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Tag: Rookie

  • Rookie Kyle Larson Proves He Belongs in the Sprint Cup Series

    Rookie Kyle Larson Proves He Belongs in the Sprint Cup Series

    When it was announced last year that Kyle Larson would replace Juan Pablo Montoya in the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet in the Sprint Cup Series in 2014, my first reaction was shock. It had nothing to do with Larson’s skill.

    I saw him race at Rockingham Speedway in November 2012 when he won the K&N Pro Series East championship in his rookie year. He also won the Rookie of the Year title that same year. Only two other drivers in the series, Joey Logano and Ryan Truex, have won the championship in their rookie season. It was enough to make me sit up and take notice, and I wasn’t the only one.

    Jeff Gordon spoke about Larson’s K&N championship, saying, “It’s extremely impressive to me. I think he came into it pretty late. To be able to win the K&N East Series against the talent that’s out there with the limited amount of experience that he has in a full-bodied stock car is extremely impressive and says a lot about his talent and skills.”

    A few months later in April of the following year, again at Rockingham, Larson won his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, in only five starts. As Gordon noted, what is most noteworthy about these accomplishments is that Larson comes from an open-wheel racing background.

    And that is where the doubt crept in. Was Larson ready to tackle the Sprint Cup Series after only one full season in the Nationwide Series? We’ve seen other drivers who were arguably thrust into the Cup Series before they were ready with lackluster results.

    Chip Ganassi had no such trepidation when he announced Larson as the new driver of the No. 42.

    “We believe Kyle is the future of the sport,” Ganassi said. “He is a unique talent.”

    He went on to say, “I’m sure there will be growing pains, but I think he’s ready. Some of those growing pains will come whenever his first year in the series is. But I think this is a good opportunity. My expectations and advice to him are keep the car on the track and run laps.”

    As the season has progressed, I’m thrilled to say that at least in this particular situation, I was wrong.There have indeed been “growing pains” and it hasn’t always been pretty. Larson’s passion and determination to win sometimes causes him to push too hard and he has developed a love/hate relationship with the wall. Even with the miscues, he has managed to achieve six top-fives, 12 top-10s and one pole so far this season.

    Luckily for Larson, Jeff Gordon has remained one of his most ardent supporters and seems willing to offer support and advice. Following today’s race, Gordon took a few moments to talk to Larson.

    When asked what he said to the rookie, Gordon replied, “I’m a big fan. I like seeing young guys out there driving like that. That’s so much fun. That’s what this sport is all about. I just want to let him know what a great job I thought he did.”

    Larson added that Gordon had also given him some advice on restarts but Gordon laughed and interrupted him to say, “Don’t tell them that part.”

    After watching Larson race at Chicagoland Speedway, leading laps and battling for the win with the best drivers in the sport, one thing is clear. Chip Ganassi made the correct decision. And, thanks to his foresight, the fans get to go along for the ride as one of NASCAR’s future stars takes his first steps on that exhilarating journey.

  • Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Talks About His Rookie NSCS Season

    Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Talks About His Rookie NSCS Season

    Following the opening Cup practice of the weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, I spoke with ROTY contender and 2-time Nationwide champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. regarding his rookie season. The past few weeks, Ricky has turned a corner winning the pole at Atlanta before ripping off back-to-back top ten finishes. There is no doubting this guy’s ability and it’s only a matter of time before his true potential at the Cup level is fully realized.

    Talk first about the transition from Nationwide to Cup and the challenges you face as you try to adapt to the Gen-6 car.

    The biggest thing is obviously the horsepower. Having the Gen-6 cars being implemented this year at the same time I’m coming in; I thought (that) was a great time because everyone’s still learning. We haven’t really been as fast at Roush-Fenway as a whole as we wanted and we’re trying to figure this car out as a race team. Driving wise, it’s a big difference. There’s a lot more brake that you got to use and you can’t just jump right back into the gas with all that extra horsepower. It’s been a challenge trying to figure that out. One of the biggest things about Cup is that we always practice at the worst time of the day and then race at a completely opposite (time). In Nationwide, you practice early in the morning; the temperatures are a little cooler and then we race at night. With the Cup cars, we practice dead in the middle of the day so that transition from practice to the race is something I’ve been trying to figure out as well. There’s a lot of factors that go into learning these cars and we’re starting to figure it out.

    Every driver has their particular style of driving and how they want their cars setup; how do you like your cars to feel?

    Yeah, I like mine loose. I hate when our car doesn’t turn. If you listened on our radio, you would find that out. (chuckles) I like my cars to turn…I feel like when the car’s too tight with my driving style of driving (which is) really hard and aggressive, there’s nothing you can do but slow down to get the car to turn. When it’s a little looser, you can still drive it hard and try to get it to tighten up the harder you drive it so I enjoy a loose racecar.

    Going into this season, what were your expectations and have you met them?

    No, we have not met them. We wanted to be top 15 team in points.I think we can get maybe an 18th, 17th or something before the year’s up. We feel like we should have more top 10’s by now. I would like to be running top 10 consistently by now…we’ve done it the past few weeks but we still got to get that speed consistently every week. We’ve led laps which is a positive; we wanted to lead laps this year at some point but we just haven’t been able to finish the races off like we want to. We’ve been fast at the beginning of some races; had some bad luck when we have been fast but yeah, we definitely want some more top 10’s before the end of the year…we thought we’d have quite a few by now.

    The past few weeks, you’ve been doing a lot better. You got that pole and two top 10’s so what’s changed?

    Just getting more comfortable. The guys are working really hard and Scott (Graves) and the guys are making really good calls at the end of these races to keep our track position. I’m not the only rookie here; Scott is a new crew chief so he’s learning as well. At the beginning of the year, we had a lot of times at the end of these races where we tried to make these cars better and we would never make them better and we’d still be behind a lot of guys on the restarts. Staying out and keeping our track position has been one of the best things but you still got to have a decent racecar to do that. I think our cars have been getting a little better and I’m getting more comfortable as well.

    How close do you think you are to that first win…do you think you might be able to get it before the end of the year?

    That would be nice…if we can carry this momentum that we got going to some of these mile and a half race tracks like Charlotte, Kansas, and Texas; I feel like those are going to be our best shots at it. You know, Talladega we were really fast and we led laps there earlier in the year so if we can carry some momentum into those race tracks, keep making our cars better and I keep getting better as a driver; those would be our best shots.

    As you try to adapt to these cars, which driver has been the biggest help to you?

    The teammates are great help. Obviously, I can look at their data and see what they’re doing and how they’re driving the cars. Kevin Harvick has been another good one that has really reached out and helped me; especially at some of the tracks that I haven’t been to like Sears Point or Infinion…(Sonoma)…yeah, Sonoma or whatever it is. He’s (Harvick) raced with me in Nationwide so he knows my tendencies (in Nationwide) and he knows that they won’t exactly work over here. He’s been a big help as well.

    You know, as a rookie, sometimes the veterans pick on you so has anyone given you a hard time this year?

    Nah….everybody’s been pretty good. Some of them that I haven’t raced with; they’ll get a little madder than others like if I don’t give them enough room or whatever but everybody’s been pretty good. I haven’t really had any issues.

    I asked this to Eric McClure this a few weeks ago and got a pretty funny response (Ricky chuckles) and I’ve asked a couple other drivers it and gotten some interesting answers so I thought I might ask you…what’s the strangest fan encounter you’ve ever had?

    Mine hasn’t been too bad or at least from what I can remember. Normally, you’d remember something like that. Umm…I signed a guys forehead once; that was kind of weird because I don’t know why you would want someone’s signature on your forehead. (chuckles) That’s probably been the weirdest thing. It’s always a little different….sometimes they’ll show you pictures of their room and they’ll have pictures all over the place but it takes die-hard fans like that to keep our sport going.

    At just 25 years old, Ricky has an incredible future ahead of him. He’s got a solid ride with a top tier organization and he will most likely be a chase contender within the next couple of years. He only has two top 10’s in his rookie season but wasn’t there some other new guy a few years back who in his first full-time season, only finished inside the top 10 twice driving for a top level team just like Ricky? I think he is a Nationwide champion too actually. Oh yeah! He’s that guy we call Brad Keselowski…the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion.

  • Trevor Bayne: One Step Closer to his Dream

    Trevor Bayne: One Step Closer to his Dream

    Trevor Bayne was born in Knoxville, TN and like many young boys played all kinds of sports including t-ball and football. His life took a different direction at the age of five when he began racing go-karts and discovered his true passion.

    Since then, this talented eighteen-year old has accumulated 22 championships.

    He spent eight years on the go-kart circuit and achieved three World Championships, 300 feature wins and 18 State and Track Championships combined.

    The next stop was the Allison Legacy Race Series where at 13 years of age, Bayne became the youngest to win the Top Rookie award. In 2005, he became the series National Champion.

    It was while racing in the Legacy Series that Trevor met Donnie Allison who would become one of his biggest supporters. Allison influenced Bayne both on and off the track.

    “Donnie’s a great guy,” says Trevor. “He taught me a lot about momentum and really about how to treat people.”

    Bayne’s first big break came in 2008 when Dale Earnhardt Inc. signed him to their driver development program. While there, he competed in the Camping World East Series, finishing fourth in the points standings at season’s end.

    2009 started off with a bang as Trevor finished second in the Toyota All Star Showdown and won the Sunoco Rookie of the Race award. His season, however, came to an abrupt end when DEI experienced economic setbacks and Bayne lost his ride.

    Just when things looked darkest, a chance encounter would bring Bayne, his second big break.

    In February of this year, Trevor Bayne was introduced to Gary Bechtel and began a friendship that would change his life.

    “We both share a passion for racing and became friends right from the start,” Bayne said.

    Bechtel, former owner of Diamond Ridge Motorsports, worked with Michael Waltrip Racing and put together a deal for Trevor to race in the Nationwide Series in 2009. Trevor took full advantage of the opportunity.

    “We put together a deal between MWR and Gary Bechtel to put me in the seat for 8 races. Well those 8 turned into 4 more races so we had 12 total.“

    His Nationwide Series accomplishments include one pole, two top-10 and six top-15 finishes.

    Trevor looks at 2009 as a success, saying, “We were able to prove ourselves in that amount of time.”

    Obviously Gary Bechtel and Michael Waltrip agree with that assessment.

    This month Bechtel and MWR announced the formation of Diamond- Waltrip Racing which will enter a full time Nationwide Series team in 2010 with Trevor Bayne as their driver.

    “We had all the pieces, it was just a matter of putting all the pieces of the puzzle together,” Trevor said.

    So far DWR has sponsorship for only nine races but Bechtel is committed to running a full schedule and giving Bayne the opportunity to compete for the championship.

    “We expect him to be one of the frontrunners next year.”

    However, Bechtel’s belief in Trevor doesn’t stop with the Nationwide Series. Bayne is also slated to run a minimum of seven Cup races in 2011 and an eventual full time Cup schedule by 2012.

    Trevor is grateful for all the opportunities he’s been given and the promise that lies ahead.

    But for now, he’s taking the advice of four time Sprint Cup Champ Jimmie Johnson who told him to “take it one step at a time, keep his head down and work hard.”

    Trevor Bayne is living his dream and is passionate about his future.

    “I can’t wait to get to Daytona next year to begin a race for the championship.”