Many youngsters now begin their racing before they reach their 10th birthday.
Teenagers compete in Late Models before they acquire their driver’s license.
Combine those two factors, and there’s a belief that drivers in NASCAR are peaking much earlier than in previous generations.
Decades ago, when a person couldn’t race without a driver’s license and there were less than a dozen top teams, it was believed a driver would peak from age 35 through 45, but that doesn’t appear to be the case anymore.
With many youngsters now beginning their racing before they reach their 10th birthday and teenagers competing in Late Models before they acquire their driver’s license, there’s a belief that drivers are peaking much earlier than in previous generations.
“I believe drivers nowadays can peak between 25 and 30,” says Denny Hamlin, who’s the oldest fulltime NASCAR Cup driver at age 44. “A lot of that has changed because of the technology. In NASCAR, for what I’ve seen lately, 25 to 30 is a really good spot.”
International Motorsports Hall of Fame member and former TV analyst Neil Bonnett said in the mid-1980s that race car drivers peaked later than other professional athletes due to the years it took to learn the racing craft. Hamlin said that it was probably true in that era when drivers had to get seat time via testing.
Of the top 10 all-time winners in NASCAR’s Cup Series, four drivers recorded the majority of their victories during that 35-45 age range while three others were in their early 30s. Of the 38 Cup championships those 10 all-time winningest drivers recorded, 20 of those titles came when the competitors were age 35 or older. Bobby Allison was the oldest, claiming his sole Cup championship at age 45.
The drivers who adhered to Bonnett’s belief in the victory department were three-time NASCAR Cup champions Darrell Waltrip and Cale Yarborough, seven-time champion Dale Earnhardt and 2014 title holder Kevin Harvick. Waltrip, who is fifth on the all-time victory list with 84, claimed 45 of them when he was in the 35- through 45-year-old age bracket. Yarborough, who is tied for sixth with seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson with 83 victories, won 63 races during those 10 years.
Eighth on the all-time win list with 76, Earnhardt won 53 races from age 35 through 45.
Rounding out the top 10 on the all-time Cup win list is Harvick with 60. He won 44 of those races during that 10-year age span.
“As you continue to get more and more experience, your craft will continue to get better,” Hamlin says. “But then I think there’s some switch over point when your abilities are not as good. That point is different for everyone.”
Kyle Busch said his “talent peak was probably early, but my mentality peak was not.”
“You know, being able to handle tough situations, game seven moment situations, that sort of stuff, I feel like you’ve got to go through some really, really good tutelage or some life lessons ahead of time before you can put all of that together as a person,” Busch says.
Michael McDowell disagrees with Hamlin on drivers peaking at a younger age. He still believes ages 35 through 45 is the magic decade, and he notes the numbers from the sport’s earlier decades are skewed because the competitors began racing at an older age. For instance, Richard Petty’s father didn’t allow him to race until he was 21 years old.
Still, the 40-year-old McDowell says, “I feel I’m at my best right now.”
“I don’t feel like I’ve lost anything edgewise that I had when I was 20,” McDowell continued. “I think our racing is unique in that aspect of situational awareness and execution. Rule changes and tire changes and track changes, all those things come into play of being able to see a lot over the years and being able to adapt quickly. I think your race craft is always improving. I feel like our sport allows your ability to continue to grow and get better, and you’re not limited by your age.”
Alex Bowman believes when a driver reaches his or her peak is unique to that individual.
“You’ve seen some people stay competitive for a really long time. You’ve seen others leave earlier,” says Bowman, 32. “I certainly don’t have plans to be here when I’m 45 doing this.”
In addition to technology and the early age at which people now begin racing, three-time Cup champion Joey Logano says the current Cup car fits into the equation regarding drivers peaking at an earlier age.
“These cars, you gotta hustle really hard,” said Logano, who entered the Cup Series fulltime in 2009 at age 19. “The wrecks are still bigger than what the old car was. Without the tire fall off, things like that, you can just rely on speed alone. This car lends itself more towards helping the younger drivers get into being competitive sooner. So, the smart racer, the experienced racer, doesn’t get as big of an advantage as they once did. With that said, it can change in a blink of an eye.”
At age 35, Logano says nothing has changed for him.
“But I do think this car makes it a little bit more challenging to stay competitive longer,” Logano says.
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