They're open to new experience
NASCAR rookies already winners
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Poor Michael McDowell. He picked quite a year to launch his candidacy for Raybestos Rookie of the Year.
Although the green flag has yet to be unfurled for the start of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, the relatively unknown 23-year-old driver from Glendale, Ariz., who is scheduled to drive the No. 00 Aaron's
McDowell and Regan Smith, who will pilot the No. 1 US Army Chevrolet fielded by Dale Earnhardt Inc., seem to have already been rendered afterthoughts in the rookie race.
Although McDowell won four races and Rookie of the Year honors after finishing second in points last year in the ARCA Series, he does not bring the impressive open-wheel credentials of the marquee names in this year's class of rookies, which includes:
Jacques Villeneuve, 36, Montreal; the 1995 Indianapolis 500 champion and 1995 CART Series champion who won the 1997 Formula One championship in his second season on the circuit.
Dario Franchitti, 34, Edinburgh; the 2007 Indy 500 winner and 2007 IndyCar Series champion who has recorded 18 wins and 17 poles during his open-wheel career.
Sam Hornish Jr., 28, Defiance, Ohio; the 2006 Indy 500 winner and three-time IndyCar Series champion who transitioned from Penske Racing's open-wheel team last year and ran the final two Cup races of the season.
Patrick Carpentier, 36, Montreal; 1997 CART Rookie of the Year who has extensive open-wheel racing experience in the Grand-Am Rolex Series, IndyCar Series, Champ Car World Series (two wins), and CART (three wins).
"I view it as a flattering commentary on our sport that other forms of drivers want to come to our sport," said NASCAR veteran Jeff Burton. "And these are drivers that have opportunities to do things in the type of racing they were in, but they elect to come do this."
This influx of open-wheel drivers began, really, with Juan Pablo Montoya's shocking decision to defect from Formula One two years ago to reunite with his former CART owner, Chip Ganassi. The brash 32-year-old Colombian became the first driver of Hispanic descent to win a NASCAR-sanctioned event, taking the checkered at a Busch Series road course in Mexico City last March. He went on to win a Cup race at Infineon Raceway last June, and captured Rookie of the Year honors.
"I think the guys who have been around long enough, we'd all raced against Juan and we knew how good he was," said Franchitti, who will have the advantage of drawing upon Montoya's experience as a Chip Ganassi Racing teammate. "I think he did a great job last year, an amazing job, but I think it showed how difficult the whole step to NASCAR is, whether it's Sprint Cup or Nationwide.
"I think the rookie year that [Montoya] had was really good and I'd definitely be satisfied with those kind of results," Franchitti added. "To win a race in your first year, I mean, that would be amazing. I think I've got a lot to learn and we've got to push the team as well with better cars and stuff like that, so I think with all that happening we can be successful."
But it was Montoya's success that seemed to have a Pied Piper effect on the open-wheel community.
"Oh yeah, I think so," said Carpentier, who during pole qualifications last Sunday for the Daytona 500 posted the fastest lap of any rookie in the No. 10 Valvoline Dodge fielded by Gillett Evernham Motorsports. "What Juan Pablo achieved last year was phenomenal. But Chip Ganassi has always been a guy who has thought outside the box. He worked with Juan Pablo before in [CART] and he knew how talented the guy was and he was the first one who said, 'All right, I'm going to give this guy a shot.' He started it, so we've got to thank him for that. Juan Pablo did so well that, with the Car of Tomorrow, people said, 'OK, maybe we'll try it.' "
It prompted Bill Davis to give Villeneuve a shot, Roger Penske to give Hornish a ride as the third driver in his NASCAR stable, and Ganassi to pair Franchitti with Montoya.
"I think the difference between myself and everybody else before me was that nobody really committed to it," said Montoya. "They said, 'OK, let's try a couple of races and see what happens.' You don't do that. People won't respect you for that. If you're going to do it, you get in 100 percent and you do it right."
Villeneuve, who started in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, set off a bit of a controversy last year when he fast-tracked his way to his Cup debut with Bill Davis Racing at, of all places, the high-banked, high-speed Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.
Because Talladega was a track where drivers were often nervous about restrictor-plate racing in such close quarters for prolonged stretches, several veterans complained it was no place for a rookie - with little to no experience in a stock car, much less the Car of Tomorrow - to make his debut.
Villeneuve, however, showed them it wasn't a publicity stunt. He delivered the goods when he qualified sixth, completed all 188 laps, and finished 21st.
"Juan Pablo did a great rookie season, without any stock car experience," Villeneuve said. "And after having driven one now, it's obvious to me, anyway, how difficult a job it is and how good he's done."
Because they are outside the top 35 in owner's points, Villeneuve and Carpentier will likely have to race their way into the 43-car field today in the Gatorade Duels, a pair of 60-lap, 150-mile qualifying heats that will determine the starting field for Sunday's Daytona 500.
Franchitti and Hornish, meanwhile, enjoy top-35 status. Franchitti was given the car owner points accumulated by David Stremme last season, while Hornish was given the car owner points of teammate Kurt Busch, which will enable both rookies to secure starting spots through at least the first five races of this season.
"Well, a lot of people asked me what I got for Christmas, what the best present was," said Hornish, who struggled with qualifying last year, missing six races, including four in a row. "Obviously, I'm going to have to say getting the points from Kurt was probably the best present I got. It's a total load off your shoulders to be able to say we go in these first five races of the year and we're in."
So, who does Montoya see as a favorite to win Rookie of the Year?
"I would like to say Dario; first because he's my teammate," Montoya said. "He just won the Indy 500 and he just won the IndyCar championship and I think you can say he's pretty good. Jacques should be really good and so should Carpentier. Hornish, you'd expect him to be really good because he's done a lot of Busch races, so it'd be interesting to see what happens there."
Notice, he didn't even mention Michael McDowell's name.
Michael Vega can be reached at vega@globe.com. 