Is 2011 the year for the first-time winners?

The two biggest races in the Sprint Cup series were won by drivers that had never won a Cup race before. Is 2011 the year for the first-time winners?

Trevor Bayne, in his second cup start, won the Daytona 500 in the famed Wood Brothers 21, who up until then, hadn’t won a race in 10 years. You could consider Trevor Bayne is a rookie sensation, but after that win, his season hasn’t been stellar. If you look at the Nationwide Series, Trevor was surging until a mystery illness sideline the surprise 500 winner for six weeks. He is in his first race since April right now as I write this.

Regan Smith, who would have won a race back in 2008 if it weren’t for the double-yellow line, won the Southern 500 at Darlington. The race was dominated by Red Bull Racing’s Kasey Kahne. Smith, who drives for Furniture Row Racing, the only Cup team that isn’t based in North Carolina, but in Denver, Colorado, was at the right place at the right time to win the race.

If you even look at the Nationwide series, 2010 Nationwide Series Rookie of the year Ricky Stenhouse Jr., got his first win at Iowa.

If you look at all of these first time winners this year, there is something similar about them. It’s not the team the won for. It’s not the age of the drivers. It’s the driver who finished 2^nd to them. That guy? Carl Edwards. The Sprint Cup Series points leader.

On to what this blog is really about. Who will be the nest winner in the Cup series? Instead of doing the way I usually do to ask questions, I used one of the newest things on Facebook. I asked a question. I only had three options. David Ragan, Marcos Ambrose, and AJ Allmendinger. The results were tremendous. After 78 answers, the results were in. With a whopping 48 votes, David Ragan is pretty much everyone’s picks to be the next first-time winner.

A regular in the Cup series since 2007, David Ragan has had a roller coaster of a career. His sophomore season was a stellar one, finishing 13^th in points, being the high non-chaser in the final points. The next two seasons, however, weren’t as good. 2011 is a make-or-break year for the Unadilla Georgia native. This year, David earned his first career pole at Texas, a race that his teammate won, and earned his best career finish of second last week at Charlotte. Everyone has been saying ‘When will David Ragan break into Victory Lane?’ Here’s what some people said on why they picked David Ragan:

Cindy Huffaker

David Ragan...so much better this year....he's shown he's more than ready to be in VL

Steph Piech David has more experience in a stock car and I feel that he's got a stronger team and better equipment!

Gina Marie Navarra well since Roush Fenway is doing really good right now, why not Ragan? :)

Devin Bachman ragan mis i am picking ford kiss ass there and he win there would be sweet for jack there rouch racings rules there

Matt Kacar I chose Ragan because he has been fast all year long and he’s coming close to winning finishing second in last night race

Coming in second with 18 votes, Australian Marcos Ambrose has had his ups and downs as well. His first full season in the cup series was 2009. He’s been very competitive since then. In 2009, Marcos Ambrose finished 3^rd at Sonoma and 2^nd at Watkins Glen, road courses which are considered his best track. In 2010, after Kasey Kahne announced his departure from Richard Petty Motorsports, Marcos was named the driver for the 9 car. In the 2011, Marcos has been a factor at the end of most, if not all, of the races this season. Here’s what some people said about Ambrose:

Ashley Marie Shafer I picked Marcos Ambrose cuz I think he is doing great and I see him getting his 1st win when they go to a road course!! =) (If he doesn't screw up again like last year)
Melissa Goodwin I think that he is going to win this year at Sonoma

Eric Carlson I think if Hamlin doesn't win at Infineon, then it will be Marcos Ambrose that wins there. As long as he doesn't do what he did last year when he shut the engine off and could not get it restarted because he was on the hill and Jimmie Johnson passed him and won

The last driver in the poll was AJ Allmendinger with 12 votes. Starting his career with a generally new team, Red Bull Racing, Allmendinger’s start to his career wasn’t a very good one. After being dropped by Red Bull Racing, Allmendinger bounced around race teams until being picked up by Richard Petty Motorsports for the 2010 season. Now in 2011, AJ, like his teammate, has been running very well. (I would attach things people said about Allmendinger, but no one posted anything)

Will the poll hold true? Will David Ragan be the next first-time winner? Where will he get his first win? Only time will tell if anyone or all of these drivers get their first win in the Cup Series.

Things that piss me off about NASCAR

I love this sport, but some things really get on my nerves. I already wrote about one of them, now for three others. I am warning you now, if you don’t like my ranting, please do not read, but please tell your friends that like ranting to come read. Every so often I find something about NASCAR that really pissing me off. Drivers, races, situations, feuds, and plenty more other things.

The first thing that is pissing me off right now is ESPN’s coverage of this past Sunday’s Cup race, or the lack there of. Commercials at the wrong place, showing the wicked witch of the West all the time, and not showing the reason for a debris caution. With that let’s go deeper into the last debris caution. Kasey Kahne, in my opinion the hottest driver in NASCAR, hit the wall, causing some things from his car to fall onto the track. Now, show of hands, how many people actually knew why exactly the caution came out? Unless you were listening to his radio or someone told you, you didn’t know. ESPN failed to broadcast that over the air. The reason why THIS pisses me off is because ESPN doesn’t understand that unless they show it on TV, people watching at home are NOT going to know what happens. Another thing. Commercial breaks. Taking a break after 7 laps is NOT cool. Taking a break with 15 laps to go is NOT cool. Another thing. Interviews. Perfect example. Danica Patrick. She was interviewed BEFORE the third place finisher at last week’s Nationwide race. Another thing about ESPN. Go back a couple of months to when Trevor Bayne won three poles in a row. How long to do think they talk about that? About two days, until a Cup regular won the race. ESPN gives Cup regulars more coverage during the nationwide race.

Next thing Richard Petty Motorsports. They really piss me off because since Kasey decided to leave them at the end of the year, they decided to give him crappy equipment and give the team mate wrecker AJ Allmendinger everything. Kasey and Elliott are getting the short end of the stick over there and AJ is being treated like the favorite child. It really pisses me off.

NASCAR fueds: are they or aren't they?

Everybody keeps talking about who is going to be the next feud. Just this season, we have seen quite a few 'feuds'. But the question is, are they really feuds or are they just drivers getting aggravated this each other on the track. First example: Brad Keselowski vs. Carl Edwards. It looks like Brad is pissing in pretty much every body's cornflakes these days. First 'sighting' of a feud? April, Talladega, 2009. Edwards into the catch fence as Keselowski goes to Victory Lane. Second sighting? March, Atlanta, 2010. Two offences here. Edwards with trouble after Keselowski spins him (i think). Keselowski flipped up into the wall, Edwards driving away. The most recent sighting? July, Gateway 2010. Final lap. Keselowski turned into the wall, causing a big pile up, Edwards going to Victory Lane. Is this a feud or is this just racing? They both said that they have no beef with each other, but after four offences , two for each, I'm thinking maybe it could be a feud. Brad has gotten into Hamlin for about half of last year's Nationwide season. That was a feud. Next person. Kevin Harvick. This one is a good one. Kevin has had 'feuds' with people ever since he started in the sport. Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards, Joey Logano just to name a few. I am more up to code with the Harvick/Logano thing. Both offences I have seen, Kevin Harvick is the one who is guilty. The most recent? Pocono, June 2010. Joey has fifth. Kevin doesn't. Joey gives him room. Kevin doesn't take it and he spins him out. Joey comes back to finished 13th. Joey, not a very happy camper, calls Harvick the 'F' word and after the race, has to be retrained from getting at Harvick. Just a few months later, Joey accidently spins Ryan Newman and Ryan gets angry with Joey. Joey, only 20, calmly tries to talk to Ryan, but Ryan wouldn't listen. Ryan is a big guy, so naturally, he goes after the skinnier guys. Last Saturday at Atlanta, He spun Nationwide driver Trevor Bayne. Sunday night, Ryan Newman gets into Chase hopeful, Kasey Kahne, causing him to get into Kurt Busch. Kasey finished 32nd. Ryan ruined Kasey's chances of winning the race and getting into the Chase. The best 'feud' I have seen this season has to be between Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon. You see these everywhere in the sport. I guess you can say it is what makes the sport interesting. What doesn't make it interesting is when a driver gets taken out by his team mate. Kasey Kahne and Elliot Sadler can account to that one. Kasey at Pocono in June and Elliott there in August. The offender? AJ Allmendinger. June. AJ pushed Kasey into the grass, causing Kasey to come up back on the track and wreck about four other cars. August. Kurt Busch starts an accordion effect through the field, AJ doesn't slow, causing him to hit Elliott. Elliott spins and goes spinning into the inside reattaining wall, his engine flies out of of his car. Feuds can make or break you. You have to choose whether or not it's going to do something with it or not.