Take a quick look at the top four in Nascar Sprint Cup Standings:
1. Tony Stewart
2. Jeff Gordon
3. Jimmie Johnson
4. Kurt Busch
What do they all have in common?
They are former Champions.
They all are in their 30's.
They have all been in the series for several years.
So where is all the young talent? The rookie class is not fairing well. Joey Logano is back in 21st place, while Scott Speed is stuck in 35th and Max Papis is in 42nd. And in fact, I would not call either Speed or Papis a young gun - both have racing success in other series before jumping to Nascar.
Kyle Busch is relatively young, but his tenure in Cup has been so long it doesn't feel right calling him a young gun. Kasey Kahne has been around several years as has Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards, and Brian Vickers. Brad Kesolowski may be the one bright spot on the horizon, but where is a seat for him to take over?
So where are all the up and comers who are supposed to be the next hot thing? Is the Buschwacking phenomenon finally showing the Nascar nearsightedness? Or are the old hats just hanging on better to their rides?
10 comments:
I think we are looking at a series full of middle-aged guns and a few squirt guns!
Hard to tell if this is due to Bushwacking or guys who should have been replaced (Sadler comes to mind) are sticking in there.
Justin Allgaier at Penske is another youngin' coming up...
"squirt guns" !!!
Sounds like a dysfunctional problem! =O
Hey Iowa! I wish I could say something positive about my squirt's driving this year, but it's been awful hard.
Well the young guns today are not as hot as they have been hyped. It still seems that the experienced guns are the hot shots still. Even Mark Martin.
I think once we get people out of the sport that haven't ever won despite being there for years, because of Daddy's money or whatever, then the young guys will get those seats and the sport will make that transformation.
Joey got a win. Period. Dale Jr.'s last win was a "fuel mileage" win, so half way through his first full year I think Joey is proving his own.
BK has a win this year, at Talladega. It took Tony how long to get that Cup win there?
The future of the young guys looks bright to me.
There areplenty of young guns in ARCA, and other series. I don't know why the owners in Cup and NNS won't give them a shot.
They stick with guys who haven't won anything in years, or who have never won anything, period. Sorenson, Sadler, etc.
Even in the NNS the 'regulars' should be replaced with young guns. Why are Leffler, Keller, and K Wallace still attending driver's meetings?
KLV - I like Squirt Guns! I don't know why some of them are still around either. Sadler showed early promise, but hasn't really delivered since he drove for Yates. He does seem to keep the endorsements though.
Ra6an - David is not doing as well, but he does show promise. I'm still not sure McMurray should be there though.
Photo - Amen to that Martin is doing well. But I think that shows his ability in good equipment. Do you think Jack is kicking himself yet?
Lori - I'm not sure I subscribe to the Talladega win shows you can drive. I think there are a few too many one win drivers there - it's pure luck with a little skill. It's still a win, but BK is very streaky. He does well for a while, then crashes for a while. His other big problem is that he is driving Hendrick equipment and unless Junior or Martin leave, BK will have to get a ride somewhere else in likely non-Hendrick stuff. I worry that we have a bunch of Cup drivers taking away the learning possibilities from up and comers and that will affect Cup racing in the very near future when Gordon, Stewart, Johnson, Martin etc retire for good.
GH - I agree. We have a log jam at the front. I worry that our young drivers with promise - Cale Gale, Bryan Clauson, Landon Cassell, Justin Allgaiter etc will not get the experience or opportunities they deserve because other guys are stuck in the rides.
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