, Survivor Series	18.6%
Nikkita Lyons vs. Lash Legend	13.5%
Liv Morgan vs. Ronda Rousey, Extreme Rules	10.3%
The New Day vs. Sheamus & Ridge Holland, WrestleMania	5.0%

Worst Other Match

Nominee	Percentage
Ric Flair & Andrade vs. Jeff Jarrett & Jay Lethal	63.6%
Trevor Murdoch vs. Tyrus, NWA 74	16.2%
Tyrus vs. Trevor Murdoch vs. Matt Cardona, NWA Hard Times	15.1%
Matt Cardona vs. Joey Janella, The Wrld on GCW	5.0%

Worst International Storyline

Nominee	Percentage
The Karl Anderson/NEVER Title situation	52.4%
House of Torture as NEVER 6-Man Tag Champs	25.1%
Toru Yano and Dick Togo's dog cages	22.4%

Worst WWE Storyline

Nominee	Percentage
Happy Corbin vs. Madcap Moss	31.4%
Austin Theory, Mr. Money in the Bank	26.7%
Shotzi & Raquel Rodriguez vs. Ronda Rousey	21.3%
Charlotte Flair vs. Ronda Rousey	20.6%

Worst AEW Storyline

Nominee	Percentage
Sammy Guevara & Tay Melo's on screen relationship	26.0%
Brandi Rhodes vs. Dan Lambert	18.7%
The Jericho Appreciation Society vs. Blackpool Combat Club	15.4%
American Top Team vs. Sammy Guevara	14.5%
Jade Cargill vs. Bow Wow	12.5%
The Hardy Family Office gets sold to Andrade, disbanded	6.8%
Daniel Garcia's allegiance to Chris Jericho	6.1%

Worst Other Storyline

Nominee	Percentage
Tyrus's rise to the NWA World's Heavyweight Championship	47.9%
The build to Ric Flair's Last Match	24.6%
Bobby Fish's Impact Run	18.2%
Bully Ray's comeback in Impact	7.7%
Real1 in MLW	1.7%

The Shockmaster Award for Worst Gimmick

Nominee	Percentage
EC3 and Control Your Narrative	43.5%
The openly Far Right stable in XPW	16.9%
Lacey Evans's latest repackaging	10.2%
SCRYPTS	9.8%
Hit Row	9.2%
Nikki A.S.H.	8.7%

WTF Moment of the Year

Nominee	Percentage
CM Punk's All Out Press Conference, Brawl Out	45.8%
The Vince McMahon situation	35.1%
Ric Flair pretends he's having a stroke in the middle of his last match	6.4%
Cody Rhodes leaves AEW	3.2%
Tyrus becomes NWA World's Heavyweight Champion	3.1%
Marina Shafir's You Don't Know Me promo	2.0%
CM Punk loses the AEW Championship on Dynamite	1.4%
The ending of Eddie Kingston vs. Chris Jericho at Fyter Fest	1.2%
Sasha Banks leaves WWE	0.9%
Tetsuya Endo gets legit knocked out by Katsuhiko Nakajima	0.6%

Worst Faction

Nominee	Percentage
Hit Row	23.2%
Jericho Appreciation Society	17.6%
Andrade Family Office	12.6%
American Top Team	11.7%
Trust Busters	11.1%
House of Torture	10.7%
The Firm	6.1%
The Baddies	5.5%

The 2022 Wreddit Awards

Wredditor of the Year

Nominee	Percentage
rb_reigns	42.4
kerrmit125	26.5%
brethartburiesthis	15.6%
Tapla	7.9%
FriedEggg	7.6%

Submission of the Year

Nominee	Percentage
A Discussion on Dana Brooke's Career at a time when NOTHING ELSE IMPORTANT was happening, especially not any backstage drama in AEW.	22.7%
Chris Rock vs. Will Smith Post Match Discussion Thread	22.5%
"Keith Lee looks like"	15.3%
A very useful spreadsheet of all the available free WWE matches on YouTube	12.0%
I paid Bryan Alvarez to bury this sub on cameo. He made a mini Observer Live.	11.3%
I pinpointed the exact time, date and place in which MJF met CM Punk for the first time, and it can lead to a poetic moment this year.	9.7%
If Seinfeld was about wrestling, what would some of the plot lines be?	6.5%

Comment of the Year

Nominee	Percentage
"I... worked on this story for a year...and...he just... tweeted it out." by frasierfonzie	21.6%%
"We're DESPERATELY trying to clean up the toxicity here, and as you can see in the volume of removed comments, it's like trying to clean up the water in Flint." by gloomchen	18.9%
"Bret Hart is tired of Kane's extreme right-wing politics." by u/Brethartburiesthis	17.1%
"Imagine that crossfit coffee drinking mf that's dressed to the gods, makes a shit ton of money, has a smoking hot wife who's as rich as he is, has one of the most beautiful babies you've ever laid eyes on and just as he knocks your ass out the last thing you hear is that sinister ass cackle. That's a Joker Villian origin story right there." by Miikeyyy	16.5%
"I'MMM FIIIIRRRED" by hobo_clown	10.3%
CM Punk shoots on Young Sheldon	8.3%
"The NWO is a gimmick about nothing." by Kevnashshootsonthis	7.3%

The "SquaredCircle is Leaking" Award for Best SquaredCircle Moment in a Non-Wrestling Subreddit

Nominee	Percentage
"Ranking Transformers on their ability to do the HBK pose" in /transformers	35.0%
When Mad Kurt sold Will Osrpeay's Hidden Blade so well it got posted on /BrutalBeatdowns	31.7%
"Who is your NBA team's Heel?" in /nba	20.6%
Multiple Hololive signs being spotted at AEW shows and being posted in /Hololive	12.7%

Best Related Subreddit

Nominee	Percentage
/truth	17.1%
/scjerk	16.2%
/wrestlefap	15.0%
/wrasslin	14.9%
/njpw	10.1%
/deadlockpw	6.7%
/stardomjoshi	5.8%
/ishii	5.0%
/smartmarx	4.9%
/wrestlewiththepackage	4.3%

Running Joke/Meme of the Year

Nominee	Percentage
Adrenaline, in my soul, something something, Cody Rhodes	23.4%
I'm hurt, and I'm old and I'm fucking tired, and I work with fucking children	13.3%
Ok, how you know?	12.7%
Folks, Where's the Lie?	10.8%
Regal/Man in the Mask flirting	9.5%
____ Jones over here	8.3%
Ucey	7.5%
____ shares a bank account with their mother	5.8%
Keith Lee looks like the kind of guy who ...	4.2%
Anything Rick Ross says	2.6%
Mox's eternally postponed vacation	1.9%

Best Original Content

Nominee	Percentage
We Didn't Start The Fire by u/AmarantCoral	38.5%
tapla 's artwork	25.0%
thedinochamp 's artwork	22.2%
Dogflail	8.2%
jjandre 's artwork	6.2%

As the 2023 season is starting up in real-life, it's time to rewind the clock yet again in this series. 2016 will be the 3rd past season to be simulated in this series, following the way 2018 and then 2017 were done as well. After 2016, it'll be time for 2023. Who knows when that'll be. It could be this summer or it could be in over a year, just depends on how I'm feeling with doing races in this.
THE DRIVERS
There are 40 drivers that make up the class of 2016, let's meet them
#1- Jamie McMurray - McDonald's - Chip Ganassi Racing
Jamie McMurray has won a few times in this but hasn't ever been anything special. Could he change that in a season that in reality he didn't even lead a lap?
#2- Brad Keselowski - Miller Lite - Team Penske
Brad Keselowski has 14 career wins in this series, 2 behind Denny Hamlin for the all-time most. Could he try and pass Hamlin this year?
#3- Austin Dillon - DOW - Richard Childress Racing
The greatest driver of the 3, and the guy who will win the 2019 title, is back in the number he made iconic
#4- Kevin Harvick - Jimmy John's - Stewart-Haas Racing
Harvick will finish top 10 in points or outside the top 30. No option in between those.
#5- Kasey Kahne - Farmers Insurance - Hendrick Motorsports
The KKK (Kasey Kenneth Kahne) will go for glory and be part of the most supreme race (winners).
#6- Trevor Bayne - Advocare - Roush-Fenway Racing
Trevor Bayne hasn't won in his season and a half he's ran. He's the only driver of the #6 to not win in it yet.
#7- Regan Smith - Nikko/Toy State - Tommy Baldwin Racing
Regan Smith makes his first appearance in this series. I mean that's cool.
#10- Danica Patrick - Nature's Bakery - Stewart-Haas Racing
Danica Patrick will be back at it with her fanbase of little girls and also 60-year old men
#11- Denny Hamlin - FedEx Express - Joe Gibbs Racing
With 16 wins, Denny Hamlin has won more than any driver in history. In the last season simmed, 2022, he had an absolutely disasterous season. He didn't even have a top 5 and only a handful of Top 10's. Hard to get much worse than that, at least.
#13- Casey Mears - Geico - Germain Racing
Another driver making their first appearance in this series. He's good friends with Jimmie Johnson, who is probably much less successful than him.
#14- Tony Stewart - Bass Pro Shops - Stewart-Haas Racing
Tony Stewart will miss the start of his final season due to an injury. Luckily, this series is perfectly safe for him. This is also his first appearance in this series. Brian Vickers and Ty Dillon will fill-in for Stewart to start the season, following their real-life schedules.
#15- Clint Bowyer - 5-Hour Energy - HScott Motorsports
In most of the seasons he's been in, Clint Bowyer has been strong. However, this year he's driving a trash can on wheels. Will this hold one of the greatest of all time back?
#16- Greg Biffle - Ford EcoBoost - Roush-Fenway Racing
Greg Biffle casually returned in 2022 to finish be top 10 in points in a car that was worse than a trash can on wheels. More like a trash can without wheels, but also being towed in the opposite direction by a tow truck. Logic would suggest that he should be dominant in a Roush car, even if it isn't that great, based on what he could do after over 5 years out of a car.
#17- Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. - Fastenal - Roush-Fenway Racing
Ricky Stenhouse Jr wins the Championship in 2017, so this season we get to see the season he was coming off of when he won said title. He'll probably either be a contender in outside the top 30.
#18- Kyle Busch - M&M's 75th Anniversary - Joe Gibbs Racing
Kyle Busch is back in the M&M's 18, something I'm sure we will see for many more years to come!
#19- Carl Edwards - Arris - Joe Gibbs Racing
Carl Edwards is back in the 19, I'm sure he has many more years of racing ahead!
Ignoring the joke I made for the 2nd time in a row, this is Carl's first appearance in this series.
#20- Matt Kenseth - Dollar General - Joe Gibbs Racing
Matt Kenseth had a strong season in 2017 but ended up choking a Championship 4 spot, leading to Joe Gibbs locking him in a dungeon after 2017. Only to then be punished by having to drive 15 races for Roush. And because Kenseth is built different, he still won. In 2017, 2018, and 2020, Kenseth won at least 1 race.
#21- Ryan Blaney - Food Motorcraft - Wood Brothers Racing
The 2022 Champion (probably the only Champion in the series to never say a racial slur, too) is in maybe his rookie season. Depends on if he runs 2015 or not. Anyway, Blaney has won 1-2 races every year outside of 2019 (winless) and 2022 (5 wins). In 2017, in typical Ryan Blaney fashion, he won the playoff opener right after missing the playoffs. Will that win end up being his 1st career win?
#22- Joey Logano - Shell-Pennzoil - Team Penske
Until 2022 Joey Logano had started every race in this series. In both 2017 and 2018 he finished 5th in points. Can he open his squinty douchy eyes wide enough to see a path forward to the Championship 4 this time?
#23- David Ragan - Dr. Pepper - BK Racing
David Ragan has, somehow, won in every full season he's ran. But now he's at hell in terms of NASCAR teams. Can Ragan bring glory to hell and continue his streak of winning?
#24- Chase Elliott - NAPA Auto Parts - Hendrick Motorsports
Chase Elliott is the only driver to win in every single season of this series, with at least 1 win from 2017-2022. Since 2016 is his rookie year, it's the end of the road in terms of his chances of continuing this. 2023 will be next so he could in theory win in the first 8 seasons of this series if he pulls off a win in both 2016 and 2023, which would be quite a feat.
#27- Paul Menard - Menard's - Richard Childress Racing
GET HARD
#30- Josh Wise - Unsponsored - The Motorsports Group
Josh Wise's final season. With the power of baldness he will carry The Motorsports Group to greatness.
#31- Ryan Newman - Caterpillar - Richard Childress Racing
Outside of 2020, Ryan Newman has won in all of his seasons. He also finished well in points in 2017 and 2019, and even made the Championship 4 in 2021. Can the big stupid idiot ogre win a Championship in 2016?
#32- Jeffrey Earnhardt - Can-Am - Go FAS Racing
Jeffrey Earnhardt is another rookie driver. Somehow he won in both 2017 and 2018. He denied his uncle one last win in 2017 in one of the cruelest moments in NASCAR history. Will Jeffrey continue to be a soulless monster? If so, what will he do?
#34- Chris Buescher - Love's - Front Row Motorsports
Christopher Buescher (please laugh) could break the record for the longest winless streak if he wins early enough this season, as his next win wasn't until 2021. The record is 153 races, by the way. Based on real-life he'll probably get annoyingly close to breaking the record and not actually breaking it.
#38- Landon Cassill - Snap Fitness - Front Row Motorsports
Landon Cassill has got 2, 3, and 3 top 5's in his 3 seasons. A pretty useless and random observation, but this would suggest he's safe to get exactly 2 or 3 top 5's. This series is famously a good one to analyze stats on.
#41- Kurt Busch - Haas / Monster Energy - Stewart-Haas Racing
Weirdly, Kurt Busch has only 2 top 20 finishes in points. One was 2nd and the other was 19th. So maybe he's due for another good season.
#42- Kyle Larson - Target - Chip Ganassi Racing
Kyle Larson is still the only multi-time Champion in this series, and he'll be going for a 3rd this season. While he's won multiple drivers titles, they were for different car owners. So we've never had a team owner with multiple titles, and Kyle Larson could bring that home for Chip Ganassi (and get brutally beat by Chip in return).
#43- Aric Almirola - Smithfield - Richard Petty Motorsports
2017 and 2018 were both good seasons for Almirola before a huge drop off. In 2017 he even made the Championship 4. Can NASCAR's real-life GOAT carry over some of that dominance into the Death Series? Well, he has a strong teammate to go against, that being...
#44- Brian Scott - Albertsons - Richard Petty Motorsports
...Brian Scott. This is Brian's first and only season. If he wins the title it would be one of the greatest moments in Death Series history, and knowing how good Brian Scott is, it's almost a foregone conclusion he'll win the title.
#46- Michael Annett - Pilot Flying J - HScott Motorsports
Normally I would joke about a mediocre driver having a great season, but I'm not going that far with Michael Annett.
#47- A.J. Allmendinger - Kroger - JTG Daughtery Racing
AJ will has signed a contract through the 2020 season, one that will certainly last!
#48- Jimmie Johnson - Lowe's - Hendrick Motorsports
Dear god. Why have you not won in the 48 yet. His only win is in the 62. Even in a series like this he couldn't win in 2018, 2019, or 2020. And somehow was even worse in 2017. So... 34th in points with 0 wins it is.
#55- Reed Sorenson - Unsponsored - Premium Motorsports
Call him Weed Sorenson because everyone will be getting lit when he wins the title
#78- Martin Truex, Jr. - Furniture Row - Furniture Row Racing
Up until 2022 Martin Truex Jr had won in every season. He used to be right at the front of the wins list, but now he's fallen to a tie for 4th with 10 career wins. Somehow he only won 1 race in 2017 and 2018 in the 78, so this could be his last season in the 78 he wins multiple races. Or he could just win once. Or just go winless. Who knows.
#83- Matt DiBenedetto - Cosmo Motors - BK Racing
Matt DiBenedetto joins fellow teammate David Ragan in hell. DiBenedetto has won 2 times in this series. By sheer coincidence, that's also how many times his last name actually gets spoken out each year, rather than being shortened to "Matty D"
#88- Dale Earnhardt, Jr. - Nationwide - Hendrick Motorsports
Dale Earnhardt Jr did not win in 2017, so if he wins this season, the last one in it will be his final win. I'm sure Dale will have a great season, and nothing will force him to miss 18 races that Alex Bowman and Jeff Gordon will split. Nah, it's gonna go great.
#95- Michael McDowell - Thrivent Financial - Leavine Family Racing
Michael McDowell's claim to fame in this series is that he holds the record of the longest win streak ever, with 153 races between his wins at Destruction Arena in 2018 and Monaco in 2022. All of those wins came with Front Row Motorsports though, so he'll be trying to get his first win in the #95 joining Lightning McQueen as the only other "Mc" to win in that number.
#98- Cole Whitt - RTIC Coolers - Premium Motorsports
Cole Whitt, or Cole Shitt if he performs badly, is in one of the worst cars in the field, driving a Toyota while his teammate Reed Sorenson drives a Chevy. Cole has 1 prior win, the 2018 Hickyard 400. He's already won the biggest race of all, so we'll have to see if he can win a title or a 2nd Hickyard 400 to move his legacy forward in any meaningful way.
DAYTONA ONE OFF ENTRIES
While previously these were reserved for present seasons, 2016 will also have the Duels at Daytona along with a (smaller amount of) host of one-off entries for the race. Let's see who all will be trying to make the field there as well.
#26- Robert Richardson, Jr. - Stalk It - BK Racing
Robert Richardson Jr will be running this race in an extra 3rd BK Racing car. Richardson is retiring from racing after this, a loss that will be noticed by tens and tens of fans around the globe.
#35- David Gilliland - Shaw's Southern Belle Frozen Foods - Front Row Motorsports
Admittedly, I'm not 100% sure if this will be only a one-off or not. He might run the other superspeedways too. But regardless, Todd Gilliland's dad will be running in a time before the Gilliland family was back-stabbed by Bob Jenkins
#40- Reed Sorenson - CRC Brakleen - Hillman Racing
Reed Sorenson will not be running the #55 at Daytona, instead he'll be running the #40 for Hillman Racing. Hillman is going to shut down after Daytona, so hopefully they go out on a high note. Probably not though.
#49- Matt DiBenedetto - NASCAR Heat Evolution - BK Racing
Another number swap, as Matt DiBenedetto is moving to a 4th BK Racing car. Matt will be driving the #49, as a way to advertise NASCAR Heat Evolution being $10 off and being $49.99. Of course, NHE doesn't come out for another 7 months, which means unfortunately this series has lost any illusion of being realistic. I'm so sorry.
#55- Cody Ware - Carport Empire - Premium Motorsports
Reed Sorenson is moving to the #40 because he had to make way for the greatest driver of our generation, Cody Ware, to drive the #55 at Daytona. Ware will be attempting his Cup series debut, and because of the fact he's so good, he'll give everyone a chance in 2017 and 2018 before making his grand return in 2019.
#59- Michael McDowell - Thrivent Financial - Leavine Family Racing
Michael McDowell is moving from the #95 to the #59 for Daytona. Call him Mcchael MiDowell.
#73- Dylan Lupton - Bell Bros - BK Racing
Dylan Lupton is driving a 5th BK Racing car. At this point, you might be wondering, why are there so many BK Racing cars? The answer is simply. Funny.
#83- Michael Waltrip - Maxwell House - BK Racing
With Matt DiBenedetto moving to the #49, the #83 is open for Michael Waltrip, the probably more successful Waltrip brother, to drive the #83 for his 1 start of the year.
#93- Ryan Ellis - Science Logic - BK Racing
But we're not done with BK Racing yet. A 6th BK Racing car will be driven by Ryan Ellis in his sexy Science Logic paint scheme. BK Racing will be trying to put all 6 of their Toyota's into the Daytona Dirt race to solidify themselves as NASCAR's star Toyota team.
#95- Ty Dillon - Cheerios - Leavine Family Racing
With McDowell moved to the #59, the #95 will be driven by Ty Dillon. Ty has 3 wins in this series, 1 each from 2019 to 2021, but has been pretty mediocre outside of that. He'll get a handful of starts between this and driving the #14 in a few races, but he probably won't win any of them.
#99- Ryan Reed - Lilly Diabetes - Roush-Fenway Racing
Ryan ReeeEEEEEEEEeeeeeed will be making his 1 career start. If he makes it anyway. He has diabetes.
SCHEDULE CHANGES
These are the changes on the 2016 schedule when compared to the 2017 schedule. Basically in chronological order, these were things that got removed in 2017.

• Monza's oval race has been pushed back a few weeks to be a doubleheader with the Monza No Brakes Race
• Speaking of the Monza No Brake race, it's now on the modern Monza layout, rather than the old one
• Nurburgring has been removed. Nurburgring No Brakes takes the spot that the regular Nurburgring race once held.
• Meanwhile, the date held by the Nurburgring No Brakes race originally has been taken by a new track, Langhorne. Langhorne is a dirt circle. Not an oval, but a circle. To be clear, the track is a circle. It's layout is not in the shape of an oval, but rather a circle. It is circular.
• Spa No Brakes has been replaced with Slinger. Slinger is a 0.25 mile oval. Not a circle, but an oval.
• And finally, Martinsville High Drag has been replaced with Martinsville 0.01 Inverse Slipcurve. If you're unaware of what this means, it basically means the track is like ice for the AI, and they'll be spinning non-stop.

FULL 2016 SCHEDULE

1. Daytona Dirt
2. Atlanta Super Low Drag
3. Spa
4. Widowmaker
5. Bristol Negative Drag
6. Martinsville No Brakes
7. Homestead Negative Drag
8. Sonoma No Brakes
9. Watkins Glen Low Drag
10. Charlotte 1/4 Mile
11. Avus
12. Talladega Squeeze
13. Coliseum
14. Monza Oval
15. Monza (Modern) No Brakes
16. Nurburgring No Brakes
17. Destruction Arena
18. The Hickyard
19. Daytona Short Track
20. New Hampshire Road Course Low Drag
21. Talladega No Wall
22. Daytona In A Can
23. Watkins Glen No Brakes + Low Drag
24. Bristol No Brakes + Low Drag
25. Langhorne
26. Piggzcreek ===Round of 16===
27. Monaco Negative Drag
28. Chicagoland Negative Drag
29. Charlotte (10.0 Squeeze Percent) ===Round of 12===
30. Orlando
31. Martymoville
32. Bonecrusher ===Round of 8===
33. Slinger
34. Martinsville (0.01 Inverse Slipcurve)
35. Bowman Gray Stadium ===Championship 4===
36. Dodge Motordrome

No Clash or All Star Race.
And that's it. 2016 will be the 7th season of this series, which is pretty hard to believe for me personally. The season will begin shortly!

Background

Let me try that.... One more time.
So yes, the last time I booked the Owen against John.... it did not go well.
This time I am not going to continue my thread from the year before, so Adam Cole will have won the 2022 Owen Cup as he did IRL.
That should be about it.

LFG

• Owen Hart Cup Qualifying Round: Chris Jericho Vs Orange Cassidy

In the first round of the Owen Hart Cup, a rivalry is renewed as Chris Jericho takes on now former All-Atlantic Champion, Orange Cassidy.
In a pre-taped interview, Chris Jericho states that over his illustrious career, he has done nearly everything you can do in the wrestling business, yet one opportunity has alluded him: the opportunity to wrestle Owen Hart. Jericho buries the locker room and states no one in AEW deserves to represent Owen Hart's legacy as no one in AEW is a true Canadian hero like Chris Jericho is or Owen Hart was. Chris Jericho says he was trained by the legendary Stu Hart which gives him an edge over every single competitor in this tournament as none have even glimpsed the inside of The Hart Family Dungeon, but in that prison Jericho learned what it takes to win. Jericho goes on to say he is going to win this tournament by any means necessary and no one will stand in his way.
Orange Cassidy is asked why he is in the tournament, and he replies that he misses having a belt.
The bell rings and Jericho goes to lock up with Orange Cassidy but OC ducks under Jericho's attempt and simply walks the other way. Jericho shoves Cassidy into the corner and pushes his face away but Orange Cassidy remains cool, calm, and collected with his hands in his pockets. OC brings it back to the middle of the ring and begins kicking Jericho lightly in the shins. Jericho goes to level OC with a clothesline but Cassidy ducks under before performing his signature roll through followed by a shotgun dropkick to ground the leader of JAS. Jericho rolls to the outside where he is met by Matt Menard and Angelo Parker, and the three begin to circle around the ring to intimidate OC. Suddenly, Chuck Taylor and Trent Beretta rush down to the ring to come to Cassidy's aid and both men embrace Orange Cassidy as a break spot.
Back from the break, referee Aubrey Edwards has barred all parties from ringside and Jericho is in control. During the break, Jericho had driven Orange Cassidy's shoulder into the ring post, and now Jericho is working over the arm, trying to neutralize the Orange Punch finisher. As Jericho has Cassidy in a seated position, he has OC's arm outstretched in an armbar and is grinding away at the injured limb. The crowd starts to rally behind Orange Cassidy in this position, and gradually OC begins to fight to a vertical base. OC breaks the hold and begins to fire up, finally gaining some reprieve after planting Jericho with a Stundog Millionaire. OC pulls himself up in the corner, still nursing the injured right arm. Gritting his teeth, OC puts his right hand in his pocket and tells Jericho to bring it. Orange Cassidy ducks another clothesline and starts pelting Jericho with stiff kicks to the shins. Jericho pushes Cassidy back to rebound off the ropes but OC responds with a one armed Canadian Destroyer!
"Canadian Destroyer!" Yells Excalibur on commentary. "But is Jericho destroyed?"
Ref Aubrey counts 1... 2... but no! A kick out from Jericho. The crowd is hot for Cassidy now as he gears up in the corner, stalking Jericho and pulling his right hand out of his pocket. Jericho is on his feet, Orange Cassidy leaps into the air for the Orange Punch....
But he's caught! Judas Effect by Jericho! Orange Cassidy crumples to the mat and Jericho covers for the pin. 1. 2. 3. Jericho is moving to the quarterfinals.
Chris Jericho defeats Orange Cassidy
​

• Owen Hart Cup Qualifying Round: Jungle Boy Vs Lance Archer

Jungle Boy is seen in a pre-taped segment talking about the legacy of Owen Hart and the Hart Family. Jungle Boy recounts how his own father's death in 2019 affected him at the age of 22, and we see Jack Perry get emotional as he states he can't imagine how hard it was for Oje and Athena to lose their own father at 7 years old or 4 years old, respectively. Jungle Boy says he has all the sympathy in the world for the Hart Family because he knows how it is to struggle after the death of one's father. JB further promises to give it his all in the tournament out of respect for the Hart Family.
The bell rings and Archer begins mauling Jungle Boy. Despite all of Jungle Boy's platitudes and sympathies, Lance Archer doesn't give a shit about paying tribute or showing respect to anyone. Lance Archer is here to commit acts of violence, and he displays that by launching Jungle Boy out of the ring and sending him crashing into the steel barricade at ringside.
Referee Paul Turner begins the countout and Jungle Boy is struggling to get to his feet. Turner counts to 8 and JB slips, one hand on the apron. A count of 9 finally motivates Jungle Boy to pull himself into the ring and this match is still underway. Lance Archer grabs a handful of hair and lifts Jungle Boy to his feet, showboating to the crowd and calling for an end to the match. Archer goes to sweep Jungle Boy's leg for the EED Claw but Jungle Boy counters with a drop toe hold, steps over with the toe hold, and locks in the Snare Trap out of nowhere! Lance Archer yells out and scratches to reach the ropes but Jungle Boy cinches the hold in, using every last bit of strength to squeeze the life out of the Murderhawk Monster. Despite his best efforts, Lance Archer is starting to fade and suddenly Paul Turner rings the bell.
Jungle Boy Jack Perry defeats Lance Archer by Submission.
​

• Owen Hart Cup Qualifying Round: Willie Mack Vs Swerve Strickland

Swerve Strickland of Mogul Affiliates has been on a tear as of late, having won match after match with the help of Parker Boudreaux and Granden Goetzman. However, in this qualifying match, he faces none other than a ghost from his past in Willie Mack.
Willie Mack had previously brought Swerve Strickland and AR Fox together to win Trios Championships in Lucha Underground and has since torn it up in Impact Wrestling, however after numerous impressive showings and a positive crowd response on AEW Dark, The Mack has returned to national television in his Dynamite debut as part of the Owen Hart Cup.
The match starts off with a show of mutual respect between both competitors which Taz notes is rare for a man as treacherous as Swerve has been, however these formalities do not last long. Swerve and Mack exchange holds in the early going and Swerve briefly gets the upperhand with a series of strikes and a sharply placed single leg dropkick to the jaw, but as Swerve is about to attempt the JML Driver Willie Mack fights back with his brute strength and sends Swerve out of the ring with a pounce.
As Granden Goetzman is on the outside tending to Swerve and distracting the referee, Parker Boudreaux attacks Willie Mack from behind with a stiff forearm to the back of the neck. Parker is sizing Mack up for a Chokeslam, the crowd comes alive as none other than Keith Lee rushes down to ringside, making his return to AEW and leveling Goetzman with a POUNCE of his own sending the big man into the crowd! Parker Boudreaux changes course and rushes out to meet Keith Lee but Lee likewise drops Boudreaux with a stiff Mongolian Chop that knocks the former Harland down to his shoes. Keith Lee stares down Swerve, the man who put him on the shelf by driving a cinderblock through his abdomen, and Swerve rolls into the ring to escape. Swerve isn't taking his eyes off of Keith Lee, but he no longer has a choice as Willie Mack whirls him around, kicks him in the gut, and plants him with a STUNNER! Mack into the pin.
1.
2.
3.
Willie Mack defeats Swerve Strickland
​

• Owen Hart Cup Qualifying Round: John Silver Vs Billy Gunn

There was one wild card slot in the Owen Hart Cup and Tony Khan allowed fans to vote on who they would like to fill this wild card slot. After weeks of humorous campaign videos, John Silver earned the love of the fans and was voted into the Owen Hart Cup by asking people to vote for him.
John Silver is in the ring as Billy Gunn comes out with The Acclaimed and it appears The Acclaimed has a rap for us.
YO! LISTEN! LISTEN! YO! YO! YO!
Acclaimed, we the kings, make you look like a pawn Yo how are you a threat with a name like JOHN?
We earned our spot and yo, I don't mean to gloat But you only made it here because you begged for the votes!
Yo! Yo we don't need to fake it Leave you running down the street with your friends butt naked!
John, call it quits, the youngbloods run this place And make your last name Silver cuz you're always second place!
Billy Gunn is in the ring with John Silver who is fired up after being forced to listen to an Acclaimed rap. The bell is about to ring but suddenly the lights go down in the ring....
When they come back up, Malakai Black is standing between them.
Malakai plants Billy then Silver with the Black Mass as Brody King and Buddy Matthews ravage The Acclaimed and Dark Order outside the ring as Malakai Black sits crossed legged in the ring waiting patiently. Julia Hart meets him in the center with a microphone and Black takes it in his hand.
"Consider this my price of admission."
Malakai Black leaves the ring with the House of Black as bodies are strewn about the ring. With neither John Silver nor Billy Gunn able to compete, Tony Khan is scrambling for a replacement. Tony is first seen on the Titantron and announces a suspension for the House of Black and states he does have an idea for a replacement match, but suddenly the lights go out in his room. When they come back on, Tony Khan is surrounded by the House of Black. Brody King places his palm over the camera before we see what happens next.
In a Twitter post later this night, Tony Khan states after a lengthy discussion he has rescinded Malakai Black's suspension and that Malakai Black has further qualified for the quarterfinals of the Owen Hart Cup.
Malakai Black is in the Quarterfinals.
​

• Owen Hart Cup Qualifying Round: Brian Pillman Jr Vs ???

Brian Pillman Jr is in the ring cutting a promo. He states that he knew Owen Hart and looked up to him as a child and says that Owen treated him just like a son when his own father passed away in 1997. Pillman says that Oje and Athena remain two of his closest friends and he hopes to do the family proud as he competes for glory in the Owen Hart Cup.
Brian is then interrupted by trumpets.... then drums....
God's Favorite Champion Miro marches to the ring with very little sympathy on his face in his return to the company after a lengthy hiatus. Miro stands across the ring from Brian Pillman Jr. and referee Bryce Remsburg rings the bell. Pillman Jr. moves to start the match off hot and Miro drops him with a Savate Kick. Miro clasps his hands around Brian Jr's jaw and it is Game Over.
Miro defeats Brian Pillman Jr.
​

• Owen Hart Cup Qualifying Round: Sammy Guevara Vs Darby Allin

Prior to the match, Chris Jericho approaches Sammy Guevara backstage and tells him that Owen Hart has a tremendous legacy and Chris Jericho wants to honor that. Jericho does not know how the matches will be seeded in the tournament, but should he and Sammy face each other down the road, Jericho wants Sammy to recognize how much the legacy of Owen Hart means to him and asks Sammy to do the right thing. Jericho leaves Sammy and Sammy looks a bit nonplussed by what Jericho just asked of him.
In the ring, Sammy Guevara and Darby Allin square off once again in another chapter of their long and storied rivalry. Both men bring high octane offense to the match that kicks into full gear from the bell as Darby tosses Sammy from the ring and nails two Suicide Dives in quick succession. Darby brings it back in the ring where he hits a Flipping Stunner and sets up for a Coffin Drop, but Sammy gets the knees up resulting in a painful landing for Darbo.
Sammy brings the action back to the outside and slams Darby Allin on the steel steps before going up top. Sammy leaps off for an insane Swanton Bomb but Darby rolls out of the way, leaving Guevara to crash on the steel steps!
Darby gets back in the ring but the referee is not counting, rather checking on the very well-being of Sammy Guevara. Chris Jericho makes his own way to ringside, looking very concerned for the health of his friend. Jericho yells for Sammy to get up and encourages him to keep fighting, and Sammy finally pulls himself into the ring. Darby immediately goes for another Coffin Drop, but referee Aubrey Edwards stops him as she is still checking on the status of Sammy Guevara. Darby steps down off the turnbuckle, watching Guevara in the ring, but suddenly Jericho hops up on the apron and blasts him with a fire ball! Blinded, Darby Allin stumbles about the ring right into the arms of a prone Sammy Guevara. Sammy rolls Darby up and Jericho holds Sammy's legs from the outside for a quick and cheap 3 count.
Sammy Guevara defeats Darby Allin
​

• Owen Hart Cup Qualifying Round: Eddie Kingston Vs Daniel Garcia

Following Sammy Guevara's win, Jericho also approaches Daniel Garcia backstage and tells him all is going according to plan, but it would be best if the Jericho Appreciation Society made 3 of the 8 spots in the quarterfinals. Jericho says he will not be able to help Garcia the same way he helped Sammy because he's not a one trick pony, but Jericho states he has enough faith in Garcia to get the job done on his own.
Eddie Kingston starts the match out strong, hitting a series of lariats and chops turning Garcia's chest beet red. Kingston has Garcia in the corner and is chopping the hell out of him, causing referee Bryce Remsburg to intervene and keep Kingston from disqualification, but in doing so Garcia reaches over Bryce's back and rakes Kingston in the eyes. Garcia takes over now with a series of suplexes. German, Saito, Brainbuster, Garcia is wearing Kingston down. Garcia targets the back with a Bow and Arrow hold, softening Kingston up for the Dragontamer, but Kingston manages to fight out of it. Garcia stomps on Kingston's hand as he crawls to his feet and goes for a Spike Piledriver but Kingston fights out of it, whirls Garcia around, and plants him with a BIG Uranage to get some space.
Both men stagger to their feet, and the match has become a slugfest. Kingston chops at Garcia and Garcia responds with a big boot. Garcia goes for a lariat but Kingston comes right back with a headbutt. Garcia staggers back but rushes back in with a Shotgun Dropkick sending Kingston to the corner, but Kingston comes roaring back with a BLKOUT Lariat. Kingston lifts Garcia for the Northern Lights Bomb and it connects, but Kingston only gets two. Not to be deterred, Kingston locks in the Stretch Plum. Center of the ring, nowhere to go, Daniel Garcia is forced to tap.
Eddie Kingston defeats Daniel Garcia
​

• Owen Hart Cup Qualifying Round: Adam Cole Vs Konosuke Takeshita

Adam Cole comes to the ring with the Owen Hart Cup Championship Belt on his shoulder and cuts a promo, stating that he won the Owen Hart Cup in 2022 and he is going to win it again in 2023. Adam Cole states that as a wrestler and entertainer, he is Owen Hart incarnate and will prove just that against his opponent here tonight.
The bell rings and Adam Cole stands across the ring from Konosuke Takeshita. The two men feel each other out in the early going with some chain wrestling with Takeshita getting the upperhand. The crowd applauds Takeshita's efforts, but it is shortlived as Adam Cole cuts him off with a Superkick and grounds him.
Takeshita fights his way back into the match and both men are giving it their all. Every Ushigoroshi and Brainbuster by Adam Cole is answered with a Blue Thunder Bomb or German Suplex by Takeshita. Adam Cole uses the Superkick to get some space but as the match wears on and Cole's stamina runs low Takeshita just starts eating the Superkicks and coming right back with missile dropkicks. Cole rebounds off the ropes and Takeshita pops him up for a powerbomb but Cole counters with a Panama Sunrise to a massive pop from the crowd. Cole covers but Takeshita kicks out at 2. Cole is in disbelief but regains his composure as Takeshita struggles to his feet. Cole is sizing Takeshita up for the Last Shot, and it appears Takeshita is about to have another great performance end in a heartbreaking loss....
Except it doesn't.
Takeshita ducks the Shining Wizard and plants Adam Cole with a Cutter, followed by a Modified Brainbuster. Cole is limp on the mat but Takeshita brings him up by the wrists to a kneeling position...
And levels Cole with a Zahi Knee! Takeshita into the cover....
1.
2.
3!
Konosuke Takeshita defeats Adam Cole
​

The Quarter Finals

​

• Owen Hart Cup Quarterfinal Match: Malakai Black Vs Willie Mack

As Malakai Black waits in the ring, Willie Mack makes his entrance with Keith Lee in tow. On the aisle, the two are confronted by Buddy Matthews and Brody King who stare both men down and block their path. Malakai Black waves them off and both Brody and Buddy walk past Mack and Keith to the back. Keith daps Mack up and leaves the ringside area as well, leaving the match between Mack and Black.
Willie Mack takes control with his explosive offense and the crowd has come alive for the St. Louis Missouri native, showing his unique athleticism with a Samoan Drop/Moonsault Combination followed by an Inverted Cannonball in the corner. Willie Mack keeps the pressure on Malakai with a Saito Suplex and goes for the pounce but is met with a Bicycle Knee by Malakai, grinding his momentum to a halt.
Malakai takes over and methodically picks Willie Mack apart, using a series of stomps and kicks isolate each body part and take away another weapon. Malakai goes for the springboard moonsault but Mack counters into a cutter to a tremendous pop from the crowd. Mack starts lighting Malakai up again with a Thesz Press followed by an elbow drop and the crowd is eating it up. Mack goes for the Stunner but Malakai counters and sends him into the turnbuckle. Mack springs off the second buckle for a crossbody but Malakai catches him with the Black Mass out of nowhere for the win.
Malakai Black defeats Willie Mack
​

• Owen Hart Cup Quarterfinal Match: Eddie Kingston Vs Konosuke Takeshita

After an impressive showing against Adam Cole, Konosuke Takeshita is looking to ride the momentum into the semi-finals in a match against Eddie Kingston, perhaps the only man who can absorb as much brute force punishment as Takeshita can.
This match does not disappoint. Kingston and Takeshita work stiff and lay it in the best they can, trading open hand chops, suplexes, brutal kicks and finishers left and right. Kingston decks Takeshita with a stiff forearm only for Takeshita to answer with a Standing Lariat. Back and forth, Forearm, Lariat, Forearm, Lariat, the two men beat each other down to their knees until they both collapse with a final shot from each other. The crowd is applauding the fight as referee Paul Turner begins the 10 count for both men to rise back to a vertical base. Konosuke reaches his feet first and blasts Kingston with an aggressive palm strike combination before hitting the ropes for one last Lariat, but Kingston ducks and plants Takeshita with a Saito Suplex dropping him right on his head. Takeshita rises and yells out running back in for a Lariat again but this time Kingston blocks the Clothesline and bodies Takeshita with a Uraken! Kingston falls on top of Takeshita and the referee counts the pin.
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3.
Kingston is in shock and disbelief that he won, and the referee is checking on Takeshita who appears to be unconscious. Dirt sheets and podcasters theorize that the match ended in a shoot and that Takeshita was meant to win until an audible was called, but nonetheless, Kingston has made it to the semifinals.
Eddie Kingston defeats Konosuke Takeshita
​

• Owen Hart Cup Quarterfinal Match: Miro Vs Sammy Guevara

Heading into this match, Miro states that he has returned to AEW to reclaim his glory and win championships once again, citing the Owen Hart Cup as the most prestigious title he may hold. However, to get to the championship, Miro must first overcome the man who took his last title from him, Sammy Guevara.
Miro is out with a game face once again, and Sammy's back is still injured from the nasty spill he took in the match against Darby Allin. Despite this, Sammy puts up a decent fight and comes close to defeating Miro with a Springboard Cutter, but fails to capitalize due to the injured back. Sammy tries to lift Miro for the Go To Hell but his back gives out, leading Miro to place a boot in Sammy's back and lock in the Camel Clutch, signalling Game Over for the Spanish God.
Miro defeats Sammy Guevara
​

• Owen Hart Cup Quarterfinal Match: Chris Jericho Vs Jungle Boy

Chris Jericho is out of sorts after seeing both of his JAS prospects fail him, and furthermore, Tony Khan has issued a statement that bars all members of JAS from ringside for Jericho's match. Jericho is thus forced to go it alone against Jungle Boy Jack Perry.
Jungle Boy met Jericho once before and wrestled him to a ten minute time limit, but he was far less experienced then. Jungle Boy has made marked improvements and scored significant wins in the time since, and is now looking to score a win rather than a draw.
Jericho still takes control in the early moments of the contest, keeping Jungle Boy in the corner and leveling him with chops. Jericho nails a Triangle Dropkick sending Jungle Boy to the outside and slams him back in the ring for a Lionsault, but Jungle Boy gets the knees up and mounts a comeback. Jungle Boy hits a Swinging DDT and Springboard Moonsault of his own for a 2 count and begins to fire up. Jericho stops Jungle Boy in his tracks and goes for a Powerbomb but Jungle Boy fights it off, swivels around on Jericho's shoulders, and hits a Poisoned Rana! Jericho is sent to the outside and is clutching his neck. The ref goes out to check on him and Jericho pulls the ref in, saying he can't feel his right leg and saying he has a stinger. Despite this, Jungle Boy is feeling it and goes to hit the ropes for a Suicide Dive....
And that's when he feels a metal clang against his left ankle. Jungle Boy goes down as a masked man with Floyd the Baseball Back ducks out at ringside. Jericho rushes back into the ring as Jungle Boy is limping to his feet and plants JB with the Judas Effect for the 3 count.
As Jericho celebrates in the ring, the masked man hands him Floyd and Jericho leaves. The mystery assailant then unmasks and reveals himself as none other than Christian Cage! Christian plants Jungle Boy with an Unprettier and leaves the ring, fully recovered from injury and back in AEW
Chris Jericho defeats Jungle Boy

The Semi Finals

​

• Owen Hart Cup Semifinals: Miro Vs Chris Jericho

Following his controversial victory over Jungle Boy, Chris Jericho finds himself up against his greatest test yet: a man driven to win the Owen Hart Cup as much as he is.
JAS is still banned from ringside, but if they weren't it wouldn't matter. Earlier in the night, Miro had preemptively attacked each member of JAS leaving Matt Menard, Angelo Parker, and Jake Hager lying as Daniel Garcia wisely left the arena with no complaint from Miro. With Sammy Guevara still nursing his aggravated injuries from the weeks prior, Chris Jericho is truly alone.
Miro overpowers Jericho to start the match and begins targeting the back to wear Jericho out for the Game Over. Miro plants Jericho with scoop slam after scoop slam and drives his knee into Jericho's back with a series of backbreakers and Jericho is clearly suffering to the point of nearly garnering sympathy. Miro plants Jericho with a series of knee drops in the corner and goes to hit a Vader Bomb on the vulnerable back in the corner but Jericho rolls out of the way in the nick of time.
Jericho mounts a comeback with a Bulldog followed by a Lionsault but it's not enough. Jericho goes for the Codebreaker but Miro catches him and drops him with a Powerbomb before flipping Jericho over and locking in the Game Over. Jericho is desperately trying to crawl to the ropes to save his prospect of winning the Owen Cup but things are looking bleak. Referee Paul Turner is standing by and it looks like Jericho is going to tap.
But Paul Turner is pulled from the ring.
On the outside, Miro comes face to face with the man he beat to qualify for the Owen Hart Cup.
Not Sammy Guevara.
But Brian Pillman Jr.
The Harts are FAMILY to Brian Pillman Jr. Competing in the Owen Hart Cup would mean everything to him and it was taken away in humiliating fashion by Miro, and now Brian Pillman Jr. has come to pay the piper. Miro breaks the hold and stumbles to the ropes to confront BPJ but Jericho decks him from behind with a low blow, followed by a Judas Effect. Jericho gets the cover and Paul Turner rolls back into the ring to count a reluctant 3.
Chris Jericho defeats Miro

• Owen Hart Cup Semifinals: Eddie Kingston Vs Malakai Black

If anyone was to view this match with no prior knowledge, it would appear Eddie Kingston and Malakai Black made an agreement to use no grapples at all.
This is a fifteen minute match of Eddie Kingston and Malakai Black beating the piss out of each other. Malakai's Roundhouse Kicks versus Eddie Kingston's chops. Eddie's forearms versus Malakai's knees. Malakai's Black Mass versus Eddie's Uraken. And after a smash mouth, drag out brawl, it's a BLKOUT Lariat from Eddie Kingston that made the difference.
Eddie Kingston defeats Malakai Black

The Finals

​

• Double or Nothing Press Conference

In preparation for their match, Eddie Kingston and Chris Jericho attend a press conference with Martha Hart to build hype for the final match of the tournament. Chris Jericho reiterates everything he said before. His greatest regret is not being able to compete with Owen Hart. No one in AEW is able to lace Owen Hart's boots. A true Canadian Hero is worthy of representing Owen Hart's legacy. Chris Jericho deserves to win the Owen Hart Cup.
When the microphone turns to Eddie Kingston, however, Eddie calls Jericho's bluff. Eddie says that Jericho only wants the legacy of Owen Hart for himself. Jericho ran around the past two years calling himself a sports entertainer, but Owen Hart is the purest wrestler there ever was. Eddie says that beyond that, Owen Hart is nothing like Jericho. Owen was a committed family man who didn't leave his family at home 200 days out of the year posing as a wannabe rockstar. Owen was one of the boys backstage and sacrificed his own success to help younger stars get over, not bury them like Jericho has. Kingston ends the promo by saying Jericho winning the Owen Cup would be to tarnish Owen Hart's legacy, and Kingston isn't going to let that happen out of respect for the Hart Family.
As the press conference is wrapping up, Jericho and Kingston each take pictures with Martha Hart and she wishes both competitors good luck. However, just as things appear to have winded down, Chris Jericho proves how dastardly he is by unleashing a fire ball...
Directly in the face of Martha Hart.
Paramedics are called to the scene as Jericho escapes through the crowd with Eddie Kingston just narrowly missing him. The feed is cut as the scene turns to pure chaos as Martha Hart is being attended to.
​

• Double Or Nothing 2023: Chris Jericho Vs Eddie Kingston for the Owen Hart Cup

In a backstage interview before the match, Chris Jericho is asked why he did such a heinous thing to Martha Hart. This is his response:

"Eddie Kingston was right. I don't give a damn about the legacy of Owen Hart. Do you know what happened to me in the Hart Family Dungeon? I wasn't trained, I was tortured! Every day, I have my chest beaten raw, by ligaments stretched to powder, and my damn fingernails chipped to bloody stubs under the 'tutelage' of Stu Hart. The only reason I regret not being able to face Owen Hart is because I have no one to give a receipt for all the abuse I suffered at the hands of the heart family, but Eddie Kingston... you want to fight for the honor of Owen Hart? Be my guest. It will be you who pays for the sins of the Hart family."

Jericho makes his way to the ring and no one sings Judas. There are only a chorus of boos and Jericho flips the crowd off in reply as he awaits his opponent.
And it's a cold world. Better bundle up.
Eddie Kingston explodes out of the tunnel and rushes to the ring to start this off hot. Kingston and Jericho trade forearms in the center of the ring and Kingston slowly but surely backs Jericho to the ropes. Kingston unloads with chops but Jericho gets the upperhand with an eye rake. Jericho slams a Double Axe Handle on Kingston's back and takes him to the corner for chops of his own. Jericho leans in to talk trash and Kingston responds by biting Jericho's forehead. Kingston double legs Jericho and starts mauling him in the ring until Jericho escapes to the outside. Kingston follows in hot pursuit, Jericho rolls back in the ring but as Kingston climbs onto the ring apron Jericho sends him back out to the floor with the Triangle Dropkick.
Jericho takes control on the outside, driving Kingston's back into the barricade with a back suplex before bringing him back in the ring. Jericho hits another back suplex and cockily covers Kingston with a boot on the chest, but Kingston kicks out. Jericho slaps Kingston's head and delivers a knee to the jaw before snapmaring Kingston back down to the ground, sitting him up, and booting him in the face. Jericho covers with a forearm to the face but Kingston kicks out again. Jericho draws Kingston up for a Scoop Slam and attempts a Lionsault but Kingston gets the knees up.
Kingston regains a vertical base and starts decking Jericho with punches to the jaw. Kingston hits a Lariat, and another, and goes to hit a Belly to Belly but Jericho claps the ears and kicks Kingston in the gut. Jericho hits the ropes but Kingston runs past him, Jericho turns and is planted with a HUGE Lariat from Kingston. Kingston is fired up and unloads with chops on Jericho in the corner followed by an Exploder Suplex. Kingston is calling for a Shining Wizard to end it but Jericho catches the leg and the Walls of Jericho are locked in.
Kingston is screaming in pain but still manages to reach the ropes despite the damage Jericho has done to his lower back. Jericho is sizing Kingston up for the Codebreaker but Kingston catches, dumps Jericho and covers with a Bridging Pin. Jericho bridges out of it and goes for a Backslide but Kingston is fighting it off. Jericho runs to the corner where he traps Referee Aubrey and decks Kingston with a low blow using a back kick. Kingston doubles over and Jericho is measuring him for the Judas Effect, but just as Jericho spins out Kingston manages to duck...
And respond with the URAKEN!
Jericho crumples to the mat but Kingston isn't done. Drawing Jericho up, Kingston locks in the standing headscissor, grabs the tights, and plants Jericho with the Stump Puller Piledriver.
1.
2.
3!
​
Eddie Kingston has won the Owen Hart Cup.
​
Finally, after 15 months in limbo, Eddie Kingston has torn the albatross known as Chris Jericho from around his neck. Eddie Kingston, in winning the Owen Hart Cup, is now free to move on with his career and look to bigger and brighter things.
Coming out of Double Or Nothing, MJF is still the World Champion and will remain World Champ until December when his contract expires. Eddie Kingston continues to ride this wave of momentum past Full Gear and serves as the final challenger for MJF's World Championship before MJF leaves the company.
Does Eddie Kingston defeat MJF and save AEW?
That is a booking for another day.
​
Best of luck to John. It's 10:10 PM. Gotta post this now
Peace.

As inspired by Wrestletalk. Feel free to disagree or comment your own predictions.
Men’s Roster: - Aaron Solo: moved to ROH - Action Andretti: joins new faction - Adam Cole: wins TNT title - Alex Reynolds: tag title match - Andrade El Idolo: returns to WWE - Angelico: joins new faction - Angelo Parker: JAS for life - Anthony Bowens: still insanely popular - Anthony Ogogo: joins new faction - AR Fox: leads new faction - Ari Davari: Dark enhancement talent - Austin Gunn: moved to ROH - Bandido: becomes trios champion - Big Bill: teams with Ethan - Billy Gunn: still insanely popular - Brandon Cutler: continues making BTE - Brian Cage: leaves for WWE - Brian Pillman Jr: heel with Anderson - Brock Anderson: heel with Pillman - Brody King: wins tag title - Bryan Danielson: wrestles in G1 - Buddy Matthews: classic with Omega - Cash Wheeler: tag champion god - Chris Jericho: takes time off - Christian Cage: offered coaching role - Christopher Daniels: no career change - Chuck Taylor: moved to ROH - Claudio Castagnoli: world title match - CM Punk: impossible to predict - Colt Cabana: moved to ROH - Colten Gunn: moved to ROH - Danhausen: still absolutely hilarious - Daniel Garcia: world title match - Dante Martin: tag title match - Darby Allin: breakup with Sting - Darius Martin: tag title match - Dax Harwood: tag champion god - Dustin Rhodes: given dedicated Dynamite - Eddie Kingston: possibly dethrones MJF - Ethan Page: teams with Bill - Evil Uno: video game promoter - Frankie Kazarian: leaves for Impact - Fuego Del Sol: best jobber ever - Griff Garrison: unsatisfied, quietly leaves - Hangman Adam Page: darker heroic character - Hook: becomes main-event calibre - Isiah Kassidy: moved to ROH - Jack Perry: Owen Cup finalist - Jake Hager: JAS for life - Jay Lethal: directionless, quietly leaves - Jeff Hardy: returns, mentors rookie - Jeff Jarrett: permanent backstage role - John Silver: tag title match - Jon Moxley: massive heel run - Josh Woods: moved to ROH - Keith Lee: ROH world champion - Kenny Omega: 2023 in-ring WOTY - Kip Sabian: moved to ROH - Konosuke Takeshita: wins All-Atlantic title - Kyle O’Reilly: Owen Cup finalist - Lance Archer: mostly NJPW based - Lee Johnson: moved to ROH - Lee Moriarty: joins new faction - Luchasaurus: big heel run - Luther: regular Dark competitor - Marq Quen: moved to ROH - Matt Hardy: offered coaching role - Matt Jackson: FTR PPV match - Matt Menard: JAS for life - Matt Sydal: offered coaching role - Max Caster: still insanely popular - Miro: potential WWE return - MJF: wrestling’s best character - Malakai Black: popular dominant heel - Nick Comoroto: moved to ROH - Nick Jackson: FTR PPV match - Orange Cassidy: gradually featured less - Ortiz: Santana feud, leaves - PAC: wrestles in G1 - Parker Boudreaux: moved to ROH - Paul Wight: finally wrestles Shaq - Penta El Cero Mierdo: 2x trios champion - Powerhouse Hobbs: dethrones Darby Allin - Preston Vance: wins death match - Peter Avalon: moved to ROH - QT Marshall: regular Dark heel - Rey Fenix: 2x trios champ - Ricky Starks: 2023’s best babyface - Rush: biggest ROH heel - Sammy Guevara: JAS for life - Samoa Joe: unofficial ROH king - Santana: Ortiz feud, leaves - Satnam Singh: surprises many doubters - Scorpio Sky: no plans, leaves - Serpentico: comedic Dark jobber - Shawn Dean: unsatisfied, quietly leaves - Shawn Spears: moved to ROH - Sonny Kiss: no plans, leaves - Sting: turns on Darby - Swerve Strickland: excellent heel run - The Blade: tag title match - The Butcher: tag title match - Tony Nese: moved to ROH - Trent: moved to ROH - Wardlow: possibly dethrones MJF - Wheeler Yuta: beats Moxley clean
Women’s Roster: - Abadon: title death match - Anna Jay: still screams annoyingly - Athena: savage dominant heel - Britt Baker DMD: turns on Hayter - The Bunny: House of Black - Emi Sakura: TBS title match - Hikaru Shida: international belt collector - Jade Cargill: loses to Statlander - Jamie Hayter: women’s division MVP - Julia Hart: renamed to “Blackhart” - Kris Statlander: women’s division face - Leila Hirsch: joins new faction - Madison Rayne: mostly enhancement talent - Mercedes Martinez: permanently on ROH - Mercedes Moné/Sasha Banks: women’s world champion - Nyla Rose: multiple title matches - Paige VanZant: 2023 breakout female - Penelope Ford: no DQ specialist - Rebel: still Baker’s bitch - Red Velvet: moved to ROH - Riho: wins Owen Cup - Ruby Soho: moved to ROH - Saraya: 2023’s most improved - Serena Deeb: first BCC female - Tay Melo: gets great again - Thunder Rosa: turns mega heel - Toni Storm: AEW’s first stinkface - Willow Nightingale: best young babyface - Yuka Sakazaki: wrestles on Dark
Other: - Aussie Open: signs with AEW - Will Ospreay: multiple crossover bangers - Jay White: signs with AEW - Kota Ibushi: multiple crossover matches - Jacob Fatu: signs with AEW

Company Name	Title	City
United Parcel Service Inc.	Warehouse Worker - Package Handler	Boone
United Parcel Service Inc.	Driver Helper	Boone
Careers	Management Internship	Altoona
Iowa Department of Administrative Services	Portland Cement Concrete Engineer	Ames
Agilent Technologies, Inc.	Order Fulfillment Lead	Ankeny
MSA Professional Services, Inc	Project Manager Airports & Transportation	Bettendorf
AutoZone, Inc.	Manager Trainee	Coralville
Nothing Bundt Cakes	Cake Decorator and Cashier	Coralville
US LBM Holdings	Class B CDL Driver	Coralville
Compass Group, North America	Supervisor, Cook-hourly (part-time)	De Witt
Sodexo USA	Evening and Night Time Supervisors P/T F/T	Decorah
Presbyterian Homes and Services	Housekeeping Services Assistant - Full Time	Dubuque
Horizon Development Group, Inc	Property Manager	Dubuque
FarmTek	Paint and Prep	Dyersville
7 Hills Brewing Co, LLC	Dishwasher	Dyersville
Nutrien Ltd.	Operations Manager	Fairfield
Menards, Inc.	Management Internship	Fort Dodge
US Water Services Corporation	Water Plant Operator Trainee	Fort Dodge
Stellar Industries, Inc.	Installation Mechanic - 1st Shift - Garner	Garner
Tradesmen International, LLC	Welder	Hiawatha
University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics	ERD Machinist, Senior	Iowa City
AutoZone, Inc.	Auto Parts Delivery Driver (Part-Time)	Keokuk
Arby's Restaurant	Crew	Keokuk
Valero	Process Operator - Lakota Ethanol Plant	Lakota
Motrex LLC	Continuous Improvement Leader	Manchester

Hey guys, here are some recent job openings in ia. Feel free to comment here or send me a private message if you have any questions, I'm at the community's disposal! If you encounter any problems with any of these job openings please let me know that I will modify the table accordingly. Thanks!

Grey Cup Preview: Toronto Argonauts (11-7) @ Winnipeg Blue Bombers (15-3)

Overview

Depth Charts:
Toronto Argonauts
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Season Stats
Jul 4th: Bombers Outlast Argos in Monday Night Thriller
East Final
West Final

How they got here

The Toronto Argonauts
Another first-place finish for the Toronto Argonauts in an East division that was more competitive than years past and the fruits of Ryan Dinwiddies labours have begun to show on this roster in his second year with the Argonauts. The Toronto Argonauts went 7 and 3 against their East division rivals this season with a game lost to each Eastern opponent, the Argonauts were also 4-4 against the Western division with wins over BC, Saskatchewan and Edmonton. These Grey Cup Argos are vastly superior to the Argonauts team to start the season and I give a lot of credit to the team’s young coaches for the changes and growth of this team throughout the season.
Ryan Dinwiddie is far from perfect and has a history of questionable coaching decisions, but this offense has largely been able to find its cadence this season and has been consistently able to move the ball through the air utilizing both running backs for big gains in the passing game. In the weeks after Andrew Harris's injury the Argos had trouble moving the ball; a big focal point of the Argos offense was gone and defenses were able to play a lot looser against this Argos front instead of watching the run. The Argos were winning thanks to the defensive secondary and special teams play, but offensive production had halted and the offense was forced to change their approach and I personally felt like the big labour day win in Hamilton is when things changed for this offense. Before then, this offense had tried and failed many times to hit the big play deep instead of utilizing the speed and agility of the teams’ receivers, McLeod was still hitting the deep shots every now and then but Dinwiddie, MBT and Pete Costanza realized how much more effective this offense playing dink and dunk. The run game wasn't the same when Andrew Harris went out, but AJ Ouellette more than made up for his omission in all three phases, taking over blocking duties and being a lethal threat as a checkdown target. The offense was beginning to force the defenses to play sideline to sideline chasing the ball and it allowed Toronto to start hitting those big plays down the field more frequently. DeVaris Daniels and Kurleigh Gittens Jr were the stars, but every receiver in this offense contributed and you really got the sense that these guys were playing for each other. Paired with this was an offensive line that flew a little bit under the radar as the season went on and Dejon Allen, Dariusz Bladek and Philip Blake began forcing their will on opposing defenses and give McLeod Bethel-Thompson a clean pocket. McLeod himself has always been a good quarterback despite his tendency to gamble, but he's a true gunslinger and he has an unrecognized ability to extend plays in the pocket and avoid pressure that should honestly get there. McLeod Bethel-Thompson with a clean pocket might have the best arm in the league and Toronto's spent the better part of the last three seasons building that for him, now we're seeing what this offense is capable of.
The Argonauts defense has been the strength of the team for a season long and like the offense, this defense was elevated when defensive leader Chris Edwards came back from suspension. Edwards is a polarizing player thanks to his actions at the end of last year’s East Final, but his presence on this defense is always felt and Toronto has a lot of great veteran leadership on the defense that’s really propelled the group forward as a whole. Henoc Muamba is a coach on the field and I'll acknowledge my bias towards him (he's been my favorite player since coming up through StFX), but he has a rare ability as a linebacker to recognize the play long before the snap and relay that information to the rest of this defense. JaGared Davis is another guy on this defense that has a leadership presence and the defensive line just feeds off his energy on the field. What’s made the Argonauts defense so good this season is their ability to turn over the ball, not just from defensive pressure. This is a young secondary that has bought in, they've bought into Corey Mace and Josh Bells system and guys like Jumal Peters, Shaq Richardson and DeShaun Amos have been able to feast on opposing offenses and turn the ball over when this team needs it. Corey Mace and Josh Bell really grew this year as coaches, Corey can get into his head sometimes with defensive play calling and questionable coverage choices but he's really separated himself from the other defensive coordinators in this league because of his halftime adjustments, no doubt thanks to Chris Jones' influence last season. Second half Argos defense knows exactly what the offense is going to throw at them and they've usually been able to capitalize as a result. This defense is like the Winnipeg championship defense in that they know when to step it up and get the ball back for their offense and Toronto has been able to close out games as a result. Unfortunately this defense is going to be without the East nominee for defender of the year in Wynton McManis who spends most of his snaps at weakside linebacker but this defense has done well as a cohesive unit that they've been able to overcome injuries for most of the season.
Lastly, the Argonauts special teams might be far from perfect but they've become one of the league’s best groups thanks to the coaching of Mickey Donovan. Toronto went from being one of the worst cover units in the whole league to what is arguably the league’s best and winning the field position battle is also a huge reason why this team has been able to win this season. Toronto has rarely been able to generate the big return from Javon Leake and others, but John Haggerty and the punt teams have more than made up for those weaknesses and Boris Bede has the potential to be one of the league best kickers with his monster leg. Consistency has been an issue for the Argos special teams, but the cover teams have been LIGHTS OUT in the second half of the season and in my opinion the biggest reason why this team was able to beat Montreal routinely this season.
This is an Argos team that has flown under the radar a little bit this season thanks to inconsistent play, but when Toronto is at their best nobody in the league can beat them.
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers had another fantastic season where they pretty much coasted over the competition for most of the year with losses against Hamilton, Montreal, and an inconsequential loss to BC in the twilight of the season. Winnipeg's defense might not be the record setting world beaters they were last season, but they're still the best defense in the league by a pretty good margin and the easy Grey Cup favorites. In a lot of ways I think this Winnipeg team is better than the last two Grey Cup winning seasons for several reasons. Last year was a unique season for the league in that teams weren't given a proper offseason and the institution franchises like Winnipeg were able to dominate against unprepared and unpracticed offenses. Winnipeg hasn't had that luxury this season, but that’s also what makes this team so damn special because the competition level in this league is arguably at a 20-year high and the Bombers are still world beaters. Zach Collaros has been incredible bordering on perfect in his time with the Bombers, the offensive line is a little less dominant perhaps than years prior but still the best group in the league and the receiving talent on this roster is the best it’s ever been in my opinion. Brady Oliveira looks like the second coming of Andrew Harris and Dalton Schoen came in as a rookie and lit up the league like a solid veteran receiver. This iteration of the Blue Bombers is thanks in large part to Wade Miller and the faith and patience he's had with Mike O'Shea, this is an organizational difference and I think even when the dynasty ends eventually (players retiring), the Bombers are still going to be able to win because of O'Shea, Richie Hall, and the rest of this coaching staff. Its top-down organizational success and it’s the envy of the rest of the league.
Winnipeg has a rare chance of becoming the first team to win three Grey Cups in a row since the great Edmonton dynasty of the 80s, going back-to-back in the CFL itself is extremely rare. Only 17 teams in CFL history have won back-to-back in the league’s 100-year history. Of those 17 teams only 6 of them have been able to do so since 1960. It’s incredible company to be in regardless of who wins Grey Cup on Saturday. Offensively the Winnipeg Blue Bombers have been head and shoulders above the competition since week one excluding explosive performances from BC and Nathan Rourke. The offensive identity of the team has long been the run game, physically dominating opponents at the line of scrimmage is this team’s mantra and Brady Oliveira has been more the able to capitalize on the teams’ strengths as a result. Winnipeg beat BC last week because of the offensive line and the rushing attack and when Zach Collaros struggled with the pass rush and was fighting through injury, the ground game was able to take over and secure victory. It’s what makes this group SPECIAL, they know how to get it done and when Collaros is struggling somebody steps up and produces the team’s offense. Sometimes it’s Brady Oliveira but most of the time it’s the efforts of the receiving corps and their uncanny ability to get open and move the ball down the field after the catch. I also don't think enough credit is given to Buck Pierce for this team’s offense, sure Pierce inherited an already good offense before he became the offensive coordinator but he has a great understanding of Zach Collaros and is fantastic at playing to the strengths and talents of his guys. Collaros himself is masterful at extending the play and his receivers play around him beautifully as a result, so much so that it’s incredibly frustrating to watch your team play Winnipeg because the defense can play perfectly and still give up the big play because Collaros was able to get away and huck it deep. It’s what makes him the Most Outstanding Player in the league and Buck Pierce has done a great job playing up to his talents.
For whatever reason a lot of Winnipeg fans hate Richie Hall because of some of the coverages he uses, but Hall is ultimately the unsung hero of this Winnipeg dynasty and I want to see more people put respect on his name. Winnipeg gets a ton of mileage out of fantastic individual performances from the likes of Adam Bighill, Jackson Jeffcoat and Willie Jefferson, but this is a well-coached defense that rarely commits penalties and FLIES to the ball on every single down. It’s rare to see anyone on defense out of place and the defensive scheme has almost let Hall and company plug and play defenders with success this season. Winnipeg's been mostly healthy all season but they've suffered a decent number of injuries in the secondary. Did they stop producing like the best defense in the league in that time? No, and that’s a credit to Richie Hall's defensive schemes like it or not. What I love about this defense is the level of confidence the coaches have in this group, and its earned. How many times against BC last week did this defense step up and cause a crucial turnover when BC was driving? Sure they can give up drives and yards here and there, but this group is still lights out in the end zone and is able to consistently give the Great Bombers offense good starting field position. To beat this defense, you really must execute on all fronts and win the one-on-ones and the rare times when this defense allows a score, it’s usually because of a misplay from a DB in the end zone. Rarely is it because you've beaten the scheme or figured out this defense, it’s all about execution and this defense can win 9/10 snaps because of it. It’s been a treat watching this defense over the years and the hall of famers Adam Bighill and Willie Jefferson take over ball games. Straight up, these guys can win games themselves and that is an insane luxury for Winnipeg. So yeah, the defense might not have the explosive stats they from previous seasons, but this is a legendary group that is not hard to admire and be envious of.
The Winnipeg fan base might be the loudest and most obnoxious in the league because of their winning ways, but it’s more than earned and the success of this team is a real testament to patience and perseverance. I pray I live long enough to see my team become this successful someday lol.

Position Groups and Stats

The Toronto Argonauts Offense:
QBs: McLeod Bethel-Thompson had another big year for the double blue being the only quarterback in the league to throw for over 4,500 yards. MBT threw 23 touchdowns to 15 interceptions which is 6th best among qualifying quarterbacks. His completion percentage was 66.8% and he has also made the most 30+ yard throws this season. Interestingly, McLeod Bethel-Thompson is also the second most sacked quarterback in the league behind only Cody Fajardo. Backing up MBT is Chad Kelly who is often used in short yardage situations and certain run packages.
RBs: The Argos running back situation has been a blessing for Dinwiddie and Toronto has gotten a lot of production from both Andrew Harris and AJ Ouellette. Harris is older and more injury prone with age, but he's still an absolute monster running the ball as well as being an effective option in the passing game for MBT. He's also a great additional blocker. AJ Ouellette is a similarly talented back with fresher legs and more game time than Andrew Harris, Ouellette was instrumental down the stretch because of his production in the passing game. He's a decent north south runner as well as being a good blocker in the backfield.
WRs: The Toronto receiving corps is perhaps the smallest in the league, but this is a speedy bunch of receivers who can make a lot of big plays after the catch. Cameron Phillips and Brandon Banks have been McLeods deep options for most of the season, Banks has been making some big plays for Toronto ever since the Labour Day Classic and Phillips has next level over the top speed that has burnt defenses. Both guys are drop friends along with Markeith Ambles, but Markeith Ambles has been an important counterpart to Kurleigh Gittens Jr on the opposite side of the field. Ambles is great after the catch and a pretty good downfield blocker along with DeVaris Daniels. Kurleigh Gittens Jr and DeVaris Daniels are the stars of this receiving corps, Gittens has great agility and playmaking ability after the catch and Daniels is one of the best route runners in the league with a solid pair of hands. Despite some size disadvantages, this is a receiving corps that isn't afraid to get scrappy and physical with a defense and their speed and athleticism can break a defense.
OL:
Toronto's offensive line is one of the most improved units in the league which is especially amazing considering the injuries they've dealt with season long. Justin Lawrence, Dariusz Bladek and Ryan Hunter make a formidable interior offensive line that has a lot of strength to drive guys back in the run game. I personally think this group struggles to contain interior pass rush especially on blitz packages, but Toronto hasn't had that issue off edge since Dejon Allen and Phillip Blake returned from injury. Allen is far and away one of the most improved players in football this season and an absolute stalwart at right tackle. Blake is a venerable veteran who's been in this position before and he wins more than he loses. This is an offensive line that started the year poorly but has steadily improved all season long, and last week they had a phenomenal game against Almondo Sewell and Mike Moore on that Montreal defensive front.
Stats enforce the story but don't tell the story

Offensive Categories	Ranking
Offensive Points	6th
Offensive Touchdowns	5th
Second Down Conversion %	4th
Net Offence	6th
Rushing Yards	9th
Rushing Touchdowns	9th
Passing Yards	2nd
Passing Touchdowns	3rd
First Downs	8th
Sacks Allowed	6th
Two-and-Outs	6th
Turnovers Made	6th
Average Time of Possession	9th
Average Field Position	8th
Field Goal %	9th
Punt Return Average	9th
Kick Return Average	7th
Return Touchdowns	T-3rd

Stats enforce the story but don't tell the story
The Toronto Argonauts Defense:
DL: Stats don't measure impact and the Argonauts defensive line has flown a little bit under the radar this seaosn because they weren't getting the sacks. The pressure has been there all year long and Shawn Oakmna and Dewayne Hendrix have been absolute monsters in the middle controlling the line of scrimmage and allowing the defense to reinforce and clean up plays. Oakman is just such a freakish athlete and arguably the best defensive tackle in the league, he's a guy that can crash the line and disrupt the play before it starts and work through blocks and make a play in the backfield. Dewayne Hendrix is freakishly strong and a run stopping machine and JaGared Davis is still a two-way defensive lineman that comes along in playoff situations always. Robbie Smith has been productive off edge for Toronto and in general Toronto's gotten a lot of good pressure from its rotational lineman.
LBs: I've already raved over Henoc Muamba but he's also another player who's age is starting to show a little bit. Noc has no trouble throwing his weight around and his pursuit is still great, but his on-field speed has taken a little bit of a hit and he can become a mismatch in coverage. Chris Edwards and Robert Priester have both done a good job covering those holes and while he's no Wynton McManis, Johnathon Jones has been decent in coverage filling in.
DBs: Toronto's secondary is arguably the reason the Argos are in the cup and they've had a ridiculous ability to diagnose the route before the receiver runs it and turns the ball over for a big momentum swing. Jumal Peters is probably the best boundary cornerback in the league, he's a physical DB that isn't afraid to get his hands dirty and he's been great shedding blocks in the run game as well as locking down receivers and baiting the QB into throwing an interception. Shaq Richardson, Chris Edwards and DaShaun Amos are the lurkers in this secondary, they're all guys that can strike at any moment and take it back for 6 and McFadden and Metchie are pretty good against the run. It’s pretty fun watching this secondary go to work however, think Royce Metchie has been having some issues getting beaten deep and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Winnipeg attack him.

Defensive Categories	Ranking
Points Allowed	4th
Touchdowns Allowed	2nd
Opponent Second Down Conversion %	4th
Opposing Net Offence	8th
Opposing Rushing Yards	6th
Opposing Rushing Touchdowns	3rd
Opposing Passing Yards	8th
Opposing Passing Touchdowns	3rd
First Downs Allowed	8th
Sacks Made	6th
Two-and-Outs Forced	T-4th
Turnovers Made	1st
Passes Knocked Down	6th
Net Punt Average	5th
Big Play Returns Allowed	6th
Opposing Kick Return Average	4th
Opposing Punt Return Average	9th
Opposing Return Touchdowns	4th

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers Offense
QBs: Zach Collaros might not have thrown for the most yards this season but he was far and away the league’s best quarterback this season throwing for nearly 4200 yards and 37 touchdowns to 13 interceptions. Zach's completion percentage was 70% and was tied with Nathan Rourke for the 3rd most throws past 30 yards this season. Dane Evans was the only quarterback who was sacked less than Collaros, thanks in part to the Winnipeg offensive line but also because of Zach's unreal ability to avoid pressure and extend the play outside the pocket. What’s insane to me is that Collaros threw 12 more touchdown passes than the next closest QB (Nathan Rourke) and had the highest touchdown percentage among starting quarterbacks.
RBs: Brady Oliveira has risen to the occasion for Winnipeg despite starting the season a little underwhelming. Oliveria hit a groove this season and not only as a hard-nosed runner. His greatest talent as a running back is his ability to maintain his low centre of gravity, so much so that defenders just bounce off him and he's strong enough to bowl through leg tackles for additional yardage. You tackle him and he falls forwards 3 yards, which is just unfair to defenders. He hasn't been a huge threat in the passing game but he's rarely needed to be and his blocking skills have certainly improved as well. Johnny Augustine might get a rep or two but I doubt it, he has potential as a runner but honestly Nic Demski and Dru Brown are more effective runners for Winnipeg.
WRs: This is a special receiving corps even after the loss of Kenny Lawler in the offseason and I give a lot of credit to Nic Demski and Greg Ellingson for stepping up and being "the guys" on offense. Ellingson had an injury plagued campaign but I personally felt like he was the best receiver in football this season aside from maybe Geno Lewis when he did play, Ellingson isn't going to drop the ball and he has an unbelievable ability to always be open. Nic Demski has been somewhat of an offensive dynamo for Winnipeg and pretty like the player he was in college for Manitoba. Demski is used a lot in different reverse packages but he's also a lethal receiving threat that can make all the catches you need him to, he's also got an absolute nose for the end zone. Dalton Schoen has been Zach's most reliable receiver this season thanks in large part because of availability, but he does everything the team asks him to do and honestly, he plays a little bit like Demski and Ellingson combined which is frightening. He reminds me of Greg Ellingson when he started his career in Hamilton. Rasheed Bailey is a guy that I think deserves more touches and I legitimately believe he can also be a top receiver in this league if he's given more opportunities, but he's also invaluable blocking downfield. Drew Wolitarksy is ol' reliable, he's never going to burn a guy deep and put-up ridiculous stats but he's always going to be open when the team needs a conversion and that is invaluable.
OL: Stanley Bryant is the most outstanding offensive lineman again even though I personally think Brandon Revenberg should've won, but that doesn't mean any disrespect to Bryant who is still a top two lineman in all of the CFL at his age. It’s pretty insane, he gets beaten now more than he ever has in his career which is just a side effect of age, but he still very much enforces his will on opposing defenses. Yoshi Hardrick has honestly struggled a little bit this season more than we're used to seeing, he's still an absolute animal in the run game though and an absolute bruiser at tackle. My problem with Yoshi this season is that he's been really penalty heavy and he's the lineman that gets away with a lot of hands to the face and blatant holds. My issue with it isn't the penalties not being called, it’s the laziness of it and Yoshi is caught holding or with hands in someone's grill once or twice a game now. When he's playing clean though he's an absolute BEAST. Patty Neufeld and Michael Couture have been taking care of business in the trenches, I personally think Neufeld was the best offensive lineman on the team this season. Geoff Gray is a younger guy that's going to keep getting better with more playing time, he's already improved from his early season form and this line as a group plays incredibly well together.
Stats enforce the story but don't tell the story

Offensive Categories	Ranking
Offensive Points	2nd
Offensive Touchdowns	1st
Second Down Conversion %	1st
Net Offence	3rd
Rushing Yards	2nd
Rushing Touchdowns	6th
Passing Yards	5th
Passing Touchdowns	1st
First Downs	1st
Sacks Allowed	2nd
Two-and-Outs	3rd
Turnovers Made	1st
Average Time of Possession	1st
Average Field Position	2nd
Field Goal %	7th
Punt Return Average	1st
Kick Return Average	5th
Return Touchdowns	2nd

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers:
DL: The sack total dipped for Winnipeg largely because the team lost a lot of rotational depth after last year’s Grey Cup win. That isn't meant to disparage the group at all because this is still a sensational defensive line and if Willie Jefferson is playing, I'm always going to expect a Winnipeg victory. Willie is a generational talent in this league, he's explosive off the edge and all around the ball but he's also so goddamn good at getting his hands up. Jackson Jeffcoat is a little bit removed from being a force off the other side but he does a great job at beating his man and setting the defensive line even if he doesn't get in the backfield. Both guys shed blocks like nobody was blocking them, and Jake Thomas and Casey Sayles have had sneakily good years up the middle. Sayles was one of the biggest reasons the Winnipeg defense had so much success last week against BC.
LBs: This is a talented linebacking corps lead by a hall of famer in Adam Bighill. Bighill plays like a goddamn wolverine, always around the ball and just pure motor. It’s a sin Rutledge can't go because he was great at SAM when he played, but Alden Darby is a guy who knows this system and has been in this position before. Clements on the other side also flies to the ball and is a reliable backer in coverage. This linebacking corps isn't asked to do a whole lot other than reinforcing, and they do it well. Both outside linebackers are great at coverage and Adam Bighill is still a difference making defender that comes up big when the team needs it the most.
DBs: The Winnipeg secondary is as close to full form as its going to be, but I should make the point to say that both Dez Lawrence and Jamal Parker are depth guys who have been playing decently well enough for the injured Nick Taylor and Demerio Houston. Houston was the best coverage corner in football this season in my opinion and Nick Taylor is another high upside guy that Winnipeg will be missing tonight, Parker has filled in well but Des Lawrence has been known to get picked on in his CFL career so far. Aside from that this is a great secondary lead by Brandon Alexander at FS who to my mind has returned to form. Winston Rose can get beaten overtop sometimes but he's a great man-to-man cornerback and Deatrick Nichols simply put is one the best halfbacks in football this season. These guys can turn the ball over and lock down receivers, but they also get downfield in a hurry and can make a tackle in space.
Stats enforce the story but don't tell the story

Defensive Categories	Ranking
Points Allowed	1st
Touchdowns Allowed	1st
Opponent Second Down Conversion %	3rd
Opposing Net Offence	1st
Opposing Rushing Yards	3rd
Opposing Rushing Touchdowns	1st
Opposing Passing Yards	2nd
Opposing Passing Touchdowns	1st
First Downs Allowed	3rd
Sacks Made	8th
Two-and-Outs Forced	9th
Turnovers Made	6th
Passes Knocked Down	2nd
Net Punt Average	7th
Big Play Returns Allowed	9th
Opposing Kick Return Average	7th
Opposing Punt Return Average	7th
Opposing Return Touchdowns	T-3RD

Keys to the Game

The Toronto Argonauts
Wear down the defense with the run, match Winnipeg’s physicality:
Winnipeg's defense is successful for a lot of reasons, one of the biggest reasons is their raw physicality and how much it can impact opposing offenses in cold weather football and it’s not just the big boys in the trenches. The Winnipeg secondary loves to throw its weight around and get into the heads of the defenders that way, and it usually works. Receivers can get easily thrown off rhythm when they've taken some shots and Winnipeg's defense has often been able to exclusively play the pass because of teams playing from behind. Last week Winnipeg barely treated the run game as a threat at all, James Butler could barely get the ball past the line of scrimmage if at all and Thomas/Sayles were monsters crashing the offensive line trapping the running back.
Toronto can't afford to get themselves in this position where the Winnipeg defense is able to basically just play in the same formation all game long. Both Toronto running backs can be utilized in the ground game but Andrew Harris is going to be the tone setter with his physical running ability and if Toronto can consistently get Harris or Ouellette in the defensive secondary and let those guys feel the hurt for once, I think Toronto has a decent shot of winning this game. Turnovers are going to be important as well obviously, you can't give Winnipeg a chance to beat you and I don't want to see McLeod Bethel Thompson over think it because he's trying to do too much down a score.
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Get consistent pressure off edge and keep MBT guessing on blitzes:
Against a hobbled Nathan Rourke the Winnipeg defense was able to keep him in the pocket and overload the line with big bodies who were able to get their hands up and knock the ball down. Its half the reason why Winnipeg has been able to disrupt Nathan Rourke because they were able to control the line of scrimmage and sit in the passing lanes waiting for the ball to get there, they also knew his leg wasn't good enough to bounce it outside so they were able to basically crash the line and force Rourke to throw above them to complete anything. Winnipeg won't have that luxury against McLeod Bethel Thompson who typically has a higher release, but there is other ways Winnipeg can get around that.
We can assume Willie Jefferson is going to get home and routinely be in the backfield, regardless of who's blocking him. The same can also apply to Jeffcoat, both guys are going to be important for Winnipeg tonight not only for needing to generate consistent pressure against MBT, but they're also going to be the first men on the scene in check down situations. Jake Thomas and Casey Sayles are both guys that can churn and burn for sacks, but they're never going to be absolute forces on their own and Richie Hall is going to need to be creative on blitzes against this Argonaut offense and disguise blitzes so MBT never knows when they're coming. Part of MBT's growth in the CFL has been his evolution reading CFL defense, but despite that he can still be a reckless thrower and with off kilter blitzes I think Winnipeg can capitalize and force a turnover.
The Toronto Argonauts
Don't let Winnipeg bully you off the line:
BC's defensive line was routinely able to get after Zach Collaros and knock him around in the backfield, largely because of extra blitzers or defenders roaring off edge like Mathieu Betts and David Menard. Where BC's defensive line was humiliated against the run game and Winnipeg at one point in the game was able to give Olieveira 3 yards before first contact. Which is absolutely insane when you think about the amount of weight, you're bullying off the ball. BC does lack a force on the inside of the defensive line and Winnipeg's offensive line made mincemeat of BC's defense as a result and Olveira is explosive enough as a runner to barrel through defenders at the second level and barrel down the field for a big game.
Toronto cannot afford to let Winnipeg bully them off the ball, Shawn Oakman and Dewayne Hendrix need to be forces up front and not let the Bombers offensive line take over early. Getting after Zach Collaros is a whole other situation and I wouldn't be surprised if we see Toronto sitting a defender to spy Collaros during the game. Collaros has never liked getting hit, even before the injuries and even though he can bounce back from a hit now better than before, getting hit consistently starts to affect him mentally and he tends to lose guys down the field as a result. Toronto must do what they can to get after Zach, but I also have concerns with this defense committing penalties. Don't give Winnipeg a chance to beat you defensively. and Toronto can't take off plays tackling either.
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Winnipeg’s Receivers versus Toronto's secondary:
To me the matchup I am most excited for this Grey Cup is watching this Winnipeg receiving corps go to work against Toronto's explosive defensive secondary. It’s going to be an absolute cage match between two off the top positional groups in the league and I'm excited to watch the back and forth between these two units. The success of Winnipeg’s receiving corps in the Grey Cup is going to be determined by these receivers finding the soft zones in coverages and utilizing the space given by the defense. It’s why I love watching this receiving corps go to work, every single receiver in this group understands exactly where they are on the field and they also know what angles to take to avoid defenders and get a huge gain after the catch. Somebody is ALWAYS open in this receiving corps.
The Toronto secondary isn't one to be trifled with however and they're probably the most physical group the Winnipeg receiving corps has battled with since the Calgary games. Toronto has a lot of size in the secondary, size that’s great at jamming receivers at the line of scrimmage but also the speed and athleticism to close on a ball that would otherwise be an interception. The tip drill has also been a huge part of this defenses game and Winnipeg's receivers can't afford to bobble catches against this unit.

Conclusion and Prediction

Pretty sure this was my Grey Cup prediction when the season started, both teams are loaded with a lot of top end talent and both teams are great at grinding out hard fought wins. This battle I think will ultimately be determined by physicality up front Moreso than any individual player and I think Winnipeg has the clear advantage on that front. I think if any team can beat this dynasty Bombers team, it’s this current Argonauts squad. But it’s a tall order.
I predict that the Winnipeg Blue Bombers will defeat the Toronto Argonauts 31-29 to win their third straight Grey Cup!

any useful information or advice would be appreciated. im currently a cashier of two years looking to further my career with menards.

Consider this: you're scrolling through your social media feed when you come across a post from a well-known athlete endorsing a sporting goods store. It's a great photo, but because it's so perfect, it feels very salesy (almost too perfect). Not to mention that you've seen this celebrity in a number of other commercials.
Consider the same scenario, but instead of a celebrity photo, you see a post by your favorite fitness blogger. It's a promotional post for the same athletic brand, but it feels more genuine. The blogger clearly spent time crafting an engaging caption that appeals to their target audience.
Which of the images would entice you to check out the aforementioned sporty brand?
If you chose the second option, you join the 92% of consumers who trust influencers more than traditional celebrities.
In the world of advertising and endorsements, the tide has turned. Consumers no longer believe polished advertisements promoting products and services. Instead, shoppers are focusing on influencers, who are ordinary people who have a large number of followers.
If influencers aren't part of your ecommerce marketing strategy, you may be passing up opportunities to reach out to your target customers.
This guide will walk you through the ins and outs of influencer marketing for ecommerce. You'll learn how to find influencers, what tools to use, and how to make sure you choose the right ones. We've also included some pointers on how to work with them and cultivate harmonious relationships with your coworkers.
We've also included some good and bad examples of influencer marketing to help you stay on track with your campaigns.
Let's get started!

Begin by conducting audience research.

Before looking for influencers, get to know your target customers. Make it clear who you're aiming for. This is especially important if your products appeal to a variety of audiences.
A fitness apparel store, for example, may attract customers ranging from 20-something single women to mothers looking to get back into shape. If this is the case, choose one market segment per influencer campaign to keep your messaging on track.
Once you've decided on your market, write down their key demographic and social information. What are their ages? What is their level of education? What websites do they frequent?
Most of these things should be fairly easy to find if you're already collecting customer data. However, if you want to go further, you could try the following:
Send surveys - Survey your customers to learn more about their psychographic and social characteristics that you may not be aware of. You can also ask about the websites they visit and the influencers they follow at this time.
Investigate a few customers - If you know some of your customers personally, do some online and social media research. Which social media platforms do they use? What kinds of content are they disseminating? What hashtags do they use? These are just a few of the inquiries you should make.
Why go to the trouble of conducting audience research? Knowing your target audience will help you with many aspects of your influencer campaign.

• Deep audience research will assist you in crafting the appropriate messaging.
• It will allow you to identify the most influential people (more on this in a bit).
• It will assist you in determining the best platforms for your campaign.

Choose your platform.

Choosing the platform on which to run your program is an important step in influencer marketing. Is it better to do it on Instagram or Snapchat? What about Facebook and YouTube?
The answer is determined by two factors: your audience and your goals.
First, determine which websites or apps are popular among your target audience. Which social networks do they use and how do they interact with them? Then you must consider your campaign objectives. Do you want to raise awareness? Do you want the campaign to generate traffic and sales?
To help you understand this step better, here's a quick rundown of the most popular social platforms for influencers and how you can use them in your campaigns:
Ecommerce Instagram Influencer Marketing

• Great for reaching younger demographics, as Business Insider reports that more than 90% of Instagram users are under the age of 35.
• Instagram is more effective for increasing your social following and brand awareness.
• While Instagram can help you generate traffic and sales, the process is still time-consuming.
• Instagram Stories is becoming increasingly popular, making it an ideal platform for delivering real-time or spontaneous content.

Ecommerce Snapchat Influencer Marketing

• Excellent for reaching out to even younger audiences. According to Statista, 83.4% of U.S. mobile phone users aged 18 to 24 were Snapchat users in 2017. Furthermore, 78.6% of users aged 18-24 were active Snapchat users, while less than half (47.6%) of those aged 25 to 34 were.
• Snapchat is also excellent for promoting live content. "Snapchat influencers work well for building awareness and creating buzz around real-time events like product launches or products targeting young audiences (think gummy bears," according to BigCommerce.
• Snapchat may not be the best choice if you want to drive traffic or sales directly from your campaign.

Ecommerce Twitter Influencer Marketing

• Twitter is an excellent platform for reaching out to millennials. According to Hootsuite, "36 percent of Americans aged 18 to 29 years old use Twitter, more than any other age group." Usage decreases with age, with 22 percent of those aged 30 to 49 using the service, 18 percent of those aged 50 to 64, and only 6 percent of those aged 65 and up."
• The verdict is still out on whether Twitter influencer campaigns can directly drive sales. However, according to a Nielsen study commissioned by Twitter, "one in every four new vehicle purchasers in the United States used Twitter as an input to their vehicle purchase decision."
• Twitter is ideal for sparking discussions. Twitter chats are still popular, and they help influencers and brands tell stories and educate their audiences on specific topics.
• Are you doing something noteworthy? Taking a stance on a specific issue? Twitter is the place to be. Seventy-four percent of US adults who use Twitter say the site is where they get their news.

Ecommerce Influencer Marketing on YouTube

• YouTube is an excellent platform for reaching millennials and (younger) boomers. According to research, people between the ages of 25 and 44 are the most likely to watch YouTube videos.
• Sixty-two percent of YouTube viewers are men, with 38% being women. It's worth noting, however, that YouTube has a massive user base (over 1 billion users), so the audience is significant either way.
• YouTube can be used for branding as well as traffic campaigns. "YouTube is particularly special because it works well at every stage of the funnel — offering both visual branding opportunity and attributable traffic to your site," says BigCommerce.

How to Identify Influencers for Your Ecommerce Business

You should have decided on the best social media platform for your ecommerce influencer campaign by this point. The next step is to find people with whom to collaborate. If you conducted audience research, you should have a good idea of which influencers are influential in your industry.
However, if you need assistance or want to find even more influencers, you can use the following resources:
Your current followers
The best influencers could be right under your nose (or rather, in your CRM). Look into your existing customers first before going "out there" to find people to work with.
"My biggest tip for brands looking for loyal influencers to work with is to start tracking who is already representing them," says blogger and YouTuber Laura Lindsay (@thelauralindsay).
"Who are your biggest supporters?" Who is tagging you in their Instagram Stories, original visual content on YouTube, or YouTube videos? It always amazes me when brands pass up opportunities right in front of their faces. People who are posting about you are already fans of your brand. They've already established credibility in the eyes of their followers. Grow those relationships, and your message will flourish! ”
So, look through your social followers to see who is already talking about your brand. Examine their social profiles, and if they have a sizable or engaged following, think about approaching them for collaborative opportunities.

Social media networks

With some smart social media searches, you can find a plethora of potential influencers.
For example, if you're planning an Instagram influencer marketing campaign, look through the posts with relevant hashtags. If you're going to be on YouTube, enter search terms that your target customers might use and look at the channels that cover those topics.

Marketing tools for social media influencers

There are also a few tools available to help you narrow down your search. Most of them have features that overlap, so it's best to look at them individually and see what works best for your brand, budget, industry, and campaign.
Begin by doing the following:

• Peg - With features like advanced search, influencer comparison, and brand safety checker, Peg makes it simple to find people to collaborate with. In terms of campaign management, this tool can assist you in tracking your results through real-time monitoring, reports, and industry comparisons.
• Reachbird - Reachbird, like Peg, has tools to help you at every stage of your campaign, from finding people to measuring success. Its keyword-based search engine, data-rich insights, content planning, and quantitative + qualitative analytics are just a few of its notable features.
• Scrunch - This influencer marketing platform provides a number of tools to assist you in finding influencers and managing campaigns. It has features like influencer search, bookmarks, alerts, and more.
• Buzzoole - What's interesting about Buzzoole is that, in addition to influencer search and campaign management, it also offers AI automation. Buzzoole's website claims that their tool automates the selection of Creators by "finding the ones that are aligned with your Brand and allowing you to naturally involve your target audience."
• Deep Social - Deep Social is a low-cost tool that provides "in-depth insights into demographic and psychographic data of Instagram marketing influencers and their audience."

Have a procedure in place

Aside from tools, having a system for identifying and contacting influencers will make your life a lot easier. Be organized and create a campaign procedure.
Meg Raiano of reCreativeAGENCY explains how they connect with influencers.
"When we begin outreach for our clients, we typically build a list of 50-100 potential influencers in their category with a seemingly similar target demographic." "Of course, that's all conjecture based on what we can see and what we can find on the internet," she says.
"After we create that list, we contact each influencer individually to learn more about what they believe their market is, if they have any costs associated with posting, if the post will be on multiple social platforms or just one, and so on."
"Typically, we end up with 5-10 influencers for each of our clients (depending on the product and cost), and they are highly suited for the market we're in in terms of both demographics and brand strategy."

How to Choose Influencers to Work With

Have you compiled a list of potential influencers? Great. It's now time to vet them to see who would be the best fit. You can accomplish this by contacting them and speaking with them about their audience and content.
If you want to vet influencers further, we recommend the following:
Be cautious of influencers who only post sponsored content.
Examine each person's feed to ensure that there is a healthy mix of promotional and authentic, high-value content. If there are a disproportionate number of advertisements and endorsements, you should look elsewhere.
"One of the main things we look out for is people who only do'salesy' posts," Raiano says. "It is critical to your influencer marketing strategy that your brand message is communicated to the influencers you select."
According to Jessica Postiglione, CEO and co-founder of OLIKA, they do not work with influencers "who are solely focused on monetary compensation for posts." Their feeds appear to be billboards, and their followers are frequently uninterested. Also, be wary of high follower counts and low post engagement. This indicates that the follower count may be inflated by purchased accounts."

Speaking of large numbers of followers...

Measure engagement rather than just followers.
The number of followers isn't everything. Don't be swayed by large numbers. According to Shannon Menard of Power Digital Marketing, "many e-commerce merchants make the mistake of assuming that people with hundreds of thousands of followers will make the most impact." While an influencer's number of followers is important, engagement is the best predictor of success."
Menard does, however, recommend that ecommerce merchants try to work with influencers who have at least 10,000 followers on Instagram. "Influencers with over 10,000 followers who set up their page as a business profile can include links within their Stories, allowing brands to track how many people clicked on the link and how many actually converted." Google Analytics allows you to see which influencers moved the needle and which did not, ultimately assisting you in determining which influencers you want to work with again in the future."
What is the main point here? Don't just look at someone's follower count; also consider their engagement. Scrunch suggests the following formula to accomplish this:
Total Engagement / Follower Counts / Number of Posts x 100 = Average Engagement Rate (%) Per Post
Now, it appears that a "good" engagement rate varies depending on the platform. Scrunch puts it this way:
We examined millions of data points to determine average and above-average engagement rates on each social platform. According to our findings, the average (50th percentile) engagement rate on Twitter is around 0.06%, while the 99th percentile (top 1%) is only around 2.7%. Compare this to Instagram, where our research found that the average profile has 2.7% engagement and the top performing profiles have 17.8% engagement.

Collaboration with influencers

You already have a list of people you want to work with and are about to contact them (or maybe you already have). The following guidelines will assist you in maintaining a harmonious working relationship with each influencer.

Create connections.

"[Don't] rush the process of finding the perfect influencer," advises Melanie Balke, BAMF Media's Head of European Markets and Growth Strategist.
According to Balke, ecommerce merchants should focus on cultivating relationships before approaching them.
"You can build a relationship by engaging with their content, possibly even giving shoutouts on your own account or reposting their stuff without expecting anything in return." This will get their attention and, as the law of reciprocity shows, may even get you better terms once you reach out to establish a relationship."
"I've seen this technique work well and even had influencers reach out before I did," she continues. The most important thing is that the influencer likes you and your product. Don't just pay them to say yes; instead, build a relationship with them and get them to like it before you collaborate.

Be sincere

You wouldn't want to receive canned outreach messages from other businesses, would you? Social influencers are no exception.
Rather than sending a templated message to everyone on your list, spend the time going through their social profiles and websites and personalizing your outreach based on what you know about them.
"Your campaign pitch and communications will come across as far more genuine if they are tailored to them," says Amy Baker of Content Career.
"Use their real name rather than their handle." Discuss why their specific content is a good fit, and if possible, refer to their previous videos or blogs."
Free samples could work, but keep in mind that other influencers will need to be compensated financially.
Giving away free products may work for new influencers, but recognize (and respect) the fact that those who are already established in their industry may request monetary compensation.
"Think about how much time it will take the influencer to create their content and how many people will see it, and then compensate accordingly," Baker says. "If you compensate fairly now, a good relationship with a growing influencer could be worth far more to you later."
In the same vein, when dealing with influencers, always maintain a professional demeanor. "Influencers spend time, energy, and hard-earned expertise creating content in collaboration with brands so that they can present the best possible image and most impactful story to their cherished audience," says Faye Lessler of Sustaining Life. Influencers expect to be treated as professionals and paid accordingly for these simple reasons."
"Treat influencers with the same respect you would give to any other employee, contractor, or freelancer," she adds. "Influencers work just like anyone else to make a living and keep their reputation intact, and when they are treated and compensated appropriately, they are much more likely to work with you again and again."

Allow them to be creative

Avoid giving influencers rigid scripts if you want your influencer campaign to appear authentic. It's fine to provide talking points and guidelines, but leave plenty of room for creativity.
Baker suggests "giving the influencer a list of the major benefits and allowing them to reconstruct them using their own language." It will appear more natural and trustworthy. Not to mention, most good influencers will decline brands that require scripted content.

Case studies of retail influencer marketing

Now that we've discussed influencer marketing best practices, let's take a look at some actual campaigns. The examples below will help you understand what to do — and what not to do — when running an influencer campaign.

Excellent examples of influencer marketing

Make your products a part of a larger story - It pays to be more creative when it comes to influencer marketing. Rather than asking someone to explicitly endorse your product, see if you can incorporate your brand into their content naturally.
One excellent example is Simplehuman's collaboration with Wong Fu Productions, a filmmaking collective known for its (extremely popular) YouTube sketches and short films.
Wong Fu Production created an amusing and highly relatable video about "adulting" and the difficulties that come with maturing. The video was intended to promote Simplehuman's trash cans, but it did so in an unobtrusive manner. For example, rather than overtly promoting the Simplehuman brand, their products were subtly woven into the plot and were not the main focus of the story.
The video was a success, garnering over a million views to date. Viewers also praised Wong Fu for his natural execution of the sponsored content.
Tap into your existing fan base - We previously discussed the advantages of using existing customers in your influencer campaigns. Sperry, a retailer of classic boat shoes and preppy apparel, is one example.
Sperry noticed that they had many loyal customers who were already creating great content, according to Balke.
"They then invited customers who had previously posted great visuals to create official content for their Instagram account." They collaborated with over 100 micro-influencers to produce an impressive amount of high-quality content."
"These efforts resulted in one of their top performing posts of 2017." As far as I know, these micro-influencers were not paid, but rather received exposure when Sperry posted their photo and tagged them. They are now formalizing this program to include athletes and other sea-inspired influencers out there."
Develop strong connections with key influencers and then take your relationship to the next level by co-creating something with them. Go beyond social media posts and see if you and your partners can create something more tangible.
Morphe, a cosmetics brand, did this exceptionally well. Morphe has always been a big fan of influencer marketing and has spent a lot of money on YouTube collaborations rather than traditional advertising.
Morphe, on the other hand, took their influencer strategy to the next level. The Morphe x Jaclyn Hill Palette, an eyeshadow palette co-created with beauty influencer Jaclyn Hill, was released in 2017.
The results were fantastic. Fans adored the palette, and over 1 million Morphe x Jaclyn Hill Palettes were sold by the end of the year.

Influencer marketing failures

So far, we've discussed what to do when launching an influencer campaign. What about the things you should avoid? Let's go exploring...

Failure to disclose sponsored content

Influencer campaigns may not be considered "traditional" advertising, but they must still adhere to certain advertising guidelines and standards. Failure to do so may put your company in hot water. Simply ask Lord & Taylor.
In March 2015, the clothing retailer launched an Instagram campaign with 50 high-profile fashion bloggers, with each influencer posting an Instagram photo of herself wearing the same Lord & Taylor dress. Because all of the photos were posted on the same weekend, everyone noticed the dress right away.
The campaign was a huge success in terms of sales and marketing. According to AdWeek, "many of the posts generated more than 1,000 Likes each, with several exceeding 5,000 Likes and some reaching rarified levels like 13,000 Likes." The initiative also resulted in sales, with the dress selling out that same weekend.
However, there was one significant flaw: the influencers didn't clearly disclose the "sponsored" nature of their posts. This was against the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) digital advertising guidelines, which prohibit misleading marketing.
The incident prompted an investigation, and in 2016, Lord & Taylor agreed to settle FTC charges that the campaign deceived consumers.
Jessica Rich, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, stated in an official statement: "Lord & Taylor needs to be straight with consumers in its online marketing campaigns... Consumers have the right to know when they're looking at paid advertising."

Giving the influencer a script and failing to cultivate a healthy relationship

"The influencer campaign with Scott Disick is a great example of what happens when you work with an influencer without really establishing a brand relationship," says Balke.
"As you can see in the image below, Scott simply copied and pasted whatever the brand wanted him to say."
"That is by far the worst thing because you always want your influencer to speak about your brand authentically, in their own voice and words." "Obviously, the error here made it even more obvious," she adds.

Last words

Ecommerce brands can benefit greatly from influencer marketing. Influencers can help you tell your story, get your product in front of the right people, and even drive sales. However, just like any other form of marketing, you must be ethical in your efforts and professional when dealing with collaborators.
We hope this guide assists you in launching a successful campaign. And if you ever need assistance launching your influencer program, please don't hesitate to contact us!

… own a Cup Series team with
(1) Danica Patrick, Cole Custer, and BJ McLeod as drivers -OR-
(2) Paul Menard, Aric Almirola, and Matt Dibenedetto as drivers?
All drivers are assumed to be in the “prime” of their careers.

On Christmas Day 2019, Bobby Gerhart unfortunately suffered a heart attack which ended his racing career. However he still intended to field his #5 car with funded drivers in 2020 starting with the truck race and ARCA race but no sponsorship could be found. Gerhart had sold a bunch of equipment and it was speculated that the team shut down. However they showed up at Daytona testing with Dale Quarterley who later ran the race bringing sponsorship from Van Dyk finishing 12th. The team had intended to run more races throughout the season with funded drivers but could not find any as Quarterley would run for his own team at the road courses. For 2023, the team will be returning with the #5 at the Daytona test and race and is looking for funded drivers. The car in the photo is the same one Quarterley ran at Daytona. While there’s speculation that the car was owned by Quarterley, it appears to be a Gerhart car as it is in the BGR shop. Gerhart is also offering a development driver program, selling 2 cars and a 3rd for either sale or lease for Daytona. https://www.racingjunk.com/nascar-arca-asa-super-cup-hooters/184382602/funded-driver-wanted-arca-menards-daytona-2023.html

Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) announced today that it will field two full-time teams in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for the 2023 season. Chase Purdy will compete for the driver’s championship in the No. 4 Chevrolet as part of a multi-year deal, while Jack Wood will compete in a minimum of 10 races alongside KBM owner-driver Kyle Busch and other later to be announced NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series drivers as part of the team’s owner’s championship effort with the No. 51 Chevrolet. Additionally, KBM has formed a technical alliance to support Rev Racing’s expansion into the Truck Series with 2022 ARCA Menard’s Series champion Nick Sanchez driving the No. 2 Chevrolet.
Purdy finished fourth in the 2018 ARCA Menard’s Series championship standings after recording 84 laps led, 10 top-five and 14 top-10 finishes before turning his focuses to finishing his education at the University of Mississippi in 2019. He returned to racing full-time in in 2021, moving up to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Across 51 career Truck Series starts, the 22-year-old driver has produced 17 laps led and five top-10 finishes. The Mississippi native earned the 2017 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East rookie of the year honors and finished fourth in the championship standings after posting four poles, 200 laps led, five top-five and eight top-10 finishes across 14 starts.
“I’m thankful for the opportunity to get behind the wheel of the No. 4 truck and my goal is to join the long list of winners that KBM has produced,” Purdy said. “KBM has great people that build really fast trucks and I’m confident we can do big things together the next two seasons. I appreciate everyone involved that helped put me in this position and I can’t wait for next season to start!”
Wood finished ninth in his ARCA Menards Series debut at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway in 2021 and recorded one top-five and four top-10 finishes across eight starts that season. He was elevated to the Truck Series in May of 2021, where he posted one top-10 and three top-15 finishes while competing in 12 of the last 13 races on the schedule. He returned to full-time Truck Series action in 2022 and currently ranks third in the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings.
“Growing up racing on the west coast I never would’ve dreamed that I’d be racing for Kyle Busch Motorsports and sharing a truck with Kyle — it’s truly the opportunity of a lifetime and I can’t even put into words how excited that I am,” Wood said. “To have the chance to learn from arguably one of the best to ever do it is going to be an incredible experience for me and I’m extremely thankful to everyone at Chevrolet and KBM that made this possible. I know that I have a lot of hard work ahead of me, but KBM will be surrounding me with everything I need to continue to grow as a driver and I can’t wait to get started.”
Busch is the winningest driver in Truck Series history having won 37.6% (62/165) of the races he has entered and finished first or second in 56.4% (93/165). In addition to his Truck Series leading 62 wins, ‘Rowdy’ also ranks first all-time among Truck Series drivers in average finish (6.5) and second in laps led (7,636).
“Obviously there will be a lot of change at KBM in 2023, but our goal as an organization remains the same that it always has been and that’s to go out and win races and provide the young drivers in our lineup everything they need to reach their full potential,” Busch said. “We have the right people in place to be able to accomplish those goals for our two trucks as well as being able to provide technical support to Rev Racing as they expand into the Truck Series and create a pipeline for young drivers in their program to advance their careers to the next level.”
Further announcements on the driver schedule for the No. 51 team as well as crew chiefs and sponsors for both teams are forthcoming.
— Kyle Busch Motorsports —
Source