We’ve seen a trend developing over the last few years in terms of driver development in NASCAR that, I believe, has probably hurt the careers of many young drivers. It’s this idea that a driver can run a partial season, maybe as few as five to eight races, and actually learn enough to aid in their development. My partner Journo wrote a post a while back and discussed teams rushing young drivers through the system.
I understand that in many cases it’s difficult to sell a young, unknown driver to a sponsor and that packaging a Cup driver makes it easier to get those dollars. But if the team wants that driver to be worth anything in the future, I think running full schedules is vital. The list of drivers this season that are only running part time includes Bryan Clauson, Joey Logano, Landon Cassill, Josh Wise, John Wes Townley, Cale Gale, James Buescher, Scott Speed, and Michael Annett. Some victims of this from previous years include Brad Coleman last year, Peter Shepherd, and David Ragan before last season.
I know that some of these drivers have had some success, and I understand that not every driver will pan out. But I don’t understand how a driver like Cale Gale is supposed to get anywhere with his career running only eight or nine races a season. He needs time to learn the tracks, gain respect from his competitors, and build chemistry with a team. I think another driver it hurt was David Ragan. He ran a handful of Busch races from 2004 to 2006, before he was thrust full time into the Busch and Cup Series last year. Ragan struggled mightily in both series, and is only this year finally starting to come around and show some of his talent. I don’t know how many owners would have been this patient with Ragan.
Another driver who I believe is being rushed along is Joey Logano. He is obviously a very talented young man, but because of the situation at Gibbs will probably end up full time in the Cup Series next season with only half a Nationwide season under his belt and a mountain of expectations taking over the #20 car. The COT has proven to be difficult to master for even seasoned veterans like Jeff Gordon, how is an inexperienced driver like Logano supposed to fare?
It seems that in the not so distant past, drivers were given a season or two to actually learn and develop before owners would lose patience. Martin Truex Jr, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards, and Clint Bowyer were all given full seasons at lower levels before they moved to full time Cup competition. That’s a pretty stout list if you ask me. Now, unless you come right out of the box and run in the top ten and compete for wins, you are out of a ride very quickly.
So what do you think about partial seasons? Is only running a few races helping drivers like Bryan Clauson and James Buescher? Do you think guys like Cale Gale and Josh Wise will make it to the Cup Series one day and be competitive?
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on Jul 17th, 2008 at 7:39 am
Great points, but let me take it a step further. Look at this season’s rookie class in the Cup series. Regan Smith is the only one with any real experience in NASCAR’s three national series. Hornish, Carpentier, McDowell and Franchitti ran their first NASCAR races last year.