Norman — NASCAR has brought in a number of high-profile rookies in recent seasons.
Joey Logano burst on the scene in late 2008. In his first full season last year, he won rookie of the year honors and now is thought of practically as a veteran, even though he’s still only 19 years old.
Juan Pablo Montoya won the top rookie award two years before Logano, and pushed his way near the top of the points standings for quite a bit of last season.
Brad Keselowski found his way to victory lane last year, and Clint Bowyer, Martin Truex, Marcos Ambrose and David Ragan all have been solid first-year drivers in recent seasons who didn’t win the rookie of the year title.
Don’t expect a big spalsh this year.
Most of the headlines about new blood in the series so far have centered on Danica Patrick, who is running a limited schedule on the Nationwide Series. While the IndyCar star garners more headlines than just about anyone in the sport, there aren’t many other new names to look at this season.
In fact, only one rookie driver, Kevin Conway, even has made a start in the Sprint Cup series. Conway, driving the No. 37 car, has finishes of 31st and 36th places the past two weeks after failing to qualify for the Daytona 500.
A second rookie, Terry Cook, has had a harder time, having yet to make it on the starting grid.
That’s it.
The well of young talent, at least for a year, seems to have dried up.
But once upon a time nobody knew who that mustached young Jeff Gordon was, or just how much success Mark Martin would go on and have for decades. Some name may yet jump out of nowhere and surprise us all.
By the numbers
Jimmie Johnson’s win Sunday at Las Vegas leaves him one short of 50 for his Sprint Cup career. He is one win out of the top 10 in career victories in the series, and his next win will tie him with legends Ned Jarrett and Junior Johnson. Lee Petty and Rusty Wallace could be within his sights before the end of the season as well.
After wrecking in the season opener at Daytona, back-to-back victories have the four-time defending champion already recovered to fifth in the point standings.
Finding some swagger
That mustache has been gone for many years from Gordon’s lip. And for the last couple of years, the driver hasn’t enjoyed the same sort of domination he did earlier in his career as he was finding his way to four championships from 1995 to 2001.
Gordon was in the hunt Sunday at Vegas, but a late pit stop strategy worked for his teammate, Johnson, and against him, eventually dropping Gordon to a third-place finish.
The good news was he had the best car much of the day, something he’s hoping will be more like the old days, when he was dominant.
“I’m disappointed, but at the same time, you know, we haven’t dominated like this in a very, very long time,” he said after the race.
Christian Potts 366-3531 cpotts@normantranscript.com
