Apparently, a driver earning a top 10 for the first time in his career is a pretty big thing, nowadays. David Stremme has been on top of that heap this week after finishing 10th at Texas on Sunday.The career-best finish for Stremme has been a cornerstone in what looks to be a very solid start to a sophomore year in the Nextel Cup series for the South Bend, Ind. native. Stremme sits 12th in the points right now and has finished in the top 20 in every race this season except Martinsville. In this era of Hendrick, Roush, RCR, and Gibbs dominance, that's a pretty respectable finish for the Chip Ganassi Racing driver.
"That was a great top 10 finish, and it's a career best, but I thought we were headed for a better finish [at Texas]. Still, a top 10 at Texas is pretty good and we moved back up to 12th in the series standings. We've done what we set out to do in these first few races," said Stremme in the team's post race release.Stremme endured a tulmutous first season with Ganassi, squeaking into 2007 with the same job after finishing 33rd in points. He had a couple flashes of brilliance last season, finishing 11th twice, but several DNF's didn't have the boss too happy.
This year, the whole organization looks to have gotten a shot in the arm with the arrival of Juan Montoya. At one point Sunday, all three Ganassi teams were in the top 15 until Reed Sorenson's engine let go -- despite having the best handling race of the bunch.
Stremme hasn't quite broken out with his full potential this season, but he's been solid nonetheless. After all, he seems to be doing his rise to the top the hard way after running two full seasons in the Busch series before his Cup debut with Ganassi. He's not had a magical rookie season or been trotted around as NASCAR's newest top young gun. He's here to race, and he wants to prove it.
"The seeason as a whole is definitely better than where we were last year, but it's not where I want to be," said Stremme.The talent is definitely there for Stremme -- he's got a fantastic background in short track racing, including formerly holding track records at the renowned Winchester (Ind.) Speeday where he'll be returning to for a race in October -- and the equipment at Ganassi Racing might finally returning to a level where they could compete for wins, not just top 10s.
