Youth movement pushing out veteran drivers

The Associated Press

CONCORD, N.C. — Jamie McMurray set a record at Charlotte Motor Speedway by winning his second career Cup Series start. Back for the 16th anniversary of that surprise trip to victory lane, McMurray is just another veteran at a career crossroads in NASCAR.

McMurray doesn’t yet have a job for 2019. Neither does AJ Allmendinger or one-time Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne. Ryan Newman was released from Richard Childress Racing, Kurt Busch won’t be back at Stewart-Haas Racing and reigning series champion Martin Truex Jr. is a free agent because his Furniture Row Racing team is shutting down after the season.

Kasey Kahne and Elliott Sadler are retiring at the end of the season. Casey Mears never got a retirement tour, his job prospects simply dried up and he moved his family to Arizona over the summer.

That’s how it goes these days in NASCAR. The former “Young Guns” who came in as a youthful wave of new energy early this century are now a bunch of aging graybeards fighting to hang on to their rides.

The youth movement continued Friday when JTG Daughtery Racing opened the weekend at Charlotte by introducing 27-year-old Ryan Preece as Allmendinger’s replacement. A few hours later, Richard Childress named Daniel Hemric, another 27-year-old, to Newman’s seat.

Both drivers have navigated a challenging ladder system in which competitive opportunities can be few and far between. Some of those “Young Guns” put together careers that have lasted 15 years or more with their earnings well into eight digits. The latest crop has had to wait for seats to open, had to secure their own sponsorship and sometimes drive for free.

That Hemric and Preece were promoted on the same day was not lost on either.

“Everybody says the path or whatnot of how we got here may not have been ideal, but at the end of the day you did whatever you could with what you had,” Hemric said. “And when you hear about things that can’t be done, I think today is a huge step in that direction to show that it can be.”

Hemric said he was hopeful the moves would inspire young racers in this uncertain market to keep going and trust their decisions.

“If you do that, no matter how it shakes out, you’ll lay down at night knowing you gave everything you had. I think that’s what today is all about,” he said.