Thursday, November 19, 2009

Taillights fade: Looking back on David Stremme's 2009

We're getting within sight of the end of the season, and so it's time to begin our look back. In a feature shamelessly ripped from Puck Daddy's Death Watch and Big League Stew's Walk Toward The Light, we'll be counting down each and every car that fell short of the Sprint Cup this year. And yes, I know there aren't taillights on Sprint cars. It's a metaphor. Roll with it.

Driver: David Stremme

Record: 33 races, no top 10s, average finish 25.0.

Season summary: It wasn't a spectacular return to Sprint Cup for Stremme after a year's absence. Running with Sam Hornish Jr. and Kurt Busch, Stremme had trouble keeping up with the pack, and will finish the season ranked just inside the top 35.

Where it went right: Stremme posted finishes as high as 13th in the first California race and the second Michigan one. And that was really about it, unless you count getting into fights with Robby Gordon or running in that Star Trek car back in the spring.

Where it went wrong: Uh ... pretty much everywhere. He failed to finish six races, and led only 14 laps all seaon. Still, he banked more than $4 million in winnings, so it's not like the season was a total loss.

Prospects for 2010: Who knows? Stremme was bounced from his ride in favor of Brad Keselowski, a move that -- no offense to Stremme -- pretty much everybody would have done. He's been rumored to  head to Front Row Motorsports or Rusty Wallace Racing, but nothing has been confirmed.

Next up: Bobby Labonte

Related Stremme posts from 2009:
The Brad Keselowski era starts early at Penske
What's the best rivalry in NASCAR today? Is there one?

No comments: