Welcome to Rookie Watch. This is the weekly column that I will be posting each week, between Tuesday and Thursday, discussing the Sprint Cup Series rookies and how they did the previous weekend. With the rookie list being the biggest since 2002, there will be lots of yellow bumpers to keep an eye on each week as these young drivers continue to learn.
Austin Dillon
Finished: 9th
After putting the No. 3 DOW Chevrolet on the pole for the Daytona 500, Dillon would have a solid race as he came home with a ninth place finish. The day didn’t go without incident as Dillon did make contact with a couple of cars, triggering some accidents. He trigged the second big one with contact with Kyle Larson, while triggering the second big one with contact with teammate Ryan Newman. Dillon will be making some phone calls this week to apologize, for sure.
“I think the yellow rookie stripes on the bumper of my Dow Chevrolet showed a little bit tonight, but we made it through it,” Dillon commented post-race. “It was fun and I had a blast. The car was fast. After we got in the wreck, I don’t know how we didn’t hit the wall. We had a little damage, but mainly the car was just a lot freer after the incident. Our car was still fast, just a little loose.”
No doubt Dillon’s car was loose during the Daytona 500 as the car seemed to wiggle before moving up to the track and making contact. The 2013 Nationwide Series Champion also had an impressive save mid-pack, as well. As the season goes, learning to maintain control and preventing those types of wrecks will come to Dillon.
Alex Bowman
Finished: 23rd
After starting 29th in the Daytona 500, Alex Bowman would come home 23rd, two laps down. Bowman ended up a lap down after speeding on pit road mid-race. Moving forward, if Bowman is looking to start to put together solid top 20 finishes with BK Racing, mistakes like that need to be avoided.
Justin Allgaier, Cole Whitt and Parker Kligerman
Finished 27th, 28th and 29th
These three rookies all finished right together in the final rundown after starting in the back half of the field for the Great American race as all three were caught up in a wreck together.
While Allgaier had a quiet speedweeks before the wreck, both Swan Racing teammates Whitt and Kligerman could sum their speedweeks up as an adventure. Whitt damaged his car during Wednesday’s practice, though was able to get it repaired and get into the Great American race. Kligerman, meanwhile, found himself on his roof in Wednesday’s practice and had to go to a back-up. For a small team like Swan Racing, it is a major accomplishment to simply have both cars in the field for the 500 with what the two rookies experienced leading up to the race.
Michael Annett
Finished 37th
Like some of his fellow rookies, Annett sustained damage in the wrecks that occurred, which haulted his debut with Tommy Baldwin Racing.
Kyle Larson
Finished 38th
A lot of people were expecting Kyle Larson to fish near the top 10 with Chip Ganassi Racing, however a flat tire early in the race set him behind the eight ball. Larson got into the wall and then spun to draw the caution. Larson had started to work his way back into contention, when contact from Dillon ended his Daytona 500 prematurely.
“It was just a long day,” Larson said. “I got into the wall on lap one, blew the right rear and spun, so we had a rough start from the beginning. It was a tough way to finish, but I can’t wait to get to Phoenix and try to rebound and get the momentum built up.”
Look for Larson to try and bounce back with a solid performance this weekend at Phoenix International Raceway.
