So, Stephen Leicht won a Busch Series race at Kentucky over the weekend, and suddenly we're supposed to be jumping up and down about how he's on the fast track to Nextel Cup stardom.How about we touch the brake pedal just a tad...
Over the last 2 seasons, only 3 non-Nextel Cup drivers have won Busch Series races, and that includes Leicht last Saturday night. Those 3 victories, as you can probably deduce if you've been following this sport for any length of time (say, 3 or 4 weeks) came when the Nextel Cup Series and Busch Series were racing in different places on the same weekend.
David Gilliland and Leicht each won at Kentucky, while Paul Menard won at Milwaukee.
Despite winning the pole for the season-opening Daytona 500, Gilliland hasn't exactly set the Cup world on fire -- posting only 2 top-10 finishes this season and just 4 top-20 runs. A run-in at Michigan during practice last weekend prompted Tony Stewart to suggest that Gilliland had been rushed to the Cup level after his "upset" Busch win at Kentucky in '06. Menard, for his part, has been struggling in a part-time DEI ride for years under the sponsorship of his surname.
To suggest that Leicht is now the next big thing suggests that NASCAR has very few rising stars in its stead these days. Of course, that's also because the Busch Series is one giant Cup test session each weekend, leaving promising young drivers parked in the garage before they ever get to a track.
Fresh-faced and all of 20 years old makes Leicht like too many other young NASCAR personalities, and thus far, he's done very little to differentiate himself from the pack. No, strike that, he's done nothing to separate himself. Saturday's win was the 1st and only of his Busch career; the 1st and only for Robert Yates Racing in the Busch Series.
But, truly, you could throw the likes of Leicht, Gilliland, Brian Vickers, Jamie McMurray and Reed Sorenson in a hat and pull them out 1 at a time. Without the shiny paint job and sponsor suit, could you really tell which driver was which?
3 comments:
EXACTLY!! But I'll tell you, some team owner is gonna put him in a Cup car. Gilliland and Menard have proven beyond any doubt that they are rushing guys into the big league and it's going to get someone hurt. Stewart was absolutely right. After that incident a friend of mine said he was beginning to think Gilliland had been rushed into Cup. BEGINNING TO THINK??????? Bringing him into Cup has only proven that Yates is run by idiots. Who owns Liecht's contract? Roush I bet.
Look what the Petty's did with McCumbee.. He's won some truck races.. they put him in an ARCA car and the kid won. They gave him one race in a Cup car and he did better than Kyle did the week before and better than Andretti did the week after. Are they going to give him a full time job? No, because he has to learn.
HOLD ON, you forgot to mention the little fact that Tony the Tiger ran into the back of Gilliland. Gilliland was not pitting, he was on older tires, and Tony the Tiger just ran into him while making his bonsai run. Open you ears and listen to what other drivers are saying after watching the tape. As is the norm, someone spoke it; the media spewed it...so it must be true.
As far as the Whoopdie-Doo” part goes you are right one race doesn’t make a driver. But you need to be sure you are comparing apples & apples.
Paul Menard finished in the top 10 in Busch points last year, his second FULL season in Busch with DEI. He drove for Andy Petree before that.
He ran seven Cup races last season and had a top 10 at Atlanta.
That's plenty of experience to go full-time Cup racing this season.
His ride this year in Cup isn't part-time; they've had trouble qualifying.
And about Menard's 'surname,' I guess Dale Jr. never got any breaks because of his name either, right?
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