User blog:Ajaxcupseries/Did CJ Barrymore Racing Pay the Right Drivers?

The Fallon Corner - October 2023

At the start of the 2022 Ajax Cup campaign, CJ Barrymore Racing was rolling into the new year with a different driver lineup for the first time in half a decade, bailing on the Caleb Henderson Jr. experiment in favor of signing Cameron Atwood to a three year deal worth mid level money.

CBR was able to convince Atwood to come over on the cheap with the allure of much better equipment than his former team, Tico Bowden Motorsports, and the opportunity to chase a championship like the Antioch, Tennessee native had dreamed of doing his entire ASCA career.

Getting a deal done with Atwood through the 2024 season allowed the organization to focus on locking up their two long time stalwarts on the team, Ryan Dixon and Chris Barrymore.

First up was Barrymore, the bosses’ son. For years many fans, pundits, and team owners alike thought that Barrymore had the talent to be an elite level Ajax Cup driver, which is EXTREMELY valuable in this day and age (see Diego Orkedi and Greg Healey).

After all, this was a kid that destroyed a much younger reigning Cup champion Greg Healey head to head to take home the one and only Sprint Developmental Series title back in 2015, a former Craftsman champion, and a double digit Craftsman Series winner at the ripe old age of 23. The lower series stats certainly back up the claim that Barrymore certainly does have that next level of talent in him.

Barrymore also ended the 2021 Cup season by snapping his 43 race winless drought with his first crown jewel victory in the Northern 200 at The Stoneyard, and kicked off 2022 on a tear by taking home the checkered flag in the Little General 200 at West Virginia. As a result, CJ Barrymore’s hand was forced, he had no choice but to pay his son before his market value skyrocketed out of control.

The team paid Barrymore a four year extension worth $44 million dollars to keep him in the No. 21 through 2026, and were hopeful if anyone would be able to deliver CBR’s first Cup title since his father won it back in 2012, it would be him.

Next up, there was Ryan Dixon.

From a relatively unknown kid born and raised on the other side of the world in Australia that was thrust into the No. 6 on a whim taking over for the series founder at just the age of 21, Dixon had grown tremendously into an Ajax 200 and Northern 200 winner, and a consistent top 10 points finisher to boot.

While there’s no doubt the Australian had taken a step back over the course of the past two seasons as competition continues to ramp up throughout the Cup Series, Dixon was still a solid driver who, on his day, can still put his car in victory lane.

Plus at the age of 28 already a multi time crown jewel winner as well as a former Craftsman champion who has been a consistent face in one of the most iconic rides in the sport, the team couldn’t just dump him and find another driver of his caliber with ease, especially considering the sad state of the Ford Development Program talent pool heading into 2023.

With all that in mind and a contract that expired after 2023, Dixon and the team agreed to tack on three more years to that at a relatively mid level price of $7.5 million per year once the contract expires at the end of 2026 during the off-season.

However, when you fast forward six weeks into the 2023 Ajax Cup campaign, has CJ Barrymore grown to regret these pricey extensions for two drivers currently outside the top 10 in points?

While Chris Barrymore has once again been plagued by inconsistency and sheer bad luck, Ryan Dixon has been absolutely abysmal outside of his most recent performance at Belltown that the No. 6 team is hoping can spark some momentum to get them back on the right track.

Furthermore, the star of the team and the entire sport this season - is now the lowest paid driver in the organization with a contract that expires after 2024.

People called Cameron Atwood “insane” for turning down $11 million per year from Tico Bowden Motorsports to join Ford’s “B Team” in CJ Barrymore Racing and only make $5 million a season, but two years into taking that contract barring an epic collapse throughout the final 10 events of 2023, Atwood is about to be laughing his way to the bank as one of the highest paid drivers in the sport in championship winning equipment.

If CJ Barrymore isn’t willing to fork over the cash to get a record breaking extension done with the current points leader, I GUARANTEE you there’s a team owner that will.

And the question becomes, with so much money potentially tied up in driver salaries at minimum through 2026, will the team have enough dough left over to invest in keeping their equipment up to par with the best in the sport?

Only time will tell.