As the Texaco Havoline Dodge made its way toward Turn 1 of Lowe's Motor Speedway, Juan Pablo Montoya felt confident about his chances to run up front. Making it three-wide on the first lap of the Nextel Open, he was looking to pull a bonzai move, one he thought would put him in position to make Nextel Cup's biggest Saturday night circus: The All-Star Challenge.
There's just one problem with Montoya's thinking: he didn't make it out of Turn 2. Causing one of the bigger first-lap wrecks in Nextel Open history, he was lucky to even make it out of the track considering all the drivers he took out.
Well, the controversial Colombian's wreck and the resulting six-car pileup in the Open didn't just infuriate the drivers involved, it served as a microcosm of a year in which Nextel Cup rookies have fallen far short of expectations. Of the seven "rookies" involved in the All-Star Challenge's preliminary event, a grand total of one of them finished the race. That was A.J. Allmendinger, and he wasn't immune from getting a case of the spin cycle himself after being involved with Montoya's early problems.
"Rookie mistake on Juan Pablo's part, I guess," said fellow rookie Paul Menard, who was eliminated in the fiasco. "The start of the race these tires are so hard, they're cold, they're not gripping, and he made it three-wide and chased it up the hill and kind of jammed everybody up. A.J. and I got together, and we all kind of met in the middle."
Chalk it up as another incident from a debut season of disaster for NASCAR's first-year drivers. Heading into Memorial Day, this year's supposed banner crop of freshmen is running behind the pace of any other set this decade. Since 1999, NASCAR has seen at least one first-year driver win a race in seven out of the past eight years, exceeding any type of rookie expectations put in front of them. That makes the slump from this current group more noticeable with each passing week. You can forget Victory Lane with this group; just collecting a finish worth mentioning in the press has been nothing short of a struggle.
David Ragan hasn't had a sniff of the top 10 since the Daytona 500. Montoya has won a Busch race in Mexico but has yet to even lead a lap in Cup; in his last four races, he's put up an average finish of just 28th. Menard, Allmendinger, and David Reutimann simply struggle to qualify each week.
With their hobby of collecting DNQs far outpacing their number of quality finishes, these men produce telling signs about NASCAR's future, and it's not the type of foreshadowing that gets you all excited about what's coming up next.
Despite having some of the best equipment ever given to rookies, these youngsters are among the least experienced and accomplished stock-car drivers to have been given such quality rides.
Montoya and Allmendinger have had success in open wheel racing, but they've had to adjust to the different weight and handling of stock cars on the fly. As for Menard, Reutimann and Ragan ... let's just say they didn't exactly put together stellar credentials in any of the minor league stock car series they raced in. Only Reutimann was ever in contention to win a championship at the Busch or Truck Series level, and none of the three actually have a stock car championship to their credit in one of NASCAR's mid-level divisions.
To put it in another context, when you bring a pitcher to the major leagues who's not even striking batters out in Single A ball, how do you think he's going to do?
The first-years are even struggling to earn other driver's respect: the five rookies have combined to cause or be a part of nearly a dozen wrecks so far this year. The wave of criticism against Montoya's on-track aggression is mounting, and Ragan has drawn the ire of David Stremme and Ken Schrader, among others, during his short stint in Cup. Apologies and "aw, shucks" post-race debriefings have been the rule rather than the exception for a group that repeatedly has to explain weekly on-track failures.
Unfortunately, these problems may be something the sport simply is going to have to adjust to. There's always going to be a need for new drivers, but there's not exactly a hot wave of talent coming down the pipeline.
With Nextel Cup drivers infiltrating both the Busch and Truck Series on a regular basis, experienced drivers have been winning those events at the expense of giving other younger drivers more experience. Not one Busch race this season has been won by a driver that's not competing full-time in Nextel Cup. Last year, Menard and David Gilliland were the only two inexperienced drivers to win at the Busch level. By the same token, Erik Darnell is the only Truck Series driver to win this season who isn't a former, aging Nextel Cup veteran.
These are all signs that an era that produced a wave of exceptional talent may be coming to an end. Several NASCAR teams may have development drivers, but for whatever reason, no one seems to be developing; otherwise, there wouldn't be a mad scramble to grab open wheelers like Allmendinger and Montoya in the place of homegrown stock car talent.
As for the current rookie crop, they'll continue to press on.
"We've just got to learn to race 'em smarter," said Ragan after a disappointing finish earlier at Darlington this May.
If some of these rookies don't pick up the pace, who knows how much longer they'll be racing Nextel Cup at all. Of course, who would take their place?
There's just one problem with Montoya's thinking: he didn't make it out of Turn 2. Causing one of the bigger first-lap wrecks in Nextel Open history, he was lucky to even make it out of the track considering all the drivers he took out.
Well, the controversial Colombian's wreck and the resulting six-car pileup in the Open didn't just infuriate the drivers involved, it served as a microcosm of a year in which Nextel Cup rookies have fallen far short of expectations. Of the seven "rookies" involved in the All-Star Challenge's preliminary event, a grand total of one of them finished the race. That was A.J. Allmendinger, and he wasn't immune from getting a case of the spin cycle himself after being involved with Montoya's early problems.
"Rookie mistake on Juan Pablo's part, I guess," said fellow rookie Paul Menard, who was eliminated in the fiasco. "The start of the race these tires are so hard, they're cold, they're not gripping, and he made it three-wide and chased it up the hill and kind of jammed everybody up. A.J. and I got together, and we all kind of met in the middle."
Chalk it up as another incident from a debut season of disaster for NASCAR's first-year drivers. Heading into Memorial Day, this year's supposed banner crop of freshmen is running behind the pace of any other set this decade. Since 1999, NASCAR has seen at least one first-year driver win a race in seven out of the past eight years, exceeding any type of rookie expectations put in front of them. That makes the slump from this current group more noticeable with each passing week. You can forget Victory Lane with this group; just collecting a finish worth mentioning in the press has been nothing short of a struggle.
David Ragan hasn't had a sniff of the top 10 since the Daytona 500. Montoya has won a Busch race in Mexico but has yet to even lead a lap in Cup; in his last four races, he's put up an average finish of just 28th. Menard, Allmendinger, and David Reutimann simply struggle to qualify each week.
With their hobby of collecting DNQs far outpacing their number of quality finishes, these men produce telling signs about NASCAR's future, and it's not the type of foreshadowing that gets you all excited about what's coming up next.
Despite having some of the best equipment ever given to rookies, these youngsters are among the least experienced and accomplished stock-car drivers to have been given such quality rides.
Montoya and Allmendinger have had success in open wheel racing, but they've had to adjust to the different weight and handling of stock cars on the fly. As for Menard, Reutimann and Ragan ... let's just say they didn't exactly put together stellar credentials in any of the minor league stock car series they raced in. Only Reutimann was ever in contention to win a championship at the Busch or Truck Series level, and none of the three actually have a stock car championship to their credit in one of NASCAR's mid-level divisions.
To put it in another context, when you bring a pitcher to the major leagues who's not even striking batters out in Single A ball, how do you think he's going to do?
The first-years are even struggling to earn other driver's respect: the five rookies have combined to cause or be a part of nearly a dozen wrecks so far this year. The wave of criticism against Montoya's on-track aggression is mounting, and Ragan has drawn the ire of David Stremme and Ken Schrader, among others, during his short stint in Cup. Apologies and "aw, shucks" post-race debriefings have been the rule rather than the exception for a group that repeatedly has to explain weekly on-track failures.
Unfortunately, these problems may be something the sport simply is going to have to adjust to. There's always going to be a need for new drivers, but there's not exactly a hot wave of talent coming down the pipeline.
With Nextel Cup drivers infiltrating both the Busch and Truck Series on a regular basis, experienced drivers have been winning those events at the expense of giving other younger drivers more experience. Not one Busch race this season has been won by a driver that's not competing full-time in Nextel Cup. Last year, Menard and David Gilliland were the only two inexperienced drivers to win at the Busch level. By the same token, Erik Darnell is the only Truck Series driver to win this season who isn't a former, aging Nextel Cup veteran.
These are all signs that an era that produced a wave of exceptional talent may be coming to an end. Several NASCAR teams may have development drivers, but for whatever reason, no one seems to be developing; otherwise, there wouldn't be a mad scramble to grab open wheelers like Allmendinger and Montoya in the place of homegrown stock car talent.
As for the current rookie crop, they'll continue to press on.
"We've just got to learn to race 'em smarter," said Ragan after a disappointing finish earlier at Darlington this May.
If some of these rookies don't pick up the pace, who knows how much longer they'll be racing Nextel Cup at all. Of course, who would take their place?
