Today's NASCAR off-season must read

[HoneyBadger]

http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/story/Owens-NASCAR-has-a-rookie-problem-010410

If there is no pipeline of new talent feeding the series, eventually the Cup series will be watered down with aging drivers and running short on new, exciting stars.

Why are there no rookies knocking on the door, ready to make the leap to Cup and carve out a promising future?

Two reasons:

One, other than Keselowski, who has already won a Cup race and was successful in the Nationwide Series, there are few young drivers in the lower ranks ready to make the leap.

That's because they don't get seat time in Nationwide because the Cup drivers are hogging all the Nationwide rides.

And two, NASCAR’s current ban on testing is not conducive to hiring rookie drivers. Though teams can test rookies, they cannot take them to NASCAR-sanctioned tracks where NASCAR’s top three series race, making it very difficult for them to get the proper seat time and experience it takes to move up the ladder.

A handful of Cup teams have young drivers they are trying to develop at the lower levels, but others, like powerhouse Hendrick Motorsports, have practically given up on young talent because sponsors today want instant results.

They also want to use their Nationwide teams for Cup drivers to get more experience on the track, particularly under NASCAR’s current testing ban.

 

[MRM]

I have been harping on this for almost 10 years. Once the NWS became Cup Lite, they were hurting the series for short-term success. Track owners and NASCAR couldn't sell enough tickets for NWS events when it was just 2 or 3 Cup guys against, so they created this monster we have now. And they did it by sacrificing future driver development. Now, we have driver development taking place in the Cup series itself. It's all bassackwards to make an extra buck now and not thinking about the long-term future.

 

[HoneyBadger]

I have been harping on this for almost 10 years. Once the NWS became Cup Lite, they were hurting the series for short-term success. Track owners and NASCAR couldn't sell enough tickets for NWS events when it was just 2 or 3 Cup guys against, so they created this monster we have now. And they did it by sacrificing future driver development. Now, we have driver development taking place in the Cup series itself. It's all bassackwards to make an extra buck now and not thinking about the long-term future.

Yep.

 

[Mopardh9]

Yes

 

[foehammer111]

Not true. We still have Formula 1 and IRL for developmental series.

 

[Mopardh9]

Not true. We still have Formula 1 and IRL for developmental series.

ROFLMAO