Posts under ‘Driver Development’

Roger Penske may have yet another star in the making in the person of young Parker Kligerman.  While everyone focuses on the continued presence of Cup drivers in Nationwide, and other prospects like Trevor Bayne, Kligerman has been quietly racing and finishing well. So far this season, Kligerman has only seven starts in the Nationwide [...]

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 [...]

In the current climate of funded drivers and retreating sponsorship dollars, it’s very uncommon for a young driver without his own money to get a second chance.  What we are seeing with Aric Almirola though, goes against all of that.  JR Motorsports announced on Wednesday that Almirola had signed a multi-year agreement to drive the team’s #88 car [...]

A few months ago I wrote a post lauding Roush’s developmental commitment even through sponsorship adversity. I said Roush’s commitment to Colin Braun and to Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was evident in its continued support of two underfunded teams. And I applauded the man (Jack Roush) and the team (Roush Fenway) for giving chances to those [...]

Even though the top three NASCAR series were off on Sunday, there was no shortage of racing going on.  At Iowa Speedway, the annual East/West showdown between the two K&N Pro Series took place, and the ARCA cars descended on Toledo Speedway for the first of two events this season.  At Iowa, Joe Gibbs Racing development [...]

The Dayonta test for the new Nationwide Series COT is complete.  Teams took to the 2.5 mile track on Tuesday and Wednesday to get familiar with the new car and to help NASCAR gather data ahead of it’s debut on July 2nd at the Subway Jalapeno 250.  Most of the drivers who participated said the car [...]

Lost amid the Talladega chaos was the story of JR Motorsports newest driver, Steve Arpin.  On Friday, Arpin went out and promptly put his Chevy in the second row during qualifying.  Not bad for a kid who’d never driven an NNS car before.  Once the race got started, the young Canadian ran as high as second, but was caught [...]

On Friday in Phoenix, the biggest buzz before the Nationwide Series race seemed to be about whether or not John Wes Townley had been fired from Richard Childress Racing.  Following a practice crash that destroyed the team’s primary car, Townley was yanked from the seat and Clint Bowyer took over for the remainder of the [...]

We are hearing that 19 year old driver Marc Davis will return to the Nationwide Series next weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the Sam’s Town 300.  He will be behind the wheel of the #58 Macys.com Cavi Chevrolet for XXXtreme Motorsport. Davis, fresh off a third place run in the ASA’s Freestate 500 in South [...]

As the Danica Patrick bandwagon steams toward the Daytona Nationwide Series race next weekend, don’t worry about saving me a seat just yet.  Finishing sixth in her first ever stock car event is commendable, but I think it’s a bit early to crown her the next big thing. In case you missed it, Patrick recovered [...]