The Future Of NASCAR: Ten Drivers Who Will Lead The Sport For Years To Come

Tony Stewart transitioning to ownership? Jeff Gordon looking at retiring after the 2010 season? Jimmie Johnson admitting he won't race much longer after Gordon retires?

Three of NASCAR's top stars could be out from behind the wheel by 2015 if the right cards fall into place.

Combine that with the recent retirements and part-time schedules of Mark Martin, Rusty Wallace, Dale Jarrett, and Bill Elliott, and teams' needs to replace top drivers are at all-time highs.

Sure, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. will still be around.

Plenty of top drivers will continue to make the rounds in NASCAR's top series long after the combined 147 wins, 565 top-10s, 89 poles, and eight championships (and counting) of Stewart, Gordon, and Johnson are nothing more than statistics.

But which driver will be the next Stewart, or Gordon, or Johnson?

This is where teams' development programs come into play. They're usually hit-or-miss, with some drivers becoming stars (Joey Logano) and far more drivers becoming forgotten (Blake Feese, Boston Reid, Joel Kauffman, Todd Kluever... the list goes on).

However, NASCAR's teams have currently scouted out plenty of drivers who have the prerequisite skill to dominate the Sprint Cup Series in a few years, when the series' top stars start retiring.

This list contains brief profiles of the ten drivers I have judged to be most capable of bringing a Sprint Cup to their respective teams in the coming years.

In order to be on this list, the driver in question must never have won a Sprint Cup Series race, attempted more than two full seasons in Sprint Cup, or won a Nationwide Series race prior to 2007.

Without further ado:

10. Michael Annett, Bill Davis Racing

Davis' latest hot property currently drives the No. 22 Toyota Tundra in the Craftsman Truck series in a part-time schedule.

Consistently performing well in Truck and ARCA starts is the first step towards gaining a Sprint Cup ride, and Annett's two wins in eight ARCA starts bodes well in that respect.

In his debut in the No. 22 truck, he finished sixth at Milwaukee.

9. Landon Cassill, Hendrick Motorsports

Currently the lead driver of Hendrick's No. 5 Nationwide car, Cassill is potentially being groomed as a replacement for Jeff Gordon.

He hasn't failed to finish a race since his series debut at Gateway last year. Occasionally driving the No. 46 truck for Morgan-Dollar Motorsports, Cassill just finished third at Milwaukee.

Hendrick has enough time to develop Cassill into a top-caliber driver.

8. A.J. Allmendinger, Team Red Bull

Since getting back in the No. 84 Sprint Cup car after being replaced for five races, Allmendinger has kept the car going in the right direction—six straight races running at the finish and a career-best 12th at Pocono attest to that.

His win in the Sprint Showdown, the last-chance race to gain entry into the Sprint All-Star Race, proves that the former Champ Car driver is starting to get the hang of this stock-car thing.

7. David Reutimann, Michael Waltrip Racing

One of the best Nationwide Series drivers currently competing in the series, Reutimann is the de facto lead driver at Michael Waltrip Racing.

He scored his first top-10 finish this season in the Coca-Cola 600, and his first Nationwide Series win at Memphis late last year.

After finishing second in Nationwide points in 2007, Reutimann inherited the UPS sponsorship from the retiring Jarrett and has kept the car steadily within the top 35 in owners' points.

6. Scott Speed, Team Red Bull

Ranked sixth, if only for his Formula One experience, Speed has shown flashes of brilliance in trucks and ARCA, winning his sixth career truck race at Dover for Bill Davis Racing's No. 22 team.

He currently sits second in ARCA points, driving the No. 2 Toyota for Eddie Sharp Racing.

Besides his obvious talent, Speed brings a little European flair to a racing series desperate to gain footing globally.

5. Aric Almirola, Dale Earnhardt Inc.

Currently splitting the No. 8 US Army Chevrolet with Martin in the Sprint Cup Series, Almirola is regarded highly by many teams in the garage, and has been promised a full-time ride by DEI in 2009.

He finished eighth in his season debut at Bristol this year.

In 2007, he scored the pole in the first race of the season at Daytona, and was awarded the win at Milwaukee despite being replaced in his car mid-race by Denny Hamlin, thus leading to his departure from Joe Gibbs Racing.

Max Siegel immediately snapped up the young driver to replace Regan Smith in the no. 01 car with Martin.

4. Marcos Ambrose, JTG Racing

The two-time Australian V8 Supercar champion is scheduled to run a total of 12 Sprint Cup races this season for JTG Racing and the Wood Brothers.

In his rookie season in the Nationwide Series last year, he finished eighth in points, the highest driver not also competing in Sprint Cup, and finished second in Rookie of the Year points to David Ragan.

This year, in the Nationwide race at Mexico City, the affable Australian finished second to Kyle Busch, his best career finish in any major NASCAR series.

3. Brad Keselowski, Hendrick Motorsports

Currently ranked second in Nationwide Series points for JR Motorsports, Keselowski is rumored to partner with Martin in the No. 5 Sprint Cup car for Hendrick Motorsports in 2009.

In 17 Nationwide starts so far this season with JRM, Hendrick's de facto development team, he has scored nine top-10s and a victory at Nashville.

Since being hired to drive the No. 88 US Navy Chevrolet last season, Keselowski has only suffered four DNFs in 31 starts.

2. Joey Logano, Joe Gibbs Racing

Winning in his third Nationwide Series start was just the first of many triumphs expected from the Connecticut phenom.

Potentially Tony Stewart's replacement in the No. 20 in Sprint Cup next year, Logano has been lauded since Mark Martin first brought him to NASCAR's attention three years ago.

Already the 18-year-old appears ready to contend for race wins and Chase positioning, and he has the best team in the Nationwide Series behind him.

Logano has handled the pressure placed upon him magnificently thus far and has shown no reason for anyone to expect anything less.

1. David Ragan, Roush Fenway Racing

People will call me crazy for ranking Ragan over Logano, but Ragan has consistently overachieved in Sprint Cup since being installed into the No. 6 Ford.

Roush Fenway has always regarded Ragan as their fifth driver, but it hasn't stopped him from contending for the Chase this season (he's currently ranked 14th) or consistently improving in the Nationwide Series.

Ragan's four top-five's so far this year matches last season's total, and his 10 top-10s are one more than he had all of last year.

Only Juan Pablo Montoya prevented him from winning Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year in 2007.

When Roush Fenway drops one team in 2010, expect Ragan to have won his first race, and perhaps made his first Chase. As he steadily improves, the No. 6 may yet again be one of the top two or three teams in NASCAR.

Honorable Mentions:

Colin Braun, Roush Fenway Racing; Brad Coleman, Hall of Fame Racing; Erik Darnell, Roush Fenway Racing; Chad McCumbee, Petty Enterprises; Michael McDowell, Michael Waltrip Racing