October 15th, 2009 
Journo As NASCAR has struggled through the last year, and teams have closed up shop leaving drivers without a ride, I had to ask myself why more out of work drivers didn’t make the jump to a lower series?
At the risk of alienating people, I’ll refrain from specifically naming any drivers I think could stand to make a move, but I think the situation poses some real questions.
Is it demeaning to move down? Is it really better to run a start a park in the Cup Series? Is it better to run in the back? Is it better to not make races? I think the answer to all of those is no.
As diverse as the driver list could potentially be I think they easily fall into two categories: (1) the older driver who just isn’t as strong as he used to be; and (2) the younger guy who was rushed into the top series. Both are clinging to what remains of their moment in the sun, not realizing there could be better opportunities elsewhere.
Look at the cases of the drivers who have made a move back to a lower series and been successful. Ron Hornaday spent one full season in the Cup Series and several more in the Nationwide Series. Since returning to the truck series full time in 2005 Hornaday has won 19 races and one championship. He’s revitalized his career.
Or how about Mike Skinner? He spent seven-ish full time seasons in the Cup Series, five with Richard Childress. In 2004 Skinner returned to the truck series with Bang! Racing (which eventually became part of Bill Davis Racing). Since that time Skinner has won 12 races.
The two above aren’t alone either. How about Ted Musgrave, Jack Sprague, Brendan Gaughan, or Johnny Benson? Does anyone find anything shameful in them stepping away from the Cup Series? Absolutely not.
Even this season we saw Johnny Sauter and Aric Almirola find opportunities in the Truck Series.
Sauter, after five full seasons in the Nationwide Series made his move to the Cup Series with Haas CNC in 2007. After a tough year, Sauter was dropped at the end of the season and spent 2008 bouncing around NASCAR. He found a permanent home this season at ThorSport Racing. And you know what? Johnny looks like a guy who’s undergone a rebirth. He’s consistently running upfront now, and even captured his first ever Truck Series win a couple of weeks ago at Las Vegas.
When #8 team ran out of money earlier this year, Almirola was out of a ride. Committed to finding something he was in the garage every weekend. Billy Ballew gave Almirola a part time schedule in one of his trucks and he’s run well.
I guess what I’m saying is, there is no shame in admitting your career has run its course somewhere. When that happens find something new and adapt to your situation. And you never know, that move could just catapult back to the top.
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Well put….please find a way to convey that to the drivers of NASCAR…PLEASE!
The best example of someone stepping back is Mark Martin. Back in the early 80′s he tried cup and things didn’t work out so he went back to ASA and started to rebuild from there. I see no harm or embarassment in taking a step back in a drivers career. They can refocus and go from there. I would rather be a truck series champ than a “also ran” in the truck series.
In the above post I ment in the last sentece to be also ran in the Cup series!
I think Ward Burton would have been great in the truck series. He said that he had offers for a truck ride & he still has State Water Heaters as a sponsor. It’s on his son Jeb’s late model, so that’s not an issue a la Johnny Benson. He had a strong fan base too.
Couldn’t agree more. You don’t keep skills sharp by hanging around the track or by sitting at home. And the levels of competition in both NNS and NCWTS are close enough to Cup to make it worthwhile. You’re also more likely to be seen and remembered on a track than off.
If you look at the terrific careers that Ron Hornaday, Mike Skinner and Todd Bodine had enjoyed in Truck, you can see the benefits of driving there, as opposed to waiting for the call from Cup that may never come again.
It does seem, though, that we have not seen a driver lose a full-time Cup ride to return to the lower series, then earn another shot at a full-time ride in the top circuit. Correct me if I’m wrong, but so far I don’t think any driver has made that return, yet.
David Stremme. Granted, he hasn’t done a whole lot with his second opportunity, but he meets your criteria. He drove (I think) 2 seasons with Ganassi, got bumped back to Nationwide, then got another Cup opportunity this year with Penske. I think he’s a good driver and it’s unfortunate for him that it hasn’t worked out this year. This kind of thing doesn’t happen often, but sometimes it does!
I don’t think that it is as easy as you portray to show up at a lower series’ team door and say, I’m here to race, put me in your car or truck. Those teams still have to have money to fund the effort. With many NW and truck teams struggling to find sponsorship, there isn’t as many open rides out there. I know at least one Cup driver, who is currently part of the S&P brigade has said he would look at (and probably take) any ride that will run, not S&P, the full season. He was close to a deal or two for the current year in a lower series, but the sponsorship money never materialized. Guess what? The rides he was being offered went to drivers that brought money. He stated he was looking for a ride in any of the three series last year when he was looking and has re-iterated during his search for a ride for 2010.
I don’t think that it went through any S&P driver’s mind: I can drive in a lower series or I can S&P in the Cup series. I think that I will S&P. Some of these drivers were promised that they would race more races, but then sponsorship never materialized. It is up to the owner to be truthful to the potential driver what is going on. Sure, the driver has to make the final decision. Some have walked away, some have continued. I’m sure that they have had their reasons for taking both courses of action.
Robyn- I’m sorry I didn’t mean to portray it that way. That said it’s a lot easier to sell an established driver to sponsors than it is a young no-name. This certainly isn’t the case with every driver, the one you point out for instance, but there are a lot of struggling Cup guys who could stand to think about moving down.
There are several drivers that have moved up to the cup series and then moved back to the lower series to find success. There are several more that continue to run in the back that could revitalize their career in the Nationwide Series. One in particular, we’ll call him Yada Yada, Jr so as not to get anyone riled up, enjoyed great success in the lower series only to struggle in Cup. Some people need to realize that they just can’t run with the big dogs and should make room for the talented drivers that can. I enjoy the Nationwide series and the trucks more that the Cup series now anyway. Exciting races, No COT, no Chase and shorter races. They’ve got the recipe for success.
Just a hunch here, but I wonder if a veteran (but struggling, S&P or ride-less) Cup driver is at risk of being “shown up” by established/funded drivers in lower series. I would suspect that the veteran needs to be mindful that an underfunded truck or NW ride may not demonstrate the drivers ability and not worth the track time.
This year was the first time I’ve heard a car (Mike Wallace/Pocono) being black flagged very early in an event for not having a pit crew. So is the life of an S&P drivers. Embarrassment, or necessary evil?
Journo. That was my point. Just because the drivers are not out there saying that would move down, doesn’t mean that they aren’t thinking about it. Those that aren’t are just crazy.
Robyn- I’m well aware of that. My point with this post was there are guys who won’t consider making the move. They cling to the Cup series. Apparently I didn’t do a very good job of that. Again I’m sorry, that’s not what I was trying to portray here.