Influx of open-wheelers leaving Raines, others out

MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- Dario Franchitti is one of the new breed in the NASCAR paddock.

Um, actually, it's referred to as the garage in NASCAR circles. That's one of the many things that Franchitti is learning on a curve so steep and far-reaching that his arrival and that of other former open-wheel drivers on the Nextel Cup scene is having consequences all the way down the line.

Just ask Tony Raines, driver of the No. 96 Chevrolet -- for now. Raines will be replaced in the Hall of Fame Racing ride for next season by J.J. Yeley, who moves over from Joe Gibbs Racing after Yeley lost his ride there to Kyle Busch.

It is the same game of driver dominoes that is played out every year in the garage. Except this year, Raines and others like him are left with no place to land after all the shuffling is done -- largely because of the influx of open-wheelers like Franchitti, who will compete in the Craftsman Truck Series race this Saturday at Martinsville Speedway but has signed to race on the Cup side full time with Chip Ganassi Racing beginning next season.

When Franchitti arrived at Martinsville for this weekend's events, he learned yet another of what has been and will continue to be a series of lessons.

"I went in there and called it a paddock. They told me it was a garage. There are different words for almost everything," said Franchitti, a native of Scotland.

At least he will be teammates with Juan Montoya, who has made what most describe as a successful transition from the open-wheel side to Cup cars.

"When I use an open-wheel term to describe something, they just look at me and say, 'Yeah, that's what Juan called it at first, too,'" Franchitti said.

In addition to Franchitti and Montoya, who as a rookie this season has won one Cup race and currently sits 21st in driver points, other former open-wheelers looking at full-time rides next season include Jacques Villeneuve, Patrick Carpentier and Sam Hornish Jr., while others, such as Josh Wise, appear headed for a part-time rookie indoctrination. Still others, such as Scott Speed, Canadian champion Andrew Ranger and Bryan Clauson, have made names for themselves as open-wheelers and now seem to be on the fast track to eventual Cup rides.

To make room for all these guys, others must ultimately go. That's where drivers such as Raines, David Stremme, Jeff Green and Johnny Sauter come in. Some or all of them will be left without Cup rides next season as a result.

Raines said he intends to be patient and see if the cycle comes back around for him. He said that he isn't sure the open-wheel invasion will produce instant success for the drivers crossing over.

"For whatever reason, the opportunity for them is there right now," Raines said of the open-wheel gang. "But I don't think there is any guarantee that they'll have success, that they'll do well. They've got a bigger hill to climb than a lot of guys who have come up through short-track stuff, Trucks to Busch [Series] or whatever, and gotten to Cup. These guys are jumping from one extreme to another.

"Montoya having some success on the start has probably led people to believe, 'Well, heck, it must not be that hard. ... If he can do it, I can do it.' But he jumped into a really good car with one of the better crew chiefs in the garage, with a competitive organization."

Veteran Cup driver Mark Martin agreed with Raines that Montoya's relative success doesn't guarantee anything for any of the other Cup newcomers.