On a baseball team, players change pretty frequently. Unless they’ve been locked down to a long-term contract, your favorite player could end up playing for your team’s bitter rival by next week. Now you must make the decision whether you’ll root for your favorite player or your favorite team.
NASCAR is different. A driver usually stays with their team for a long time. Jeff Gordon will always be with Hendrick Motorsports, as will Jimmie Johnson. Some drivers move around a lot, like AJ Allmendinger and Mark Martin. But every year, only a few drivers retire, and even then they normally only semi-retire. But what do you do when your favorite driver actually retires and you don’t see them at the track?
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| Photo courtesy Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images |
This is the question I had to ask myself after the
2013 season. After being a Mark Martin
fan since I began watching NASCAR in 2002, I realized that after years of
partial schedules I would have to find a new favorite driver to cheer for.
I decided to pick Austin Dillon, because I had been
following him since he began his Truck Series career. After watching him win championships in the
Truck and Nationwide series, I figured he would be a great driver to follow
into the future.
But one thing I never thought of was having to
measure expectations. When Mark Martin
was in the car, I knew he was a threat to win every weekend. Even if he didn’t have a good car, he had the
capability to dial the car in just enough to be competitive.
But Austin Dillon is a rookie, and I’ve had to
realize that he won’t be able to win every weekend. I’ve had to settle with a “good finish” in
the top 20. With Mark, I would be pretty
upset if he didn’t finish in the top 10.
I’ve enjoyed listening to Austin on the radio every
weekend. It’s been pretty interesting
listening to his team work to find out what he needs to drive the car and get
it to the front.
This year has been interesting so far, and I just
wanted to use the first off-week to reflect on the season. It’s been exciting to see him get the
finishes that he’s gotten, and I’m glad that I picked a pretty good
rookie.
I’m not sure if he’ll win the Rookie of the Year
since Kyle Larson has been running so well, but it will be fun to watch them
race for the rest of the year. I
wouldn’t be surprised if he got a win before the end of the season. Until that happens, I’ll have to continue to
manage expectations and be happy with where he finishes.
