Future Faces of NASCAR

1. Ryan Blaney

Ryan Blaney already has multiple Top 10 finishes in both the Truck and Nationwide series. He is the son of NASCAR driver Dave Blaney and recently got his first win in NASCAR's Camping World Truck Series. And guess what? He's only 18 years old. Ryan made his Nationwide debut on April 27th, 2012 at Richmond International Speedway. He raced through the field with the likes of Kyle Busch and Kasey Kahne to finish 7th. I don't think anyone has done that before. Only a few weeks ago, Blaney won the Camping World Truck Series race at Iowa. It was only this 3rd Truck start and first Truck win. He only ran 3 Nationwide races with Penske this season, but should be a definite full-time candidate for the #22. In the meantime, he competes in the No. 10 K&N Pro Series East late model. He has an incredible talent that needs recognition. I won't be surprised if we see him in the Cup series within the next few years. This kid is going to go far.



2.  Darrell Wallace Jr. 

In 2010, Darrell Wallace Jr. started driving for Revolution Racing in the K&N Pro Series East. He won his first start in the series at Greenville-Pickens Speedway, becoming the youngest to win in the series at age 16. The same year is was signed as a development driver at Joe Gibbs Racing. In 2011, he won at prestigious tracks such as Richmond and Dover. JGR signed him for their K&N team in 2012. He made his Nationwide debut in May at Iowa Speedway with JGR and finished 9th, staying in the Top 10 consistently. In his 2 other NNS starts he finished in the Top 10. He got his first Nationwide pole last week at Dover. Wallace Jr. has tremendous talent that will take him far in the sport. From the way he has survived the few Nationwide races he has run, I expect Gibbs to sign him full-time. Possibly next season or 2013-14.




3.  Chase Elliott

Yes, the name Elliott is well known in the NASCAR community and a 2nd generation Elliott is about to take the sport by storm. 16 year-old Chase Elliott, son of NASCAR champion Bill Elliott, is currently driving the No. 9 Aaron's K&N Pro Series East Chevrolet. In the past, he has won the Blizzard Series, Miller Lite and Gulf Coast championships and competed in 40 races from various series'. He won 12 of them. In 2011, Elliott signed a multi-year deal with Hendrick Motorsports as a development driver. He finished 9th in the K&N Series championship in 2011. He returned for the 2012 season and won his first K&N race at Iowa in May. We have yet to see Chase in the Truck or Nationwide series, but seeing his resume so far, it won't be long before he makes the switch to continue his journey in NASCAR's top 3 series'.