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The class of '05: with five races to go, not all of NASCAR's prize pupils can be most likely to win the whole thing
Sporting News, The, Oct 28, 2005 by Matt Crossman
Nextel Cup High School is a close-knit community full of gossip and rumors, with haves (multicar teams) and have-nots (single-car teams). Reputations are made early and are hard to change. Cliques are difficult to penetrate; outsiders are welcomed but not embraced. Delinquents get sent to the principal's office for misbehaving.
Feuds and friendships change from week to week. Just look at the fall Talladega race, where Elliott Sadler did some serious talking behind Jimmie Johnson's back--on national television. The next week, Sadler gushed about his great friendship with Johnson--after Johnson apologized.
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You know how girls at a dance all go to the same bathroom at the same time? Drivers all go to the same bathroom at the same time, too ... right before every race.
With the school year, er, season, coming to an end, yearbooks should be coming out soon. Well, they would be if we had anything to say about it. Imagine how the superlatives section would read.
Brightest Future
Kyle Busch
Like the new kid in town, Busch--the runaway Rookie of the Year favorite--started the season with a reputation. It wasn't a great one: full of talent but immature. Considering he was 19 when the season started, that should have been expected. His win at California guarantees his season will be a success. And the growth he has shown throughout the year guarantees more success is on the way.
"He's a different person than he was a year ago," says Jeff Hammond, a FOX commentator and former crew chief. Hammond says Busch has veteran drivers, including his teammate Jeff Gordon and his brother, Kurt, the defending champion, to look to as mentors.
"That helps a guy grow up in a hurry. This sport will make you grow up in a hurry," Hammond says.
Best Nickname
Kyle 'Shrub' Busch
Because Baby Busch makes no sense.
Most Likely to Succeed
Tony Stewart
Stewart's greatest strength is his versatility. He's like the president of the National Honor Society, first-chair violin captain of the football team rolled even if it seems 100 percent certain that Stewart gave wedgies to two of the three.
Stewart's versatility makes him successful at every type of track, and that bodes well for the stretch run. The final five races feature different kinds of courses, from a short track (Martinsville) to high-banked and fast intermediates (Atlanta, Texas and fast Homestead) to a flat miler (Phoenix).
When Stewart won the championship in 2002, he felt more relief than excitement, ft had been a terribly frustrating season, fraught with controversy and troubling headlines. This year has been different. this year, winning the title would be "10 times sweeter," he says. This year, Stewart has again made tons of headlines but for being dominant, not difficult. And he is getting to the point in the season where he usually is at his best.
Being at the top is exactly where Stewart wants to be. "You want to be the guy everybody's looking at," he says.
Unless it's because your skivvies are up by your ears.
Most Talkative
Rusty Wallace
Fans in search of colorful quotes and opinionated commentary will be sad when Wallace hangs up his helmet for the final time at the end of this season ... until he climbs into the TV booth.
Friendliest
Jeremy
Mayfield is the most well-adjusted person in Nextel Cup. Apparently nobody has told him that with success comes arrogance.
Most Popular
Mark Martin
Mark Martin is like that rare kid who is friends with everybody. Nobody has a bad word to say about him.
Drivers love to race against him because he races smart. He's way too experienced to battle for position early in a race. He lets faster drivers go by without banging or blocking. But nobody races harder when it's time to go. "I've been a Mark Martin fan since I was a kid," Stewart says. "He's one of those that you want to have win a championship."
A four-time series runner-up, Martin thought his opportunity to win the title this season went up in smoke when he wrecked at Talladega. A win the following week at Kansas re-ignited his chances, if not in his eyes at least in his fans'. Based on his history at the remaining tracks, he's a candidate to make a strong run for the championship.
Teacher's Pet Jimmie Johnson
At Dover, the rear end of Johnson's car appeared too high. As NASCAR.com put it, "When Bobby Hamilton Jr. walked under it without scraping his head, that set off alarm bells with the media."
Johnson and his team members didn't get into trouble, which caused some carping because Kevin Harvick's crew chief, Todd Berrier, has been suspended twice this season for rules violations. Though it's not fair to compare Johnson's situation to Berrier's, that hasn't stopped critics from saying NASCAR treats teams differently.
Johnson told reporters that NASCAR officials offer him no special treatment. What else could he say? "They know there is pressure and a million eyes are watching them," Johnson says. "Why would they favor us?"
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