NASCAR: Should underfunded teams such as BK Racing target young drivers?

DAYTONA BEACH, FL - FEBRUARY 10: Gray Gaulding, driver of the DAYTONA BEACH, FL - FEBRUARY 10: Gray Gaulding, driver of the #23 Toyota, practices for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 10, 2018 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) /

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FONTANA, CA – MARCH 18: Ross Chastain, driver of the #15 LowT Center Chevrolet, and Gray Gaulding, driver of the #23 Earthwater Toyota (Photo by Sarah Crabill/Getty Images) /

Conclusion

These three drivers are just a small sample size of drivers whose careers have been affected by BK Racing targeting younger competitors. I don’t want to paint BK Racing red, however. That’s not the goal of this article. They’re not the only guilty party.

TriStar Motorsports and Premium Motorsports have also enticed younger drivers to their Cup Series teams, only to have them running around in 30th to 40th place and with their names slowly fading away from relevance.

To add on, Corey LaJoie, Cole Whitt, Ross Chastain, Timmy Hill, and Jeb Burton have all driven for or are currently competing for one of these three teams. All of them are talented, but none of them have found consistent success in NASCAR after racing for these teams.

Now, a case could be made that they wouldn’t have found any other rides elsewhere, so why not drive for an underfunded Cup Series team?

That’s the question: is it better to drive in 30th or 40th place in the Cup Series full-time or compete part-time in lower divisions where your talent can be on display for capable teams to monitor?

In my opinion, take the longer and harder road.

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