Talent alert: watch out for Scott Wimmer. A future talent

[Joe Fan]

He is attempting to qualify a car for Bill Davis Racing at the Winston Cup race in Atlanta. He is a rookie not only in NASCAR but was a rookie this year in ASA. Scott became only the second rookie in ASA history to win two ASA races back to back this year. I watched him win his first ASA race on TV and I was very impressed.

In qualifying yesterday, he qualifed 35th. If second round qualifying should get rained out, he will make the field. Pretty impressive since I don't think Scott has ran on a track with this much banking and since it was his first WC qualifying attempt. This car he is qualifying was orginally supposed to be an ARCA car that he was going to run in the race this Saturday. But Bill Davis said, what the hell lets modify it to meet WC specs and try to qualify for the bgi race.

For more on Scott Wimmer, check out: http://www.wimmerracing.com

He is only 24 years old. The talent in Winston Cup keeps getting better and better each year, doesn't it?

[Lee]

I'm going to Atlanta, hadn't read jayski's today, so don't know if he, or anybody else, for that matter qualified (it's been sleeting in Atlanta today!) I'll let you know how he did, if they run the race tomorrow! He looks good, but it might be a little too early for him yet.

[Heeltoe6]

Wimmer just shot out of virtual no-where to win that first ASA race and then back it up the next show out. Yes, very impressive

[Joe Fan]

Wimmer made the field and is starting 31st. Unfortunately, it is raining in Atlanta right now and we will have to wait to see how he does later tonite or tomorrow.

[Lee]

Back from Atlanta (only live about 40 miles from the track), man, it was miserable! Didn't stop raining the whole time, and it was cold! Race was called of around 1:00 pm EST. Rescheduled to begin at 10:30 tomorrow morning. Driving home, even had a (I even hate saying the word) Snow on the windshield! Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. I have a friend that works on one of the ARCA car's pit crew, He said that Wimmer looked quite good in his qual run. Going to be intreating to see what this kid can do. Race report tomorrow.

[Lee]

Holy Cow! This kid is going to be good! Ran with the leaders for most of the day, lead 9 green flag laps, with Dale Earnhardt, no less, on his back bumper! Lost a lap dur to pit stop! I saw him run in ASA, knew he would be good, but never expected this kind of performance this early! He's the real deal, one to watch for the future. My guess is that he will tear up the Busch Grand National Series next year! This kid is impressive!

[Joe Fan]

I knew Scott had Winston Cup potential after watching him early on this year in ASA but I too didn't think he was this close to being ready. Yes, he didn't look out of place and didn't screw up, impressive because Atlanta is a tough and extremely fast 1.5 mile track. Actually, I am surprised that NASCAR let him run in the Winston Cup race without also running in the ARCA race there the day before.

About the race, unless he missed a pit entry, his team misjudged his fuel mileage because he ran out of fuel during the race. This cost him a bit but he still came out OK in his WC debut.

They said during the telecast that "Bill Davis knows talent because he was the one who spotted Jeff Gordon." Get real, any knowledgable fan who watched ASA could tell this kid had the talent.

Oddly enough, Jeff Gordon debuted in Winston Cup in Richard Petty's last Winston Cup race. This Atlanta race was another legend's last Winston Cup race, Darrell Waltrip. Is this a sign that Scott Wimmer could be one of the next big young stars?

[Lee]

The similarities are ironic, but I don't think it will pan out that way again. I'm probally going to tick-off any Jeff Gordon fans here, but oh well. I think NASCAR made a serious mistake with Gordon. They built the entire future of NASCAR around him. I'm not going to say that he got "the call", but the best case that "the call" exists, if indeed it does, is Jeff Gordon! Too many things came too quickly, and too easily for him! Granted, he had an extreamly well financed team, and Ray Evernham has been proven to be one of, if not the best crew chiefs in the business, but, to me, the nagging fact remains, it was too fast, and too easy! Gordon never struggled, even in his rookie year! His accent was just too fast, and now that it appears that Hendricks has fallen out of NASCAR's good favor, and the fact that Evernham left, which co-incided with Gordon's almost instant non-superman status, it kinda makes you go hummmmmmmmmmmm! I've watched this sport for 42 years now, and with the exception of the first 10 years, have seen every driver that has come down the pike. I've seen their careers from start to finish. This one just wasn't right to me. I'm not saying that Gordon is not deserving of, or not good enough for a Winston Cup ride, Anyone that makes it to this level has to prove himself to be Cup material, and Gordon has, but when I compaire him with the other rookies that have come along since, Jeff Burton, Tony Stewart, Earnhardt Jr and Kenseth, just to name a few, They had to strugge before they succeeded. The real mistake that NASCAR made, and danger that now seems to have bitten them in the butt, was the above mentioned, building the future of NASCAR around Gordon, and it didn't have to be Gordon, they could have made the same mistake with any new, young driver. Since Gordon has fallen from the limelight, alot of the "new" fans, that were not racing fans, but Gordon-only fans, have lost intrest, and stayed away from the track, and the television. This is one of, but certinally not the only, reason that NASCAR's attendance and viewership have fallen off a little, when compaired to recent years. I've watched these Gordon-only fans leave the track, and stop watching the TV when Gordon had problems, their intrest in the race, beyond Jeff Gordon, was and is, non-existant! Hopefully, NASCAR has learned from this mistake, and will not repete it. As to Wimmer, I think he will be a terror in the Busch Series next year, if this past Monday's performance is any indication, he will stand a better than average chance of winning the Rookie of the Year title, and when the gets to Winston Cup, full time, he will be a force to be reckoned with, but I hope, for both their sake, and his, that NASCAR doesn't do with him, what they did with Jeff Gordon. I say for his sake, because I don't think anyone can say that Jeff Gordon has not suffered in the past year, yeah he has won a couple of races, but the fact remains, he has also suffered alot of abuse at the hands of the fans, and I place that blame squarly on the sholders of NASCAR, for the above mentioned reasons!

[Joe Fan]

Lee, don't sell Jeffy short. He is one of the top five drivers in the sport. However, I told everyone back when he was winning 1 out of every 3 races that Jeff benefitted from having the best crew chief in the business. I would go as far to say that when it comes to motorsport crew chiefs, Evernham would get my vote as the best in the world. He has proven that he can dominate in a sport where rules are such that it puts all makes on a level playing form.

Jeff also benefitted from the 1995 Monte Carlo which was an extremely competitive car aerodynamically.Chevy teams also were allowed to pretty much stand pat for three years while the "evening up" always involved changes to the Fords. Therefore, the Chevy teams could use some of the old setup data from previous races.

I do tend to agree with how your view Gordon fans. I have seen the same thing myself as far as fans leaving early when he has trouble. I think Gordon has been good for the sport as he galvinized a new group of casual NASCAR fans but his decline has no doubt played a role in a slight decline in ratings. I think Gordon's appeal was his looks, his success and the fact that he wasn't a southerner in a sport that had a history of being dominated by southerners.

Don't worry, there are a whole new crop of young non-southern star drivers to take his place or to share his limelight. Stewart is fast becoming Gordon-like and I would bet that Kenseth emerges in the next year or two.

[Lee]

Joe,
Please understand that I was not selling Gordon short, but I still think he phenominal rise had as much to do with a set of circumstances, NASCAR's influnce included in that mix, as it did any type of driving talent. Here is another point that you tounchd on, the advantage of the 95 Monte Carlo. GM really pulled a fast one on NASCAR with that car! They designed it as to where it had the extra 6 inches in the trunk area, without which, the car would not be competitive! NASCAR basically turned their heads for three years and let them run roughshod over the compitetion. When Jack Roush threatened to build a Monte Carlo, test it in a wind tunnel, and release the data, that NASCAR had refused to release, they finally started the "equalization" process, and the Chevy teams screamed bloody murder when they did! Of course, they had been offering the Ford teams a "crying towel" before that, smug with the knowledge that they had a NASCAR backed unfair advantage thar had rendered every Ford on the track non-competitive! The highth of this hypocrisy was shown in Felix Sabatas' statement about how "there isn't a Taurus anywhere on a showroom floor that looks like what NASCAR is allowing Ford to run on the track!" I guess either someone forgot to tell Felix, or he ignored the fact that there wasn't a Monte Carlo anywhere on showroon floor that had a 6 inch wider than stock trunk either! This might also explain why Chevy had such a hard time with getting the approval of the 2000 Monte Carlo for competition! NASCAR seems to have taken the stance on Chevy of "fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me!" Oh well, Take care, and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

[gomick]

on another wave....i thought earnhardt jnr and kenseth did darn well in there rookie years to win winston cup races, but i am impressed by kurt busch for some reason

[Lee]

Gomick,
Can't say that I agree with you on Busch, by as to Kenseth and Earnhardt, yes, your 100% right. Both had one Hell of a year, and both will be forces to reckon with in the comming years. Take care.

[Joe Fan]

Lee, one thing that you forget about the 95 Monte Carlo is the rear fenders bowing out design-wise. This was to create dirty air on the square nose of the Ford Thunderbird and thus make it difficult for the T-bird to draft with it. Note that the Monte Carlos had a rounded nose so they could draft well with the Monte Carlos. This was another big aero trick that wasn't on the showroom floor Monte Carlo.

P.S. Kurt Busch is the real deal. It is just that his head needs to catch up with the rest of his body.