Those great Indy car drivers who were going to change NASCAR this year?

In February, there was a lot of talk about this year's rookie class and how it included so many Indy 500 champions and open-wheel racers.

Can you name all those Indy car drivers some thought would change the sport? Better yet, can you name who is left?

Patrick Carpentier's dismissal from Gillett Evernham Motorsports on Tuesday marked yet another open-wheeler biting the dust this season. This comes after Dario Franchitti's team at Chip Ganassi Racing was shut down and he later moved to Ganassi's Indycar program for next year. And after AJ Allmendinger (in his second season) losing his ride at Red Bull -- Allmendinger will take over for Carpentier for the rest of the season starting next weekend at Martinsville. And there's Jacques Villeneueve, who failed to make the Daytona 500 and then was gone after that. Sam Hornish is 35th in the driver standings.

What this does is show Juan Pablo Montoya's talent in adjusting to Cup (even though he's had middle-of-the-pack performances with a Ganassi team strugglilng with a Dodge car that seems to be inferior to the other makes this season)

NASCAR runs in cycles. Once one team has success with a driver from a certain background, everyone goes searching for a similar type of driver. We saw it in the late 90s with USAC once Jeff Gordon arrived and others, including Tony Stewart followed. That pipeline dried for a few years and then it was on to something else. At one point, any kind of dirt experience was seen as good and that also has trailed off some. Indycar doesn't seem to be the answer any more. At least for now.