User blog:Ajaxcupseries/Who Will Be the ASCA's Next Diego Orkedi?

The Fallon Corner - February 2022

Since the current elite talents of the sport Diego Orkedi and Randle Woods entered the Cup Series at 19 and 20 years old respectively, took the ASCA by storm as young stars and still are dominating the Cup scene in their prime of their careers today, ASCA team owners have been SCRAMBLING to find their own young talents to carry their teams to prominence for the next decade plus.

This led to the creation of the ASCA’s highly controversial “youth movement” at the dawn of the ASCA Modern Era, where teams were extremely quick to promote their Craftsman prospects after two seasons of lower series experience no matter what their Craftsman resumé looked like. While this worked extremely well in some cases (Greg Healey, Todd Kidd), others….not so much (Adam Petty Jr, Hunter Bradley).

As we now sit over half a decade from the start of the youth movement back in 2016, many of those “young drivers” from six years ago are now either over the age of 25 or very close to that magic number, meaning they aren’t exactly young anymore.

Instead of looking for young talent born in 1998 like team owners were in 2016, scouts are now sent out to evaluate drivers that were born in 2004 and 2005 that are 17 and 18 years old here in the year 2022.

Makes you feel old now doesn’t it?

While Greg Healey and Todd Kidd may take over the sport over the next five years or so in the prime of their careers, once their reign of terror ends and the current guard of Diego Orkedi and Randle Woods finally retire, here’s a few young talents under the age of 20 that I think could take over the sport for the next decade to come.

Laquon Scransen (age 19) - Dexter Andrews Motorsports
I think this one is rather obvious based on his outstanding performance during the 2021 campaign in what was widely regarded as subpar Dexter Andrews Motorsports equipment.

Before last season, we had NEVER seen a rookie win a Craftsman or Cup championship in ASCA history. Let alone an 18 year old rookie at that!

Dexter Andrews Motorsports had a combined three ASCA victories from 2010-2020, two in Craftsman and one in Cup. Laquon Scransen managed to score three wins in four weeks last year.

Add in his extremely outgoing and confrontational personality, his prior criminal history, his budding music career, oh and his transcendent driving talents, and you can see why many believe he will be the next polarizing figure of the sport. Lets face it, you either love or loathe this kid, there’s no in-between.

If DAM can supply Scransen with even slightly competitive equipment like they did in Craftsman AND Scransen himself can keep his need for speed on the track instead of off of it, he is on a one way track to ASCA fame and superstardom throughout the rest of the 2020’s.

Carson Schmidt (age 19) - Ford Development Program
While many people have been quick to write off Carson Schmidt due to an extremely disappointing rookie campaign, my response to those individuals would be to pump the brakes quite a bit.

Take a second to recall that Schmidt’s two predecessors in the No. 6 car, Devin Smith and Henry Brady were 21 and 22 years old respectively during their rookie seasons while Schmidt was still a teenager. A more apt comparison would be to Chris Barrymore as he was also 18 during his rookie campaign, but the Craftsman Series today is about 10x more competitive than it was in 2016.

Lets also not forget that he scored his first Craftsman victory in last year’s season concluding Geico 100, holding off one of the best EVER at Belltown Speedpark in Norm Lester to do so. While yes, he did have a lot of help from his mentor Sean Wooden with that, a win in the Craftsman Series is something not many Craftsman regulars can say they have entering the 2022 season.

If the Dallas native flops again this season, I think you can admit he’s a lost cause. However, don’t be surprised if he takes the next step in his development and ends up in an Ajax Cup ride somewhere in 2023.

Colin Ward (age 20) - Michael White Racing
You may not have heard about this kid just yet, but trust me that you will after you see him during his limited Craftsman appearances in 2022.

The 20 year old has been tearing up the local Indiana dirt track scene, and has FINALLY gotten his big break on pavement this season with Michael White Racing. A member of the 2021 ASCA Next Class, he has been on many ASCA team owners’ radars despite not many casual fans knowing his name.

While the last former dirt track star that attempted the transition to the ASCA was a massive flop in Keegan Bartoli, I forsee a different fate for Ward IF MWR is careful not to ruin his development like they have with so many of their other prospects.

Marcus Edwards (age 19) - Dexter Andrews Motorsports
Its not often that a driver with a victory in another professional racing series makes the transition to the ASCA, and its extremely rare that said driver is only 19 years of age.

Both of those statements happen to be true for Marcus Edwards, a driver Dexter Andrews Motorsports was ready to stash on their development roster without a full time ride until Caleb Henderson Jr’s sudden retirement made them ditch those plans.

Don’t let his young age fool you, Edwards has PLENTY of racing experience against top tier competition, more than 99.9% of Craftsman Series rookies do before their first full time campaign. He raced against the likes of Brandon Books, Jordy Adams, and Andy Moore in the Smithfield Cup Series, even besting ALL of them in a race a couple seasons ago.

While he may be no Laquon Scransen behind the wheel, Edwards probably isn’t as far off from Scransen talent wise as you might think.

If DAM can develop him to pair with Scransen and/or Derek Lewis at the Cup level…..all I can say is LOOK OUT.