NASCAR: Which series young guns have more potential, Truck or Cup?

By Sean Anderson | Mar 31, 2018

MARTINSVILLE, VA - MARCH 23: Matt Crafton, driver of the #88 Ideal Door/Menards Ford, practices for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Alpha Energy Solutions 250 at Martinsville Speedway on March 23, 2018 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) /

The NASCAR Truck Series has seen four different winners this season. Does a different winner every week make the series better to watch than the Cup Series?

Over the past few seasons, NASCAR has had many veteran drivers retire. They were replaced by drivers under the age of 25. Jeff Gordon was replaced by 20-year-old Chase Elliott in the 2016 season, and Carl Edwards was replaced by Daniel Suarez. Suarez was 25 when he entered the Cup Series last season.

William Byron took Kasey Kahne’s ride at age 20, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. was replaced by 24-year-old Alex Bowman. In addition, 21-year-old Erik Jones took over the #20 car for Matt Kenseth, and Darrell Wallace Jr. was chosen to drive the #43 car. At age 24, he took the wheel for legendary driver Richard Petty, who is now a team owner.

Even though the series is getting younger, there are many drivers who are putting on a great show in the Truck Series. Many of these drivers are actually 21 years old or younger, and they are making names for themselves.

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Ben Rhodes already has two top 5 finishes and has led 134 laps so far this season, will all of those laps having been led by him at Martinsville last week. Last season, he was less than 10 laps away from beating Kyle Busch at Kansas until his engine blew. While he didn’t win that one, he proved that he can compete with one of the best drivers in NASCAR.

John Hunter Nemechek has proven that small and underfunded teams can still win in NASCAR. He’s earned six wins driving the #8 machine, which is owned by his father Joe Nemechek. While he will also run a limited schedule in the Xfinity Series this season, he has certainly become a household name that could compete for wins every week.

Noah Gragson is another driver under age 21 that fans should keep their eyes on in the next few seasons. Since he only has one win in the Truck Series, some people may overlook him. But his average finish in the series is 11.7, and it’s only a matter of time before he moves up to the Xfinity Series.

Fans of NASCAR should tune in to the Truck Series races to watch the future Cup Series drivers move up the ladder. Recently, several drivers that have come up to the Cup Series have yet to win a race, though a few are knocking on the door of their first win.

Chase Elliott has 23 top 5 finishes, and he almost won Martinsville among several other tracks last fall. Erik Jones had five top 5 finishes in his rookie season last year, including a second place finish at Bristol, and his average finish this year is 14.7.

For some of the other young Cup Series drivers, the struggle continues. In his second full-time season, Daniel Suarez has only one career top 5 finish and his average finish is 16.9. Now in his third full-time season, Alex Bowman doesn’t have a top 5 yet in his career. His average finish so far this season is 14.3.

William Byron doesn’t have a single career top 10 finish, but he has only six Cup Series races under his belt. Darrell Wallace Jr. has one top 5 finish from the Daytona 500 earlier this season. However, his average career finish is 20.8 through 10 races. These young drivers still have something to prove, but there’s an argument to be made that the young guns in the Truck Series are the ones to watch.

Next: 5 reasons to move Cup Series races to Saturday

The NASCAR Cup Series is off until Sunday, April 8th when the race at Texas Motor Speedway takes place at 2:00 pm ET and is broadcast live on Fox Sports 1 at that time. The Truck Series is off until Friday, May 4th when the race at Dover International Speedway takes place at 5:00 pm ET and is broadcast live on Fox Sports 1 at that time.