Speed51 Draft picks

[Frasson118]

Here are the top 25 as voted on by a panel of racing insiders, as to who they would "draft" into the higher ranks of racing, if they were in charge of a team.

Many of these guys have run at New Smyrna in the last few years, so a lot of you may know most of the names:

Kyle Benjamin
Daniel Hemric
Erik Jones
Ross Kenseth
Dylan Kwasniewski
Johnny VanDoorn
Bubba Pollard
Austin Therriault
Corey Lajoie
Brandon McReynolds
Chris Buescher
Ben Kennedy
Ryan Preece
C E Falk
Kenzie Ruston
Jeff Choquette
Kyle Grissom
Brett Moffitt
Cody Coughlin
John Hunter Nemechek
Anderson Bowen
Steven Nasse
Derrick Thorn
Coleman Pressley
Kevin Swindell

Pretty stout group right there, but I don't understand why TJ Reiad isn't in there..??? Or why Cody Coughlin is....

Keep in mind, this isn't just about the "best" racers, it's about someone young and marketable. Augie Grill, David Rogers, Wayne Anderson, and a ton of others have better records, but they are pretty much past the "marketable" age.

Personally, I think they hit the nail squarely on the head with their number 1 pick. Kyle Benjamin is goooooooood.

[zerofor]

Cody Coughlin is the

Son of Jeg Coughlin,the owner of Jegs.Jegs is heavily into oval and drag racing so Jegs money would follow him.Thats a huge part of what drives that.

[Frasson118]

Not to mention that Jegs sponsors several other cars, as well as Speed51 itself.

I wonder who TJ pissed off to not even make the top-25...?

[zerofor]

I first saw Cody Coughlin race

A couple of years ago up at Columbus Ohio ,he was running his pro late with the super lates and though outclassed he still turned in a top ten.He won a feature at the World Series this year so he's not exactly a slouch.Jegs was a long time sponsor of Don Gregory and also former ASA champ Gary St. Amant son of Gregorys long time car owner and former driver himself Bud St.Amant.

[Frasson118]

I didn't mean to infer that Cody was a 'slouch' at all. I saw him win that race at NSS. However, he does get a LOT of track time, huge budget, well traveled..... but not the actual results of most of the others on the list.

I'm sure he's a good kid, definitely commited, but top 25 right now......?

[zerofor]

Well once again

You know theres the whole Jegs connection so with potential bigtime sponsor money along for the ride in a lot of peoples eyes he will be more marketable.

[sport603]

I like the Benjamin, and Jones picks but I would have had Pollard ahead of Hemrick, and Kenseth. All bubba does is win. Where is Chase Elliott, i think he is a.top 3 or 4 pick too.

[Frasson118]

Chase Elliott, as well as Kyle Larson, have already been "drafted", and aren't within the spirit of this poll.

As far as Hemric, he seems to more versatile than Polllard. He has won in Legends (he was the Million $ winner at Charlotte), Tour Modifieds, as well as Pro & Super Lates. Bubba pretty much sticks to the full bodied cars, but does run, and win in the IMCA style Mods too. Bubba wins more, but Hemric wins in more divisions.

Not arguing your point of view at all, just giving my opinion of why one was ahead of the other.

[sport603]

I got ya Fras. I didnt read the poll just your posting. I do agree about TJ. Watched him last year at Watermelon Speedway and he can wheel a race car. I would like to see Nasse ranked a little higher too.

[zerofor]

I would think

You would kind of consider Erik Jones already drafted since hes landed some seat time in Kyle Bush 's truck ride for this season.

[dd38]

Jegs may be heavily involved in sponsorshop of oval track cars, but their catolog sure doesn't reflect it. I wish they would increase their circle track inventory as I do buy quite a bit from them, but mostly engine related stuff.

[zerofor]

They started out

Jegs may be heavily involved in sponsorshop of oval track cars, but their catolog sure doesn't reflect it. I wish they would increase their circle track inventory as I do buy quite a bit from them, but mostly engine related stuff.

As basically a drag racers speed shop and Jeg himself was a drag racer so thats always been they're bread and butter.

[Mark Keeler]

Just so everyone understands, I know there were some Questions as to why someone like Chase Elliott wasn't on the List and Erik Jones was... The "Chase Elliott" Rule has been in effect for a couple Years now since otherwise he would pretty much be locked in to #1 over and over again. Hope this helps answer a few questions regarding the Draft.

I will add this, this year's Panel included some big names like Brad Kesolowski, the President of Kyle Bush Motorsports and some others. It wasn't just "Media" people doing the picking. It was a very diverse panel.

This was the Criteria for making Draft Picks this year:

Rules and Regulations:

- Drivers must be 29 or under as of April 15, 2013

- Drivers must not have made eight or more starts this year or in 2012 in NASCAR Sprint Cup, Nationwide or Camping World Trucks as of April 15, 2013.

- We have applied the "Chase Elliott" rule to this draft making him ineligible for the honors as a former #1 pick and a current Hendrick Motorsports development driver. Elliott will be a voter and understands the situation.

- Drivers can be from pavement or dirt.

- Drivers should be from touring series and local tracks.