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Biggest Disappointments Of The Racing Seasonn
| There are some exemplary racers that have left quite an impression during the 2009 Sprint Cup season following thirteen races. NASCAR news has made note of a few bright talents. Stewart-Haas Racing drivers Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman have exceeded preseason estimations. David Reutimann, a driver for Michael Waltrip Racing, is having a career-defining season, with a recent victory at the Lowe's Motor Speedway. He is within striking distance of the top twelve.nnPart-time Sprint Cup driver Brad Keselowski is another first-time winner in 2009. He won at Talladega driving for Phoenix Racing, and independent team owned by James Finch.nnOpen-wheel icons Juan Pablo Montoya and Sam Hornish Jr both showed slight improvements over their 2008 performances.nnNow, there have also been disappointments on the circuit, both with drivers and teams that have had less than stellar scores.nnIt appears that Dale Earnhardt Jr holds the top spot for disappointments of 2009. When Earnhardt Jr first arrived at Hendrick Motorsports in 2008, he was the most promising of the four-car outfit. As the season got underway, other teams began to close the gap until Earnhardt was slipping behind his competitors. At present, he has had little luck regaining the momentum that he and Tony Eury Jr held during the preliminary months of the 2008 season. Consequently, Rick Hendrick has replaced crew chief Eury Jr with Lance McGrew. For the time being, McGrew will be Earnhardt's temporary crew chief.nnEven when his performance is great, Earnhardt Jr is trying to hold up to serious expectations;when he struggles, it is almost impossible to meet them. As the most well-known racer in NASCAR, Earnhardt needs to make a fast comeback in order to head off further bad publicity.nnKevin Harvick, who was a qualifying driver in the Chase for the Championship between 2006 and 2008, also won six races during that time. Nevertheless, he finds himself in the middle of his least productive season since his second-year slump in 2002. At this point, Harvick, who hasn't had a win since the 2007 Daytona 500, has little chance of garnering a fourth appearance in the Chase for the Championship.nnHarvick is not the only driver from his stable that is failing to hold up to earlier expectations. Fellow members of the Richard Childress Racing team have not fared much better over the last year, especially Clint Bowyer. After an impressive start to the 2009 season, Bowyer has finished below the top ten in each of the previous seven races leading up to the Pocono 500. Jeff Burton has kept up his consistency, but it is a fact that the team's performance as a whole is lower . Casey Mears encountered a sluggish start to the season, but he has scored two top ten finishes in the last four races.nnRoush Fenway Racing driver David Ragan ranks high as another big disappointment, rivaling even Earnhardt Jr and Harvick. This marks another series of blemishes reported by NASCAR news sources. It was suggested that Ragan was the most improved driver of 2008, but he has since become a diminished racer. After finishing in thirteenth place in the championships for 2008, the buzz among NASCAR news analysts suggested that Ragan would be one of possibly twelve drivers competing for the Spring Cup. The unfortunate part is that Ragan has only managed to finish one race out of thirteen in the top ten. Something is definitely off with this team.nnRagan's teammate Carl Edwards achieved victory in the Sprint Cup series, with nine races in 2008. After thirteen races, Edwards has failed to perform his race-winning celebratory back flip. Regardless of the fact that Edwards is currently numbered among the top twelve in the championship ratings, most insiders were expecting more from him and others in the No. 99 group. |
About the Author
I, like many others, am interested in the experience of NASCAR racing and keep up on NASCAR news items when I can. Writing about NASCAR provides its own rewards.n
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