It’s Easter Weekend in NASCAR and the drivers have a weekend of rest after a long start to this early season, so I thought I would come up with something different to write about and saw some other blogs doing the same and came up with my own list of the 5 (instead of ten) most disappointing NASCAR drivers so far this season. I’ve seen many list about shocking drivers, successful drivers, etc. but only one about the most disappointing so I made up my own list.
The Quick List:
5. Kurt Busch
4. Carl Edwards
3. Jeff Gordon
2. Kyle Busch
1. Kasey Kahne
5. Kurt Busch – Now, we knew when he left Penske Racing and signed with Phoenix Racing there was going to be a significant drop in Kurt’s “stock” as he is racing for a small team with little funding. However, we did not expect this to be this miserable of a season for Kurt, and we thought and still think he can win at least one race. While they (Phoenix Racing) use Hendrick Motorsports equipment you still cannot expect much, after all Front Row Motorsports uses the same engines (made by Roush-Yates) that Roush-Fenway Racing and they struggle to get top 30 finishes. James Finch has seen his fair share of good finishes, but most of them and his only wins come from the superspeedways where anyone of the 43 cars have a legitimate chance to win. Only time will tell if Kurt can win in a small team ride, and will also tell if Kurt is just having fun or if he hasn’t changed (just like his brother Kyle) from last year in his attitude.
4. Carl Edwards – Surprised? Me too! Number four on this list is definitely a surprise. He barely missed winning the championship last year losing via a tiebreaker to Tony Stewart. So far this season, he has been nothing more than a disappointment. We could only think that Carl would return to the track more focused than ever to redeem himself after losing the championship he had essentially won. While he does have a few semi-decent finishes, he sits 11th in the points where his best finish(es) are and only twice were two 5th place finishes at Las Vegas and Fontana. Bristol was a complete disaster for him after being collected in an early race wreck that led him to a 39th place finish. Bristol is his worst finish since Atlanta in 2009 where he also finished 39th.
3. Jeff Gordon – This time, I’m asking if you’re confused, because Gordon has been dominant in many of this year’s races. He ran well at Daytona, but failed to finish the race after his engine blew up (literally). He ran well at the rain shortened Fontana race, but a late race penalty for a gas man leaving his pit stall, left Gordon with a poor finish after having a top 5 car all race long. At Bristol, he ran consistently in the top 5 all day long until late in the race he and teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. bumped and Earnhardt’s exhaust pipe cut Gordon’s left rear tire sending him into the wall. At Martinsville, he dominated and was battling teammate Jimmie Johnson for the win when David Reutimann brought out a controversial caution that would set the field up for a green-white-checkered finish. Upon the restart after leading 328 laps, Clint Bowyer dove inside of Gordon spinning him out and forcing Gordon to spin Johnson out. The car has severe damage and would not be in contention for a win again. He sits 21st in the point standings for this season and needs luck or a win to get into the chase already in this early season.
2. Kyle Busch – Kyle Busch had a rough ending to last season, and many thought he had learned his lesson. However, my observations say he is still the same rude, selfish jerk we saw last year and the many years before. At Fontana, he showed poor attitude in front of cameras about missing a drivers meeting and then being late to introductions because of the TV interviews. In the Nationwide Series race the day before, he cursed out his team/employees for making a mistake in a sport where things like that happen. How can you actually work for this guy? I’d be depressed! He gave up racing in the trucks, and limited his Nationwide Series schedule to focus on the Sprint Cup series, but has found little to no success so far this season. So far, Busch has an average finish of 19th and only one top 5 finish in addition to his four finishes, 17th or worse. Maybe Busch really does need to race every race each weekend?
1. Kasey Kahne – This comes as no surprise to anyone and for others who do a list similar to this who doesn’t have Kahne in the #1 spot…I wonder where your thinking cap is! He struggled in his last year at RPM with many relationships not working out, went to Red Bull for one year where he was constantly followed by bad luck and since his highly anticipated debut with Hendrick Motorsports it seems bad luck has followed him. Only worse. Of his nine-season career, this has been the worst start of any season he has had, and it comes surprisingly as he and long time crew chief Kenny Francis join the sports best team. I have a feeling they will be split up soon, remember Dale Jr. and Eury Jr.? He has one race where he finished and finished 14th, and even he was disappointed with it even though it was a solid finish after failing to finish higher than 29th in any of the previous and eventual races leading to Easter break. He is 31st in driver’s points and still fighting to stay in the top 35 in owner’s points. Who would ever think a talented driver at a talented team would nearly be a “go or go homer”? I believe it is already (yes, already) too late for Kahne to make the chase this year, and I think the team just needs to focus on finishing races and building chemistry for next year.