Additional Driver Draft insight; plus, what if pit stalls could be dealt?
Editor’s Note: Kraft’s Korner will offer a take on a current hot topic in sports.
The cultural phenomenon known as the NFL Draft is underway, and teams are weighing the risk vs. reward of potential picks. Meanwhile, at home, viewers are intrigued to see which potential star plummets on the draft board and has to endure the most agonizing wait in the green room.
Wouldn’t it be great if crew chiefs could trade pit stalls?
At NASCAR.com, we recently put together our own draft board, the 2015 Driver Draft. We pared a list of 40 drivers down to 25 and took into account history, recent performances and potential room for growth.
Spoiler alert: Joey Logano ended up at the top of our list.
Logano is only 24, but it feels like he’s much older since he’s in the midst of his seventh full-time Sprint Cup season. He has wins on virtually every type of track, has won some big races (the 2015 Daytona 500 to name one) and seems to be settling in as a perennial title contender. There are some veteran drivers with championships, but it’s the combination of upside, recent history and a high ceiling that made Logano our top choice.
NFL teams are examining similar scenarios this weekend. They are weighing pros and cons and considering a “safe pick” versus someone who may have a little more baggage but could yield a greater return. The term “value” is thrown around all the time, and in fact there’s something called the draft value chart, which teams consult when making deals.
While there was no mega deal by the Philadelphia Eagles for Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota, two divisional rivals got some of the best value in Thursday night’s first round. The New York Jets selected defensive end Leonard Williams sixth overall, and many experts had him as the one of the top three players in the draft.
And in a case of the rich getting richer, the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots added a stout interior lineman to their defense in Malcom Brown. The Texas product should help fill the void left by the decision to part ways with Vince Wilfork.
But all this talk about the NFL Draft got me thinking about something NASCAR has that’s similar: pit stall selection. The stalls on pit road are prime real estate, and the ones that go first usually have no one in front of the driver when he exits. The ones that go next have no stall behind, providing the driver the opportunity to pull straight into the area.
We see plenty of wheeling and dealing in the NFL Draft (although not much on Thursday night) and it always spurs discussion among fans. So wouldn’t it be great if crew chiefs could trade pit stalls after qualifying, adding strategy and intrigue to that part of the NASCAR weekend?
Say a driver doesn’t fare well in qualifying, but the car was great in practice and the team expects to contend for a win. Why shouldn’t the team be able to acquire a better pit stall if another team is willing to deal it? Yes, it will come at a price, perhaps giving up a better spot at a future track, but the moves or potential moves could get a lot of fans talking.
All the time you hear drivers mention how important qualifying is but not necessarily for the starting spot. It’s for the pit stall selection. For example, Jimmie Johnson has overcome sluggish starting spots the past two weeks at Bristol and Richmond and ended up with second- and third-place finishes, respectively. Would having a better pit stall have helped him score his third win of the season?
It’s certainly possible, and it would be great to see a crew chief such as Chad Knaus working the phones to make a last-minute deal. Perhaps it would be even more amusing if NASCAR fans were to react like fans of all NFL teams do (most notably the Jets) when their picks are revealed.