‘Young stars’ tired of blame for sport’s woes

DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. — It was the finish NASCAR banked on as the genesis of its ballyhooed youth movement.

Austin Dillon and Darrell Wallace Jr. finished 1-2 in the Daytona 500, a promising pair of 20-somethings behind the wheel of iconic car numbers that could excite old-school fans, yet a pair with enough social media savvy that might attract millennials to a sport in dire need of a spark. The kids were coming! Wallace and good buddy Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, William Byron and Daniel Suarez were among the relative newcomers in NASCAR who were hailed as NASCAR’s version of The Next Big Thing.

Yet, at NASCAR’s halfway point, the series returns this weekend to Daytona International Speedway with the socalled Young Guns in danger of becoming The Next Big Bust. They’re not winning races — or even fans inside their sport.

International Speedway Corp. President John Saunders pinned some of NASCAR’s woes on the failure of the new crop of drivers that have failed to replace retired stars Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards and even Danica Patrick in performance or popularity.

“We still have an issue with star power, and hopefully this stable of young drivers coming along will start to win and build their brands,” Saunders said Thursday.

Now it’s Saunders’ turn to gripe about the dearth of stars, and the drivers have had enough of serving as NASCAR’s whipping boys.

“Honestly, this whole ‘young guys need to win now’ thing is getting old,” the 24-year-old Blaney said. “We’re trying. We’re trying our hardest. It’s not like I go out there and I’m happy for fifth every single week.

Dillon and 28-year-old Joey Logano, an 11-year veteran and former Daytona 500 champ, are the only drivers in their 20s who have won this season. Just six drivers have won races, and NASCAR’s 16-driver playoff field could have more contenders making it on points than victories.