Tony Stewart's take on super-young drivers

I think both Tony and Kyle had great points in their quoted comments. I love young people racing but build your experience in the smaller divisions first. I’d go with 15 as minimum age for LM (learner’s permit exception) ;)
 
I sure would rather them be in a caged car mini sprints, Sprints and the slower late models than racing ATV's and two wheelers. This has been going on for years around here. I guess the press has focused on it for some reason

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Does racing require any kind of drivers license? I would assume different types of cars would have minimum age and experience requirements.
 
Smaller track owners are looking for cars to fill their field. If they start turning away the younger driver then they load up and head to the next track that will allow them to race. Not saying I agree with allowing the younger drivers to race but the reasons behind it aren't that hard to understand.

BTW, read this 13 year old's record in a late model. Timmy Tyrrell is referenced in the article the OP linked.

http://racingvirginia.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=11
 
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ToyYoda said:
I didn't know until reading the article that there have been kids as young as 9 racing Late Model cars. That's a little crazy.
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There was a pretty big uproar when Tyrrell won a race at Shenandoah when he was 10.

You can't run a NASCAR Late Model Stock until you're 14, so a lot of tracks are starting to not sanction Limited Late Models so kids can run in those. Madera has a Jr Late Model division in California and the Southeast Limiteds have a "Jr Elite" class. A lot of younger drivers will go to Hickory and Dominion because their limited classes aren't sanctioned and kids can race in them.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
As for Tyrrell, he's actually a damn good driver.

He had them covered in the Thanksgiving Classic LLM race last fall.
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What's he going to be like in 3 years, or 5 years? He'll have a ton of experience racing. I hope the time behind the wheel pays off for him. From his stats he seems to have talent well beyond his years.
 
they should make sure they are weight ballasting the cars, I can't imagine a freaking 10 year beating adults in a race car. tell this to danica she might go on suicide watch. its an interesting time in the sport. So much is sponsor driven and money driven by who gets in the cars. I know thats a lot of how its always been. but the big companies, like HMS, JRM, RCR, JGR and used to be roush, had sponsorship they secured on their own and could pick who they thought was the best driver coming up the ranks. Granted nearly all these guys came from money for them to even get noticed. but now what we see is pretty much basically ride buying. I noticed william byron had liberty U on his car. I wonder if that was a consideration when not hiring matt kenseth to a 1 or 2 year deal with no sponsorship in place.
 
hidesert cowboy said:
they should make sure they are weight ballasting the cars, I can't imagine a freaking 10 year beating adults in a race car. tell this to danica she might go on suicide watch. its an interesting time in the sport. So much is sponsor driven and money driven by who gets in the cars. I know thats a lot of how its always been. but the big companies, like HMS, JRM, RCR, JGR and used to be roush, had sponsorship they secured on their own and could pick who they thought was the best driver coming up the ranks. Granted nearly all these guys came from money for them to even get noticed. but now what we see is pretty much basically ride buying. I noticed william byron had liberty U on his car. I wonder if that was a consideration when not hiring matt kenseth to a 1 or 2 year deal with no sponsorship in place.
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Impossible to prove but highly unlikely. Hendrick signed away Byron after the trucks. Byron when on to win the Xfinity championship in his first year. Anybody who couldn't see the potential that Byron has is blind.
 
Towmater said:
What's he going to be like in 3 years, or 5 years? He'll have a ton of experience racing. I hope the time behind the wheel pays off for him. From his stats he seems to have talent well beyond his years.
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In fairness, the competition level at Shenandoah isn't elite. But his LLM win at SNMP was impressive. Good drivers in that field.

However, it's not really his fault the rules don't allow him to race against the big dawgs. Any other discipline and he would be able to. NASCAR's minimum age is a bit too high considering people are running ARCA by 15.
 
Bowman The Showman said:
I’m just glad there are 13 year olds who have put down their smartphones long enough to wanna drive a darn race car, in this present day ...
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I wanna drive a race car, too! That used to be my dream a few years back, but due to a lack of funding and just not having enough resources, I had to put those aspirations on hold. At least, I hope they are just on hold. :)
 
Don't waste your money trying to be competitive in the country's most expensive sport. Find a front-wheel drive ****box get rid of the other seats knock the windows out weld skids to the back of your rear wheels and go to Bowman Gray (or a local short track) Jalopnik had a great video about being a perfect racing idiot on their website.
 
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