With Jimmie Johnson’s win at the Duck Commander 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday night, the 48 team has solidified their status as the team that could possibly dethrone Kevin Harvick’s Stewart-Haas Racing team for the Sprint Cup championship in 2015.
At this point in the season, not much has changed from a year ago. He was winless yet stood sixth in points. This season, despite a 41st-place showing at Las Vegas and a 35th at Martinsville, Johnson has won twice (Atlanta, Texas) and once again sits sixth in points.
However, in 2006, 2007, 2010 and 2013 (four of Johnson’s six Cup titles), Johnson made it a point to win early and win often. Considering the elimination-style Chase for the Sprint Cup waiting after the 26th race of the season, that could prove effective in Johnson’s hunt for a seventh title.
However, Harvick is experiencing a Johnson-esque run of consistency coming off his 2014 Sprint Cup championship. He has finished in the top-10 in every race since the last visit to Texas and is consistently knocking on the door to more wins. Considering Johnson and Harvick have been swapping wins on the 1.5-mile tracks since the fall Texas race, don’t be surprised if Harvick takes Kansas, the next 1.5-mile race on the schedule.
Still, this is a position Johnson is familiar with, and one we shouldn’t be surprised to see him in. He’s a champion with a championship team, and it’s a good idea not to bet against him.
Two wins in seven starts? Competitors beware because Johnson seems to be on a mission. He’s bent on putting his dismal 2014 behind him and so far, he’s doing a great job of it. He’s won on every track coming up in the next month, so there’s no reason he won’t be able to keep up with Harvick’s SHR group.
When the 2014 season rolled around and it became clear that Ryan Newman would be a Richard Childress Racing (RCR) driver, it didn’t seem that Newman was making an upgrade, but rather a lateral move.
Newman didn’t reach amazing heights while a Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) driver for Tony Stewart and Gene Haas, but he did enjoy a level of consistency that he hadn’t enjoyed in a long time. Even when SHR expanded to three teams in 2013, Newman’s performance didn’t fall off like Stewart’s or teammate Danica Patrick.
Still, moving to RCR didn’t look to bear too many fruits for the Indiana native. Childress’s grandson Austin Dillon would also be joining the RCR Sprint Cup organization and considering he would be vying for Rookie of the Year, it was speculated that he would be the star player of the team instead of veterans Newman and Paul Menard.
Yet going into Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, it is Newman who sits eighth in the standings while Dillon sits 14th in points and Menard sits 18th.
Despite the fact that Menard has one more top-10 and a third-place finish at Las Vegas this season, Newman’s consistency has shown despite having a mere four top-10s this season. Considering that Dillon’s mediocre showing in the No. 3 this season could be attributed to rookie trials and Menard could be considered a hit-or-miss driver, Newman stands to be Childress’s best bet for a Chase berth now that star driver Kevin Harvick is gone.
Still, it looks bleak when you take note that without Harvick leading the Childress charge, RCR looks to be following Roush-Fenway’s suit in that both teams have gone from being formidable powerhouses to meek top-10 teams.
With the exception of Harvick’s venture in the No. 29 in the last few years, none of the other RCR teams have made much of a splash, including the No. 31 that is now piloted by Newman. On top of that, Newman has never been a championship threat ever in his career. Therefore, the odds are stacked against him.
Still, Newman is a capable driver with a championship-winning organization. He is the most talented of the RCR bunch and he has yet to really hit his stride in the 2014 Sprint Cup season. It remains to be seen whether or not Newman can make the most of his opportunity with Childress, but if any of the RCR drivers can make the chase it’s him.
With Brian Scott’s pole for Sunday’s Aaron’s 499, the question is raised on whether or not he could make it in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS).
On one hand, he’s an unproven driver with only a pair of NASCAR Camping World Truck Series wins to his name. The wins came several years apart and for different teams, and in both instances he wasn’t close to becoming a championship contender.
In his sixth season of running in the NASCAR Nationwide Series competition, he remains winless in 151 career starts. He earned a pair of runner-up finishes in 2013, coming close to victory at Indianapolis in July and dominating until the latter stages at Richmond in September. Other than that, he’s been the subject of “rich kid” fodder from the naysayers.
He made his Sprint Cup Series debut at Charlotte in October of 2013, starting a respectable 19th and finishing 25th. He’s been running a limited schedule in 2014, including a decent run in February’s 500-mile race before crashing out. His runs at Phoenix and Fontana were sub-par, although Fontana was mostly due to a crash with Aric Almirola.
Now Scott’s stock is on notice, thanks to his NSCS pole at Talladega.
This could be attributed to the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) affiliation that Circle Sport Racing has. Prior to qualifying at Talladega Scott’s qualifying performances have been mediocre to downright poor. But considering Talladega is the most unpredictable track on the circuit Scott’s chances of finishing well were pretty even with the rest of the field.
But a strong finish at Talladega doesn’t mean much because Talladega is such a wild card. If Front Row Motorsports, an underfunded team, can finish first and second in a race at Talladega, then anything can happen there. Therefore it would be hard to determine whether or not Scott’s finish was based on skill, luck or both.
Then again, Scott has been doing quite well with RCR. In the 2013 Nationwide Series campaign Scott had a career season, finishing seventh in the points with one pole, three top-fives and 13 top-10s.
Had Kyle Busch competed in fewer events, including Indy and Richmond, then Scott would have posted two wins instead of going winless again. His performance in 2013 indicates that he just might post a victory in 2014.
If he’s to run well in the Sprint Cup Series, he needs to bolster his resume in the Nationwide Series. As it stands right now, Scott is only riding around. If he wants to do well in the Sprint Cup Series he needs to show that he can get the job done elsewhere.
Once he does that, then he should do fine once he lands a respectable Sprint Cup Series ride.
For one of the most-heralded Sprint Cup rookies in recent memory, Austin Dillon has had some trouble getting his 2014 in gear.
Granted, he is a rookie in the highest echelon of American stock-car racing, but in comparison to fellow 2014 Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year candidate Kyle Larson, Dillon and his Richard Childress Racing group just seem to be lacking.
Granted, they put the No. 3 Chevrolet on the pole for the Daytona 500 back in February and managed to score a top-10 (if only by the skin of their teeth), but while the team that was a lock for the RotY victory at season’s end has struggled, Larson’s No. 42 Ganassi Chevrolet has reeled off two top-fives and four top-10s in nine starts, including a narrow runner-up finish at Fontana.
Add to that the fact that the ninth-place finish at Daytona was Dillon’s single top-10 this season, and it’s easy to wonder if Dillon might miss out on that RotY title this season.
Photo Credit: David Yeazell
Now, it is only nine races into the Sprint Cup season, so it is too early to tell whether or not Dillon will mount a charge towards the front at some point or the other. But with the way Dillon’s crew has performed this season it would be easier to call it now and say that they will remain where they are. They’ll be consistent, but the excellent finishes will be out of their reach.
On top of that, Dillon hasn’t been one to really go out and snag results. Sure, the exception to the rule is his five wins in the Camping World Truck Series to go along with the 2011 CWTS championship. But two wins in his rookie Nationwide campaign followed by a winless championship season doesn’t point to excellence. It points to a driver who lucked into a championship when the main contenders ran into issues.
Dillon is going through the equivalent of that one superstar college football player who becomes the first-round NFL Draft pick for a major team only to falter on the big stage.
Now, his worst finish of the season happened at Richmond Saturday, where he finished 27th, two laps down. Other than yet, he’s finished inside of the top-20 in every 2014 race beforehand, with a trio of 11th-place runs at Bristol, Fontana and Darlington helping to keep him in the 12th-place slot in the points standings. It could be worse for the Childress driver, that much is true.
Austin Dillon wins at Kentucky
He could get lucky and post a strong run at Talladega on Sunday. On top of that, he could have some more strong runs later in the year once his No. 3 team finds footing. But he is a rookie, and right now he’s going through the rookie trials and tribulations of a Sprint Cup driver.
He could rebound and make the RotY race a close one, and for all intents and purposes could even be a Chase contender. But if the first nine races are any indicator of the rest of the season for Dillon, don’t expect much out of that crew.
Considering Chase Elliott’s run at Texas followed by his win at Darlington the next week, it would be so easy and so tempting to put him in a Sprint Cup car after the conclusion of the 2014 Nationwide season.
It would also be a mistake.
Elliott is a rarity in the garage. Sure, he’s descended from NASCAR greatness in the form of two-time Daytona 500 and 1988 Winston Cup champion Bill Elliott. Like the elder Elliott, Chase isn’t loud or flashy but rather quiet and introspective. Like the elder Elliott, Chase has a good head on his shoulders, and would rather drive the wheels off the race car than anything else.
Yet he is also the type of driver that is rarely seen not only in NASCAR but in any form of motorsport, no less. He came into the Nationwide Series like he did into his limited Camping World Truck Series campaign, with limited knowledge and experience. Yet in 2013 he won an ARCA event at Pocono and a CWTS event at Bowmanville. This season in the Nationwide Series, he’s got two wins, three top-fives and six top-10s in seven starts.
Seven starts in the Nationwide Series, a true Rookie of the Year contender in a blue No. 9 Camaro owned by JR Motorsports, and he’s the points leader.
He’s a rookie, and there is a chance that he might relinquish that lead, but the way he’s driving that might be easier said than done. He’s a plausible title threat in 2014. If it happens, the stands at Homestead may come crashing down in celebration for the popular driver.
Photo Credit: Fred Blood
However, there is a chance that if he goes straight to Cup he could flounder, and with someone of Elliott’s caliber that’s a chance that cannot be taken.
Sprint Cup and Nationwide may not be all that different, but they are different. Take the plight of Kyle Larson. He’s been doing a splendid job on the Sprint Cup side of things, and although he has had his struggles, he’s looking good in the RotY fight.
But on the Nationwide side of things he has been a contender for the win week after week, and even won at Fontana earlier this year. It was a win many expected would happen soon, and to see it happen in the fashion that only Larson could deliver was par for the course.
But while Larson is talented and capable of winning races in any series, he’s been put through a bit of a wringer in Cup. It took until Bristol for a top-10 to take place, and he still seems to be trying to grasp footing despite posting a couple of top-fives at Fontana and Texas.
Elliott is not only talented, he is a prodigy. Anyone who doubts that would do good to watch the final restart at Darlington on Friday. He drove aggressively, but with the finesse of a 10-year veteran in those Nationwide cars. He kept his nose clean in a difficult situation at a difficult track, and that’s something that is unheard of in 18-year-old race car drivers.
There is no doubt he’ll be an unstoppable force in the Sprint Cup Series, and he’ll give the crowd their fill of thrills during the race. But there is always room for improvement, and as time goes on this season he’ll become acquainted with those weak points, and with not one but two seasons in the Nationwide Series, he’ll be the best rookie driver in the Sprint Cup Series since Denny Hamlin in 2006.
Photo Credit: David Yeazell
It would be rough to see him struggle in the Sprint Cup Series after such a spectacular Nationwide rookie campaign (so far). Besides, great race car drivers tend to age like a fine wine, and Elliott can only get better as the years go by. He’ll win titles if he stays a little longer after this season in the Nationwide Series, but if he moves to the Sprint Cup Series too early after this season he’ll struggle a bit before he finds success.
For someone like Elliott it would be a morale killer, and as young as Elliott is that’s a risk that just isn’t worth it. Don’t rush Elliott if he does well this season. Let him grow and mature before he takes to Cup like his father.
