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

By Tyler Callaway

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)
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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DAYTONA BEACH, FL – FEBRUARY 18: Gray Gaulding, driver of the #23 Toyota, races Kyle Larson, driver of the #42 Credit One Bank Chevrolet (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images)
DAYTONA BEACH, FL – FEBRUARY 18: Gray Gaulding, driver of the #23 Toyota, races Kyle Larson, driver of the #42 Credit One Bank Chevrolet (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images) /

Conclusion (continued)

Compete in lower divisions. Maybe it’s not full-time and maybe you will make less money, but no driver can compete in the type of equipment being offered to them by BK Racing, Premium Motorsports or TriStar Motorsports.

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Don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying that these three teams shouldn’t compete. All teams have to start somewhere. But I don’t believe that they should be recruiting teenagers or drivers in their early 20’s to skip their development processes just so that they can drive for the team.

Take veterans who’ve served their time and can provide you with experience to help the race team grow. That is exactly what Furniture Row Racing did and what teams like Front Row Motorsports and Leavine Family Racing are attempting to do.

There are plenty of veteran drivers out there to give calls to before these younger guys.

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Alex Bowman managed to find a lucky break in the form of Dale Earnhardt Jr., while Ryan Truex is having to start from scratch with his career. I hope that Gray Gaulding and the other names I’ve mentioned find their paths into NASCAR prevalence. They all have the talent, but they need the patience and the equipment, two things that they won’t get from jumping into the NASCAR Cup Series before they’re ready with underfunded teams.

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