All Jacked Up

The end of the Road Ringers

Posted by: Jason Randall

Monday, June 23, 2008 4:36 PM

Explain to me again why teams continue to use the "hired guns" on road courses? Maybe it worked in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but here in 2008, Sprint Cup regulars have sent a message: These are our race cars, and we're not leaving our seats.

Ron Fellows' 29th place finish Sunday was the best by a road course specialist at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. The Cup regulars have closed that gap, and I'll flat out say, closed the door on guys like Fellows, Boris Said, Scott Pruett etc.

No longer can these "hired guns" come in and expect to win like they could only a handful of years ago.

When a guy like David Gilliland runs well all weekend and turns in a second-place finish, you know the era of the road course specialist is over.

Yes, Juan Pablo Montoya has an extensive background on tracks with right turns. And so does Patrick Carpentier, but these are guys who now are considered regulars. They didn't get into someone else's car on Sunday.

If you would have asked me if Kyle Busch was going to win on Sunday, I wouldn't have thought twice. Absolutely not. But apparently these regulars have things figured out and that spells the end of the road for your specialists.

After Fellows' 29th-place finish, you had the following: Max Papis, 35th; Pruett, 38th; Said, 41st; Marcos Ambrose, 42nd; and Brian Simo, 43rd.

Not exactly a banner day for the guys who are supposed to be the best in the world - or at least the United States - on road courses. Sure, there were some incidents and some mechanical problems, but it all comes down to results, and these guys simply don't contend as they once did.

I never really understood the use of "hired guns" in the first place. If a team is serious about developing drivers for runs at championships in the future, why do you take them out of the car? How are they ever going to learn if they're not given a chance? Teams that use specialists, in my opinion, aren't serious about success. I think it does more harm than good in all aspects, and with the showing the so-called ringers had on Sunday, I think a lot of teams will reconsider on Aug. 10 at Watkins Glen.

In the top 10 on Sunday, we had the series points leader and seven Cup championships represented (Jeff Gordon with four; Matt Kenseth with one; and Tony Stewart with two).

The series' top stars will shine anywhere they go. There is no point to bringing in Pruett and Said and Fellows everytime a road course pops up on the schedule. It's time for them to stick with their sports car series, their touring series, and save up money to test and get better on ovals. Because if I owned a team, there would be no way I'd put them in my car, even if I had a young driver who didn't have a lot of confidence on a road course.

Gordon, Stewart, Kenseth and the other regulars didn't start off great on road courses, but they were allowed to stay in their cars when they were younger and now they are the contenders at these tracks. It's difficult for the younger guys to get better if they don't get to race.

But, maybe I'm crazy. I thought the object of racing was to continue to get better, contend every week, be consistent, win races and ultimately win championships.

Enough is enough. There's a reason these specialists aren't full-timers. Keep them out of Cup until they actually earn a ride. It's becoming a joke and they're embarrassing themselves.

Until next time, keep hittin' your marks!

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