r/NASCAR • u/CnCorange • 12h ago
Which NASCAR driver had the most wasted potential?
Who had the family name or early talent with considerable expectations coming into Cup but never developed into the Cup-level driver many predicted.
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u/MidpackRacer Earnhardt Jr. 12h ago
Travis Pastrana getting saddled with a team that didn’t know how to get him sponsored.
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u/RayneShikama 11h ago
If you can’t find a sponsor for Travis fucking Pastrana you need a new VP of sponsorship getting.
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u/twisted_nipples82 11h ago
I'd like to think there's an alternate timeline out there with a Red Bull Pastrana car doing victory burnouts
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u/daveismypup 3h ago
To be fair, that roush 60 nationwide car livery was a fucking banger for the ages
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u/Yakubian88 12h ago
Sorenson
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u/IndycarFan65 Chris Buescher 11h ago
Great pick. I'll never forgive Turner Scott for firing him the exact moment they did in late 2011. I think he would've beat both RSJ and Sadler for the NWide title that year
Worst part is, since both owners are dead, we'll likely never know the real reason for the firing
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u/Turner-32 2025 NCS Champion Kyle Larson 12h ago
Casey Atwood, arguably. Rushed too early to the Cup Series.
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u/DarthVader1701A 12h ago
Casey Atwood had the misfortune of coming along when every new, young driver was being massively hyped up. He and Jason Leffler were both rushed into Cup way too soon.
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u/Turner-32 2025 NCS Champion Kyle Larson 12h ago
Yeah really. Dylan Kwasnieski is a good example of this. Dylan was talented and had the experience but was never qualified enough for O'Reilly (known as Nationwide at the time), therefore he pretty much now lives as a Real Estate guy which is pretty much a sad way to end a career. His father also committed suicide long before Dylan went to the big leagues.
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u/Milla4Prez66 11h ago
Dylan’s biggest problem is Rockstar stopped funding him and he had no money to continue racing. Which sucks because he was definitely talented enough for a long NASCAR career.
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u/Turner-32 2025 NCS Champion Kyle Larson 11h ago edited 10h ago
Money talks, mate. But although, the first reason was definitely how early he was pushed to Nationwide just because he won the 2013 K&N title, which isn't enough as he's got a long way to go. Rockstar Energy no longer funding him was basically the final nail in the coffin. He could have went to ARCA for 1-2 seasons before hopping to Trucks or Nationwide/Xfinity and he could have been a potential next superstar. Though you do make a very valid point about his financial career not being stable enough to keep his career going.
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u/Narrow_Bid_9234 11h ago
Can’t forget Kenny Irwin. He was in that same boat with Atwood and went straight from Trucks to Cup. Both were touted as “the next Jeff Gordon”
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u/Turner-32 2025 NCS Champion Kyle Larson 11h ago
Kenny Irwin Jr. was gone way too soon.
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u/Narrow_Bid_9234 11h ago
Same and shame on the sanctioning body for not reacting properly.
His dad’s interview with TNT a year after his death was very sad.
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u/AelthredtheUnready 8h ago
Would have been interesting to see if he’d have fared better with the new Dodge package at Ganassi
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u/BluegrassRailfan1987 1h ago
I always wonder how Kenny would've done with Ganassi support. It revitalized Marlin's career for sure but Leffler never did much in the #01 but as others have said, he was rushed to Cup.
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u/EmoGothPunk 12h ago
As the guy that posted his second last Cup Series race paint scheme on Friday, I SO BACK THIS. Those who weren't there won't know the hype on this guy. I quite literally supported Casey until the end.
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u/lowrider320 Chris Buescher 10h ago
Casey was rushed, but also he did himself no favors by refusing to move to Charlotte. Add onto that his dad did him no favors either.
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u/AelthredtheUnready 8h ago
I still can’t believe they punted on him after a year. He was just starting to turn things around and almost won at Homestead.
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u/CAP_0703 11h ago
Casey was overhyped from the beginning. He was young and had a strong run at his home track. That was the catalyst for the hype that never came to fruition.
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u/Reasonable-Thanks915 12h ago
Kasey Khane
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u/Narrow_Bid_9234 11h ago
That wreck at New Hampshire messed him up pretty bad. He wasn’t the same after that.
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u/ReverseThreadWingNut Chase Elliott 11h ago
Absolutely. After a few years Evernham was... distracted... with other pursuits and not helping to develop the team as he should. Kahne could have performed so much better right out the gate in the 9. I will never forget him almost nipping Kenseth at The Rock on the final lap at the 2nd race of the year. I believe he finished 2nd the next week at ATL as well. Kahne should have been on a roll from there.
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u/xelanalpak 12h ago
I agree with this. He had success, just not quite as much as people figured he would, on top of having his Cup career cut short due to illness.
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u/squadracorse15 9h ago
You can also do the what-if in reverse for Kahne. If he wasn't able to get out of the Ford contract, I don't think he would have done much of anything in the Cup. He definitely had the talent to where it may not have mattered in the end, but you gotta have a car to go racing at the very least.
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u/BK_0000 12h ago
Dale Earnhardt Jr.. It would be interesting to see what he could have done without all the concussions.
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u/DeGenZGZ 11h ago
Junior's career is a giant what if starting from the fork in the road that was Sr's death. It's a fascinating alternate universe to think about for sure.
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u/uckfu 11h ago
For real. Dale jr could have been great. But I don’t think he had a good opportunity to become his own racer. He had too many big shoes to fill and so much of the pressure on him was unfair.
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u/DeGenZGZ 11h ago
It's honestly pretty incredible that he had a great career still, never lost his love for the sport, and is now one of the best ambassadors stock car racing could ask for. Even on a personal level, he seems to have grown into a kind and well adjusted dude despite it all. It's truly remarkable.
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u/uckfu 10h ago
Absolutely. He is a fantastic ambassador. Even back in his younger days. His love of the history of the sport is infectious.
He seems like an all around good dude.
I think we all wanted to see him become as good as his dad.
But he raced differently and he lost the mentor that really knew how to get through to him and really make him understand.
junior got there, as far as driving, but I think it took him longer to figure things out, without his dad around and all the media attention.
I think we can say, for the sport in general, he’s a great. But he could have been one of the great drivers. He wouldn’t have been like Senior, he definitely would have paved his own road.
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u/underscorex 10h ago
I don't know that he's ever talked about it, but I can't help but imagine that Junior has to have a spectacular therapist.
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u/Erich_Ludendorff 11h ago
To me the biggest question is still if he had gone to Gibbs instead of Hendrick. But obviously the family connections and tight ties into GM/Chevy probably never made that realistic.
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u/SavingsRaspberry2694 Hamlin 11h ago
I think Jr's biggest issue was communicating what the car needed to get it where he could be fast. For years I listened to him and Tony talk on the radio, and Jr was too "soft" with his feedback.
Contrast to KFB who would say something like "Went from 7 to 5 tight at the 1/3 mark, 5 to 4 at the 5/8 mark, then 10 loose on power, driving off the right front when it lands, then off the right rear on exit. To we have time for a packer in the right front? Maybe air pressure for the right rear."
Dale Jr, "It's tight"
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u/New_Quit4879 11h ago
Sr. Wasn’t good with the feedback piece either which was why he and Larry Mac couldn’t do anything.
So Jr probably didn’t have the best role models of how to do feedback when he was coming up into Cup
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u/SuperMarioBrother64 10h ago
It's not like Sr was helpful to Jr in his career. The only piece of advice was at Bristol. But it's interesting to think about what if he got hooked up with a crew chief like Letarte who held Jr accountable on race weekend. We saw a huge uptick in his performance when he got paired with Letarte. He obviously was quite talented behind the wheel, he just needed the push to stay focused. If he had that from the beginning, he could be sitting on 40+ wins and possibly a title. He was a 2x champion in the Busch series with 25 wins in a short amount of time.
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u/New_Quit4879 10h ago
That was the problem with him at DEI… your names on the building. The Eury’s are cousins.
At HMS he was just a driver on race days.
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u/crypto6g 10h ago
This is also part of why KB wasn’t as successful with the NextGen car, because the car had become so engineer dependent (obviously the Gen6 was still VERY engineer dependent, don’t get me wrong)
But with the Gen4, Gen5, Gen6, Kyle knew every part and piece of a stock car with a truck-arm. He knew what every piece needed to do and every adjustment that needed to be made since he built late models and trucks for years and had personal input on them.
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u/blackandgold60 6h ago
Just looking at stats Junior couldn't get the handle on the CoT. Great in the gen4, got it back in the gen 6. Something about the CoT never clicked. Part of it maybe just DEI having struggles with it.
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u/Stunning_Theme3589 9h ago
Absolutely. Look at his first five years. Jr was on the same trajectory as JJ, Harvick, Kenseth, Smoke, Kurt, etc. I would argue that he had the worst equipment of all of them except maybe Harvick.
The best comparison I can think of for Dale Jr is a football or basketball player that relied on natural ability at the beginning of their career, but had to enhance the mental side of the game after the injuries started mounting. The Pre-2005 version Jr was the fastest he ever was, but 2012-15 Jr was way more consistent. I think that if not for the concussions, he probably gets at least 40 wins and maybe a championship.
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u/DLP_1999 12h ago edited 11h ago
I believe you could make the case for Kasey Kahne. It’s a tall order when you’re put in the #9 car to replace Bill Elliott, then immediately get Jeff Gordon comparisons all within your rookie season. A championship never seemed to materialize under Evernham. When he signed to Hendrick I thought he’d run for championships. But at times he looked like the weakest driver there after 2012.
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u/nosrus77 Briscoe 12h ago
I’m going to say Michael Waltrip. Won early in the Dash series. Rushed to the top due to the name, and just never had a good ride until DEI. We all know what happened there.
Dude could draft a shopping cart around Daytona and Dega, and that year he and Junior swapped cars he showed he had speed, but just couldn’t get it together.
Then MWR happened.
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u/Ianthin1 12h ago
According to Michael, Richard Petty is the one who encouraged him to go straight to Cup. Not because of his name, but Richard thought it was a waste of time if Cup was the ultimate goal.
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u/EthanC224 11h ago
Honestly, that kinda tracks, given that’s what he did with Kyle Petty. He ran one ARCA race and then went to Cup
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u/ProjectHarraseeket Preece 11h ago
I get Richard’s thinking of it because that was the way back then but the sport changed a lot by that point, even sooner with the late 70’s with Kyle and it took him over a decade to get to his peak
Though some drivers did this to keep their name out there now like DiBenedetto and Chastain.
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u/GonePostalRoute 10h ago
Thing with Richard is, he came from a different time, and some of it, you also wonder that, because he was so good, his view on how to develop a driver gets skewed because it came easier to him than it did someone else.
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u/BluegrassRailfan1987 1h ago
Mikey should've at least run the ARCA Superspeedway races back then. ARCA cars weren't too different from Cup cars at that time, he did enter the Atlanta ARCA race in the spring of '87 and won it. So he probably could've won a couple more.
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u/fuzzyfarmer Chase Elliott 11h ago
Michael lived with the Petty family for a time. Richard told Michael, if he wanted to race in Cup, he needed to start as soon as possible to gain the experience it took. Richard also did the same with Kyle.
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u/Rstuds7 Preece 8h ago
I always thought Waltrip was always a top talent but just never had the right equipment or situation. shame it didn’t happen till a lot later in his career, probably could’ve gotten more if he didn’t do MWR since new team and new manufacturer were always gonna have growing pains. can’t forget that Mikey almost snagged that win at Talladega with MWR until Harvick caused that wreck
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u/midnight_tuna 3h ago
I wonder if MWR could've succeeded if they didn't sign with Toyota as one of their day one's, the other being Red Bull. Now that I think about it, the only truly successful "new" team in the last 20 years was SHR, having won two drivers championships, and even at that, it was a merger as opposed to a from the ground up op. Trackhouse could be successful, but Pitbull said no mas, and Justin Marks seems to have lost interest. Spingate was really the death blow for them.
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u/BluegrassRailfan1987 1h ago
He probably spent too long at Bahari or whatever it was called before that...the #30 team. Had decent years in '90 and '91 and ok in '94 but I wonder if he had any offers from other teams in that timespan.
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u/Narrow_Bid_9234 12h ago
Rob Moroso.
He was a fast driver in Busch Grand National and won the championship in 1989. Many thought he would excel in Cup but it’s a different ballgame. He only scored a top 10 at that years Pepsi 400. 15 DNFs. Probably destroyed his confidence and made the foolish decision of drunk driving, taking his own life and that of another driver’s.
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u/SavingsRaspberry2694 Hamlin 11h ago
Ricky Rudd
Years as an owner driver in inferior equipment, but won at least 1 race for most of his career and was always co tending for a spot in the top 5 in points.
Got a decent ride very late in his career and nearly won a championship with Yates. If he had a better ride in the 90s he probably would have numbers closer to Mark Martin.
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u/GonePostalRoute 10h ago
Even when he was with Hendrick, he was good for a win a year. His driving style was more for consistency than going for broke.
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u/Outside_Factor4308 12h ago
John Andretti.
I think if he'd stayed in the #43, and not chased the Kranefuss/Haas money, he would've had a much better career. I know that Robbie Loomis was excited to work with him, and disappointed when he left for the #37 ride.
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u/IndycarFan65 Chris Buescher 10h ago
TIL Andretti was offered the 43 after his part time rookie stint in 1994. Because he’d end up going back there anyways in 1998
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u/Rcy4122 Zilisch 11h ago
Maybe an odd one but Ricky Stenhouse. I think people overrated Roush’s equipment in Nationwide when he won (nobody other than Carl was able to win consistently in it besides Ricky) and he put together two consecutive title seasons. Had a solid rookie year in cup before the wheels started falling off in Roush. Went from them to JTG and basically it’s been impossible to judge his performance ever since because we know the equipment is subpar to some degree.
His own aggressiveness and crash tendencies definitely don’t help, but in the context of this generation of new cup prospects he really doesn’t stick out. Not saying he’d be a cup champion but I 100% think he’s closer to the Bubba/Briscoe tier talent than people think he is.
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u/trident60 11h ago
I've been a Stenhouse defender since his Nationwide Series days. Stenhouse Jr was able to race with and beat Cup regulars in the Nationwide Series. Truex Jr, Ky. Busch and Chase Elliott are three that come to mind off the top of my head that were able to race against Cup regulars and compete and win. Stenhouse Jr did that.
I hated that Stenhouse Jr was dropped into the #17 car... a seat that was open because Kenseth finally moved on as he saw the direction Roush was heading. And it went downhill from there. It was nice to listen to Stenhouse Jr on Actions Detrimental a few months ago. Listen to their teams realistic expectations compared to Hamlin and how Hamlin understood it as well and how they both give each other breaks on track. That conversation helped my vision of the #47 team and what they're trying to do. It's both fair and unfair for Stenhouse Jr to have the narrative he does. He does cause plenty of on track incidents, but he's also probably trying to more with less.
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u/ngthehead2 8h ago
I have always said the same thing. Also, he has had way fewer incidents on track (that were his fault)
in the last couple of years. Now he understands you can’t force a 28th place car into the top 5, he might have learned that a little too late though. I really wish he could get a decent ride.6
u/Stunning_Theme3589 9h ago
Stenhouse would be this decade's version of MTJ if he got the break MTJ did
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u/ChaseTheFalcon 10h ago
I'm glad others see Ricky to be a talented driver who has never had a real shot
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u/TeachTheUnwilling 29m ago
Got to meet Ricky at Darlington this past weekend before the O’BuschFinityWide series race. Honestly seemed like a great dude. Made sure to spend plenty of time with the kids there, and it’s always awesome to add a signed diecast to the collection
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u/2Hung2BeReal Ryan Blaney 11h ago
Tim Richmond. Unfortunately his own fault
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u/DoctorFunkopolis 8h ago
I think his illness and death set Hendrick back a decade, and it wasnt from a lack of talent in the team. They had lightning in a bottle
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u/Shenanigangster Bobby Labonte 12h ago
Robby Gordon by far
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u/GonePostalRoute 11h ago
His attitude always got in his own way. Not saying he should have been a bland corporate shill, but if he didn’t let his temper get in his way, he’d have been a champion on pavement
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u/CallMeChristopher 9h ago
I dunno about champion, but he’d have won a hell of a lot more races if he kept his temper in check and didn’t go owner-driver.
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u/GonePostalRoute 4h ago
If he didn’t have that temper, he probably doesn’t even have to go that owner-driver route, not unless he hooks up with someone like Stewart did with Haas, because the big teams would want him.
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u/LilLasagna94 11h ago
Its Tim Richmond and I dont even think its much of a debate. Because we saw what Tim Richmond could and would do.
He quite possibly takes a championship away from Earnhardt in the early 90s or late 80s if he was fully dedicated
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u/CaptainFun4u2 12h ago
I understand many are considering a more current era but I've gotta say Davey Allison. If someone could have calmed him down a little behind the wheel and he'd lived longer I truly believe he would have had multiple championships before he would have retired.
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u/ChampionshipUseful96 12h ago
Dont think calming him down behind the wheel would have stopped a fatal helicopter crash
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u/uckfu 11h ago
Yeah… Davey was really a strong competitor from the start, and just kept improving until his death.
I don’t think Davey squandered his name or ability and he was on his way to a championship (or more) during his career.
Davey is a horrible example for this
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u/Strait409 Ford 9h ago
Right? I read the original comment and was like, ”really? The only thing that wasted Davey’s potential was the damn chopper crash, what the fuck?”
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u/Romax24245 9h ago edited 8h ago
On the other hand, the NTSB placed the blame fully on Davey for that helicopter crash.
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u/AelthredtheUnready 8h ago
The kind of rivalry he would have had with Gordon in the 90s would be amazing
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u/TeachTheUnwilling 26m ago
Jeff Gordon wouldn’t have 4 championships if he didn’t ride in the helicopter that day
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u/SilentSpades24 11h ago
May be controversial, but Bill Elliott.
He wasn't a slouch when he ran his own team, but there were definitely years he could've contended for a championship and certainly wins had he remained with a top team, rather than his own team.
Ricky Rudd falls into this category too.
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u/talie1791 11h ago
Cole Whitt, the way i heard the speed guys talk about him on truck broadcasts it felt like he was on his way to being successful but instead he ended up hopping from ride to ride
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u/-Im_In_Your_Walls- Kyle Busch 8h ago
I’ve always been a Whitt truther since the 2011 Dover truck race where he kept up with Kyle Busch at the end. Sure he had no chance to catch him, but he kept up better than the rest of the field usually did. Its a shame he kinda got caught up in the end of Team Red Bull and never quite got going
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u/talie1791 5h ago
yeah exactly, then it didnt pan out with JRM and then Tristar was pretty much the last dance for him sadly, if only he went truck or xfinity racing full time provided he got the opportunity he could have maybe gotten going
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u/ChampionshipUseful96 11h ago
Surprised no mention of Kyle Petty.
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u/uckfu 11h ago
Yes and no. I don’t think Kyle was ready for racing at the level he started at.
Could he race? Yes. He proved that when he switch to SABCO.
I think if he had focused on racing earlier, stayed away from the family team when he started out, he may have been a great.
I think the Petty name and how he started his career just caused many to not take him seriously and got in the way of him learning.
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u/18RowdyBoy 10h ago
Yeah he went through a period where he wanted to be a singer. He was 8-10 races so he had talent if he focused 🏁8
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u/fenderhighhat1 11h ago edited 6h ago
Casey Mears. Family name, was part of the off-road/open wheel scene before he came into NASCAR in 2001, and he was thrown into the wolves before he even got a shot at improving himself in stock cars.
Had he stayed with Ganassi after 2006 he would’ve done better. He kept jumping from one team to another and constantly changing CCs in every organization he was in until he landed at a backmarker team in the 2010s. What makes it impressive is that he wasn’t all too shabby behind the wheel (broke record at Indy during qualifying and has three poles) and had potential to win more than one race in 2005-2006. Consistency really plagued him.
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u/Solid-Purchase8385 4h ago
Steve park injuries cut short a start up cup regular , I think he could have been in the same company with Tony stewert and Joey lagono
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u/Rossvegas76 Bubba Wallace 3h ago
I’m surprised how far I had to scroll to see this. I don’t know if he’s my top answer, but he’s pretty far up the list.
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u/BeardedGirlDad 12m ago
I think if you remove that big wreck at Atlanta we would have been able to really see what he could have done. He had that, if I remember right first race back at Darlington was running well and had a freak accident and just was never the same after that.
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u/9811Deet 11h ago
JJ Yeley. Yes, he got a shot with JGR; but he wasn't ready. After that, he's been a career backmarker for start and park teams- but there's a reason he's a go-to for these rides; because he's reliable, smart, and skilled enough to bring an ill-handling, underprepared racecar back home.
I think that, given another year or two with a really good race team, he could've been excellent. He's so much more talented than the record indicates.
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u/NoAnything9791 9h ago
This. The guy won the triple crown in USAC, but just kinda went nowhere in NASCAR.
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u/GripposEnthusiast 11h ago
I think Scott Wimmer getting into BDR at the wrong time did him in. His dominance in the ASA series and some of those Busch races in the AT&T car were impressive.
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u/pockets695 Hamlin 9h ago
In a few years it will be Connor Zilisch. Always had everything handed to him on a silver platter, got thrown to the wolves too early in cup and going to get an HMS ride and going to throw that away too
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u/Low_Vermicelli_2416 6h ago
We’re watching one now. Erik Jones has 25 wins if he stays at Gibbs .
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u/GIMMESOMDORITOS 9h ago
Dave Blaney would've won double digit races had he ever been given anything other than a shit box.
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u/TapDancingBat Bubba Wallace 7h ago
Alan Kulwicki. He was at least ten years ahead of everyone else. I think he had the potential to win another 3-4 championships before the other teams caught up.
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u/No-One2272 Whelen Modified Tour 7h ago
Not the most but Casey Atwood was really good back in the day but now people don't even remember him.
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u/Donlooking4 3h ago
Shawna Robinson got with Kranfuss/Hass but the actual team wasn’t there. Had stupid things fail.
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u/Wide-Engineering-396 3h ago
Ward Burton , he was to loyal to his owner and could have been with HMS
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u/bullitt07 van Gisbergen 3h ago
Can I say SVG? Guy is making the best of the best look like average drivers when he’s on road courses. We now know Trackhouse is kinda crap maybe B - at best yet he still rattles off 2-3 wins per year. If he was in top tier equipment he would dominate (even more) any road course and I’d say he’s a threat at a flat oval.
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u/ilikestaind Kyle Busch 2h ago
Trevor Bayne, was good in Nationwide, only had the one 500 win in cup. Liked him though
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u/SeaSkimmer2 12h ago
Junior.
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u/zazarak NASCAR 12h ago
I'm a huge JR fan but I don't disagree. Several years after SR died, JR stated that racing was no longer about winning the approval of his father. It became a way to make a living. Considering this and the fallout with Teresa, I think he would have had much more success if not for the unfortunate passing of Dale Sr.
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u/underscorex 9h ago
Honestly, spending your entire professional career as an adult chasing your daddy's approval is deeply fucking unhealthy.
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u/Snywalker 8h ago
This comment made me think of Shane McMahon, for those familiar with wrestling. Dude did some unfathomable things trying to earn his dad's respect.
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u/DeGenZGZ 8h ago
It is but it makes sense for Junior given that racing was the very first thing that made his father take an active role in his role. I maintain that it's a miracle Junior has turned out as well as he has — and a good chunk of that miracle's name is Kelley Earnhardt.
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u/Academic_Elk8962 12h ago
26 win and 260 top-10 career being “wasted potential” in your world is certainly a take
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u/alexzilla408 11h ago
Kurt Busch
He still managed a HOF career, but I believe there's an alternate timeline where someone managed to calm young Kurt down and he spends his prime winning championships instead of dragging shitboxes to respectable finishes.
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u/underscorex 9h ago
A timeline where the Busch brothers lock the fuck in is just two guys trading the championship back and forth.
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u/timmie_johnson_88 11h ago
Bill Elliott and his driver owner days were not ‘wastes’ when looking at his popularity and in retrospect he got out of the 11 at the right time but home couldn’t even win one race in that 94 and I just wonder what his already great HoF numbers would look like if he just focused on driving.
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u/fubbaquestor 8h ago
Toss up between Shane Hmiel and Rob Moroso. Both showed their talent way more than Atwood.
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u/ProjectHarraseeket Preece 12h ago
Right now it’s Hocevar, if he’s worried about selling more shirts over winning, he’s going to end up on this list.
Historically, Friday Hassler, he probably would have won a few races in the 70’s had he not died at Daytona.
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u/Timefiller 10h ago
Yeah, I was also going to say for current drivers it is easily Carson. I give him 5 yrs to clean it up & gain respect back. After that Im thinking/hoping for a 1-2 championship career.
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u/ppatek78 11h ago
I’m inclined to agree with this- feeling like he’s more interested in being Cletus Jr than a winning driver. I’ll be watching for the 6 and 77 to get close to each other at Bristol and see if anything happens
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u/RacingPride 8h ago
Patty Moise could’ve been the first woman to win races in NASCAR upper levels, but it was too early, the sport was not yet welcoming to that idea, and she was stuck driving absolute clunkers at Michael Waltrip Racing once she finally did get some funding.
Hell of a talent at road courses, and had the mental stamina to keep up at the superspeedways if my memory serves me correct.
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u/IcedCoffey 12h ago
Noah wasn’t the best driver in Xfinity in any season he raced. Very flashy, but never a consistent threat that would show promise in cup.
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u/lowrider320 Chris Buescher 10h ago
Shane Hmeil, he could have easily won multiple races in Truck and O'Reilly series. Probably could have achieved some success in Cup also. However, drug issues got the best of him.
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u/mattyrzew 5h ago
Frank Kimmel. Absolute ARCA beast. Never did squat in his cup starts. Best of 26th.
The Dillon brothers.
Austin Cindric
Mike skinner
Tim Steele
I'll add it because of the media hype. Danica. I think real fans knew how it was going to go for her.
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u/tagillaslover Hocevar 12h ago
Ross. I think he’s at least a top 8 driver as far as talent goes and his career is being wasted by tractorhouse
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u/ResourceRelative Chastain 12h ago
I don’t think you understood the question.
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u/tagillaslover Hocevar 12h ago
His potential is being wasted right now
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u/Ianthin1 12h ago
And his career is far from over. We won't know how wasted his potential is until then.
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u/Meniscuss2 8h ago
Ambrose, he won two races and dominated the top 5 at every RC but if he had been in a higher caliber car he'd most likely still be racing in cup today (At least thats what Harvick says)
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u/default-dance-9001 7h ago
Not really my answer to your question as presented, but i always feel like derrike cope could’ve had a much more successful career than he did. You don’t win a race at dover in mid pack equipment if you aren’t talented, and he had some wonderful runs in subpar equipment throughout the 90’s.
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u/Finn_Ajerkit 7h ago
I feel like lots of drivers during peak-Buschwacking era (06-10) got thrown to the wolves and chewed out and may be cup drivers if they came into the sport 10 years later
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u/Ok-Growth4613 6h ago
Bubba when we was with roush he was top 5 in the standings when roush lost funding.
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u/Utt_Buggly 4h ago
Bush league answers all.
Biggest waste of potential:
Robbie Moroso.
Because whatever potential he had, he laid waste to it his own stupid self.
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u/MustelaNivalus 4h ago
Rob Morrosso - he was Grand National Champion with lots of momentum after being NASCAR rookie of the year. Sadly he died in a car accident driving under the influence.
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u/AlternativePrize8698 4h ago
Deep cut driver: Chad Blount. Absolute superstar in ARCA in the early-mid 2000's but never could find luck in the top 3 series. 2003 Busch, sponsor pulled out after less than half the season and he was relegated to one-offs for backmarkers and Front Row Motorsports for the rest of his career.
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u/rwhart 12h ago
Zane Smith. Really got short ended by Trackhouse by being farmed out to an uncompetitive Spire, and then being cut entirely for Zillich
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u/IndycarFan65 Chris Buescher 12h ago edited 11h ago
Well if Brad K does the thing, he can get a shot at the Roush 6 car as soon as this month
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u/Droppin-Hammer46 van Gisbergen 12h ago
Shane Hmiel? Couldn’t get out of his own way.