2007 Rookie Of The Year

[harvick#1]

Stan, wasn't that Newman who was fliping in the air at Daytona in '03 :

[DonnieDarco]

You must be mistaken Harvick, Newman would have saved it

[tstran17_88]

On the other hand, we didn't see too many Busch drivers win races in the Busch Series this year, did we? Now I'm not saying Menard is great, but I suspect he is good enough to hold his own in Cup. DEI has good cars sure, but that still didn't do much for Michael Waltrip or Jeff Green...no doubt Menard is better than those guys.

On the back of that other hand...how many cup regulars were in the Milwaukee race? Only seven...four of which have actually won in cup. It's not like he was racing against the typical 12-15 cup regulars and past cup champions that you'd see during the companion races. I don't think there should be an asterisk by the win, but he was racing against James Hylton, Kim Crosby, Chris Horn and John Hayden (who?) in this race also.

Mernard is no Kerry Earnhardt either, but I don't see him being as competitive in Cup as a lot of DEI/RCR faithful think he'll be. The guy I bought Chicagoland tickets from one year worked on a crew that raced against the Mernard's at LaCrosse. He was telling me that their's and every other team's goal was to finish second in the championship because nobody could compete with their money. After every race, they run their cars down to the shop in Indy and rebuild the engine and repair any damage. Spending a 1/4 million to win a 10 Grand championship...what's the point?

[harvick#1]

plus he was having Harvick all over his back bumper and looked like he would've been passed by Harvick until Yeley punted him

[Mark in Oshawa]

Paul Menard will win because he has the stock experience. JPM will struggle because no one will cut him one INCH of slack out there, he isn't used to running under the pressure cooker that is Cup racing, (f1 is huge pressure, but this is a form of racing he has no real answers for. He will have to learn EVERYTHING). JPM has the talent, but his lack of NASCAR experience will kill him the same way it hurt Scott Pruett, Robby Gordon, and just about any other open wheeled guy who isn't named Tony Stewart. What is more, it is all ovals save the two road courses, and JPM needs to learn how to adapt his way of driving to the long race, patience is a godsend mentality. JPM is not patient, at least he wasn't in f1. I think he will learn, and ultimately be the better driver, but Menard for rookie.

[Smilieangel489]

I think JPM will win it. I think don't think Ragan will win it, I am surprised people voted for him after this year. I think there could be a surprise winner, but I still think JPM is the best driver and he won't make as many stupid mistakes.

[Cole_Trickle]

Menard or Montoya, I think it'd be close, BUT Menard's car isn't in the top 35 in points, so with the massive amount of cars entering next year he may miss out on some races. He ran well in some of the Cup races he did this year, two 7th places IIRC, but a DNQ in ine of the later races.

[carrera66]

Speaking of road courses, it'll be interesting to see what JPM can do at those two races. Probably very good as most road racers do.

[RaikkonenRules]

Yes i'm expecting him to win at least one of those.

[oldhippie]

jpm may have talent but he got on a bad team-driving for ganassi will cost him