There have been more than a handful of NASCAR drivers throughout the sport’s history who have gone on to become legends of the sport. Then there have been many more who, for whatever reason, never quite rose to the occasion in the top tier of stock car auto racing. However, for many drivers in that latter category, success was achieved, to varying degrees, in other series or forms of motorsports.
Some of these more middling drivers quietly retire or lose their rides. Others, like Mike Skinner, Ron Hornaday, and Elliott Sadler, step down to compete in the lower rung series on NASCAR’s ladder. So, with no further ado, here are 5 NASCAR Cup Series drivers who could have made careers for themselves in other series.
When most fans today think of Michael Waltrip, they think of grid walks and his goofy antics as a broadcaster on FOX. Some of us older fans may remember his struggles as an owner-driver later in his career or even recall his tragic triumph in the 2001 Daytona 500. In his 24-year career as a NASCAR Cup Series driver, Michael Waltrip managed to capture 4 points-paying wins as well as a victory in the 1996 All-Star Race. But many fans may not realize that Waltrip had quite a bit of success in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, particularly later in his career.
On the Cup side of things, all of Waltrip’s victories came at superspeedway-style tracks, including 2 wins in the Daytona 500 during the 2001 and 2003 seasons, respectively. But in the Xfinity Series garage, Waltrip was a bigger threat on intermediate tracks. Though never running a full season in the series, Michael Waltrip visited victory lane 11 times. His last win in the series came at Nashville Superspeedway in 2004 as an owner-driver. Also, in his NASCAR Xfinity Series career, he captured 105 top-10 finishes and scored 14 Busch Pole Awards. Those are pretty good numbers if we do say so ourselves. It leads one to wonder if Waltrip had fully committed to a NASCAR Xfinity Series run in the latter stages of his career, could he have gone on to be considered one of the all-time greats of the series? We think it’s more than possible.
Bonus fact: Michael Waltrip’s last NASCAR win came in the Craftsman Truck Series at Daytona in 2011.
Danica Patrick is undeniably one of the more controversial drivers to ever climb inside a NASCAR Cup Series car. Though she’s not remembered too fondly nowadays, there was a time, particularly when she initially made the jump from IndyCar to the NASCAR Xfinity Series, when she was considered one of the more popular drivers. Her career in IndyCar is often unfairly discounted because she’s widely considered a NASCAR Bust amongst fans. While it’s doubtful that she ever would have risen to the level of Scott Dixon or Sam Hornish Jr., she probably would’ve captured a handful of more wins.
During her 7-year IndyCar career, Danica Patrick became the first-ever woman in series history to win a race. That win came in 2008 at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan. She also became the first woman to ever lead in the Indianapolis 500, finishing 3rd in the race in 2009. In addition, she has a pair of runner-up finishes, both coming on the ovals of Texas and Homestead-Miami. She was decidedly not a bust in America’s #1 open-wheel racing series. It would have been interesting to see just how successful she would have been if she had stayed in IndyCar full-time after a brief flirtation with NASCAR.
Danica’s final start as an IndyCar driver came in the 2018 running of the Indianapolis 500. Unfortunately, much like her final start in NASCAR, she crashed out early, ending a mostly underwhelming career.
NASCAR fans today probably think of Ryan Blaney when the surname Blaney is mentioned, and that’s fair. After all, Ryan Blaney is one of the more popular drivers in the sport today. He’s a proven winner and a Champion of the sport. But back when I was growing up and becoming a fan of NASCAR, his father, Dave Blaney, was the driver of the number 22 Caterpillar Dodge/Toyota in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Perhaps the elder Blaney’s most memorable moment came in the monumental 2012 edition of the Daytona 500. The race was run on a Monday night during primetime. The weather was a big talk of the weekend, and many unforeseeable obstacles existed throughout this race. For one thing, this was the year that Juan Pablo Montoya plowed into a jet dryer and destroyed part of the track. And during one of those lengthy delays, Dave Blaney found himself in the lead while parked on the backstretch under the red flag.
Unfortunately, Blaney never won a NASCAR Cup Series race. In fact, the closest he ever came was a couple of 3rd place finishes at Darlington (2003) and Talladega (2007). Unlike many drivers, though, he is not completely winless in NASCAR. Dave Blaney possesses a lone win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Said win came at Charlotte in 2006. Though he never ran a complete schedule in NASCAR’s second-tier series, he often found himself in good equipment as he consistently contended for top-10s. It would have been interesting to see how he would’ve done as a full-time Xfinity Series driver…you know, once his Cup career was decidedly over.
If you were to look up the term “journeyman driver” in the NASCAR dictionary, you’d likely find a picture of Ken Schrader right there beside it. Schrader had a long and relatively successful career in the NASCAR Cup Series. Across his 22-year career as a Cup Regular, Schrader managed to score 4 victories, all four coming between 1988 and 1991 while driving for Hendrick Motorsports. And though he also enjoyed mild success in the Xfinity and Truck series, there was another series in which he was almost unstoppable.
Ken Schrader made his debut in the ARCA Menards Series all the way back in 1981. In his debut, he muscled his number 68 Ford to an 8th-place finish. In only his 3rd career series start, he captured his first win. Schrader managed a total of 18 wins across 88 starts. All of those starts came in a staggering span of 42 years. He never ran a full season in the series, but if he had, he no doubt would be remembered as one of the legends of the series, right up there with Frank Kimmel. As a driver in the series, Schrader managed 18 wins, 53 top-5s, and 69 top-10s run over 88 starts.
His most recent attempts in the series came back in 2022 and 2023, respectively. And, yes, he finished in the top-10 in both starts.
Perhaps the driver on this list with the most tragic career trajectory is none other than Steve Park. Park was a NASCAR Cup Series regular from 1999 to 2003 and, at one time, was one of Dale Earnhardt Inc.’s top prospects. Steve Park won twice in his short-lived, injury-riddled Cup Series career. His first win came in 2000 at Watkins Glen. His second and final victory was an emotionally-charged win at Rockingham in 2001. Unfortunately for Park, he got injured that season in a crash. Upon his return, he was never quite the same driver.
Many NASCAR fans remember Park today as the original driver of DEI’s number 1 car. But before his full-time stint in the Cup Series, Park raced a single full season for DEI in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. In fact, he drove the AC Delco 3 car before Dale Jr. His lone full-time season for DEI came in 1997. In that year, he scored 3 victories, 12 top-5 finishes, and 20 top-10s. He ended the 1997 season third in points.
Though he never did win another race in the series, he put together a string of solid runs later in his career. How different his career might’ve been if he stuck it out in the Xfinity Series a little longer. Who knows, maybe he would’ve been the one to get DEI their first Busch Series title.
What are some of your favorite NASCAR What If scenarios? Who do you think could’ve made a better go at a career in another series? What would be different if they had? Let us know!
