User blog:Ajaxcupseries/Is It Time To Write Off The ASCA’s Youth Movement?

By: Charles Fallon - The Fallon Corner ( Written after 2020 Colgate 199)

9 races into Season 6, and we’ve seen 8 different winners. Which is a stark contrast to last season where we saw 6 different winners throughout the entire 14 race season.

Out of those 8 winners however, only 3 of them have been under the age of 25 (Greg Healey, Todd Kidd, Cameron Atwood). Which, sure you could say isn’t a big deal, at least the young guns are finally winning.

However, when 15 of the 23 full-time drivers are under the age of 30, and 11 of those 15 are under the age of 25, it does start to become a big deal that these young guns the ASCA continue to promote haven’t exactly taken over the series yet.

While yes, Greg Healey is certainly having a breakout season and has led the points most of the season and Todd Kidd has been right up there with him, the rest of these young “stars” the ASCA have been promoting seem to be MIA from victory lane or title contention in general.

Excluding rookies and second season guys like Jared Ayers, Doug Bowden, Henry Brady, and Rob Buddy, where have Ryan Dixon and Chris Barrymore been this season? Caleb Henderson Jr still has yet to return to his S1-S3 form, and Adam Petty Jr has been a total flop as well.

So what gives? These young guns were supposed to take over the sport at the start of Season 5 and they still haven’t done it yet.

Will they ever at this point?

Part of the problem of why this youth movement hasn’t lived up to expectations is two fold. First, its that the ASCA’s marketing department has hyped these new young guys up to be just as good as the last former group of young guns, Randle Woods, Diego Orkedi, Nick Orkedi, and Jimmy Hood. The problem is that forcing these 20 something year old kids to come in and preform like ASCA legends is a recipe for disaster.

The second issue is the ASCA team owners playing into the hype by throwing these 20 year old kids into top tier Ajax Cup and even Craftsman rides well before they’re ready for them.

Gone are the days that you had to spend 5 years working your tail off to even get a shot at a Craftsman Series one off entry.

Now, if you’re 18 and have any sort of interest in an ASCA ride, you can come right in and get a full time Craftsman ride with a snap of a finger. A lot of the guys in the Craftsman Series honestly haven’t worked very hard to get there, and you can tell the guys that had to work for everything they got as they’re at the top of the standings.

The other problem with the youth movement is that we’re simply expecting too much out of these guys too fast.

Just look at Diego Orkedi.

Before Season 1, Orkedi was 23 years old with only two career wins and a reputation for “driving over his head”.

However, since his 24th birthday, Orkedi has completely changed our perception of him as a driver. 13 Ajax Cup wins and 2 championships is a great CAREER for most drivers. While those are just Orkedi’s numbers over the past 5 1/2 seasons alone!

And it’s not just him. Look at Jimmy Hood as well.

Before his 28th birthday, Hood only had 5 career wins and no titles. He was regarded as a “decent” driver, but nothing special.

However, what Hood did from Season 0-4 certainly was special. 12 Ajax Cup wins, and 2 championships in 5 seasons with Windows 300 and Ajax 200 wins as cherries on top. Mind you all this success came AFTER his 28th birthday.

So, my final thoughts are do NOT write off the ASCA’s young guns just yet. They just need more time to develop into being the potential new stars the ASCA needs.

HOWEVER, until these guys do develop into the stars the ASCA is looking for, the ASCA marketing department needs to stop promoting them as such until further notice.