After dismal rookie year, new blood offers hope to Sprint Cup circuit

After posting four wins in the ARCA series this year, Scott Speed will move up to a full-time ride in Sprint Cup next for Team Red Bull. John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR

Regan Smith's near-miss and Patrick Carpentier's firing this week illustrated just how tough a year it's been for Cup rookies. As I wrote toward the end of the summer, the 2008 freshman class is headed for the worst performance in NASCAR's 60-year history. After being stripped of a win at Talladega, Smith's penalty added insult to injury, negating what would have been the first top 10 finish by a full-time rookie this season (he wound up 18th).

But just as newsworthy as Smith's faux pas was Carpentier getting shown the door. With Carpentier's departure from Gillett Evernham Motorsports, Sam Hornish, Jr. is the lone open-wheeler left from the four-man front that tried to tackle the Cup Series this season. Unless Danica Patrick gets offered a contract she can't refuse, it's clear the IRL to NASCAR craze is ready to breathe its dying breath.

That begs an important question: where is the next wave of NASCAR talent coming from not named Joey Logano? The worry is that the two feeder series -- Nationwide and Craftsman Trucks -- don't have enough sponsorship support for younger drivers to bring them up through the ranks. But combing through the carnage, there are a few diamonds in the rough we can expect to join Logano in a Cup car over the next three years:

Colin Braun. Just 20, Braun is living up to the hype in what's been a masterful Rookie of the Year bid in the Truck Series. Thirteenth in points, Braun has two top-5 and seven top-10 finishes at NASCAR's "AA" level to be the highest placed freshman in the standings for Jack Roush. Add in two poles in just five Nationwide Series starts, and it's clear this rookie has a tremendous upside. His major problem: keeping it off the wall, as he's spun out half-a-dozen times in 20 starts. Of course, David Ragan had a similar problem with wrecking when coming up through the ranks, but Roush developed him into Cup racing's top-rated sophomore. Just goes to show it's easier to tone down a guy with talent than have a consistent driver who just can't give that extra 10 percent.

Scott Speed. In a matter of days, Speed will be announced as the full-time driver of Team Red Bull's No. 84 Cup car in '09. And while you might disagree on the circumstances (improving A.J. Allmendinger was pushed aside to make room), it's hard to argue Speed isn't ready for that promotion. Winning at Dover in just his sixth Craftsman Truck Series start, Speed has had immediate success driving the No. 22 for Bill Davis Racing. And in his ride for Team Red Bull in the low-level ARCA Series, he's won four times and is primed to take the season championship this weekend at Toledo. Cocky and confident, Speed believes he has the talent to compete at racing's top level, showing the swagger elicited only by NASCAR's other open-wheel survivor: Juan Pablo Montoya.

Justin Allgaier. He doesn't have experience in NASCAR's top three series yet, but he's surely one to watch. After a sparkling ARCA season highlighted by a series-high five victories, he raised some eyebrows with a last-lap pass of Logano to steal a Friday night race at Talladega last week. The engine in that family-owned equipment was courtesy of Roger Penske, who saw enough to offer Allgaier a part-time Nationwide Series ride in '09. Penske's hoping that Allgaier, at worst, will be a great insurance policy should Hornish, Jr. or David Stremme struggle next season. At best, the potential is there for him to become a long-term replacement for Ryan Newman.

Brad Keselowski. Attempting to make his first Cup start in Rick Hendrick's No. 25 this weekend, Keselowski will certainly make it to racing's top level ... it's just a matter of when. The first development driver to run consistently well with Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s team, he has two wins and 17 top 10s in the U.S. Navy Chevrolet. Running third in the standings, he's the highest placed Nationwide-only driver, but is a longshot to take the title from Cup veterans Clint Bowyer and Carl Edwards. Things are going so well, his team's even found a sponsor in this harsh economic climate to replace the U.S. Navy when money is drying up at NASCAR's AAA level. A year from now, look for him to be a strong candidate to share the ride at Rick Hendrick's No. 5 car with Mark Martin.

Cale Gale. Although Bryan Clauson or Landon Cassill will win Rookie of the Year in the Nationwide Series, it's Gale who's been the most impressive, doing so in Kevin Harvick's No. 33 Chevrolet. In his last three races, he has an average start of second place, including his first career pole during a Nationwide race at Bristol, Tenn. Coming home with six straight top-20 finishes, Gale has the ability to keep the car in one piece that Harvick's been looking for in a "young gun" for years.

The only problem is sponsorship for Gale to run a full season -- he's currently running a part-time schedule, working as a mechanic for KHI when his boss goes behind the wheel. But when the money comes, expect him to rise up fast and furious, with potential to be the first Alabama NASCAR Superstar since the days of Bobby, Donnie and Davey Allison.