The arrival of Jeff Gordon in the Cup Series, followed by his quick ascendency to the top of the sport in just two years, brought about it a sea-change in the way Nascar’s top teams did business. No longer would they wait and sign drivers in their 30’s after a few years in Cup with lower-to-mid-level teams—now there was a race on to sign increasingly young drivers to developmental deals and put them in top-rate equipment as soon as possible.
However, following this came a litany of drivers who found themselves in quality equipment without the talent or experience to match. For every Tony Stewart or Jimmie Johnson—drivers who excelled from early-on for Nascar’s best teams—there were plenty of other drivers who would prove themselves unworthy of such a chance.
Here now are the biggest busts in Cup Series history since 2000—Nascar’s Top-10 Most Disappointing Drivers.
NOTE—drivers were judged based on their performance in the Cup Series ONLY, not on performance in other series. Also, while there are some drivers with wins on this list, the way those wins were gained (fuel mileage, plate track) were taken into account. The quality of the rides the drivers had was also factored in, as was any dip in performance of said rides while they were driving there. All statistics are through the end of the 2018 season.
10. DAVE BLANEY—0 wins in 473 Cup Series starts. Top reams raced for: None. Mid-level teams raced for: Bill Davis, RCR.
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| Dave Blaney hero card from his only full season with RCR |
Why he’s on here: A legend from the world of sprint car racing, Blaney first entered full-time Cup Series competition with Bill Davis Racing, running the brand-new 93 car and failing to make much of an impact. After two years with the low-level Jasper Motorsports team and spending the 2004 season with multiple teams, Blaney got the chance of a lifetime with Richard Childress Racing in 2005. However, Blaney again failed to make much of a difference, finishing 26th in points and never cracking the top-five. He followed that stint with three more years at BDR, posting two top-fives and grabbing Toyota Racing its first Cup Series pole position. After leaving BDR a second time he spent the rest of his career running for lower-level teams.
Mitigating factors: Outside of his single year with RCR, Blaney never got another shot at nearly-top-level equipment. Its also debatable if the BDR team was ever truly mid-level—during his first run they had just expanded to add his ride, and during his second run they were dealing first with no factory support, then adjusting to the brand-new Toyota.
9. TREVOR BAYNE—1 win in 187 Cup Series starts. Top teams raced for: None. Mid-level teams raced for: Roush-Fenway, Wood Bros.
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| Trevor Bayne's last Cup ride (as of now) |
Why he’s on here: If there’s ever been a driver whose career was actually HURT by a win, it was Bayne’s. Plucked from relative obscurity to drive for a rebuilding Wood Brothers team on a part-time basis, he won in only his second-ever Cup Series start in the 2011 Daytona 500. The feel-good win—nice guy wins for Nascar’s most-historic team—would prove to be the singular highlight of his Cup career. While teammate Ricky Stenhouse Jr. established himself as a solid if not spectacular driver, Bayne would do next-to-nothing of note in his three full-time Cup Series seasons with Roush-Fenway Racing, rarely a factor off of plate tracks Daytona and Talladega. Bayne is currently a free-agent after losing his ride with RFR in 2018.
Mitigating factors: RFR has been on a downward trend for years and Bayne was, unfortunately, along for the ride. Meanwhile, the Wood Brothers team he ran for with partial-schedules his first four years was barely a threat to win as a RFR satellite team. Of course one also has to take into account what impact, if any, Bayne’s health issues have had on his career.
8. DAVID RAGAN—2 wins in 434+ Cup Series starts. Top teams raced for: Roush-Fenway, JGR (as a substitute). Mid-level teams raced for: MWR (as a substitute).
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| David Ragan during his brief stint at Joe Gibbs Racing |
Why he’s on here: David Ragan was given five years to prove himself with Roush-Fenway Racing, a team with proven race-winning equipment at the time. However, after improving from 23rd to 13th in points in his second year, he would follow that up with points finishes of 27th, 24th, and 23rd. A plate-track win in 2011 would be too-little, too-late as Ragan’s team was contracted due to lack of sponsorship, forcing him to move to the budget-minded Front Row Motorsports team. While Ragan would post a win—again at a plate track—for FRM in 2013, a year split between Joe Gibbs Racing and Michael Waltrip Racing (both as a substitute driver) in 2015 did little to help his career.
Mitigating factors: In retrospect, its hard to argue that Ragan wasn’t brought up to the Cup Series too soon, as he had yet to complete a full season in any national touring series before his rookie year. While the RFR team WAS top-flight at the start, the team’s results slowly sank throughout his five year run. Its difficult to predict what he could’ve done if given a second-chance in top-level equipment based on his long tenure with FRM and substitute stints with two other teams.
7. CASEY MEARS—1 win in 488+ Cup Series starts. Top teams raced for: Hendrick. Mid-level teams raced for: Ganassi, RCR.
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| When Dale Earnhardt Jr. came to Hendrick Motorsports, Kyle Busch was let go--and Casey Mears stayed |
Why he’s on here: Despite a relative lack of success in IndyCar and the Xfinity Series, Casey Mears entered Cup competition in 2003 with Chip Ganassi Racing. Joining an organization that had contended for the Cup championship the previous year, Mears disappointed in his three years in the 41 car, failing to finish higher than 22nd in points. After posting a pair of runner-up finishes (and a 14th-place points finish) in Ganassi’s 42 car, Mears departed for Hendrick Motorsports in 2007, where it would take a dozen races to post his lone Cup Series race win—albeit one won on a fuel mileage gamble. After dropping in the points from 15th to 20th at Hendrick (and infamously being retained over Kyle Busch), he departed for RCR, where he would fail to post a top-five race finish in his lone season there. He’d later resurface racing for the single-car Germain Racing team.
Mitigating factors: Ganassi was arguably on a downward trend when Mears joined the team, and there remains questions as to if he was brought into the Cup Series a year or two too soon. While he found a steady ride with Germain Racing, its arguable that he lost six prime years running for a team that was rarely a threat.
6. JEFF GREEN—0 wins in 270 Cup Series starts. Top teams raced for: RCR. Mid-level teams raced for: Petty Enterprises
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| Jeff Green during his tenure with a declining Petty Enterprises |
Why he’s on here: Originally something of a journeyman, Green used the 2000 Xfinity Series championship as a springboard to a ride with the championship-contending (at the time) Richard Childress Racing team in 2002. Unfortunately, a rookie year that saw Green post four top-five finishes would prove to be the high-water mark of his Cup career, as conflicts with teammate Kevin Harvick would seem him be released early in his sophomore effort. A brief stint for Dale Earnhardt Inc. would, in turn, lead to a a ride with a declining Petty Enterprises in the famed 43 car, where he would post a single top-10 in 2+ seasons. He would run a full season and most of a second with a Haas CNC Racing team that was lightyears away from the powerhouse Stewart-Haas Racing team it would become before returning almost-exclusively to the Xfinity Series.
Mitigating factors: Green was the first driver for RCR’s third team, one that would rarely contend for wins throughout its existence. His relationship with teammate Kevin Harvick was never good to begin with and directly contributed to his departure from what was inarguably his best ride. Meanwhile, Petty Enterprises was in the middle of a long slump that even the arrival of Green’s replacement, Bobby Labonte, would be unable to fix.
COMING UP NEXT: Part 2--Drivers 5-1 and Honorable Mentions