Two more NASCAR drivers are retiring
BRISTOL, TENN. Two more drivers are headed to the checkered flag of their NASCAR careers and the laps are winding down for a golden age of racing.
Kasey Kahne and Elliott Sadler both said this will be their final season of racing full time as they become the latest veterans to find they no longer want to be part of the travelling circus.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle and Danica Patrick have already given up their seats in stock cars to spend more time doing, well, everything they’ve missed in life.
Kahne and Sadler, who have a combined 1,589 starts at the NASCAR national level, want to spend more time with their kids and not spend 38 weekends a year at a track. They are part of a group of drivers that broke into NASCAR when the sport went mainstream and money poured in from corporations all over the world.
If a driver could get a seat in the Cup Series and parlay it into a strong sponsorship deal, they virtually guaranteed themselves a lengthy career that earned them massive paydays, private planes, mansions, motorhomes and longterm financial security.
“I got to basically make a run and live in an awesome time in NASCAR,” said Kahne, who debuted in 2002 and has logged 15 years in the Cup Series. He has 18 career victories and, prior to 2016 when NAS - CAR stopped publishing winnings, Kahne had earned $71.4 million.
Kahne grew up racing sprint cars but followed the path of Stewart, who paved the way for dirt racers to chase new money in NASCAR. Kahne at the end of last year lost his ride with Hendrick Motorsports and has been slogging along this year with the single-car team Leavine Family Racing.
He is 29th in the Cup standings with one top-10 finish, but is fresh off watching sprint car driver Brad Sweet drive a Kasey Kahne Racing entry to victory last weekend in the prestigious Knoxville (Iowa) Nationals.
Five days after that win, Kahne announced he wants to spend more time with his young son and his sprint car team.
Sadler cited his two young children and their packed schedules as one of the reasons he’ll stop running full time in the Xfinity Series at the end of the season. He is second in the championship standings
Kyle Busch has a three-year-old son and is already stressed about the things he will miss while he’s working. He assumes Brexton Busch will want to race, and knows he’ll have to turn some of the guidance over to other adults. But retirement isn’t in the future for the 33-year-old.
“I’ve asked my accountant that question and he says I’m screwed. I’ve got to keep going. I’ve got way too much debt,” Busch said. “I don’t think I can retire as soon as the rest of those guys are currently (retiring).”
NASCAR’s final week off of the season follows Saturday night’s race at Bristol and drivers have their last chance to catch their breath before the playoffs begin. But even that is somewhat compromised as many in the field send their children back to school in the coming days.