Roush Fenway Racing has one of the most enviable records in NASCAR when it comes to Rookie of the Year winners, many who got their chance from Jack Roush's "Gong Show" driver audition event which used to determine who Roush would hired to drive one of his Fords in NASCAR's Camping World Truck Series.
Matt Kenseth, the driver of the No. 17 Roush Fenway NASCAR Sprint Cup car was the Cup ROY in 2000 and won the championship in 2004.
Greg Biffle, who pilots the No. 16 Cup car was the truck series Rookie of the Year in 1998 and the Nationwide ROY in 2001. Carl Edwards was a double winner too, winning the truck award in 2003 and the NNS award two years later.
This year, Roush Fenway's Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won Rookie of the Year honors in the Nationwide Series, persevering through a season that began with lots of crashes and DNFs; the same kind of results his fellow ROY contender and teammate, former Grand-Am Daytona Prototype phenom Colin Braun -- the 2008 truck series ROY -- experienced all season.
After a 16th place finish in the final point standings Stenhouse has been invited back for next season. Braun, who finished 23rd in points, has been released and is looking for a ride in 2011.
Because there are simply no guarantees in racing.
Just ask former Roush ROY's Todd Kluever, Erik Darnell, Danny O'Quinn and David Ragan.
O'Quinn was recognized as the best Nationwide Series tyro in 2006 but due to sponsorship deficiencies was out of a ride in 2007, the year Ragan won the same ROY honors to earn a Cup ride in the No. 6 UPS car. He's now a part time driver for an underfunded backmarker team.
Kluever was the truck series Rookie of the Year in 2005, as was Darnell in 2006 but neither was able to take full advantage of that success. Darnell occasionally fills a seat for Roush Fenway but isn't in the team's plans for 2011; Kluever is out of NASCAR completely.
Only Ragan remains a full time NASCAR driver and with no Cup wins on his resume, only a couple of NNS victories and no appearances in the Chase it looks like 2011 could be a make-or-break year for him.
Of course, that's what the experts were saying in 2008 about 2009, and in 2009 about this past season.
Stenhouse Jr. has as much potential as any young racer in NASCAR. He's been racing since he was six, starting in go-karts and then moving on to winged and non-winged sprints, midgets and Silver Crown cars, winning USAC ROY honors in 2007 in two different divisions. That summer, Jack Roush offered him an education in stock car racing for 2008 and Stenhouse responded with two wins, 10 top-fives and 14 top-10 finishes in just 21 ARCA races, contending for the championship until the final race of the season, finally finishing fourth in the final standings.
After a handful of NASCAR races in 2009 he was finally able to show his stuff in 2010, earning the honor of going for a championship in 2011, when (supposedly) Cup drivers will not be allowed to compete for the title.
Ricky has yet another great opportunity to show his team and sponsors and all the NASCAR fans that he's got the same kind of right stuff as Carl, Greg and Matt.
Because the last thing he wants to be is the next Todd Kluever or Danny O'Quinn.
Read Bill Tybur's thoughts on fantasy racing at FMFL
Photo Credits: Todd Van Pelt, Royal Broil
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