In 2006, Dave Blaney closed the season with an average finishing spot of 24.4 and the #22 Caterpillar Dodge finished in the 27th position in owner points. So far this season, Blaney's lowered his finishing average in the #22 Caterpillar Toyota to 29.0 and is likely to finish the season outside the top 35 in owner points, which means the team will already be starting 2008 at a disadvantage.Still, Blaney managed to get his option picked up by Bill Davis Racing to drive for at least one more season. By now, everyone reading the NASCAR Fanhouse can probably guess my thoughts on that, so I'll spare you--and my inbox from the "Why are you bashing Blaney?" emails. Unfamiliar? Here's the Blaney category link.
The talent pool isn't really that shallow for next season, is it? Let's have a look ... here's a partial list of current, experienced Cup drivers available for a Cup ride in 2008 (partially compiled from Jayski):
Driver (2008 Avg. Finish/Starts)
John Andretti (33.7/10) - to the #49?
Mike Bliss (27.2/4)
Jeff Green (27/28)
Sterling Marlin (26.5/19)
Jeremy Mayfield (32.5/11)
Joe Nemechek (28.3/23) - to the #78?
Tony Raines (26.8/26)
Scott Riggs (29.1/22) - to the #66?
Ken Schrader (30.5/11)
David Stremme (25.6/28) - to the #10?
Kenny Wallace (30.2/14)
Ok ... I can go with shallow.
The pool doesn't get much deeper in the Busch or NCTS series, either--unless Mike Skinner and Ron Hornaday are looking to come up and I'm just not aware of it. Travis Kvapil already got his ride ... I could see Yates making room for Kvapil's Roush teammate, Erik Darnell, too, in a third car for the team. Darnell seems to me to be the next most likely candidate to move up from the Truck series ... if Roush had an open seat.
In the Busch series, there are only eight driver in the top 20 who aren't already driving in the Cup series--and of those, four have already tried and not had great success in Cup. That leaves Marcos Ambrose, Stephen Leicht, Steve Wallace and Kyle Krisiloff, none of whom I think are ready to graduate.
What's a team owner to do? Besides renew a Blaney ...
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-29-2007 @ 6:57PM
CJ said...
First off, there is some better options that Blaney, they just arent looking hard enough. It's apparent that Bill Davis wants a failing organization by renewing with Dumbass Dave, so he can just keep driving into the ground. As far as Erik Darnell, i can tell you exactly what should happen with his organization. I really believe that Biffle will be gone next year. I know that alot are saying DEI, but i think RCR could be an option too. If RCR wasnt to get him, i'd say RCR will get Bobby Labonte, which would be a huge plus cause of the car being outside the top 35 in owner points and Bobby's past championship. Plus, i think they could get Bobby cause i believe Bobby's gettin a lil fustrated that he's not competiting for wins and he got a lil taste of what that felt like in the Busch series at Talledaga earlier this year and driving what? RCR horsepower! But i think Biffle gone, i think Roush needs to make two changes. First off, he needs to replace David Ragan with Erik Darnell. Erik has really outperformed anything David Ragan's done in any of the series, especially the Truck series, so Erik should be in the 6 car next year. I think Ryan Newman will also be leaving and i think Roush will land him for the Biffle car, so i think that could be the future line up at Roush Racing.
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9-29-2007 @ 10:08PM
Don Emerson said...
Shallow isn't the word for it. Pitiful might be more appropiate. Whose fault is it...Nascars all the way. By letting the cup drivers run the Busch series at will, they have done away with the training ground for future cup drivers. Result, no new and upcoming stars of tommorow, plus they are having to go outside Nascar to get drivers. Thus the opening for F1 and Indy car drivers to switch and get a top quality ride right off the bat. With attendance down and TV ratings falling, it's pretty apparent that sometning needs to be done, and quick, before Nascar ends up following Hockey into oblivion. Solamente i forti sopravvivono...
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9-30-2007 @ 12:15PM
drgrcr601 said...
I don't see how you think allowing cup drivers in Busch races has taken away the training ground for future cup drivers. There are still over 30+ regular Busch drivers competeing every week. Having a few cup drivers racing gives the Busch series more crediblity and allows Busch drivers to compete against the best. Many Busch drivers have said as much.
The bitching I here most about cup Drivers in Busch is cup drivers take most of the top 10 spots and that takes away wins, top 5's and top 10's from Busch regulars. Of course that makes it difficult for them to win a championship and their resume suffers. The upside is if there are Busch regulars that can run up front with the cup drivers consistantly they will be more likely to get a second look. The down side is the cup drivers have better equipment.
Ron
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