Underdog Driver's 2014 Preview
By Richard Tix
Well this time around NASCAR Behind the Wall is going to use the
Driver Spotlight to take an even faster look at some underdogs going into the 2014 season. This will be a two part Spotlight featuring Rookies and guys who haven't quiet broken out yet. Because they haven't broken out yet NASCAR Behind the Wall has not done a Driver Spotlight directly for them. None the less, these drivers can still win and need some attention.
Austin Dillon
Austin Dillon will run his first full time schedule in the Cup Series in 2014, but hold on that's not the big news. The big news, as everyone knows, is he will be driving the historic #3 for RCR. So the main thing for Dillon will be what kind of expectations will he see from fans and the media. The #3 adds extra pressure to the already stacked rookie class that includes Kyle Larson and others. Dillon ran 11 races in 2013 and 3 of them he finished top 20 (two top 15). Two of those were at Michigan where he finished 11th and 14th.
My big question with Dillon is, can he win? He has proved to be fast, Daytona he was fast in Preseason Thunder, and in NNW he won the Pole 7 times in 2013, but he came away with zero wins. In the Cup series it is huge to find a way to win multiple races to actually compete. Dillon is young, so the pressure shouldn't be to compete, but to win ROY first, but in the long run he will need to win in Cup to make people forget about the #3 controversy.
Kyle Larson
We are moving from one rookie to the next. One thing is for sure, the 2014 rookie class should be a good one and these two seem to be most fans favorites for ROY, mostly because of name and the rides they are getting into compaired to others. Like Dillon, Larson has some big questions too. My biggest question on Kyle Larson is, is he ready for Cup? He has just ran one full time season in NNW which was last year. He did win once, 9 top 5's, and 17 top 10's in those 33 races. During his time in Nationwide he did show no fear even when Cup drivers (Kyle Busch) were running against him, which may have won him some respect, but he is still very young and raw. Just the chance at ROY should be his goal, while trying to find some top 10's and maybe top 5's along the way.
Jamie McMurray
McMurray had his best season in three years in 2013 finishing the season 15th in points. In 2013 he had more wins, top 5's, and top 10's then in 2012 and 2011 combined. The win during the Chase race at Talladega was his first since 2010. McMurray is coming up on the last year of his contract this season With Ganassi so the biggest question going into 2014 is can he do enough to be brought back in 2015?
Martin Truex Jr
Well 2013 was much of the same for Truex for the most part, until right before the Chase that is. Truex was having a typical season, not always a front runner, but a consistant threat to pull out a top 5 or sneaky win here or there (even though in 2013 he finally broke his win less streak). Then came the Chase fiasco that left Truex out after he made the Chase in 2012. Then, 2013 came to a close and Truex found out that NAPA was leaving MWR and so was he. Now he is moving on to Kurt Busch's old ride at Furniture Row. The big question on Truex is can he bounce back from everything in 2013 and find his way back to becoming a top 15 driver?
Well that's it for Part One, let me know what you think on Twitter about how these guys will do in 2014. Next up in Part Two, our final preseason Driver Spotlight will be Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Paul Menard, Aric Almirola, and Marcus Ambrose.
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