HARRISBURG, N.C. – The AP Stylebook puts a modern spin on the definition of trending: “Used to indicate that a particular topic, word, phrase or piece of content is getting a lot of attention on a social network, search engine or website.
But for our purposes, we’ll take an old-school approach and refer to an entry from the 11th edition of Merrian-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary: “The general movement over time of a statistically detectable change.”
Using that definition, here are 13 individuals who are trending either up or down:
Jimmie Johnson — trending ▼ Jimmie Johnson deserves to be in the NASCAR Hall of Fame — two years after he retires or he reaches age 55. Neither of those have happened. Johnson is still an active NASCAR Cup Series driver, which makes him ineligible for induction by our interpretation of the rules. Still, he was elected as part of next year’s Hall of Fame class in early August.
David Letterman — trending ▲ The former late-night TV host, Ball State graduate and IndyCar team co-owner pulled off the motorsports publicity stunt of the year when he bagged groceries and entertained shoppers at a Hy-Vee store in Des Moines, Iowa. Hy-Vee has emerged a major player among IndyCar sponsors.
Ryan Preece – trending ▼ The 2014 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion has fallen far short of expectations during his first season aboard the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford. He did claim the pole at Martinsville in April but had only one top-10 finish in 22 NASCAR Cup Series races.
Gaige Hererra — trending ▲ After joining the powerful Vance & Hines Racing team during the offseason, Hererra won six of the season’s first eight races in the NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle category. He’s a fourth-generation drag racer who honed his skills in XDA’s Pro Street and Outlaw classes,
Paul Tracy — trending ▼ The former IndyCar driver has officially worn out his welcome in the Superstar Racing Experience, and his suspension should be permanent as he’s hit everything but the pace car. Three cheers to the usually mild-mannered Kenny Schrader for drawing a line in the sand.
Brady Bacon — trending ▲ The Oklahoma native, who now races out of Winchester, Ind., captured the Indiana Sprint Week title without visiting victory lane during seven nights of USAC sprint car racing in the Hoosier State. Bacon posted six top-five finishes en route to his second ISW crown.
Hailie Deegan — trending ▼ How much longer is Ford going to continue backing this science project? While her social-media popularity is unrivaled, Deegan’s only had four top-10 finishes in 62 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series starts. We anticipated improvement now that she’s driving for ThorSport Racing, but it hasn’t happened.
Jake Trainor — trending ▲ Raise your hand if you’d heard of this 18-year-old open-wheel sensation before he shocked the racing world by winning the Little 500 in only his second sprint car race. In an earlier era, Trainor would be on the fast-track to an Indy car ride. Instead, he’s running a midget on asphalt.
Sheldon Haudenschild — trending ▼ We honestly thought Jac Haudenschild’s son would be a multi-time World of Outlaws champion when he turned 30. However, a fourth-place points finish in 2020 is his best effort, and his wins are too few and far between to be a title contender. Perhaps it’s time for a team change.
Don Kreitz Jr. – trending ▼ We are still puzzled by Kreitz’s decision to fire driver Lance Dewease in the middle of the season. Along with veteran mechanic Davey Brown, the three Hall of Famers had been winning winged sprint car races together since 2016. There’s gotta be more to this story.
Katie Hettinger — trending ▲ After nine of 13 races, the granddaughter of longtime open-wheel racer Jim Hettinger led the chase for the CARS Pro Tour Late Model Seres championship. The 16-year-old series rookie from Dryden, Mich., had nine consecutive top-10 finishes.
Don Hawk — trending ▼ Hawk worked alongside Bruton Smith for several years, so we expected him to put “Fans First” in his new role at SRX. However, starting this summer’s six SRX races at 9 p.m. (EDT) was too late for the numerous families that flocked to the tracks and us old-timers watching on ESPN.
Colton Herta – trending ▼ Once considered the brightest young star in the NTT IndyCar Series, Bryan Herta’s now 23-year-old son was struggling to stay among the top 10 in points after 13 races. Only one victory since the start of the 2022 season isn’t even close to expectations, and a rotating roster of race strategists did nothing to improve the situation. Team owner Michael Andretti may be forced to make a difficult decision.
This story appeared in the August 16, 2023 edition of the SPEED SPORT Insider.
