Race for ROTY not that exciting
When the Sprint Cup series took the weekend off, I thought I’d enjoy the March Madness hoopla.
When I started watching the first round of games, I figured that NASCAR executives must have had a hand in the scheduling process. With the east-west road trips made for the first two weeks of racing and looking at the tournament scheduling, there was no doubt in my mind that NASCAR and the basketball committees got together to come up with their plan.
Arizona University and the University of San Diego were happy to be put in the West Regional until they found out that they played their first round games in Washington, D.C., and Tampa, Fla. Gonzaga University, from the state of Washington, was placed in the Midwest Region but had to travel to Raleigh, N.C. Some South Region teams had to travel to Denver for the early games and then teams in the East Region moved in to play the late games. The Kentucky Wildcats were pleased to be in the South Regional until they learned their first round game was to be held in Anaheim, Calif. Go figure!
I was going to use this week to evaluate the Rookie of the Year, (ROTY) race, but there is not much to discuss. Jacques Villeneuve, one of several former open-wheel champions trying their luck at stock car racing, never got a chance to start a race. Having to qualify in on speed, he failed to do so. Following the second race of the year, Bill Davis replaced Villeneuve with veteran Mike Skinner.
Dario Franchitti, another open-wheel driver, had a guaranteed starting spot in the first five races this year thanks to David Stremme’s fine performance in 2007. Dario could not capitalize on his good fortune, though. A 32nd-place finish in California was his best of the year and he has fallen out of the top 35. He must now qualify on speed in order to get in future races.
Another former open-wheel driver moving into Cup racing is Patrick Carpentier. He gained some Stock car experience in 2007, both in the Busch (Nationwide) series and in Cup racing. He performed well in road course races, but not so well in oval track racing. Having to qualify into each race on speed this year, he only was successful in Las Vegas and Atlanta, and a best finish of 35th puts him well outside the top 35.
The last of the open-wheel drivers entering the ROTY fray for 2008 is Sam Hornish. Using the 2007 points established by Kurt Busch, Sam had a guaranteed spot in all five races this year. He has been the most successful of the ROTY candidates, with his 15th-place finish in Daytona as his best. He is still in the top 35, but just barely, only four points ahead of Jamie McMurray for the last spot.
Regan Smith is competing for ROTY and has the most experience of any of the candidates. He started last year as the substitute driver for Mark Martin, and with Martin’s recommendation was given the ride for 2008. With the owner points of Martin’s former car, he was locked into a starting spot for the first five races. With a best of 26th at Bristol, Regan has also dropped out of the top 35 and will have to qualify on speed.
With whatever formula NASCAR uses to determine the Raybestos ROTY award, Franchitti leads Hornish and Smith by one point and Carpentier by 29.
Jumping into the race for ROTY is Michael McDowell. He will drive the No. 00 car of David Reutimann, with Reutimann moving into the No. 44 car driven by the retiring Dale Jarrett.
I’m sure going to miss those UPS commercials with Dale’s amusing laid-back attitude. Good luck in the announcers’ booth, Dale.
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