NASCAR Cup Series

First-time winners deserve credit

Published Aug. 2, 2011 6:25 p.m. ET

Jeff Hammond

One of the most unique questions I have been asked since Sunday’s win by our fourth first-time winner this season is: Who is the best new winner this year? Is it Trevor Bayne at Daytona? Is it Regan Smith at Darlington? Is it David Ragan at Daytona in July or last week’s winner at the Brickyard, Paul Menard?

All four of these young drivers are battlers. They’ve been battling since they broke into the sport. They’ve worked really hard to earn the respect of their fellow competitors and to prove they are worthy to be in NASCAR.

Using that context, I would probably go with Paul Menard. Let’s face it, Paul comes from a racing family. His family is extremely wealthy and has sponsored the cars he drove. He has had to fight through the people taking their shots at him and saying he was only in our sport because he basically had a blank check from his father.

To me, Paul has proven not only that he belongs in NASCAR, but that he has a right to be here. Here is a guy that has persevered through all the negative talk about him and continued to improve his craft. He’s taken in all the criticism but never lost his focus to be in our sport and to contribute.

That’s why you have to be so happy for Richard Childress. He’s watched this young man take the knocks. He’s watched him improve as a driver. So when the opportunity came to start a fourth team again, Richard hired Paul at the end of 2010. Richard now gets to enjoy the success of last Sunday along with Paul.

I think one of the most positive things about all four of these new winners is they are so determined to succeed. Look at Trevor Bayne, the winner of this year’s Daytona 500. He won our biggest race, yet a health scare almost ended his career prematurely. He battled through it all to get back into the race car.

David Ragan and Regan Smith, both with the support of their families, continue to battle their way to the top. Racing is their passion. Racing is what they live for. Now all four have captured lightning in a bottle and enjoyed their first taste of ultimate success in NASCAR’s premier series.

It makes you stop and reflect on all four guys. We are able to witness firsthand their evolution as drivers and maturity as men. Think of all the hard-fought, uphill battles they have had to go through and now each has visited Victory Lane for the first time in their NASCAR Sprint Cup career.

None of the four came onto the scene being called the next Jeff Gordon or Tony Stewart. They had to prove themselves time and time again. They had to earn the respect of the veterans in our sport. I think they have accomplished that. You also have to be so impressed in their ability to handle the pressure and win at four of our biggest events on the schedule.

Winning a race on the NASCAR schedule is hard, but for these four young guys to win the Daytona 500, the Southern 500, the July Daytona race and now the Brickyard 400 speaks volumes to their ability to handle the pressure on those pretty lofty stages. Those are tracks that any driver in our sport wants to have on their resume as being a winner at. These four guys have done it.