It is obvious who the pleasant surprises of the 2009 Sprint Cup season are after thirteen races. Making
NASCAR news is a small group of top-ranking drivers. Stewart-Haas Racing drivers Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman have exceeded preseason expectations. David Reutimann, a driver for Michael Waltrip Racing, is having a exceptional season, with a recent victory at the Lowe's Motor Speedway. Reutimann is very close to reaching top twelve status.
Although a part-time driver in the Sprint Cup, Brad Keselowski acheived a first-time win in 2009. As a driver for Phoenix Racing, the independent team owned by James Finch, Keselowski gained a impressive victory at Talladega.
Other pleasant performances include former open-wheel icons Juan Pablo Montoya and Sam Hornish Jr, both showing definite improvement since the 2008 season.
Now, there have also been disappointments in NASCAR, both with drivers and teams that have had less than stellar scores.
Popular racer Dale Earnhardt Jr nabs the first position on the list of disappointments for 2009. When Earnhardt Jr first arrived at Hendrick Motorsports in 2008, he was the strongest of the four-car outfit. As the season got underway, other teams began to close the gap until Earnhardt was lagging behind his competitors. At present, he has had little luck regaining the momentum that he and Tony Eury Jr held during the preliminary months of the 2008 season. Rick Hendrick removed crew chief Tony Eury Jr and replaced him with Lance McGrew. McGrew is now the interim crew chief for Earnhardt Jr.
Despite his efforts, Earnhardt Jr has struggled to carry his burden; in the midst of his weak performance, this burden seems like too much to bear. As the most well-known racer in NASCAR, Earnhardt needs to make a fast improvement in order to head off further bad publicity.
Kevin Harvick qualified for the Chase for the Championship in every season from 2006 to 2008 and won six races in that span. Nevertheless, he finds himself in the middle of his least productive season since his second-year slump in 2002. It seems as if a fourth consecutive Chase for the Championship appearance is a long-shot for Harvick, who has not won a race since the 2007 Daytona 500.
Harvick is not the only driver from his group mired in mediocrity. His Richard Childress Racing teammates have faded since the previous year, most notably Clint Bowyer. While Bowyer did make a fantastic start to the 2009 season, he has finished below the top ten on the previous seven races prior the Pocono 500. Even with Jeff Burton's consistent record, the overall performance of the team is definitely down . Casey Mears had a poor opening to the racing season, but he's obtained two top ten finishes in the last four races.
Rivaling Earnhardt Jr and Harvick as the biggest disappointments include Roush Fenway Racing driver David Ragan. The
NASCAR news circuit continues with bad reports. Ragan was possibly the most improved driver in 2008, but he has fallen back into mediocrity. After finishing in thirteenth place in the championships for 2008, the buzz among
NASCAR news analysts held that Ragan would be one of possibly twelve drivers competing for the Spring Cup. The unfortunate part is that Ragan has only complete one race out of thirteen in the top ten. Something is definitely up with this team.
Ragan's teammate Carl Edwards won a Sprint Cup series-high nine races back in 2008. Now, with thirteen races finished, Edwards has not won another race. Still, with Edwards ranked among the top twelve in the championship standings, his performance has been a bit of let down, as it has been for other members of the No. 99 group.
