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Sprint Cup
ROBERTS: What Happened To Driver Development?
Driver development programs in NASCAR have become a victim of the economy...
John Roberts is the host of NASCAR RaceDay, NASCAR Victory Lane and NASCAR Smarts on SPEED. (Photo: SPEED)
Tim McCreadie, Ryan Gifford, Marc Davis, Blake Feese, Boston Reid … who are these guys and where are they now?
They were “developmental drivers” for various NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams a couple of years ago, but we haven’t heard their names much lately because they have been replaced by drivers who bring more money and financial backing to the table, and in some cases, less talent.
However, it wasn’t that long ago that “driver development” was a buzz phrase around the Cup garage. With drivers like Ricky Rudd and Dale Jarrett turning gray and talking retirement, teams started to wonder who would replace their aging veterans. Being proactive, most of the big teams put some heavy resources into developing the stars of the future. But like so many other facets of life and business, driver development programs have become a victim of the economy. They have been supplanted, to some degree, by drivers who bring cash and/or financial backing along with their helmets.
This issue was raised again last week when Richard Childress Racing, which currently has all three Cup teams in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, announced it had signed Paul Menard to drive a fourth Cup car next year. This will be Menard’s fourth team in as many seasons. While he definitely has shown improvement and better performance this year over the previous years, he also brings sponsorship to RCR in the form of his father’s home improvement chain in the Midwest, Menards.
Since the economic downturn, owners can’t afford to invest millions of dollars into developing drivers. It’s hard enough to find a sponsor for a well-performing veteran driver, much less a young up-and-comer. When sponsors do sign on with a team, they want a big name in the seat - someone they know will perform. Nowadays there is no place or budget for the kid trying to develop into a proven wheelman.
The Jack Roush “Gong Show,” in which he put young and aspiring drivers through a series of on-track tests to see who emerged the winner and his new developmental driver, clearly found some of NASCAR’s future stars. Hendrick Motorsports put some of its top people on a program that experimented with young drivers like Blake Feese, Boston Reid and Adrian Fernandez. Chip Ganassi, Joe Gibbs and Richard Childress were all in on the search for the next young superstar with their respective programs. But those plans have fallen by the wayside and the focus of that search has changed.
In short, for the most part, these drivers haven’t raced for these Cup owners in more than a year or two because it’s too costly without accompanying financial support.
Instead of looking for talent, teams are looking for money. A young driver’s talent goes up exponentially in relation to how much sponsorship he or she can bring. I’m not insinuating that a guy like Menard is not a talented race car driver. He’s having his best season ever. However, we never used to see a team like Richard Childress Racing going hard after a guy who was 23rd in points with only five top-10 finishes in 134 Cup starts.
It costs big money to go racing so you can’t fault teams for looking for it wherever they can find it. The dollar search simply is a sign of the leaner times. NASCAR teams have always been proactive and adaptive to the ups and downs of the economy and the sport itself. But let’s just hope that as times get better, they’ll get back to searching for talent instead of money. Talent is the true heart and future of the sport – not money.
John Roberts is the host of SPEED’s popular pre- and post-race programs, NASCAR RaceDay Built by the Home Depot and NASCAR Victory Lane. Roberts also hosts NASCAR Live! and NASCAR Smarts on SPEED. He graduated from James Madison University and still jokingly considers himself a prospect for a top-rated college basketball team, namely the University of North Carolina Tar Heels.
The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED
They were “developmental drivers” for various NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams a couple of years ago, but we haven’t heard their names much lately because they have been replaced by drivers who bring more money and financial backing to the table, and in some cases, less talent.
However, it wasn’t that long ago that “driver development” was a buzz phrase around the Cup garage. With drivers like Ricky Rudd and Dale Jarrett turning gray and talking retirement, teams started to wonder who would replace their aging veterans. Being proactive, most of the big teams put some heavy resources into developing the stars of the future. But like so many other facets of life and business, driver development programs have become a victim of the economy. They have been supplanted, to some degree, by drivers who bring cash and/or financial backing along with their helmets.
This issue was raised again last week when Richard Childress Racing, which currently has all three Cup teams in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, announced it had signed Paul Menard to drive a fourth Cup car next year. This will be Menard’s fourth team in as many seasons. While he definitely has shown improvement and better performance this year over the previous years, he also brings sponsorship to RCR in the form of his father’s home improvement chain in the Midwest, Menards.
Since the economic downturn, owners can’t afford to invest millions of dollars into developing drivers. It’s hard enough to find a sponsor for a well-performing veteran driver, much less a young up-and-comer. When sponsors do sign on with a team, they want a big name in the seat - someone they know will perform. Nowadays there is no place or budget for the kid trying to develop into a proven wheelman.
The Jack Roush “Gong Show,” in which he put young and aspiring drivers through a series of on-track tests to see who emerged the winner and his new developmental driver, clearly found some of NASCAR’s future stars. Hendrick Motorsports put some of its top people on a program that experimented with young drivers like Blake Feese, Boston Reid and Adrian Fernandez. Chip Ganassi, Joe Gibbs and Richard Childress were all in on the search for the next young superstar with their respective programs. But those plans have fallen by the wayside and the focus of that search has changed.
In short, for the most part, these drivers haven’t raced for these Cup owners in more than a year or two because it’s too costly without accompanying financial support.
My SPEED is devoted to the passionate fans who celebrate motorcycles, motorsports and the automotive lifestyle.
Instead of looking for talent, teams are looking for money. A young driver’s talent goes up exponentially in relation to how much sponsorship he or she can bring. I’m not insinuating that a guy like Menard is not a talented race car driver. He’s having his best season ever. However, we never used to see a team like Richard Childress Racing going hard after a guy who was 23rd in points with only five top-10 finishes in 134 Cup starts.
It costs big money to go racing so you can’t fault teams for looking for it wherever they can find it. The dollar search simply is a sign of the leaner times. NASCAR teams have always been proactive and adaptive to the ups and downs of the economy and the sport itself. But let’s just hope that as times get better, they’ll get back to searching for talent instead of money. Talent is the true heart and future of the sport – not money.
John Roberts is the host of SPEED’s popular pre- and post-race programs, NASCAR RaceDay Built by the Home Depot and NASCAR Victory Lane. Roberts also hosts NASCAR Live! and NASCAR Smarts on SPEED. He graduated from James Madison University and still jokingly considers himself a prospect for a top-rated college basketball team, namely the University of North Carolina Tar Heels.
The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED
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