Another week in the books for this year’s talented rookie class – another week met by struggles for each of them to endure. The 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway produced some ill-handling cars that resulted in poor finishes for the class of talented drivers.
For the second time this year, it was Austin Dillon topping the list with the best finish among his fellow mates.
Austin Dillon
Finished: 16th
While his Richard Childress Racing teammates both finished in the top 10, Dillon came up short as he would finish 16th. Dillon started off the day strong after qualifying fourth on Friday, however would drift outside of the top 10 as the race went into it’s second half.
“We just got too tight during the middle portion of the race and lost some track position,” Dillon commented post-race. I am proud of the Cheerios racing team. They did a good job today and I learned a lot. We are building a good notebook that will be helpful next time we come here.”
Kyle Larson
Finished: 19th
After posting a third place finish in the Nationwide Series event the day before, many people expected Kyle Larson to run inside the top 15 in Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series event. However, that was not the case as Larson struggled with handling conditions and never had the track position that he needed throughout the day after starting 17th.
Michael Annett
Finished: 29th
Michael Annett and Tommy Baldwin Racing may have only finished 29th, but it’s a big step for the little team. It marks their best finish of the season and doesn’t showcase the day that Annett truly had. Annett ran higher up in 20s in the running order for much of the day, though a late pit stop under green resulted in the poor finish. Well most people may overlook the performance, it shows the growth of TBR and how they’re working towards their goal of solid top 20 finishes, rather than finishing in the 30s.
Justin Allgaier
Finished: 31st
Following his altercation with Danica Patrick at Phoenix, Jusitn Allgaier’s luck wasn’t that much better in Sin City as he finished 31st after fighting with the handling of his Chevrolet throughout the course of the day.
Ryan Truex, Cole Whitt and Alex Bowman
Finished: 35th, 36th and 37th
Three rookies would all finish together and it wasn’t that pretty finish that you want to talk about. For Ryan Truex, Cole Whitt and Alex Bowman, there was no jackpot in Las Vegas as they all finished deep in the field.
Each of these drivers struggled throughout the weekend to find speed and handling to therefore improve their finishing position, ultimately all finishing multiple laps down.
For Whitt, the weekend was tougher than he wanted as he got into the wall during practice on Saturday and started Sunday’s race in his back-up car. His weekend looked promising before that practice incident as he showed speed with the primary car in both Thursday’s test session and Friday’s practice session. Rather than me telling you the story, check out Whitt’s post-race blog on his website by clicking here.
Parker Kligerman
Finished: 40th
After blowing the motor last weekend, Parker Kligerman was looking for better luck in Sin City; however, that didn’t happen as he once again finished in the 40s. Kligerman ran into mechanical issues as he fought an electrical problem throughout the course of the 500 mile race.
Swan Racing General Manager Bray Pemberton said, “It’s unfortunate that, through no fault of his own, Parker has been placed in a difficult position to start 2014. It’s a long season and we still expect Parker to be challenging the other rookies for the top spot.”
Kligerman is not within the top 40 in points and will be in a tough spot come Bristol this weekend, having to make sure to get in by his speed. Kligerman talked about his thoughts surrounding Bristol, as well as competing with Swan Racing this year with SpeedwayMedia’s Marshall Gabell. You can read the article by clicking here.
Next up: Bristol Motor Speedway
With Sin City behind them, the rookies are set to tackle the toughest short track on the Sprint Cup Series tour. While the rookies will be battling the track, they’ll also be battling their fellow competitors. Tempers are easily shortened and we’ve seen many drivers get turned at Bristol due to the close racing.
Which rookies will survive? And which rookies will get turned off a competitor’s bumper? Stay tuned to this weekend’s event!
