NASCAR ROTY RANKINGS 2003: Ranking the Rookie of the Year Classes Through the Years

Jamie MAC-murray

Join me as we take a look at every NASCAR Cup Rookie of the Year class from 1972 (the start of the modern era) through 2021, going from the worst to the first in terms of overall careers of each year’s rookie class.

2003

Winner: Jamie McMurray (Ganassi).  Runners Up: Greg Biffle (Roush), Tony Raines (BACE), Casey Mears (Ganassi), Jack Sprague (HaasCNC), Larry Foyt (Foyt).  Aborted Attempts: Hideo Fukuyama

How their careers turned out: None of these drivers really broke through as what I would call “championship caliber” drivers, but both Jamie Mac and The Biff have lots of wins to their names.  The rest are mostly known as oddities, like Raines moving up with a team with no sponsor, Mears winning a race on fuel mileage, Sprague being the first driver for what’s now Stewart-Haas Racing, and Larry Foyt wasting everyone’s time.

“Fun” “Fact” about the winner: How strange in NASCAR?  Jamie McMurray won his first race for the team that started out as Kyle Petty’s SABCO ride and is currently Daniel Suarez’s Trackhouse car.

Ranking: #20 out of 50

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Bristol Baseball “Speedway Classic ’25” Details

This is a parody

As you may have heard, Bristol Motor Speedway will host a Major League Baseball game in 2025 between the Cincinnati Reds and the Atlanta Braves.  The game, dubbed the “MLB Speedway Classic ’25”, will take place on August 2nd on an artificial surface put down inside the racing surface.  Here’s some details made public about the game:

—The game itself will be sponsored by BuildSubmarines.  The “outfield” upper deck seating will be sponsored by Tenn-Va Optics Telescopes and Binoculars.

—The track’s racings surface will not be used, thus eliminating something everyone has complained about for the past twenty years or so.

—The game is scheduled for a Saturday to be followed by an off-date.  This will serve as a “rain date”, which will probably be necessary since racetracks can’t have nice things.

—The game will air on Fox, which means that sorry, but Clint Bowyer will likely be prominently involved.

—This could open up far more opportunities for Nascar tracks to host other sports, such as Daytona hosting NFL football, Talladega having professional wrestling, and Martinsville hosting a tiddly-winks tournament.

—Everyone will be taking this game seriously—lose this one, and you’ll only have 161 other chances to make up for it.

www.spaderacing.com updated four times weekly

www.facebook.com/spaderacing

www.twitter.com/spaderacing

Visit the store https://www.cafepress.com/spaderacing

Buy the book 100 Stock Car Racing What Ifs Unauthorized

Does this track have lights?

A MOXOC Media production

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Richmond Race Picks: Uncle Max vs. 13th Place

Nascar’s back, and so am I!  The little matter of the flood in my townhouse (much like the little matter of 13th Place finally picking up a win) is in the past, and I’m ready to focus on the end of summer.

What does that mean?  Well, it means plenty of BBQ’s, lots of new beers to try, and finally waxing my car for the first time this year.  It also means getting some of my PTO in before the late-August rush happens at work.  For anyone new here, my store is a “model store” for the rest of the chain’s holiday displays.  That means we set up our Christmas decorations super-early, just so other stores can tour ours to see how they’re supposed to look.  So yeah—two months of customers wondering why Christmas Trees are up when its still 90 degrees outside.

Saturday Evening TRUCK SERIES (4 wins) Clean Harbors 250: TY MAJESKI—two in a row—and the harbors will be clean.

XFINITY SERIES (4 wins) off

Sunday Evening CUP SERIES Cook Out 400: 13th Place (1 win) Picks AUSTIN DILLON.  FAVORITE (1 win): MARTIN TRUEX JR.—kicking the end of his career into high gear (unless he comes back next season).  NEXT FAVORITE: DENNY HAMLIN—something something home track.  DARK HORSE: DANIEL SUAREZ—coming off his win in Brazil (or is it Brasil?).

www.spaderacing.com updated four times weekly

www.facebook.com/spaderacing

www.twitter.com/spaderacing

Visit the store https://www.cafepress.com/spaderacing

Buy the book 100 Stock Car Racing What Ifs Unauthorized

Does this track have lights?

A MOXOC Media production

www.moxoc.com