Turning 50 suddenly is nifty in NASCAR.
Mark Martin, 51, came closest to halting Jimime Johnson’s record fourth consecutive Sprint Cup championship last season. The 2009 Camping World Truck Series title was won by Ron Hornaday Jr., 51. Ken Schrader, 54, will return from a two-year Cup hiatus to run the Bud Shootout next month for Red Bull Racing.
Meanwhile, the generation of Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift increasingly is deferring to its elders in the bidding for open rides that recently were being gobbled by the likes of Joey Logano (the ‘09 Cup rookie of the year became the youngest starter in the Daytona 500 at 18).
“Golly, a few years ago if you were old enough to shave, you were washed up, too old to run NASCAR,” says Mike Skinner, 52, who was third in the ‘09 truck standings. “Now us old guys have come back. There’s no substitute for youth, but there’s also no substitute for experience.”
Success helps, too, and the over-50 set delivered plenty in ‘09. Of 96 races in NASCAR’s top three divisions, 14 were won by drivers in their 50s. As many NASCAR teams have scrapped driver development programs that favored hiring teenagers, the job market seems to have aged.
“For the first time, I think it’s as fair as it’s ever been,” says driver-owner Michael Waltrip. “Whether you’re young or old, if you can drive, you can get a ride.”
Opportunities, though, have dried up for some former up and comers in Cup. After spending the past seven seasons in Cup (including two with Hendrick Motorsports), Casey Mears, 31, currently is on the sidelines after a sponsor pullout at Richard Childress Racing. Reed Sorenson, who turns 24 next month, took a part-time Nationwide Series ride last week after four Cup seasons.
“It’s just tough right now,” says Sorenson, who signed for 23 Nationwide races with Braun Racing and also will attempt five Sprint Cup races (Daytona, Atlanta, Chicagoland, Indianapolis and Charlotte) for the team and sponsor Dollar General. “I feel I have time to move way back up with a great Cup team. I took a step backward to take a step forward later on.”
Mears (one win in 252 starts) and Sorenson (winless in 145 starts) didn’t fulfill on their promise (neither qualified for the Chase for the Sprint Cup), and the sponsorship slowdown caused by the economic downturn likely means upstarts will have a shorter leash from teams to produce.
“This day and time it’s hard to put in a young guy, because you can’t wreck every week,” says Jason White, 30, a Nationwide and truck veteran. “It costs a lot of money. (Teams) need somebody that can have a good result.”
That strategy seemed to work for Hendrick with Martin, who replaced Mears and notched his highest win total (five) since 1998. Aric Almirola, who started ‘09 in a Cup car for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing that was shuttered by lack of funding, says “(Martin) has brought a lot of life back to the older veterans” but believes there’s hope for youth.
“You’re not going to stop having the next American Idol in NASCAR,” says Almirola, 25, who found a full-time Cup ride for 2010 with Phoenix Racing’s No. 09. “Who knows who’s next?”
By: Nate Ryan, USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/motor/nascar/2010-01-14-older-drivers_N.htm