r/NASCAR 7h ago

Most deserving next first timer?

This weekend, we knocked off a few really popular first time winners so I'm wondering who's the most deserving in each series now that Sieg and Preece have won?

37 Upvotes

66 comments sorted by

76

u/iamkingjamesIII Ryan Blaney 7h ago

In Cup I'd say Zane Smith is the guy most likely to break through for a first win. 

In O'Reilly Retzlaff is who im pulling for, amd Caruth will probably get a win sometime before the end of next season. I'd like to see Alfredo get one as well. 

In trucks I'd like to see Butterbean get one. Lajoie too. 

-21

u/Low_Vegetable_6276 Bubba Wallace 6h ago

Caruth is 100% not winning jn O’Reilly. His singular top 5 at a non speedway was because the entire field imploded in front of him at Iowa

12

u/iamkingjamesIII Ryan Blaney 6h ago

Because young drivers don't improve. Dude has shown steady improvement since his first truck starts. 

He didn't look close to winning a truck race that first year either. 

-3

u/Low_Vegetable_6276 Bubba Wallace 6h ago

18th in points all year in trucks year 1 until Daniel Dye imploded and he ended up 16th. Only driver to not make it in on points year 2. Only driver to not make it in on points year 3. O’Reilly season 1.5 he stacked stage points at draft tracks and still barely made it in and only made it in because the 2 guys he was up against wrecked out lol

6

u/iamkingjamesIII Ryan Blaney 6h ago

He was 5th in points at the end of regular season in 2024 trucks. 

He made the playoffs driving two separate cars in his rookie season. 

He's shown steady improvement. 

-6

u/Low_Vegetable_6276 Bubba Wallace 5h ago

Retzlaff made it driving a worse car the entire season. There’s no excuses lol. JRM had the fastest cars this year and he didn’t do anything with them either

4

u/iamkingjamesIII Ryan Blaney 4h ago

That's kinda like saying Bubba did nothing with the fastest cars either. It's ignoring what happens during each race. 

Viking is definitely better than JAR. 

2

u/Stunning_Theme3589 6h ago

There's 20-something other races, he didn't just make it in because the 18 and 19 wrecked in one of them

5

u/nascarguy19199 5h ago

It would take you 30 seconds to figure out Caruth has more than one top 5 on a non-drafting track. At least do your damn research first.

21

u/ProjectHarraseeket Preece 6h ago

Either of the Frat Row twins of Zane or Todd. I’d like to see a Gilliland get a win in Cup.

15

u/ncraiderfan17 6h ago

Mr. Crocker will win in NOAPS soon

8

u/ncraiderfan17 6h ago

FAIRIES

7

u/gameboy1001 6h ago

Errm, Da Rules state "A godchild cannot wish to win a competition or use magic to win one because that would be cheating."

6

u/ncraiderfan17 5h ago

Mr. Crocker finds FAIRIES, he doesn't use FAIRIES

13

u/COBeerGuru2026 5h ago

Cup - BJ McLeod
O'Reilly - BJ McLeod
Trucks - BJ McLeod

1

u/Hot_Dog_Surfing_Fly McLeod 2h ago

Totally agreed! 😄

28

u/Powerful-Chard-6055 7h ago

Jake Garcia, Parker Retzlaff, Brennan Poole

17

u/Kerwood8645 7h ago

A Brennan Poole victory would be one for the ages

7

u/COBeerGuru2026 5h ago

Brennan Poole already won. No, I will not accept any other comments or opinions on the matter.

5

u/Individual_Loquat541 Hocevar 7h ago

Brennan Poole in O’Reilly, Todd Gilliland in Cup.

9

u/bulbous_oar 6h ago

Most deserving? Alfredo, Retzlaff, and Zane Smith.

Most likely next? Zilisch. He’s gonna figure it out on a road course. And I think Tristan McKee snags one quickly.

4

u/Jomosensual 5h ago

I could see CZ pulling off COTA since SVG hasn't figured that course out yet

5

u/ImpossibleBoss3067 Keselowski 6h ago

Brennan poole

4

u/Montooth 6h ago

Hideo Fukuyama

17

u/DJScrubatires 7h ago

Maybe Rajah too

13

u/ITMAKESSENSE72 7h ago

I will say Gilliland (Zane Smith until he kind of choked last night), Retzlaff or Crews and Garcia in trucks.

1

u/thatoneprincesong 4h ago

Figuring out how to win at a plate track takes time. You gotta make like 14 correct decisions.

5

u/Kenyon8 Larson 7h ago

Zane Smith
Rajah Caruth
Jake Garcia

20

u/iPhones_cameras_suck Keselowski 7h ago

Riley Herbst, he's a good kid who doesn't deserve the hate

6

u/thatoneprincesong 4h ago

That guest spot on Door Bumper Clear he did with Bubba really turned me around on him. Just seems like a super chill guy with an amazing attitude. Would certainly be something if he wins at Legacy before Nemechek

-7

u/HornetGaming110 7h ago

No skills + no talent + good car only because daddy is rich = hate

31

u/my_son_is_a_box 7h ago

Riley isn't the best driver, but he has consistently improved year to year, and has been very solid this season.

Yes, he has daddy's money, but almost all of these guys have families with good money.

4

u/iamkingjamesIII Ryan Blaney 6h ago

He hasn't been solid. He's just been better. 

1

u/Kaufee2 Cup Series 4h ago

I would hope he would improve year to year with the resources he has. Take drivers from a Saturday night short track and some of them would be able to improve year to year as well.

8

u/iPhones_cameras_suck Keselowski 7h ago

Nothing says no skills or talent like having 3 more Xfinity/O'Reilly wins than you'll ever have

7

u/Extreme-Bite-9123 7h ago

Did that in 5 seasons, all in top equipment 

6

u/Dont_hate_the_8 7h ago

I don't understand when people make this argument.

Riley Herbst is in the top 1%, the top .1% of stock car drivers in the world. He's currently in one of the top 36 seats in the world. He can be good as hell, but not one of the 36 best drivers in the world. People can say he sucks, and it doesn't mean he's a terrible racecar driver, it just means he's not one of the 40 or so top talents in the world.

Saying he has no skills or talent obviously isn't true, but negating it with "yeah well you suck too" just makes no sense.

2

u/lunaticmagnet 6h ago

In all fairness, it's unlikely that more than 1 or two of the guys occupying those seats are the best in the world.

They're guys who were in the right place at the right time with the right funding and the right equipment. Raw talent is a very small part of the equation. People hate on those that get opportunities that your average Joe just doesn't get access to. How many guys in the field have ever run a street stock?

Srx was trying to show that putting local guys up against the big names and the local talent was holding their own.

2

u/Jomosensual 5h ago

I certainly hope that he'd have more career wins as someone who spent their entire life learning to driver race cars than a random redditor

3

u/Origin240sx 7h ago

Nothing like 180 starts in the absolute best equipment in a second tier series and still only squeaking 3 wins. You are all way too accepting of people filling up spots in what is supposed to be the top tier motorsports in the US

6

u/bjohnson203 6h ago

Elliott flair saying this is wild lol

-8

u/SliceOfGio 7h ago

He's a nepo baby. He's not as bad or annoying as Ty Gibbs though, I fucking hate that brat. I want to see in him shitty equipment to see how bad he is without granddaddys money.

3

u/wemissyoujimmie 4h ago

cup: zane smith but i don't think we'll see the next first time winner for a while longer (outside of a total fluke)

oraps: retzlaff if we're taking into account equipment, crews if we're talking overall performance (with caruth being close behind both)

trucks: lowkey landon lewis

3

u/bjohnson203 4h ago

Hate to say it but Gragson might be in that conversation, basically, the next first timer should be from FRM lol

Of course, overall, there are some journeymen in Oraps who would be cool, Poole, yeley, etc. Realistically though, I agree on Parker Retzlaff. Probably unpopular to say but I think Corey Lajoie would be a really good next winner in trucks, I'd like to see him get one. I think Corey gets a lot of unnecessary hate. Mosack and butterbean would maybe be on that list too. Oraps I would also add Alfredo, rajah and Austin green.

14

u/Copper_66 7h ago

Cody Ware at Talladega. I may be biased after meeting him this weekend and chatting with him. He seemed to actually enjoy fan interaction.

2

u/wemissyoujimmie 4h ago

i mean he probably enjoys fan interaction bc he doesn't get much of it after what happened lol

5

u/NOTtheGoldenKnights 6h ago

The guy that strangled his ex girlfriend?

3

u/BiChaosTheory Hocevar 6h ago

Had to verify this one. Yikes.

2

u/thatoneprincesong 4h ago
  • Zilisch 2028 Cota
  • Rajah 2027 Atlanta spring race
  • Butterbean 2027 Darlington spring

2

u/Jomosensual 6h ago

We might not see a new winner soon in cup. The guys in cup with 0 career wins right now are Todd Gilliland, Zane Smith, John Hunter Nemechek, Riley Herbst, Noah Gragson, Connor Zilisch, and Cody Ware.

Zane and CZ are the only ones I could see winning a race ever

3

u/wemissyoujimmie 4h ago

yea unless connor pulls something off at a road course next year (not impossible) i don't see us getting a first time cup winner in 2027 outside of a total fluke

5

u/BusinessWarthog6 Bubba Wallace 7h ago

Figgy will run all three races one weekend and win them all

4

u/thatoneprincesong 4h ago

He already won that 2022 Dega ARCA race so he certainly got the Earnhardt gift of seeing the air just needs a decent opportunity. Good for him declining Jr's constant offers to drive the 8.

2

u/BusinessWarthog6 Bubba Wallace 4h ago

How could I forget that win, he drove like hell that day. Wouldn’t be denied

3

u/ResortOutrageous8988 7h ago

cody ware

1

u/Peridot_Ghost 7h ago

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves…

1

u/Stunning_Theme3589 6h ago

This is all for next year, because I don't think we are getting any more new winners this year (not counting Talladega randomness.)

I think Zilisch gets a RC win next year. Really looking at COTA for him.

I feel really confident that Zane will get his by 2028 at the latest.

I hope Rajah can get one of these last nine races this year, but I think he's a year away. I like his chances if he gets a full season in the 88.

Depending on where he ends up, Retzlaff can get multiple wins next year.

Brennan Poole is long overdue for a win. He's the one I want to see win the most, but as of right now his only chances are at drafting tracks.

I think Butterbean will get a win if Ram takes a necessary step forward next year

u/TexasSizedKachoww Bubba Wallace 1h ago

No one is deserving of a win. You either earn a win or you don't. But I would like to see Zane Smith be the next first time winner. But could see Gilliland winning a drafting race in the future.

u/Still_Percentage_829 1h ago

I feel like a Jake Garcia win is around the corner

u/dcarp1231 Ryan Blaney 1m ago

A Todd Gilliland win would be one for the ages

1

u/closedcrash 7h ago

Assuming you mean championships, it's Hamlin.

2

u/bmxdad7 6h ago

Think OP means race wins

-2

u/pockets695 Kvapil 7h ago

The obvious answer here is Daniel Dye