Scripps Howard News Service
Quick, what kind of cars do Andy Lally and Brian Keselowski drive?
Who are their sponsors?
What are there numbers?
If you answered any of those questions correctly, you definitely know your NASCAR.
If you answered all of them correctly, you probably need to work in public relations for the sanctioning body.
Lally and Keselowski are the two men running for Rookie of the Year honors in Sprint Cup in 2011. Itís a title that NASCAR has awarded since 1954, and many winners have gone on to become some of the top names in the sport.
These days, however, there just doesnít seem to be a lot of fan interest in the first year guys.
Yeah, Joey Logano was a hot property when he ran for and won Rookie of the Year in 2009, but rookie classes simply arenít what they used to be. In an era when the Chase for the Championship is the end-all of the series, the person who tops the rookie charts is just another face in the crowd ó or car on the track.
Do you even remember who won Rookie of the Year last season?
Me either.
It was Kevin Conway, who bested Landon Cassill and Terry Cook for the crown.
This year he is toiling away mostly in the Nationwide and Camping World Truck series.
The 2008 winner was Regan Smith, and his competition included several open wheel guys (Dario Franchitti, Jacques Villenueve and Patrick Carpentier) whose flirtation with NASCAR not only didnít end marriage, it never even got past the handholding stage.
The 2002 class included Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman; in 2001 it was Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch who led the charge; in 2000, Matt Kenseth and Dale Earnhardt Jr. joined the show.
Three of the six have won Cup championships, and of course Johnson has hogged it for the last five years.
This season, interest in the freshman class might be at an all-time low.
Lally, who has made eight starts, looks like heís going to be the runaway winner of the Rookie of the Year. His best finish is 19th at Talladega.
Keselowski, who was a brief feel-good story when he made the field for the Daytona 500, became a feel-bad story after being sidelined by emergency gallbladder surgery that forced him to miss five races.
Things mightíve been different had Trevor Bayne, the surprise winner of the Daytona 500, opted to run for Rookie of the Year honors in Cup.
Or they mightíve been the same.
Bayne cast his lot with Nationwide and heís struggled in the support series, so chances are the momentum of the Daytona upset wouldíve run out fairly quickly anyway.
Certainly thereís a chance that Lally and/or Keselowski will go on to have fabulous careers in the top level of NASCAR. And if that happens, history will show that the 2011 Cup rookie class was, indeed, a memorable one.
The way things are going, however, Andy and Brad will be lucky if the average NASCAR fan even knows their numbers at seasonís end.