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Preview: UARA Rookie Report with Power Rankings
This year between each one of the 16 UARA-STARS Series races and a pre-season(this one) and a post season, we're going to give you the Top 5 Drivers on the tour ... Who's the pre-season rookie favorites? ... Read Our Picks for this years UARA-STARS Series Most Powerful Rookie Drivers!
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#5 - Adam Long
Adam Long is a relatively unknown Late Model Stock Car competitor, but luckily we've seen him racing at Motor Mile Speedway and racing inside the top ten. Long may not be the most well known LMSC competitor, but he's going to be a solid week-in and week-out driver. Plus, he's got the leadership of Ed Berrier, which could be the strong voice and knowledgable guy that he's been missing and with top ten runs at Motor Mile, he's not far off from where he needs to be to be competitive in the UARA on a consistent basis.
#4 - Blake Jones
In Legends racing, Blake Jones was one of the top young competitors, but this isn't Legends racing, this is where the rubber meets the road, this is where even the youngest competitors get to mix it up with future LMSC legends. Jones however has one of LMSC racing's best in his pit stall and will be making the calls for the young driver with former NASCAR Regional Champion, Wade Day. Day has helped launch the careers of drivers such as Trevor Bayne and most recently led, Dylan Presnell to three wins on two different tracks ... Jones won't be full-time, but we will see how much "star power" he has in the season opener.
Ronnie Bassett, Jr. is another great Legends driver, but again this ain't Legends racing ... Bassett however has put the right people in place to make a bid for the UARA-STARS Series Rookie of the Year with Rock Harris as his crew chief and Greg Marlowe there to give the team input at every turn. Bassett has been progressing in testing and if he can shake the bad luck he's had in late in testing he could be one of the young guns to beat, but there's plenty of talented young bucks trying to stand up.
#3 - Ronnie Bassett, Jr.
#2 - Michael McGuire
With 1988 Motor Mile Speedway Champion, Tim for a dad and two-time Bailey's 300 at Martinsville, Tony for an uncle, the expectations have to be high for young, Michael McGuire. McGuire has already set the bar high for himself, winning the Limited Late Model Championship at Orange County Speedway last season in his rookie campaign in a full size LMSC type chassis. Now the team has added the UARA's All-Time wins leader, Jamey Caudill to the team as a consultant. With this kind of leadership on pit road and the kind of talent he's already shown, the young McGuire could accel past his father and uncle starting with the UARA-STARS Series Rookie of the Year.
#1 - Clint King
With four Late Model Truck victories in just over a dozen starts in 2009 and the 2008 Pro Challenge Series National Championship already on his resume, Clint King is easily the leading rookie heading into the 2010 season. King also has the leadership of crew chief and former Tri-County Motor Speedway LMSC Champion, Ricky Bryant and this season add to that he's got two-time series champion, Matt McCall consulting for the team and both drivers lending advice to the young driver. If Clint King comes away with the Rookie of the Race award at Hickory in the season opener it will come as no shock to us, but he's still inexperienced in these cars and against such stiff competition.
Wytheville, VA(March 11, 2010) -- OK, how's this for the 2010 UARA-STARS Series Rookie Crop ... Matt McCall, Jamey Caudill and Greg Marlowe?
I know, I know ... right now you've got a puzzled look on your face, how can a two-time series champion, the all-time wins leader and a LMSC legend be a part of the 2010 UARA-STARS Series crop of rookies? Easy, these three will all play pivotal roles in the Rookie of the Year competition with Clint King, Michael McGuire and Ronnie Bassett, Jr.
Matt McCall is consulting for the Clint King Motorsports team, Jamey Caudill is doing the same for Michael McGuire and Greg Marlowe is the chassis builder for Ronnie Bassett, Jr. and after winning the Rookie of the Year award with Brennan Poole last season, he's certainly looking to keep the award in house. This could make for one of the best Rookie of the Year battles in the history of this series and maybe the history of racing altogether.
There's also other rookies, who could make some noise including Robert Johnson, son of NASCAR Hall of Famer, Junior Johnson, Adam Long, Tyler English, Julia Dawson and part timers including Blake Jones and Jessica Murphy. Other drivers have been talked about as Rookie of the Year contenders including Ty Dillon, grandson of NASCAR Sprint Cup team owner, Richard Childress, but according to the UARA's defined rules on how a rookie is determined, Dillon will not be classified as a rookie unless the rules are different for this season.
Another driver who will not fit into the rookie class unless the rules are altered is Matt Kurzejewski, who has previously competed in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series as has Dillon. Another driver who could be part of the rookie class is Grant McGinnis, but I'm not sure how many races he competed in during the 2009 season. Brad Queen was a 2009 rookie contender, but also only competed in a few races, so it will be interesting to see if he'll be apart of this years crop as well.
OK, so you know who the rookies are now and who shouldn't be classified as rookie ... Now it's time to give you our Top 5 Power Ranked Rookies heading into the season and we'll update this list every week so that you know who we think the best rookies are!
