What a Difference a Year Makes: Spotlight on Ricky Stenhouse Jr

What can I say about Ricky Stenhouse Jr. that hasn’t been said already? From being so close to losing his ride in his rookie year to being the series points leader with 10 races to go his sophomore year is incredible. Ricky’s whole career did a complete 180 when Ricky came back to racing in July of 2010 when he finished 3^rd. Ricky went on to win the Rookie of the year honors by a slim margin over Brian Scott. This year, Ricky is leading the points standings by a slim 5 points over former Cup driver Elliott Sadler.

Ricky went into Iowa back in May winless and ready to get that off his back. That’s exactly what he did. Ricky led the most laps and beat his teammate, Carl Edwards, to win his first NASCAR Nationwide Series victory. Ricky led the most laps at LOR, only to be passed on one of the final restarts by winner Brad Keselowski and runner-up James Buescher to finish third.

Ricky would have redemption the follow weekend and the track he scored his first career victory a few months before. Ricky beat Carl again, but this time just a little differently. Here’s the finish:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tonqUmFDcDA

Ricky’s been in a tight points battle with Elliott Sadler and Reed Sorenson for most of the season. Out of the three, Rick has the most victories with 2, Reed Sorenson has a victory, and Elliott Sadler is the only one of the three with no victories.

Let’s compare 2010 to 2011:

Ricky finished the 2010 season with 3 top 5’s, 8 top 10’s and 5 DNFs. 2010 was a roller coaster of a season, being benched after wrecking a few racecars. Ricky used this time to really put his career in perspective. Ricky came back to the series and scored a top 5, finishing third. After that, Ricky caught and passed Brian Scott for the Rookie of the Year honors. He had an average start of 14.2 and an average finish of 19.4.

In 2011, Ricky has excelled and now is just 10 races away from possibly his first NASCAR championship. So far, after 25 of 35 races, Ricky has two wins, 3 poles, 10 top 5’s, 17 top 10’s and had completed almost 99% of the laps this season. He has an average start of 7.5 and an average finish of 10.2. Such a MAJOR improvement from a year before.

Here’s what I think about Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ricky is a talented driver. Can he drive a racecar? Of course he can, better than a lot of the guys he’s racing again. Can he win the championship this year? I think so. Ricky has prove to all the haters and skeptics that he can pull himself out of that hole he dug himself into last year. Ricky can run with the best. I am 100% sure that Ricky Stenhouse Jr. can win the championship and be good Cup drive in the near future. I can say that a year ago, I wasn’t a big fan of Ricky. Look at what a year does. I am on the Stenhouse Jr. fan train I don’t think this girl will be getting off anytime soon.

Talent Knows No Age

Daytona 500 champion. Two-time K&N Pro Series Champion. Grandson of a 6-time Cup champion car owner. Greatest thing since sliced bread. 2010 NASCAR Nationwide series Rookie of the Year. Son of a NASCAR Cup Champion. Talent knows no age. 20. 18. 20. 20. 23. 23. Trevor Bayne, Ryan Truex, Austin Dillon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Steve Wallace, among others. All of these drivers have been racing for years, despite what their age says about them. Some of them are young NASCAR champions, others young NASCAR winners.

Joey Logano, born May 21^st 1990. Sliced Bread. Youngest NASCAR Nationwide Series winner at the age of 18 years and 21 days and the youngest NASCAR Sprint Cup series winner at the age of 19 years and 35 days. Logano is now the youngest winner in two of NASCAR'S three top divisions. He is also the first NASCAR driver to be born in the 1990s to compete in NASCAR's three major divisions. Discovered by Mark Martin, Joey would become one of the biggest hypes of the sport in a while. When Logano was 15, Martin said “I am high on Joey Logano because I am absolutely, 100-percent positive, without a doubt that he can be one of the greatest that ever raced in NASCAR. I'm positive. There's no doubt in mind.” (wikipedia) Joey was signed by Joe Gibbs racing in 2008. Despite going winless in 2010, Joey Logano showed promise at the end of last season, posting 5 top-tens in the last 6 starts, crashing out of the season finale at Homestead. 2011 hasn’t gone the way Logano would have wanted, he is currently 30^th in Cup points. Logano has 8 Nationwide wins to his lone Cup win.

Trevor Bayne, born February 19^th 1991. T-Bayne. Youngest driver to win the Daytona 500, surpassing his childhood hero (most likely still his hero), Jeff Gordon by over 5 years. Trevor Bayne showed a lot of promise in his first full year in the Nationwide series, driving for Diamond-Waltrip Racing and then for Roush Fenway Racing. Trevor captured 4 poles, during of them came in the 2010 season right after each other. He was the first driver to do so since Jeff Gordon 19 years ago. His best finish in the series is third at Gateway, where he got the pole. At the age of 19, Trevor made his Sprint Cup debut at Texas Motor Speedway during the chase. Started 25^th and finished 17^th on the lead lap. Bayne is the first driver to be born in 1991 to compete in the top two NASCAR touring series. In his second Cup start, a day after his 20^th birthday, Trevor Bayne won the Daytona 500, giving Ford it’s 600^th win and giving them a 1-2-3 finish. After his 5th place finish at PIR last week, Bayne sits 6^th in Nationwide points.

Ryan Truex, born March 18^th, 1992. Brother of two-time Nationwide (then Busch) Series Champion Martin Truex Jr. Two-time K&N Pro Series Champion. Developmental driver for Michael Waltrip Racing, Ryan has some big shoes to fill. His brother’s, Cup driver Martin Truex Jr. Ryan won his first K&N championship at the age of 17, only to repeat in 2010. Ryan competed in 6 Nationwide Series races in 2010. He was hoping to run for ROTY in 2011, but that was put on hold when motocross stunt performer Travis Pastrana came into the mix. He will be racing 7 races in the 99. Ryan will also share seat time with older brother Martin as well as Car owner Michael Waltrip. We all hope to see more from the youngster very soon.

Austin Dillon, born April 27^th 1990. 2010 NASCAR Camping World Truck series Rookie of the Year. Grandson of Car owner Richard Childress. Dillon currently races for his grandpa’s racing team, Richard Childress Racing, which was made famous by the late Dale Earnhardt. He made his first Camping World Truck Series start at Iowa Speedway, driving the #3 truck, the first time that the number has appeared in the three major series since Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in the Nationwide Series back in 2002. He would finish 12th. He got his first truck will there a year later. Austin claimed his second career Truck win at Las Vegas, leading 92 of 146 laps. He finished 2010 with 2 wins, 7 top 5s, and 16 top 10s.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., born October 2^nd, 1987. 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year. He currently driver for Roush Fenway Racing. 2010 was an up and down year for Stenhouse, crashing out of 4 of the first 10 races of the season. He was replaced at Brian Ickler for 3 races and Brian Johnson at Watkins Glen. With a veteran crew chief a top of his war wagon, Stenhouse came back, posting a 3^rd place finish at Daytona. He posted 7 top tens and was locked in a tight ROTY battle with Brian Scott, which in the end Stenhouse won after a 4^th place run at Homestead. After three races into the 2011 season, Ricky Stenhouse sits 2^nd in points behind Reed Sorenson.

Steve Wallace, born August 18 1987. Son of 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup champion Rusty Wallace. Wallace made his first Nationwide start back in 2005, when it was the Busch series, at Memphis. For the 2006 season, Wallace raced 17 races, sharing the car with Cup driver Jamie McMurray. His first full season was in 2007, where he nab two poles, the first at Bristol and then at Nashville. His first career top five came at Richmond International Raceway on May 2, 2008. Wallace made his Cup debut at Daytona International Raceway for the Daytona 500. As of March 13^th, Steve Wallace has posted 29 top-tens and 2 poles in the Nationwide series. He is currently 14^th in Nationwide points.

Brain Scott, born January 12^th 1988. 2010 Rookie of the Year runner-up. Brian first started competing in the Camping World Truck series in 2007, posting a win (in 2009) and 20 top-tens in the series before moving to the Nationwide series in 2010 for Braun Racing. His best finish in his career is 3rd at Chicago. In September, when Turner Motorsports purchased Braun Racing, it was announced that Brian Scott would be release after the September race at Dover. On September 29, RAB Racing hired Brian to drive its #09 Ford Fusion at Kansas and eventually for the rest of the season. Despite finished 14^th in points and ahead of Ricky Stenhouse, Scott lost the Rookie of the Year battle. Brian will race the #11 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing full-time in 2011. He is currently 11^th in Nationwide points

As you can see, Talent knows no age. Whether you’re 18 or 40, if you have talent, it will show. Good luck to all of these drivers in the 2011 season and beyond.

(information came from www.wikipedia.org)

Why Trevor Bayne deserves this Cup ride over everybody else

Unless you have been living under a rock or in a different galaxy, you know that Trevor Bayne will be attempting to make his first Sprint Cup race at Texas with three races left in the 2010 season. Everybody that knows me knows that I am a Trevor Bayne fan. when I heard this news, I am pretty fucking excited. Almost as excited as I was when Kasey wasn't racing for RPM anymore. Some people may argue that Trevor Bayne isn't ready to make his Sprint Cup debut. I say other wise. Jack did the right thing by making that decision. Trevor Bayne, 19, has come a long way from where he was a year ago. Three consecuative poles (first time that has been done in the Nationwide Series in 18 years-he was one), five top-five, 12 top-tens. The kid has really shined this year. When news hit that Trevor may not have a ride with DWR (Diamond Waltrip Racing), I will admit I was devastated. I'm nto going to lie, I thought I was going to cry. BUT I didn't. I kept my head led high and told myself, He'll get a ride. no one will let this kid not race. Sure enough, about two days later, Trevor landed a ride with one of my favorite race teams Roush Fenway Racing. For several weeks, Jack Roush was debating on whether or not to have Trevor make the jump to Cup for his first race up in the big leagues. People were saying that he would make that start with RPM. Who would want to make their Sprint Cup debut with that team? So, the whole Trevor making his Cup debut was put on hold until this past week when it was decided that, at Texas, Trevor would try to make his first Cup race with the Wood Brothers in the 21 car. If Trevor makes the race, he will join the likes of Joey Logano as the second driver born in the 1990's to race Cup and the first driver to be born in 1991 (my birth year :D). He would also be the youngest in the field, something Joey has been since the 2009 Daytona 500. This blog isn't about Trevor going to Cup, well it is, but there is something I have to get to here. The fact that he was chosen over the other Roush developmental drivers. Roush has quite a few. Colin Braun, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Brian Ickler, just to name a few. I have seen that some people think that Ricky Stenhouse Jr. deserves the Cup ride more than Trevor. Are you huffing something? Trevor is the better driver, hand down. He has run better, has posted better finishes. Who in their right mind would give Ricky Stenhouse Jr., a driver back in spring was close to falling out of the top-30 in owner points, a ride over Trevor Bayne. I'm not saying that I don't like Rucky, I'm not, but Trevor is the better choice for the Cup ride than Ricky. The facts are there, the stats are there. Just face it. Ricky may never make it to Cup. Trevor has a chance to get up to Cup. You gotta face reality sometime. Trevor is the better driver out of the Roush developmental drivers. I am NOT stating an opinion, I am staying a fact. I am sorry if I offended anyone, but it's the truth. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. fans, if you want to come at me and hang me by a tree for saying what I said, but I know when something should be said. This had to be said. This next part is directed at EVERYBODY. Unless your driver is Jimmie Johnson, there is NO way that your driver is better than everybody else. There is NO way that they are going to win the race unless they do. This is directed at a driver. Trevor Bayne, do let ANYBODY tell you that you can not race at the Cup level. You have to go out there this comign weekend and show them that you may be only 19, but you can run with the big dogs. Don't let anybody put you down. You are Trevor Bayne, 19-year-old NASCAR Nationwide phenomenon. You have the Lord and a lot of people on your side. Go out there and do your best. You WILL make the race and get a good finish. Believe in yourself like I believe in you. Like God believes in you. Like all of your fans believe in you.