Pit road has played a big roll in the outcome of races this season, and as the Cup and Nationwide Series search for their 2011 champions, an even bigger emphasis will be placed on the crews. Those drivers with the strongest pit crews will have a serious advantage as we come into the home stretch. Knowing that, some teams have made moves to strengthen their performance over the wall. Two recent pit crew shakeups have already paid dividends to their teams, and the moves could be crucial in the hopes of two contenders.
Saturday night in Richmond, Kevin Harvick re-emerged as a legitimate title contender. After spending much of the summer struggling to find some measure of mojo, Harvick and the 29 team showed they are ready to take a shot at unseating the 48. And what was a big key to Harvick’s fourth win of the season? A key pit stop late in the race. With 15 laps to go, a caution brought the field to pit road, and fast work by Harvick’s crew put the 29 ahead of Jeff Gordon on the ensuing restart. Harvick was then able to hold off Carl Edwards for the win, and secure his spot tied with Kyle Busch atop the standings heading to Chicago.
If you might remember, it’s only been a few weeks since Richard Childress Racing replaced it’s pit crew coach. And along with the coaching change came a new front changer for Harvick’s crew. Tim Sheets, who has spent the season changing for Elliott Sadler’s #2 team in the Nationwide Series, was brought up to help alleviate some of the pit stop issues Harvick has experienced this season. Needless to say, the move has worked.
In the Nationwide Series, the battle for the driver’s title is a tight one. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. only has a 16 point cushion between himself and second place Elliott Sadler with seven races remaining. In order to give Stenhouse the best possible chance to win the championship, Jack Roush has pulled out all the stops. After a tough night at Atlanta, Stenhouse’s entire pit crew was replaced with the #6 Cup crew of David Ragan. The change provided immediate results. With the double duty #6 guys servicing his race car at Richmond, Stenhouse never ran lower than seventh in the race, and finished a very strong third behind Kyle Busch and Edwards.
Because racing has become so tight out on the track, teams have discovered that it is often easier to make passes on pit road. And in order to do that, they need the quickest six guys they can put together. As the Chase gets ready to kick off this weekend, expect pit road to be a big factor in who takes home this season’s Cup.
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Now that the future at Roush Fenway is becoming more clear, we can begin to look at the other RFR drivers awaiting their fates. If the #99 seat was vacated, it was assumed that Trevor Bayne or Ricky Stenhouse Jr. would be in line to fill it. But since that now won’t happen, Bayne and Stenhouse’s futures are unclear. USA Today’s Nate Ryan wrote yesterday that Bayne expects to run a similar schedule next season as he ran in 2011. And Stenhouse told ESPN’s David Newton that there is no current definitive plan for him next season, but that he’d like to run another full NNS schedule and possibly Cup races for Richard Petty Motorsports (which has room to expand). With these two young drivers in the pipeline, RFR looks to be in a good position. But the situation begs the question, who’s the better Cup prospect?
Looking over their young careers, the two drivers have very similar statistics. Stenhouse’s NNS numbers (two wins and more top five and top ten finishes) are a tick better than Bayne’s, but both of their average finishes are right near 16. Stenhouse only has one Cup start (11th at Charlotte) versus Bayne’s 12 starts. But outside of his Daytona 500 win, Bayne’s best finish is a 16th at Michigan. In a close decision, advantage Stenhouse in the performance department.
In saying that however, I think it’s important to point out that Bayne missed time this season due to illness, and he’s in his first season with crew chief Chris Andrews. Both have played a factor in his performance this season. Stenhouse on the other hand has had significantly more time with veteran crew chief Mike Kelley.
Being successful and having a long career at the Cup level isn’t just about performance though. Marketability is becoming ever more important in the era of tough to get sponsorship dollars. Bayne has a clear advantage over Stenhouse in this area. An emotional win in the famous #21 at the Daytona 500, the media opportunities that followed, and Bayne’s personality all contribute. Stenhouse isn’t as well known despite his success, and he isn’t anywhere near the fan favorite Bayne is. During driver introductions, Bayne’s cheers rival that of perennial most popular driver Dale Earnhardt Jr.
All things considered, I think it’s very difficult to say one driver has more potential than the other. They both have long, successful careers ahead of them. I’m curious though, if you were a team owner with one open Cup ride, who would you pick?
This season NASCAR forced drivers to select one series in which to compete for a championship. The general idea being it would limit the number of Cup regulars competing in and winning in lower series.
What’s the result been? Truck and Nationwide Series regulars lead the points in their respective series, but there have only been three non-Cup winners in 30 races across all three series. And guess what? Neither of our two points leaders is one of those winners.
Obviously, NASCAR’s efforts have, thus far, not been very successful. This weekend though, we saw the potential of the Nationwide Series.
To start off, Iowa is such a great facility with a great fan base. Did you see that crowd? Fantastic. Then came the racing.
Rain washed out qualifying, so starting on the front row were Drew Herring, a 23-year-old with just four Nationwide starts under his belt, and Michael McDowell. Young Austin Dillon started 3rd.
Through the early portion of the race it was McDowell and Herring putting on the show. We saw four different race leaders, including Reed Sorenson who led the most (and is great on short tracks). And in his 500th start Kenny Wallace finished sixth. While we did see Cup regulars and Nationwide Series champions Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski as competitors throughout, it was Edwards and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. who fought down the stretch with Stenhouse as our eventual winner.
Stenhouse has really taken full advantage of this season. If you’ll remember just a year ago, he got yanked from his ride after a disastrous beginning pushed him outside the top-30 in owners points and he DNQed at Nashville. Now he’s a race winner and sits just 8 points out of the points lead. What a difference a year makes.
It was refreshing to sit and watch a Nationwide race where most of the competitors were series regulars. It was great to see some young talent showcased and some series veterans have a real chance. The fact is, Cup drivers are Cup drivers for a reason. And though the occasional start is certainly acceptable, having just 10% of your winners come from outside the Cup ranks is ridiculous. It totally defeats the nature of the lower series.
NASCAR is in a pretty good place at this moment, but this is definitely an area that still needs some work. That said, Sunday was great and truly an example of how things ought to be. Congratulations to Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – it was a well earned and deserved win.
As we approach the final stretch run of the 2010 Nationwide Series schedule, expect there to be more driver shuffling within Roush Fenway Racing’s NNS program. We’re hearing that both Matt Kenseth and Erik Darnell will get starts in the team’s #16 Fords in the upcoming races. Kenseth ran two NNS races for this team early in the season, and Darnell hasn’t made any starts in 2010.
We’ve talked quite a bit about the RFR Nationwide teams this season (here and here), because of the team’s commitment to developing drivers and because of the team’s turmoil. What were supposed to be full seasons for both Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Colin Braun, have since turned into partial seasons. A rash of bad luck, torn up equipment, and opportunities to run other drivers were the reasons why. We’ve seen no less then five drivers make starts in the #6 and #16 (Stenhouse, Braun, Kenseth, Brian Ickler, and Billy Johnson), and Darnell will make it six.
If you’ll remember, Erik Darnell has been with the Roush organization since the 2004 season. He was the winner of Roush’s famous “Gong Show” in 2005, which was televised that year and put on the Discovery Channel as “Driver X.” Darnell then ran full seasons in the Truck Series for Roush from 2006 to 2008. For the 2009 season he moved up to the Nationwide Series and split the #6 ride with driver David Ragan. In 16 starts he earned two top five and five top ten finishes and had one pole. He was also given the opportunity to run seven Cup Series races for Yates/Hall of Fame Racing in the #96 in place of Bobby Labonte, getting a best finish of 29th at Kansas. A lack of sponsorship dollars has forced him to sit out much of the 2010 season.
Going forward, many questions still plague the RFR Nationwide program for the 2011 season. We’ve heard that as of right now, the team may only run two cars next season, with Carl Edwards comitting to another full schedule. The team will suffer with the loss of Paul Menard and his money to RCR/KHI for next season, and the struggles for both Braun and Stenhouse will probably mean the second car may be driven by a round robin of Cup and development drivers.
The struggles for the Ford teams have been well documented this season. There is even a tidbit on Jayski’s Cup Series page right now about how this is Ford’s longest winless drought to start a season since 1983. And those struggles haven’t just been on the Cup side. Roush Fenway’s Nationwide Series program hasn’t been as strong this season as they’ve been in past years. Carl Edwards has led the way, but for a time, two of the other RFR teams were outside the top 30 in points. The #16 team has since raced their way back in, but the #6 team remains 102 points out of a guaranteed starting spot. The one Ford team that did have a moderate amount of success over the first part of the season, especially with limited resources, was Baker Curb Racing’s #27 team with Greg Biffle.
After Eddie Pardue was dismissed as crew chief of RFR’s #16 a few weeks back, Ben Leslie took over as the interim boss. It was announced this week however, that starting at Road America the #16 team would have a new leader; none other then Baker Curb’s Ricky Viers.
With Red Man tobacco on the hood, Greg Biffle behind the wheel, and Viers calling the shots, Baker Curb’s #27 was the best running Ford in several races this season. They managed to finish second twice, just missing wins at Las Vegas and Richmond.
A new FDA regulation that basically ends tobacco advertisements curtailed Red Man’s sponsorship, and with the team’s future in jeopardy, Roush took the opportunity to bring Viers on board. Who better to help turn around your company’s NNS program then the guy who’s been beating you all season?
Viers joins Drew Blickensderfer, Matt Puccia, and Mike Kelley as crew chiefs at Roush Fenway, and the pressure is on these four to slow down Joe Gibbs Racing’s dominance of the series.
Besides hopefully helping the whole program, Viers is tasked with making contenders out of Roush prospects Colin Braun and Brian Ickler. Braun and fellow Roush young gun Ricky Stenhouse Jr. have both struggled mightily in their first full seasons, and those struggles have led to their schedules being cut. Ickler was brought in from Kyle Busch Motorsports to strengthen Roush’s driver development program and fill those holes in the schedule.
The NNS teams tested at Road America today in advance of Saturday’s race, and things may already be looking up for RFR. Ford drivers were first and second fastest in both sessions, and the combo of Viers and Braun was good for fourth quick. With Braun’s road racing background, this might be just what this team needs to turn the season around.
We’ve all heard the saying “if you can’t beat them, join them.” In the ultra competitive world of NASCAR, it becomes “if you can’t beat them, steal what makes them better then you.”
This week, we go from the high banks of Talladega to a Saturday night short track shootout in Richmond. The Nationwide cars will kick the racing weekend off on Friday night at RIR, while the Truck Series heads west to Kansas for a rare Sunday race. While we wait for the weekend to arrive, here’s a big batch of reader questions and our answers for you. If you don’t know what this post is, we answer any and all reader questions every Wednesday, right here. So if you’ve got one, click on the ”Ask the Insiders” tab at the top of the page and send one to us. On to the questions…
1. From Don:
How do the teams get cars to tracks in such short times? Does the transporter go back to Charlotte each week or is there more than one transporter and they alternate weeks? The transporter has to be completely restocked each week and some times Charlotte is not on the way.
Most Cup Series teams have two drivers per truck. This allows them to make it back to Charlotte in a timely manner after a race (for races close by this isn’t a problem). In the case of West Coast races organizations will often send extra trucks from Charlotte to run equipment to their teams out West because driving to Charlotte and back just isn’t feasible. Smaller teams will often just turnover the equipment they already have. – Journo
2. From ATS:
Every weekend when I watch the beginning of the race I see the #00 and David Reutimann come to the front and run in the top-5 or top-10. Only to have a failure of MWR equipment ruin his day. Do you think we could see David move teams at the end of 2010?
I don’t see David Reutimann going anywhere. I believe his contract is up this year or next, but I think he’s pretty happy where he’s at. Remember he and Waltrip go back a long ways. And anyway, where would he go? There aren’t too many seats available. – Journo
3. From Marcus:
What happens to Penske Racing’s #12 car now? Will Justin Allgaier drive it or what happens? Just let me know if you get any inside information.
It could be used for Hornish or it could go away. I haven’t heard anything specific, but I don’t think Allgaier will be in it next year (full-time at least). It’s possible he could run a few races, but they won’t be moving him full-time to the Cup Series in 2011. We’ll let you know if we hear anything. – Journo
4. From West Coast Kenny:
T.C. and Journo, It seems like Robbie Gordon causes a yellow during every race. Is it possible he does that just to get TV time for his sponsors?
I’m going to say probably not, but anything is possible. – Journo
5. From Woogeroo:
What is the deal with some races being impound races and some of them are not? It seems to me like Detroit’s love affair with half the autos fasteners being metric and the other in inches… with no rhyme or reason. I can understand Daytona with all it’s goings ons… but what’s the deal with the rest of them?
It is my understanding that only the Talladega races and the Daytona race in July are true impound races. I don’t know for certain what NASCAR’s reasons are for impounding cars at these tracks, but I would imagine it’s because there are so many extra little rules. Impounding the cars allows NASCAR to have more control over what the teams can and can’t do. – T.C.
6. From Cinde:
Kurt to drive the #22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge. Is Pennzoil that much better of a sponsor? Do they provide more sponsor money than Miller Lite? Or just pay the driver more? In your opinion why would Kurt go to Pennzoil? Or, perhaps did he really not have a choice at this time? Finally, do the CC and crew generally stay with the driver, or will that be a change as well? Thanks! Love your weekly writings!
It doesn’t have to do with Shell/Pennzoil being a better sponsor. And Miller is still with the organization. I’m not privy to their negotiations, but I would imagine Shell wanted Kurt Busch and Miller was OK with shifting their focus to Brad K. Wam, bam, Penske had a deal. In my experience drivers, for the most part, don’t really care who’s on the car, as long as they’re able to race. I’m sure Kurt Busch is just as happy hawking oil as he was beer. As far as switching crews, we haven’t heard anything about that and given the success the two teams are having in their current configurations, I don’t see Roger Penske making any major changes. – Journo
7. From Allen:
I’ve noticed during pit stops the lug nuts sometimes fall under the tires, has a lug nut ever been shot back and hit someone when the driver stomps on the throttle to leave?
It certainly has. The gas man and catch can man are usually the guys in the direct line of fire, but others have been hit. Trust me, it isn’t pleasant. – T.C.
8. From Doug:
You told us that you and Journo are Batman and Robin. Allow me to be just a little bit skeptical, if that’s OK. My question: do regulars in the press box and on pit row know who you are, are you both really in deep cover?
As far as we know our identities are unknown. If someone does know who we are, we haven’t heard about it. – Journo
9. From djones:
Regarding the recent penalties at MWR, are the drivers aware of suspect parts on the car, or other infractions? I’d like to believe they are innocent. Thanks.
I would say in most cases the driver probably doesn’t know. There is really no reason they need to know, plus keeping them in the dark gives the sport’s stars that oh-so-convenient “plausible deniability.” – T.C.
10. From Kim:
Sitting here in Talladega! If the race is an “impound” race and the cars would have been impounded after qualifying, what happens when qualifying is cancelled, as it was today? Are the cars deemed impounded at the moment qualifying is cancelled?
Actually, cars are impounded before qualifying, so the rainout doesn’t really matter. Teams were allowed to make any final adjustments to their cars on Friday evening, and then they were sealed until the race. The cars did go through an inspection on Sunday morning before the race, but teams were not allowed to do their usual race day work. - T.C.
11. From Amy:
While watching Talladega I am noticing that during the draft some of the cars have their hoodflaps popping open…I have never noticed that before- it that a product of the bump draft or the spoiler? Does it hurt anything?
It’s just a product of the aerodynamics and how the air travels over the cars. If I remember correctly, the flaps are coming up because they are in a low pressure area. And I don’t believe the car’s performance is hurt by it. – T.C.
12. From Michael:
A few years ago it seemed Jon Wood was on a path to a great future. Then, poof, he was gone. Any news?
Jon’s last start in any of the top NASCAR series was at the Phoenix truck race in November of 2008. He has not reappeared, I believe, because of his performance and because of his own personal issues (which I will not get into here). Wood made 17 truck starts in 2008, and only managed a best finish of 10th. Once the Wood Brothers team ran out of money to keep their truck program going, Jon was out of a ride. I would be surprised if he returned to competition down the road. It’s a shame too, because he could have been a very solid driver. – T.C.
13. From Kim:
Another question came up while sitting at Talladega: that hat hit the track close to where I was sitting. Why call a caution during practice for a bird, but not call a debris caution for a hat on the track? I’ve seen debris cautions called for a lot less!
Birds and other animals on track can (and have) actually cause significant damage to race cars. A hat on the other hand, especially like the one that ended up on the track at Talladega, is much less of a hazard. Didn’t the hat end up getting hit and destroyed anyway? – T.C.
14. From Dave:
I’m a little surprised you guys haven’t written about Roush’s situation in Nationwide since Colin Braun got ousted. I’m thinking as far as the 6 and 16 go, it looks pretty ugly. Does Roush go back to Erik Darnell at this point, Kenseth for the rest of the season, or does Roush stop running those cars when they’re unsponsored? Colin will run only, what, 10 more races? So I’m just assuming Stenhouse, who’s been equally as disappointing, won’t make it the full season anymore. Just seeing if you’ve heard anything… I don’t mean to sound happy about the situation, but I just don’t think the plan was ever a good one– two rookies in those cars full time. Thanks!
The situation at Roush has more to do with Jack’s frustration with Colin and the situations he puts himself in and the mistakes he continues to make than it does issues with young drivers or even unsponsored teams. Running these teams full time is exactly what Jack needed to do. He needs to see what these guys can do and see if they’re worth keeping (you can’t keep running part time schedules with young drivers and hope to accomplish anything). After three seasons with Colin, I think Jack has seen all he needs to see. With Ricky though, I don’t think he’ll get pulled unless there is some serious trouble down the road. Remember prior to this season Ricky had just one full ARCA season and a couple of Nationwide Series starts. – Journo
15. From David:
2 questions, what is the problem with racing someone hard(Jimmie Johnson – Jeff Gordon) also heard Hamlin complain. Do they think competition should move over for them because of who they are? Also how about a road course in the chase.
I don’t think actually racing each other close is the problem with some of these guys. What bothers them is when that close racing turns into contact and wrecks. Jeff Gordon has been mad the last few weeks because he’s been wrecked while racing hard with someone, not because of the actual racing itself. You have to remember too, some of these guys just need something to complain about. If it isn’t the wing, it’s Toyota has more power, or it’s people racing “too” hard, etc. etc. For your second question, I’m all for adding another road course race. In fact, I wrote a post about it last season. See it here. – T.C.
16. From Rick:
I heard ricky rudd is helping the #23 team in the Nationwide series is that true or is he helping anyone?
I haven’t heard anything about that, but that doesn’t mean it’s not happening. Does anyone know anything about this? – Journo
And that brings yet another “Ask The Insiders Wednesday” to a close. Thanks to everyone who sent in questions. And remember, if you’d like to be a part of next week, click on the ”Ask the Insiders” tab at the top of the page and send your question in!
It’s been a big week for change in the NASCAR world. In the span of a few days we’ve had Kelly Bires get replaced at Jr. Motorsports and Kasey Kahne announce his defection from RPM to join Hendrick Motorsports in 2012. And it’s funny, because I heard somebody say early in the week that it was a slow news week because the John Wes Townley story was getting some decent run. Besides the big changes you’ve been hearing about all over the place, this time of year means other changes for teams too.
The changes I’m referring to are those that happen within the teams. When the season starts, many teams have new faces. Sometimes that might mean one or two new guys, and in other cases it means the whole team. But as we get through the first few races of the season, team management expects those new faces, and the old ones, to start having some chemistry.
Let me give you an example. Every pit crew guy knows that he is only as good as his last race. An established guy can go from being comfy in his job, to on the street real quick. It only takes a few missteps on pit road to get the ax. Through the first few races of the season, coaches and crew chiefs understand that there is going to be a bit of a transition period going from the off season to running races every weekend. It will take the pit crews a few races to work out the small kinks and to get really comfortable together. But once we start getting into the fourth, fifth, and sixth races, the important people expect those kinks to get worked out. If they don’t get fixed, heads will roll. We’ve seen a few of these changes across all three series already this year, and its only April.
Pit crew guys aren’t the only ones at risk either. One story this week that didn’t get a ton of attention was Roush Fenway Racing making a crew chief change for young Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Crew chief Ben Leslie was replaced by Mike Kelley, who himself had been replaced by Drew Blickensderfer earlier in the season atop Carl Edwards’ NNS pit box. Leslie will now move into the role of Nationwide Series Competition Director for RFR, the position most recently held by Kelley. If a driver/crew chief combination isn’t working, team owners like Jack Roush are not going to wait long to make a change. There is too much at stake. Especially with a young driver, Roush wants to know if these kids have what it takes to get it done. Pairing Stenhouse with a veteran guy like Kelley should make that picture a little clearer.
As the saying says, the only constant is change. And change is certainly on. Teams are trying to get better every week, and Kahne’s move signals the start of yet another Silly Season.
Now that Danica is taking a NASCAR hiatus for a few months, can we please get back to talking about the actual competition in the Nationwide Series?
Three races into the season, the top ten in NNS points could be mistaken for the top ten in the Cup Series. Seven of the top ten are Cup drivers, with only Justin Allgaier, Steve Wallace, and Scott Riggs representing the NNS only crowd.
Of the three, Allgaier looks to be strongest challenger to unseat a likely Cup-driving champion. In three starts this season, he has one top five and three top ten finishes. At Las Vegas, Allgaier looked to be a contender for the win before fading late and finishing seventh. He certainly has the backing and the team to get it done, and the knowledge and experience from a solid rookie campaign could push him over the top.
There are also several intriguing new-comers to the series who could surprise and break through for wins. James Buescher, Trevor Bayne, Brian Scott, Colin Braun, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. all could have a say before the season is over. They all have the necessary talent and are all driving in equipment that has won in the recent past. Three races in, Buescher, Bayne, and Scott are all inside the top 20 in points, while Braun and Stenhouse have struggled and will have to dig themselves out of a hole.
Of the three Nationwide only drivers in the top ten, I think the most interesting story is that of Scott Riggs. He was tabbed to pilot the #09 Ford for RAB Racing only a few short weeks before Daytona. Riggs filled the seat that was vacated when John Wes Townley left the team and took his family sponsor to Richard Childress Racing. The RAB team is running without a major sponsor, yet has still found a way to be competitive against fully funded, Cup backed teams. With a little help, this team could be a factor.
It seems unlikely that, with so many Cup drivers in every race, a young driver like Allgaier will be celebrating at Homestead. Carl Edwards, Brad Keselowski, and Paul Menard are all planning on running the full slate of Nationwide Series races. But like they say, that’s why we run the races.
If you watched the Nationwide race this weekend it was hard not to notice the two white Fords. Normally this paint scheme (or lack thereof) is saved for those underfunded, or unfunded programs, with little known, or older drivers. Not the case here. The teams both came out of the Roush Fenway stable and piloting the cars were two of the sport’s brightest young prospects: Colin Braun and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
The sight of those unsponsored Roush cars was certainly odd. This is a team that is among the best in the garage at selling sponsorship (not so much keeping it though) and certainly one of the most competitive in the Nationwide Series.
This season the team has both of the rides in question partially funded by existing deals with Conway Freight and Citi Financial, but up to now has been unable to lock down deals to fund the cars for the whole season.
If this was just about any other organization this might be a source of concern for the drivers; think JR Motorsports, Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. Fortunately for these guys that’s not the case at Roush.
As odd as it may seem to see a team like Roush run without sponsorship, especially that blatantly, this is not the first time Roush has run one of its teams without a primary sponsor. Carl Edwards ran a good portion of the 2003 truck schedule without sponsorship and other Roush prospects have done the same, including Erik Darnell, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., David Ragan, and Colin Braun.
While this may seem a lesson in how to lose money, it really says so much more.
The commitment of Jack Roush to his development program and its drivers shines through in this moment (and others like it). Few owners these days are willing to give young, untested drivers the opportunity to show what they’re made of without funding. Not Jack Roush. His commitment to drivers he sees as future stars, or at the very least worth developing further, is highly commendable.
On top of that it signals to potential sponsors Roush’s commitment to keep those teams running in spite of adversity. It says with Roush you’ll find stability and you’ll find an owner willing to put performance and future development above the almighty dollar. It says this isn’t a team that’s going anywhere.
In a world where money has become a synonym for talent, I respect Jack Roush’s willingness to find real talent without deep pockets. He’s using his fortune to help those without it, and usher in the stars of tomorrow. It’s a shame there aren’t more owners willing or able to do the same thing because, after all, isn’t this the way things ought to be?
Jack Roush was a very happy man in Milwaukee. And who wouldn’t have been? Carl Edwards won the race and three of the top five were from his stable. What made it even better were the successes of Roush’s development drivers.
Throughout the garage Jack Roush is one of the very few owners who have committed to and successfully executed a driver development program. Now don’t get me wrong others currently have and have had development programs. Rick Hendrick wouldn’t be where he is at without some risks on young drivers, nor would Joe Gibbs or Richard Childress, but none of them has the program Roush has.
Just look at Roush’s stable, all but one of their current drivers was developed through their program or given an opportunity to excel in the organization (Kenseth). With Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, David Ragan, Jamie McMurray, Erik Darnell, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, and Colin Braun, Roush has a combined 48 Cup Series wins, 60 Nationwide wins, 18 Truck Series wins (with Roush), and four championships across all three series.
Roush’s development program is perhaps most famous for its “Gong Show” which was developed into a reality television show on Discovery Channel in 2005 called “Driver X.” The Gong Show brought together some of the best and brightest young drivers throughout the country and gave them an opportunity to showcase their skills to Jack Roush and Roush management.
Among the winners of the various Gong Shows are Kurt Busch, Carl Edwards and Erik Darnell. While not all of the program’s winners have gone on to success, it no doubt gave Roush some great prospects.
In recent years Roush has brought on Colin Braun and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Braun a former go-kart and sports car driver, joined Roush in 2007 and made his truck series debut last season. While Braun’s run hasn’t been without its troubles, he landed his first win a couple of weeks ago.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. joined the program in 2008 and ran last year for the ARCA Re/MAX title. He was competing for the title into the final race too when he and Scott Speed got into it and ended both of their chances. Penske stand out Justin Allgaier walked away with the title. This season Stenhouse is running a partial Nationwide Series schedule for the team. Thus far he has had four starts with one top-5 and two top-10. No matter your feelings on the kid following the ARCA showdown last year, he can drive.
In addition to Stenhouse, Erik Darnell is also running a partial schedule for the team. In five starts he has two top-5 and three top top-10.
Jack Roush said this past week he planned to put both Stenhouse and Braun into the Nationwide Series next season. Where that leaves Darnell is not exactly clear.
At this point I think the biggest issue Roush is facing is where to put all these solid prospects. While he has room in the Nationwide Series for the time being, he is running up against the four car limit in the Cup Series. Certainly Yates is an option as is the partnership with Hall of Fame.
Whatever happens with the current crop of drivers, Jack Roush should be commended for his commitment to developing drivers, and not just those with money. The future is bright for Roush Fenway Racing and Jack Roush and his keen eye for talent is the biggest reason why.