Mind of Montgomery

A NASCAR BLOG BY Lee Montgomery

Change the age limit

Jan 23

If NASCAR indeed ends up changing the minimum age for the Sprint Cup Series to 21, it can only help the health of the Nationwide Series.

Almost by default, NASCAR would turn the Nationwide Series into the development series many people think it should be. Cup teams who have teen-agers under contracts need a place for them to run, and the Nationwide Series is the closest thing to Cup they’ll be able to compete in.

Now, there are only a handful of teen-agers in NASCAR, so the rule wouldn’t have a sweeping effect. But with the minimum age in lower NASCAR series at 16, there are some other youngsters who could be on the way to the national series.

What would it hurt for them to take three years in the Nationwide Series? Not a thing. And it would give the series some identity, which it desperately needs.

The only problem I’d see is sponsorship. Companies have been reluctant to spend money in the series on any driver, and they are more hesitant to hand over millions on an unproven teenager.

But the series needs a sponsorship correction, with the price of doing business coming down. If teams can’t find an $8 million, budgets will have to come down.

So count me in favor of raising the Sprint Cup age to 21.

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