2015 NASCAR Prospect Watch

Looking at Some of NASCAR's Up and Comers

By Richard Tix

The 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup season brought us a huge crop of rookie drivers. Guy's like Kyle Larson, Austin Dillon, Justin Allgaier, Cole Whitt, Michael Annett, and Alex Bowman all joined the Cup level. I don't expect anothe season like the Cup level had anytime soon, but NASCAR does have an interesting group of young guys looking to make there way up.

In fact, it seems like lately NASCAR has a huge group of young guns in the lower ranks which is making every level of NASCAR exciting. But, I would bet they all have the same goal. That goal is to one day be driving at the Cup level and competing just like Larson and Dillon did in 2014.

So, NASCAR Behind the Wall is going to take a quick look at a hand full of them and spotlight them for an article focusing on the future young guns of NASCAR. 

Chase Elliot, 19 Years Old

Let's be clear, most people who follow NASCAR would most likely name Chase first or second when you ask them who is an up and comer who you are excited about seeing at the Cup level. After last season he is known far and wide through NASCAR circles. He also is the first driver I will point out in this years prospect watch. 

Chase is the newest Nationwide Champion after winning 3 races, notching 16 top 5's and 27 top 10's in 2014 (33 races). 2014 was the first year Chase sat in a NASCAR national level seat for a full season (just 9 truck races in 2013). Elliott takes car of his car like his dad, Bill, did when he raced, but also for one of the first times in his career showed a bit more aggression on the track. 

IN 2015 Chase will once again run for Jr Motorsports in the XFINITY Series to try and defend his title. It is also expected to see him run a few races at the Cup level with HMS at some point. The biggest rumor is that he will be on the Cup level full time by 2016.

Erik Jones, 18 Years Old

Jones is a guy that I am excited to see develop through his career. He is just 18 years old but in 2014 made a huge mark on the NASCAR world that got people's attention. A lot of that attentioned was helped by the fact that he won the pole for the Camping World Truck race at Eldora last season (even though he finished 29th), but he was also impressive past that.

While at KBM in 2014 (Camping World Truck Series) Erik only got to run part time, but in 12 races he racked up 3 wins, 5 top 5's, and 8 top 10's, while notching an average finish of 9.2. He also ran 3 races on the Nationwide level and finished all three off in the top 10. 

In 2015 we will truely get to see what Jones can do because he will be running full time on the Camping World Trucks Series level with Kyle Busch Motorsports. Edit: Also, it was announced he will run at least 10 races at the XFINITY level with JGR and Game Stop. He is a JGR development driver worth watching next season.

Ryan Blaney, 21 Years Old

Blaney is another guy that many NASCAR fans know about and comes to mind quick when you think of guys who are about to hit the Cup level. In fact, Ryan will be running a partial Cup schedule with the Wood Brothers in 2015. Most likely Blaney will also make a handful of starts in a third Penske car at the Cup level, just like he did in 2014 (finishes of 27th and 22nd).

Blaney did run full time in the Camping World Trucks series in 2014 and finished the season 2nd after winning one race, 12 top 5's, and 17 top 10's (22 races). He has now won one race in his first three years racing at the truck level (53 races). 

He also ran 14 of 33 Nationwide races last season and finished the year with a win, 10 top 5's, 13 top 10's, and an amazing average finish of 5.8. So far in his career he has been nothing less than impressive at all levels. Blaney will continue to run for Team Penske in the XFINITY Series during the 2015 season as well as the races/series mention above.

Darrell Wallace Jr, 21 Years Old

In 2014 Wallace Jr came up just 34 points short of a Camping World Championship. He ended up finishing off last season 3rd in the points standings but did everything he could by winning the final race at Homestead. In fact, in his last 8 races he had two wins, 5 top 5's, and 7 top 10's. 

"Bubba" is a polarizing figure in NASCAR. He is a very likable guy that seems to wear his emotions right on his sleeve. In 2014 NASCAR fans got to see that a bunch every time he hit Victory Lane. That happened 4 times in 2014 while he also notched 9 top 5's and 14 top 10's in 22 races. 

The biggest news for Bubba is that he will be making the move from JGR to RFR in 2015. That move opened up a door for above prospect Erik Jones to take a full time truck ride at KBM, but it also will give Bubba a chance to run XFINITY in 2015. He has had a roller coaster start to his racing career, but he has the raw speed to compete at any level if he finds that consistency.

Ben Rhodes, 17 Years Old

2014 K&N Pro Series East Champion Ben Rhodes knows how to race. In 2014 he found his way to being a Champion by winning 5 races, 11 top 5's, 13 top 10's, 6 poles, and an average finish of 5.8 (16 races). All of this was in his rookie season after running late models for a few season's before this.

He also ran 4 races on the Camping World level in 2014 where he had 1 top 5 and 3 top 10's. Is lone finished outside the top 10 was a 22nd place finish at Dover where he was involved in a wreck. However, those four races are the only experience Rhodes has on the NASCAR national level. In 2015 Ben is scheduled to run 10 races with Jr Motorsports in the XFINITY Series.

Rhodes is still a very young and raw talent that many have not seen run much on the NASCAR national level, but he is one to keep an eye on. 

Tyler Reddick, 19 Years Old

Dispite only running part time in the Camping World Series in 2014, Tyler Riddick still finished 12 in points which was around guys who had run the full 22 races. In 2014 Riddick only ran 16 races in the truck series but finished with 3 top 5's, 9 top 10's, 2 poles, and an average finish of 10.6.

The important thing to note is how well he finished off the season. He finished with 5 straight top 10's to end the year and had 7 top 10's in his last 8 (3 of those being top 5's). 

That's a promising finish considering he will drive a full time schedule in 2015 for Brad Keselowski Racing. 

Ty Dillon, 23 Years Old

Dillon is a widely known name in the NASCAR world. Some of that is because his older brother Austin just joined the Cup level in 2014. But, Ty is no slouch of his own. Grandson of Richard Childres, Ty made his rookie campaign in 2014 on the Nationwide level. 

The previous two seasons (2013 and 2012) Ty made his mark on the Camping World Series by finishing 2nd in points in 2013 and 4th in 2013. In his truck career he has 3 wins, 18 top 5's, 33 top 10's, and 4 poles in 49 races.

In 2014 he ran all 33 races in the Nationwide Series and finished the year with 1 win (Indianapolis), 7 top 5's, and 24 top 10's. It was a solid rookie season which was faced against a bunch of Nationwide veterans, but gets overlooked because fellow rookie Chase Elliott won the title. 

Ty's career path is interesting because he may also get a fast track to the Cup level since his Grandfather owns RCR, but when will that time come? Looks like he will be driving full time in the XFINITY Series again in 2015 with a handful of races at the Cup level in the #33.

John Hunter Nemechek, 17 Years Old

In 2014 John Hunter Nemechek, son of retired NASCAR Cup driver Joe Nemechek, didn't run much on the NASCAR series, but when he did he normally impressed. The race that has helped him jump on the list of future prospects was the 2014 Snowball Derby win. 

Other than his Snowball Derby win he also ran 10 races in the Camping World Truck Series in 2014. In those 10 starts he had one top 5 and 6 top 10 finishes. He also had an average finish of 10.4 in those 10 starts last year. 

The races that sticks out to me was his run at Gateway which was his third start of the season. Nemechek led 53 laps and looked to be a favorite to win before falling off. That was an exciting run during an exciting race during the Camping World Truck Series season. He followed that up with a 6th place finish at Eldora in his 5th race of the year.

John Hunter is still a ways off from being at the Cup level, but is an interesting prospect. He doesn't have the big team support some other young drivers have been getting, so it will be key to watch where he goes in the future. He is set to run part time in the Camping World Series again in 2015.

Chris Buescher, 22 Years Old

2012 ARCA Series Champion Chris Buecher made his rookie Nationwide appearance in 2014. Most of his career before that was made on the ARCA level finished 2nd and then 1st in the standings back to back seasons.

In 2014 Chris finished 7th in the Nationwide points while racking up 1 win, 5 top 5's, and 14 top 10's all while missing the first race of the season at Daytona. 

After his win at Mid-Ohio things seemed to get more consistent for Buecher. Over the last 12 races he had an average finish position of 10.08 with 7 top 10's. In 2015 the key maybe looking at how he takes that end of year consistency and turns it into a full season long campaign. 

Right now he is part of a growing young crop of drivers in the RFR development program. He will be towards the top of there list going forward after showing how well he can take care of his equipment on the track. 

Cole Custer, 16 Years Old

When is it too far to dig for a future prospect in NASCAR? Well, it sure must be deeper than Cole Custer because he looks like he might be ready to make a splash on the National level.

In 2014 Cole Custer beat out Dylan Kwaniewski's record of the youngest driver to win on the K&N Pro Series level by 6 months, Cole was 15. This season Cole became the youngest driver to win on the NASCAR national level when he won in the truck series at NHMS at the age of 16, 7 months, and 28 days.

Not a bad way to start your career, huh? Cole is part of the SHR Development team and ran 9 races in the Camping World Truck Series in 2014. In those 9 races he had 1 win, 2 top 5's, 6 top 10's, 2 poles, and an average finish of 10. On a side note: Cole races 3 K&N Pro Series Races in 2014 (West) and had 1 win, 2 top 5's and 2 top 10's. 

In 2015 it was just announced recently that Cole will run at least 10  Camping World Truck races for new truck team Jr Motorsports. Haas Automation will still sponsor the #00 truck that Cole drove in 2014. Jr Motorsports also said they will try and help field a car for him in the K&N Pro Series and ARCA series. So, it doesn't sound like he will be full time in a national series but when he does watch out because he may take a huge jump in production.

Brett Moffit, 22 Years Old

Moffit maybe a name some NASCAR fans know well, by now. In 2014 Brett ran 7 races for Michael Waltrip Racing in a jump that shocked a lot of fans. That's because other than 1 start in Nationwide (2012) and two starts in the trucks series (2013) Moffit primarily ran the K&N Pro Series.

Its a big jump straight from K&N to Cup, but MWR made that jump a few times in 2014. It all started at Dover and Moffit answered by finishing a respectable 22nd and only finishing 4 laps down. He struggled most of the rest of the way, but he did gain some valuable seat time in a Cup car, which even some of the guys above have never done.

His next best finish the rest of the way was 34th twice at Michigan and Atlanta. Its tough to put a finger on Moffit since he doesn't have much experience on the NASCAR national level. 

Obviously he still has shown he can win. In the K&N Series he posted 9 wins, 33 top 5's, 44 top 10's, and 10 poles during his 61 race, 5 year career. In all five seasons he finished 3rd or better in the standings (2nd twice and 3rd three times). Also, it must be noted that even though its hard for some of us on the outside to see his potential, MWR must have saw something if they gave Brett the seat time over someone else they could find.

It will be interesting to see where he ends up in 2015 and how many more starts he will make for MWR.

Ben Kennedy, 22 Years Old

2014 was Ben Kennedy's first season as a full time Camping World Series driver. In his rookie season Ben ran all 22 races and finished 9th in the points. Kennedy actually won the 2014 Camping World Series Rookie of the Year honor after tying Tyler Reddick in the rookies standings (Reddick seen above). Ben Kennedy won the ROY honor because he was higher in the truck regular standings (9th).

So Kennedy started his truck career off on the right foot, but if Tyler had run an entire season it might be a different story. But, not to take away from Ben he still finished the year off with 1 top 5, 7 top 10's, and an average finish of 13.3.

Just on season after winning rookie of the year, 2015 will be a big season to see where his career may go. He has a chance to make a real jump in 2015, but he could also be left standing still.

Others to Keep and Eye On:

• Dylan Kwasniewski, 19 Years Old. XFINITY Series in 2015. Chip Ganassi Racing
• Jeb Burton, 21 Years Old. Camping World Truck Series in 2015.
• Daniel Suarex, 22 Years Old. XFINITY Series in 2015. JGR Some trucks for KBM.
• Ross Kenseth, 21 Years Old. ARCA.
• Corey LaJoie, 22 Years Old. If he ever gets a full time ride.
• James Buescher, 24 Years Old. XFINITY Series in 2015. 
• Dakoda Armstrong, 22 Years Old. XFINITY Series in 2015. RPM
• Brandon Jones, 17 Years Old. Races K&N Pro Series in 2014. Part time XFINITY for RCR in 2015
• Mason Mitchell, 20 Years Old. ARCA Champion in 2014.
• Austin Hill, 20 Years Old. K&N Pro Series East in 2014. NASCAR Next 2014 Class.
• Cameron Hayley, 18 Years Old. K&N Pro Series East in 2014. 2nd in points behind B Rhodes.

Well, there you have it your 2015 NASCAR Prospect Watch from NASCAR Behind the Wall. Some of the names on this list may end up rising to stardom in the NASCAR world while others fall off and won't even make next years list of prospects. One thing is for sure is that they all have young careers and it will be fun to watch them pan out. 

This list should give you a good starting point to check these guys out and get to know the future of NASCAR. So, who do you think will break out? What guy not named on here will start to make a name for himself in 2015 and make the list next year?