Earnhardt Signs Jeremy McGrath
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Posted by Jeremy Dunn Apr 10, 2007 |
It is reported that Dale Earnhardt Jr, owner of JR Motorsports, has signed former Supercross champion Jeremy McGrath to a developmental contract. McGrath, 35, will begin his stock car career running Late Models and will eventually graduate to the NASCAR Busch Series.
McGrath will be sponsored by Monster Energy Drink.
The signing of McGrath comes as no surprise as it appears as if the new inclination for NASCAR owners is to sign drivers with limited or no stock car experience. Last year, Chip Ganassi Racing hired Juan Pablo Montoya, a former CART Champion, former Indianapolis 500 winner, and former winner in Formula One, as the driver of the # 42 Dodge.
A couple of months later, A.J. Allmendinger, a former Champ Car winner, was signed by the Toyota-backed Red Bull Racing to pilot one of their two Nextel Cup rides.
Penske Racing has put three-time Indy Racing League champion Sam Hornish Jr in a Busch Series car for selected events in 2007.
It seems as if the traditional way of finding fresh young talent has completely changed over the last ten years or so. Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart practically changed the way car owners scout new talent. Gordon and Stewart were successful in different forms of auto racing before they became NASCAR superstars. Gordon made a name for himself in USAC in the late 1980's, and Stewart is the 1997 Indy Racing League Champion. In fact, he is the only driver to have won a championship in both IRL and NASCAR Nextel Cup.
Robby Gordon is another driver that came along around the same time as Stewart. Robby Gordon also spent time in the Indy Racing League and is an avid off-road racer as well.
Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne, Carl Edwards, Casey Mears, and J.J. Yeley all have an open-wheel background. Denny Hamlin and David Gilliland come to mind as the most recent purebred stock car racers that have been given an opportunity in NASCAR Nextel Cup.
And now it appears as if NASCAR owners are stepping even further from tradition. Not only are they looking at the open-wheelers, but now the two-wheelers as well. Ginn Racing recently signed Supercross star Ricky Carmichael to a developmental contract and now Jeremy McGrath will get a crack at stock car stardom. McGrath and Carmichael are debatably the two most successful Supercross racers of all time.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with Jeremy McGrath, he was the Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon, Richard Petty- take your pick- of Supercross racing in the 1990’s. From 1993 to 2001, McGrath won 72 250cc events as well as 7 250cc Championships.
It will be interesting to see how this Supercross icon performs on four wheels.
Note: There are a couple of NASCAR Nextel Cup stars that have a background in motorcycle racing. Scott Riggs was a champion in the American Motorcycle Association as a teenager and Jimmie Johnson began his career racing 50cc and 60cc motorcycles.
