The Trials and Tribulations of Being a Young Gun

Although the first requirement to making the “Big Show” for young drivers in NASCAR remains being excellent at their craft, it’s simply not enough. Young drivers must turn heads and in order to do that they must be special. Special to the point that beyond winning and winning consistently in whatever racing venues they spring from, they must also exude confidence, they’ve got to have charisma, they must possess good looks and have a demeanor that compels people to see their potential not only as drivers, but also as salespeople. It should not come as a surprise that top driver development programs spend almost as much time on teaching young drivers how to hone a favorable public persona and influence sponsors as they do in developing driving skills. Giving a driver a shot to perform at the highest levels of auto racing ultimately amounts to meeting or exceeding several criteria. It’s a tall order to fill, an order that only a handful of drivers can meet.

NASCAR’s Sprint Cup drivers represent the best of the best. It’s one of the most exclusive clubs in professional sports. There are only a few chances for young drivers to make the show. Millions of dollars are on the line. The process race team owners use to obtain acceptable new drivers has evolved because of the huge amount of money they put at risk. For the rare few young drivers who end up performing in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Championship races, there remains even more to learn.

With only 40 to 50 slots available in Cup racing, the competition for a ride is fierce. Young, starry eyed drivers represent a threat to the established drivers and they will fight for all they’re worth, not only to hold onto the rides they have, but also to hold the threatening young drivers back. The old dogs have already gone through the school of hard knocks. They have learned all the tricks and some evidently won’t hesitate to use them. Call it a learning curve or simply reality, but young drivers are faced with either getting through this final learning process in a hurry or losing out to the next group of young drivers unabashedly chomping at the bit to get their chance.

A huge part of this final learning process concerns gaining the respect of the other drivers. The unwritten rule young drivers must first follow has to do with the showing of respect to the other, more established drivers both on and off the track. By doing this they gain a measure of respect in return but there’s a point where the doling out of respect must stop. It is that point where the young drivers begin being perceived as “soft” or “easy”. It’s a dilemma that must be solved and the only way to solve it is by not being afraid to “mix it up”. They can’t allow themselves to be pushed around. When they figure that out and begin confronting those that would push them out of the way, then they face the wrath of not only those drivers they push back against, but also of the wrath of the drivers' fans. They risk being labeled with all sorts of derogatory names as a result, but at the same time they once again continue to earn respect, although some of it is grudgingly given. It then becomes obvious to the other, more established drivers that this young one can’t be taken advantage of. The education is complete, they're finally accepted as full-fledged members of the club.

The question that comes to my mind is; how long does it take to make or break young drivers trying to prove themselves worthy to be in the show? Considering the fact that it costs somewhere in the neighborhood of $5,000,000 to run a NASCAR Cup team for one season, young drivers don’t have much time. They better start doing special things quickly or they’ll be gone.

Here’s a look at two of the most promising young guns currently driving Sprint Cup cars:

Brad Keselowski –

2010 is Brad’s first full season of Sprint Cup racing. In 31 starts he has one win and three DNF’s. Brad is currently in 24th place in the Chase, 645 points behind Kevin Harvick and 268 points behind Clint Boyer in 12th place. He’s on track to earn just under $5,000,000 on the 2010 season.

Of Brad’s DNF’s one was at Atlanta last March…



I guess that’s just racin’, huh Carl?

Joey Logano –

In his second full season of Sprint Cup racing Logano has one win and four DNF’s. Joey is currently in 17th place in the Chase, 478 points behind Kevin Harvick and 101 points behind Clint Boyer in 12th place. Logano is headed toward making around $600,000 over the key $5,000,000 mark.

Just last week Joey was knocked from 5th to 30th late in the Pocono 500 by points leader Harvick, the second time this season the two have mixed it up and for the first time young Logano had enough…



Another case of just racin’? You be the judge…

It will be interesting to see if Danica Patrick will get a shot at Sprint Cup racing and if she does, how she and the boys will get along. I don’t think she’ll get a pass, do you?