NASCAR Drivers with the Most Work to Do in the 2013 Offseason
With the 2013 season over, and Jimmie Johnson claiming the championship, several other NASCAR drivers will head into the offseason with a lot of work to do.
We saw how the Gen-6 car changed stock car racing last season and how certain drivers adjusted to it better than others, but adjusting to the Gen-6 is only one of the major things drivers on this list need to do.
Throughout the Chase we saw drivers look like they were about to emerge as a real contender, only to eventually stumble backward while the real battle continued to be between Johnson and Matt Kenseth.
Then there are those drivers who are joining a new team, and a new manufacturer as well, and will need to make serious adjustments this offseason if they hope to stay competitive.
NASCAR has one of the shortest offseasons of any sport, but even though the drivers aren't racing televised every weekend, don't expect them to slow down anytime soon.
The offseason is the perfect time to make and get used to major adjustments before the season starts.
And out of all the Sprint Cup Series drivers, these 10 will have the most work to do in the 2013 offseason.
10. Kyle Larson
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Kyle Larson showed a lot of potential in the Nationwide Series, enough so to be brought up to the Sprint Cup Series after only competing in Nationwide for one year.
He will be driving the 42 and replacing Juan Pablo Montoya at Earnhardt Ganassi Racing.
He's had decent runs in the few times he was in the Sprint Cup Series last season, but heading into the offseason, Larson will have to make major adjustments if he plans to compete.
It will be a big change switching over to the Sprint Cup Series full time, and he'll have to get used to a new team.
Can Larson be as competitive in the Sprint Cup Series as he was in the Nationwide Series? It seems like an impossible task, especially after seeing Ricky Stenhouse Jr. struggle in his first Sprint Cup Series, and if Larson plans to be competitive, he will need to make major adjustments in the offseason.
9. Brad Keselowski
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What happened to Brad Keselowski last season?
He went from winning the championship in 2012, to failing to make the Chase in 2013.
Now that the offseason has started, it's time for Keselowski and the 2 team to continue to make major adjustments, which they clearly hadn't made last season.
Ford drivers in general seemed to not do as well as drivers with cars manufactured by Chevy or Toyota, and it more than likely has something to do with Ford's inability to translate over to the new Gen-6 car.
For Keselowski and the 2 team, though, it was an even harder transition as they not only switched to a new car, but to a new manufacturer last season.
Brad eventually found himself in Victory Lane in 2013, and while it came during the Chase, it proved that the 2 team and Penske Racing had finally started getting the right setups for the Gen-6 car.
Now in the offseason they need to continue working hard and return to their 2012 championship form.
8. Denny Hamlin
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Denny Hamlin needs to do two things this offseason:
The first one is getting healthy. Hamlin injured his back last season, and it was a major reason he struggled.
The second thing he needs to do is get back in sync with Darian Grubb and the 11 team. 2013 was the first year since his Sprint Cup debut that he missed the Chase, and Hamlin seemed completely out of sync with the 11 team.
With Matt Kenseth showing early success at Joe Gibbs Racing, and Kyle Busch and the 18 team having a successful year themselves, Hamlin and the 11 team were the weakest group at JGR.
If he hopes to once again be one of the better drivers in NASCAR, he needs to start by getting better over the offseason and figuring out what went wrong in 2013.
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7. Ryan Newman
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Ryan Newman has his hands full in 2014.
He's joining Richard Childress Racing, and along with being the organizations only proven driver (with Jeff Burton leaving) he could have a possible teammate in Austin Dillon, who has yet to prove himself in the Sprint Cup.
Newman managed to make the Chase in 2013, after NASCAR got involved because of the Richmond controversy, but when the Chase started Newman struggled.
It was announced earlier in the 2013 season that Stewart-Haas Racing wouldn't be signing the Rocket to a contract extension, and Newman's future was in question.
He eventually landed a ride for RCR, but now that he's on a brand-new team and organization, he has major adjustments he needs to make.
And while Austin Dillon has yet to announce if he's going to compete in the Sprint Cup in 2014, if he does, Newman will surely be looked at to help the rookie ease into NASCAR's main series.
Newman will have a lot of work to do during the offseason as he gets used to his new surroundings.
6. Clint Bowyer
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After everything that happened last season to Michael Waltrip Racing, Clint Bowyer needs to head into the offseason and start working on becoming the top driver for MWR.
Bowyer saw success in 2012 when he joined the organization, but he fell off somewhat during the 2013 year.
He didn't win a single race, and while he did make the Chase, Bowyer quickly faded out of contention.
Now that MWR has lost Martin Truex Jr. and is a two-car organization, it's up to Bowyer and the 15 to bring MWR back into contention.
He's going to have to head into the offseason and put in a ton of work to once again be a real contender. While the controversy at Richmond affected both Bowyer and MWR as a whole, now is the time for them to finally be able to put the past behind them and begin the 2014 season with a fresh start.
5. Kyle Busch
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Kyle Busch had a great 2013 season, but it still wasn't enough for the driver of the 18 car to win his first championship.
He was a major contender when the Chase started, but Kyle struggled majorly at Kansas, and it knocked him out of contention.
With the offseason here the 18 team and Kyle Busch need to try to figure out how they can improve in the Chase. It seems easy enough for them to be able to make the postseason, but once they do, they can't seem to repeat their earlier success.
2013 wasn't the first time Busch had choked in the Chase. There have been other years where the 18 group had looked dominate heading into the Chase, only to stumble and eventually finish on a whimper.
Busch needs to figure out why he can't handle the Chase this offseason and try to come back even stronger in 2014.
4. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
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Dale Earnhardt Jr. continues to have one major problem during the NASCAR season:
He struggles to win.
It's undoubtedly the biggest reason why he has yet to win a championship, and it's something he clearly needs to improve.
Dale Jr. ran well through the regular season last year and only stumbled once at Chicagoland, but he was never able to catch up to the Chase leaders because of his inability to win a race.
Now with the offseason starting, Dale Jr. and crew chief Steve Letarte need to try to figure out what's preventing the 88 from getting into Victory Lane.
Consistency is great, but finding a way to win races is what Earnhardt Jr. needs to work on in the offseason.
3. Martin Truex Jr.
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Martin Truex Jr. has left Michael Waltrip Racing and is now heading over to Furniture Row Racing.
It's going to be a huge jump for the young driver, especially since he is not only changing teams, but manufacturers as well.
We saw how Kurt Busch had issues with the Furniture Row Racing team with the slow pit stops he had throughout the year, and this is an issue Truex will have to battle as well.
It's going to take time for Truex to make the major adjustment, and he needs to start in the offseason.
He didn't get to see Victory Lane much as a driver for MWR, and he needs to work on changing that. Furniture Row Racing isn't as competitive as some of the bigger teams in the sport, but Busch was successful enough to get the 78 car into the Chase.
Now, in the 2013 offseason, Truex Jr. needs to figure out how he can do the same.
2. Jeff Gordon
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Jeff Gordon barely made the Chase, and if it wasn't for NASCAR getting involved after Richmond to put him in the Chase, he would have sat out the postseason after a lackluster regular-season performance.
Gordon has struggled over the past couple of years and needs to head into the 2014 offseason with the goal of improving.
Whether he needs to better understand his crew chief Alan Gustafson, or the 24 team surrounding the driver needs to improve, it's clear that something else must be done to help Gordon reach the level of driver he once was.
He looked ready to make a serious run for the championship during the 2013 season but eventually fell short and couldn't keep up with his teammate, Johnson.
If Gordon wants to win another championship, it starts with making major improvements in the offseason.
1. Tony Stewart
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After struggling during most of the regular season in 2013, Tony Stewart was barely holding onto a Chase spot.
Smoke wouldn't make the Chase, though, because he broke his leg during a race outside of NASCAR's main Sprint Cup Series.
Smoke was sidelined for the remainder of the 2013 season, and he had to have three surgeries on his broken leg.
Now with the offseason underway, the biggest news out of the 14 team is the addition of a new crew chief, Chad Johnston. This is the second crew chief for Smoke since he won the title in 2011 with Grubb.
Clearly Tony is still searching for the right fit at crew chief and will have to do a lot of work this offseason to see if he connects with Johnston, while making sure his leg is fully healed.
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