Thursday, January 24, 2008

NASCAR considering age 21 requirement

Feelings mixed on talk of raising age requirement By Joe Menzer, NASCAR.COM January 24, 2008 04:38 PM EST HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. -- It was a very small part of the state of the sport address delivered earlier in the week, but the folks at Joe Gibbs Racing heard it loud and clear. Mike Helton, president of NASCAR, admitted that the governing body is considering raising the minimum age requirement to be a driver in the Sprint Cup Series to 21. It currently is 18 in both Cup and the Nationwide Series. "Is Joey ready for Cup now? I think that he's ready today, but that's my opinion. " MARK MARTIN "We continue to discuss it internally. Age has always been something we've talked about," Helton said. "A few years ago we opened up the Camping World Series [previously the Busch East and Busch West Series] to 16. That helped us. "But we're continuing to look at the new drivers that are coming along and we're also looking at how they mature and how they can handle the pressures of racing in our top division. It's not something that's been decided on; it's just one of a lot of things that we talk about all the time. That's just something that's out there right now that people are eating up." J.D. Gibbs, who is president of Joe Gibbs Racing, has heard all the talk and admitted during a stop on the NASCAR Sprint media tour hosted by Lowe's Motor Speedway that it concerns him. That's because JGR has two young drivers in Joey Logano and Marc Davis who are not yet 18 poised to race in the big time. Gibbs said that the plan right now is for Logano to run a Nationwide Series race as soon as he turns 18, with the first of his 18 scheduled starts in that series at Dover on May 31. Gibbs earlier stated that he hoped to be able to "maybe sneak in a couple of Cup races" for Logano at the end of that season, which would not be permitted if the minimum age requirement is raised. Logano "It's a big deal for us," Gibbs said. "We've invested a ton in Marc and Joey. Our feeling on it is there is a good system in place. If a guy is not ready or not mature enough, you don't go to the next track, you don't go to the next series. Obviously, we've invested a ton in Mark and Joey -- and part of that is an investment in the Nationwide Series. So selfishly we look at it a certain way. "But for us, we're talking to NASCAR about it and we think we have some good conversations going on. We think they'll come up with something at the end of the day that satisfies everyone."

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