A Rule NASCAR Should Consider

Last season's rookie of the year battle is a perfect situation of why NASCAR should put in a rule about drivers having at least a year experience before entering the Sprint Cup Series.

Last year, in an unsponsored car, Regan Smith beat former Indy 500 winner, Sam Hornish Jr, who was with NASCAR's richest owner, Roger Penske in the Rookie of the Year battle.

It was a shocking defeat by Smith. No one gave him a chance coming into the Daytona 500.

So what made Smith beat Hornish. Was it talent? Not really. Was it equipment? No. It was the fact that Regan Smith was the first rookie in NASCAR history to not have a DNF.

But why? Why was Smith able to keep the car off the wall, when a former Indy 500 Sam Hornish Jr had four DNF's and two DNQ's?

The answer is simply experience. Before Smith's first start in the Cup Series, he had 101 Nationwide/Busch Series starts. Sam Hornish? He only had 10. Clearly not enough experience to handle the heavier cars in stock car racing.

Jaques Villenueve is another example of why NASCAR should put in a rule. Remember the stunt he pulled at Daytona? Where he singlehandedly nearly killed poor Stanton Barrett. Villenueve had only 2 truck series starts before his first Cup Series start.

One of the best open wheelers to come to tryout stock cars is Scott Pruett. Pruett had 0, and I mean 0 starts in any stock car series before coming to NASCAR in 2000. Pruett was unbearable to watch in the Cup Series.

In 28 starts, he had a remarkable 11 DNF's. He also failed to qualify for six races, including the Brickyard 400, one of NASCAR's biggest races.

Patrick Carpentier is another open-wheeler to fail in the Cup Series. Carpentier's had only one Nationwide Series start before trying his hand in Cup. Carpentier was dreadful. He had 5 DNF's in 24 starts in 2008. When he was fired from the No. 10 car, AJ Allmendinger had that car running very well at the end of the year.

Allmendinger himself is an open-wheeler who struggled at first. Allmendinger had only three Truck Series starts before he tried the Cup Series. In 2007, Allmendinger had 19 DNF's for Red Bull Racing. It took Allmendinger about 36 starts before you saw a real improvement in his success.

One of the best NASCAR drivers who came over from the open-wheel ranks, is Tony Stewart. Stewart is a two time Cup Series Champion.

Tony had 36 career Busch Series starts before his rookie year in 1999. Tony got three wins in 1999 and hasn't looked back.

For fans who remember when John Andretti came over from the Cart Series, they remember a guy who nearly ran former owner Billy Hagan out of business.

Andretti, after 29 starts in Cup, would have a much better 1995 and would get two wins in the Cup Series and become a very clean and careful racer.

With all these facts, why do people still believe that open wheelers can come to cup and have success without much experience?

More importantly, to help keep guys from getting hurt and helping the Cup Series in general, why doesn't NASCAR create a rule stating you have to have at least 36 starts in the Nationwide Series or Truck Series before you start in Cup? It would help the Nationwide and Truck Series, by having more guys run full time.

Plus, the open-wheelers who try this stock car thing can stay here and race. NASCAR would really have the "best racers in the world." It would be better for the whole sport.