3 NASCAR Cup Series drivers who need to step it up in 2018
By Nick Tylwalk
There shouldn’t be the kind of turnover among Cup Series drivers next season as there was headed into 2018, but there are still a few who would feel a lot more comfortable with some wins under their belts.
The last few years have seen some giants of NASCAR leave the sport. Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr. all exited the Cup Series in quick succession, opening up the floodgates for a wave of young drivers to fill in the empty seats.
At the same time, economic realities have led to teams saying goodbye to the likes of Matt Kenseth and Danica Patrick. The tension between the old guard (or even semi-old guard in the case of Kyle Busch) and the up-and-comers is real.
The result of all these factors is the biggest “what have you done for me lately?” feel around NASCAR in quite some time. While there might not be the same sort of upheaval after the upcoming Cup Series season that we’ve seen the last few, some drivers still need to produce results to feel better about 2019 and beyond.
Here are three that come to mind the fastest.
Trevor Bayne
Bayne might have authored the feel good story to beat them all when he made the Daytona 500 his first career NASCAR Cup Series victory. It gave the iconic and much loved Wood Brothers team a huge win, pleased underdog fans everywhere and gave Bayne the credibility he needed to make it up to the top circuit full time.
It’s hard to believe, but that triumph was seven years ago. Not only hasn’t Bayne won another race since he took over the No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford, he hasn’t really been all that close.
That could have been excused when Roush Fenway was struggling in general, but teammate Ricky Stenhouse Jr. gave the organization a spark in 2017 by winning multiple races (both at plate tracks, but still). If Bayne isn’t feeling some pressure to pull his weight, he really must be as unflappable as he so often appears.
One positive is that he’s only 26, way too young to give up on altogether. Still, if Stenhouse equals or betters his results from 2017 and Bayne continues to be a non-factor, you have to think someone will start asking some questions about whether he should continue to hold down his seat.