MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Who would have thought that in three NASCAR national series races across two venues in two days, that first-time winners would escape from the fray in all of them this weekend?
For the first time since the Camping World Truck Series’ inception in 1995, all three divisions (Sprint Cup, XFINITY and Trucks) produced first-time winners in their respective ranks in the same weekend, with Drive 4 Diversity graduate Kyle Larson leading the way on Sunday at Michigan Int’l Speedway by scoring his maiden premier series win in his 99th start for Chip Ganassi Racing.
Add to that Brett Moffitt’s improbable last-lap pass on Saturday in Michigan (NCWTS) and Michael McDowell’s road course breakthrough at Road America (NXS) and the weekend was dominated by younger stars trying to build the fabric of the future in professional auto racing across North America.
If you’re NASCAR, this weekend has been huge. This is a weekend to promote. This is where you look the fans in the eye and say: “These are the stars who are going to take our sport forward into the next 68 years.”
You have to, if you’re in the sanctioning body’s shoes.
The sport is coming off a season in which Jeff Gordon retired from full-time racing and faces a future without Tony Stewart after the end of this year. Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s return is unknown as he continues to fight back from concussion symptoms and drivers like Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson are approaching the twilight of their careers as well.
Names like Larson, McDowell and Moffitt are the names that will become household commodities over the next decade … but only if their success is built upon and pushed forward in the industry.
If you’re any of the three winners from this weekend, this weekend has been equally as huge. All three drivers — Larson, McDowell and Moffitt — are younger stars trying to claw out their place in NASCAR among the established veterans of the sport that were their heroes growing up.
For each of them, their win this weekend could be the difference between a long-term career and a short-term exit.
Think about it.
Larson had been known as the bridesmaid ever since his debut in NASCAR’s top series. He had finished second four times coming into Sunday’s Cup race and the rumblings were persistent: “Will he ever be able to seal the deal?”
He finally silenced those critics by getting the job done, and arguably earned himself an easy extension at CGR or a step-up to a team like Hendrick Motorsports when his current deal ends in 2017, by virtue of his performance and injection onto the Chase Grid.
McDowell had gone nearly 300 starts across all three of NASCAR’s national series without a win, and appeared destined to be a low-tier driver stuck mainly in sub-par equipment, despite picking up a partial schedule this year with Circle Sport-Leavine Family Racing in the No. 95 Chevrolet.
The CSLFR team’s technical partnership with RCR, however, led McDowell to his big break. That opened the door for a road course start for McDowell in the RCR No. 2 XFINITY car, allowing the 31-year-old to capitalize on the best equipment he had ever been in outside of selected starts for Joe Gibbs Racing and Team Penske at the XFINITY level as well.
He proved he could win in the right situation and the right equipment, and McDowell may well now have many more eyes on him by upper-level team owners that might consider taking a chance on him in the future as more and more holes open in the power organizations over the next several years.
Saturday at Road America was McDowell’s life raft, and now he has to take advantage of it.
Moffitt, the young star and five-time championship contender at the K&N Pro Series East level, won last year’s Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year Award as an interim driver for both Brian Vickers and David Ragan but had NO plans of driving in NASCAR at the start of the year.
His chances had dried up due to a lack of sponsorship and other drivers being promoted to fill the seats, and the Grimes, Iowa young gun looked to be on his way out the door.
But his win on Saturday reminded everyone that he has the talent to get it done in NASCAR national competition. Subbing for Matt Tifft at Red Horse Racing, Moffitt did what he has done his entire career — took advantage of the opportunity presented to him and gutted out a performance worthy of a second look.
In three of his four Truck finishes for Red Horse this summer, Moffitt has finished third, second and first.
By the numbers? It’s a performance worthy of being picked up for a full season, and Moffitt’s is a talent level worthy of a chance at a championship in any of the top three series. Someone just has to give him one more chance.
So yes, this weekend was historic, in the fact that the top three series all produced first-time winners for the first time ever.
But for the sport and for the individual winners, this weekend may have been historic on so many more levels.
It’s just going to take time to see how it all plays out.
The opinions expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Race Chaser Online, Speed77 Radio, the Performance Motorsports Network, their sponsors or other contributors.
About the Writer
Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network.
Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.
The 22-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.
Email Jacob at: [email protected]
Follow on Twitter: @Speed77Radio or @JacobSeelman77
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