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Rookies Have Some Impressive Credentials

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By HOLLY CAIN, Tribune correspondent

Published: February 10, 2008

When Regan Smith attended the season's first Sprint Cup Series rookie meeting, he was flanked by an Indy 500 winner on his right and another on his left. A couple chairs away, a Formula One champion sat next to a former Champ Car superstar.

Talk about a tough crowd.

"So there had to be somebody that likes beer and beef jerky thrown in the bunch instead of all these wine and cheese guys," Smith said. "I am the only one that has stock car experience and, hopefully, it's going to give us a leg up on the competition these first races."

Far from intimidated by his competition for 2008 Rookie of the Year, Smith is honored to be in the company of 2007 Indy 500 winner Dario Franchitti, 2006 Indy winner Sam Hornish Jr., 1997 Formula One champion Jacques Villeneuve and Champ Car ace Patrick Carpentier. Last year's ARCA Rookie of the Year, Michael McDonnell, rounds out the group.

"It's definitely the best year in probably the last five or six years to run for Rookie of the Year," said Smith, a 24-year-old former go-kart champ and midget driver who will drive the No. 01 Chevrolet for Dale Earnhardt Inc. "This will be one of the more prestigious rookie titles to win in a long while I think."

Certainly, there has never been a rookie class in any form of racing with this combined resume. Not only are these drivers super-achievers, they all are driving for successful, proven teams - Penske, Ganassi, Earnhardt - which could make for a record-setting plebe class.

Yet, Sprint Cup Series director John Darby plans to conduct his weekly rookie meetings no differently.

"Obviously, the majority of this rookie class is made up of drivers with experience and championships," Darby said, "but the fact of the matter is that when it comes to stock cars, they are as rookie as a guy who has come up from the regional series or the trucks or the Nationwide Series."

Darby knows even these veterans have to get accustomed to the different characteristics of the car, as well as the nuances of each track. Equally as challenging, at least initially, will be adapting to new rules, from lining up for double-file restarts to NASCAR's enigmatic "lucky dog" position.

Each of Darby's rookie sessions ends with a review of the previous week. He had plenty of material from recent preseason test sessions, including a day at the 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway when three of his rookies wrecked on the same morning.

Franchitti was among those who crashed at Las Vegas, though only weeks earlier he ran consistently among the top 10 in single-car test runs at Daytona International Speedway.

Three-time Indy Racing League champ Hornish's best finish in two Cup starts last year was 30th at Phoenix.

Smith's seven starts last year give him the most Cup experience among the rookies, though he failed to score a top-20.

The French-Canadians, Carpentier and Villeneuve, have five combined starts, with Villeneuve's 21st at Talladega in October the best finish among any of this year's rookies.

"I don't expect that they will all be using the word 'y'all' by the middle of the season, but I do think they will have figured out to keep the nose in front and all four wheels down," Darby said. "I'm trying to take guys capable of driving cars fast to being great race car drivers."

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