David Smith
Head Talent Scout
 

When Matt McCall and Auggie Vidovich resurfaced two weeks ago at Nashville, it brought them back to the race track as, first and foremost, race car drivers. That would be Step No. 1 into finding the two new rides.

Can they break back into the sport?

Since the end of 2006, several drivers have gone AWOL from the racing spotlight:

California’s Burney Lamar drove a half-season for Kevin Harvick Inc. before being released. Since then, he’s gotten married but hasn’t received the same commitment from a race team. He was supposed to have been a practice driver for Brewco Motorsports at Nashville but the agreement fell through prior to the start of the weekend. Fellow NASCAR castaway Casey Atwood got the nod as backup. There have been various reports as to his return to the NASCAR Busch Series, most recently having him "close to a deal."

2006 Elite Southeast Series champion J.R. Norris and his runner-up, Jason Hogan, have been out of the motorsports epicenter as well. Norris, made one ARCA start in 2007 (finishing dead-last at Nashville) but continues to work as a mechanic instead of manning the cockpit. Hogan has recently entered into PASS South Late Model competition with a best finish of 4th at Anderson (SC). Arguably two drivers that should be ranked in the National Top 100, the former Elite Series standouts have fallen off of the racing map.

Chuck Barnes Jr., a former contestant in the Roush Gong Show, went from Sunoco Super Series point man to ARCA winner to out of the sport in a whirlwind one-year span. While his peers view him as wildly talented, his absence hinders any chance of getting an opportunity of high fiscal fortune, the reasoning behind his departure. The Kentucky native has no immediate plans to return to the track.

As for McCall and Vidovich, the two have racing-related items in the works. McCall, who has been serving as a spotter on the Carolina regional racing scene has returned to the driver’s seat at the local level, recently picking up a late model win at Tri-County (NC) and scoring a pole at Hickory (NC) in the race publicized by Chrissy Wallace’s win.

Vidovich remains on the short list of teams in need of substitute drivers in the Busch Series but is considering a return to the NASCAR regional racing level, possibly culminating in a cameo appearance in the Toyota All-Star Showdown in October.

June 20, 2007