Stark reality awaits for the sport's open-wheel rookies

By this time last season, Juan Montoya had already recorded the first of the breakthroughs that would come to define his rookie campaign at NASCAR's highest level. His fifth-place finish at Atlanta showed he could compete on the kind of fast, intermediate tracks that dominate the Sprint Cup schedule, and foreshadowed strong runs to come at places like Indianapolis and Texas. While his most enduring memory of 2007 has to be the victory at Sonoma, it was that one afternoon at Atlanta that made you think the Colombian had staying power.

But we may be realizing only now just how good Montoya is, a fact that has less to do with the former Formula One star than it does the struggles of those trying to follow him. So much was made in the preseason of this open-wheel "invasion" of NASCAR, which to this point has been about as toothless as the Bay of Pigs. Jacques Villeneuve crashed in a Daytona 500 qualifier and hasn't been seen since. Patrick Carpentier has missed two races and finished no better than 35th. Even Dario Franchitti, with all that oval-track experience seemingly so ready-made for NASCAR, has been unable to poke his head above 32nd place.

Yes, it's very early, only four races into a very long year. But Montoya is the standard by which all other incoming open-wheelers are measured, and even by this introductory point last season he had shown signs that he might make it. This year, only one has: Sam Hornish Jr., who finished 15th in the Daytona 500. And even he hasn't managed anything better than 25th since.

It's not that these open-wheelers-turned-NASCAR-rookies aren't talented -- you don't win the Indianapolis 500, which three of them have done, by accident -- and it's not like they haven't had to adjust to different types of cars at other points in their racing careers. But it's impossible not to notice the fact that they're are attempting to jump right into Sprint Cup racing with minimal seat time in the circuits that are supposed to help you get there. And what a contrast that is to the last time NASCAR greeted a pack of incoming former open-wheel drivers, all those sprint and midget aces who flocked to the sport because of Jeff Gordon's success.

Back then, things were different -- the cars used in the Cup and then-Busch series were more similar, sponsors were more willing to back unproven and unfamiliar drivers at lower levels, and up-and-comers didn't face Saturday starting fields packed with the same faces that would compete in the main event the next day. Drivers new to NASCAR had some time to learn and some space to breathe. They weren't expected to produce immediately, as their successors are today. The goals were simple, to get better and move up.

And that's what they did. Gordon ran two full seasons in the Busch circuit before he became a Cup regular. So did Kasey Kahne. Tony Stewart ran a full season, while Ryan Newman spent a year running mostly Busch and ARCA events before he became a rookie in NASCAR's premier division. They didn't have to learn in Cup; they were ready once they got there, and it showed it their early results. Gordon finished sixth or better in three of his first four starts as a rookie. Newman had top-10s in four of his first five. Stewart placed 11th or better in three of his first six. Kahne nearly won his second race as a full-time Cup driver, and nearly won again the week after that.

They were each immediately competitive, and it was because they were prepared. Imagine how different racing history might have been had Gordon or Stewart been thrown into a situation like A.J. Allmendinger was last year, forced to try and keep his head above water in the Cup Series before he was ready to do so. Allmendinger's preparation for NASCAR's highest level consisted entirely of three starts in the Craftsman Truck Series. Unfortunately, that kind of thinking today isn't the exception. It's the rule.

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You see it over and over. Franchitti's Sprint Cup career was preceded by one truck start and four Busch races, 32 fewer than another former Indy Racing League champion -- Stewart -- had under his belt when he made the jump. Hornish waded in with 11 Busch starts, Carpentier three. Villeneuve tried to make it work with seven truck events as preparation. Even Montoya, whose ability to transition from open-wheel to stock cars is made more impressive by each passing day, leapt in after four Busch races. Some of these drivers are trying to accelerate through the learning curve by running Nationwide and Sprint Cup events, but history has shown that tactic isn't nearly as effective as tackling those series one at a time.

What a strange dichotomy it creates. The support circuits languish, while drivers who could both inject fresh blood into them and benefit from the experience they provide choose instead to pass them by. It's tough to blame them; men like Franchitti and Carpentier are much older and more accomplished than Gordon and Newman were when they broke into NASCAR, and it's understandable that they might not want to slum it in what's perceived as a minor league. It's also not entirely their doing -- car owners are the ones making the rides available, and putting some of these open-wheelers in Sprint Cup seats prematurely. And given how different the Nationwide car is today, you have to wonder: would a full season down there even help?

In many ways this is a phenomenon unintentionally created by Montoya himself, whose relatively seamless transition into NASCAR led car owners to pursue open-wheelers with the same vigor with which they went after former U.S. Auto Club champions after Gordon and Stewart hit it big. "I think he encouraged teams to maybe look at open-wheel drivers or foreign-born drivers a bit more," Franchitti said in the preseason. Sponsors have proven a bit more circumspect, preferring to wait and see how it all pans out. In a sport where success and corporate backing are directly proportional, that forces a kind of patchwork funding effort that isn't necessarily conducive to performance.

It's a noble experiment, but stark reality awaits. Points for the current season go into effect after Sunday's event at Bristol Motor Speedway, and as of right now none of this current crop of former open-wheelers are inside the top 35. For these drivers who once saw glory at places like Indianapolis and Vancouver and Laguna Seca, how many frustrating Fridays are ahead? And how much patience will car owners show, before moving on to the next new thing?

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer