Don’t take NASCAR’s veterans for granted

While the past decade saw numerous big-name NASCAR drivers retire, there are still several veterans competing in the sport. But don’t take them for granted.

Several drivers who started the decade competing in the NASCAR Cup Series retired at some point before the decade concluded, and among those several drivers were quite a few big-name drivers.

Most notably, Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards, Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Matt Kenseth, Kasey Kahne, Jamie McMurray, David Ragan and Paul Menard all retired, among quite a few others. Additionally, seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson has already confirmed that he will walk away after the 2020 season.

When you take a look at the 2020 driver lineup, 34 drivers have been confirmed with two confirmed full-time seats that remain open. Of those 34 drivers, only 14 competed full-time just seven years ago in the 2013 season.

What has happened to all the veterans?

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It is a fair question to ask with more than half of the field having fewer than seven years of experience, including a sizable chunk that have only been a round for a couple of years after having been promoted in the midst of the “youth movement”.

However, what is an even fairer question to ask is this: how much longer will these veterans be around?

Those 14 drivers are Johnson, 2004 champion Kurt Busch, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Michael McDowell, Ryan Newman, 2014 champion Kevin Harvick, Aric Almirola, Clint Bowyer, 2012 champion Brad Keselowski, 2018 champion Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, two-time champion Kyle Busch, 2017 champion Martin Truex Jr. and J.J. Yeley.

Johnson, 44, was already discussed above. Kurt Busch, 41, and Ryan Newman, also 41, are under contract with their respective teams, Chip Ganassi Racing and Roush Fenway Racing, through the 2021 season. Michael McDowell, 35, signed an extension, likely for just one year, to remain at Front Row Motorsports.

Almirola, 35, and Bowyer, 40, are both under contract with Stewart-Haas Racing after signing extensions last season, but they are under contract only through the 2020 season. Harvick, 44, is under contract with the team through at least 2021.

Keselowski, 35, is only under contract with Team Penske through 2020, but he will likely get an extension or sign with another team. Hamlin, 39, Kyle Busch, 34, and Truex, 39, are all under contract with Joe Gibbs Racing through at least 2021, with Busch’s deal speculated to be through at least 2022.

Despite the fact that they fit the “competed full-time in 2013” category, Logano and Stenhouse really don’t belong in this discussion since they are only 29 and 32 years old, respectively.

But for the sake of this article, it is worth noting that Logano is under contract with Team Penske through 2023 with what is currently the longest active deal while Stenhouse is under contract with JTG Daugherty Racing through at least the 2021 season.

Yeley, 43, also really doesn’t belong in this group since he hasn’t competed full-time since 2015 to begin with and there are even rumors that, based on Rick Ware Racing’s history (i.e. Ray Black Jr. in 2018), he may not end up competing full-time in 2020.

Yes, the 2010s decade of NASCAR Cup Series competition saw numerous big changes thanks to the retirements of some of the best and most popular drivers.

But while those changes and retirements have left many fans wistful, let that serve as a reminder to focus on the decade ahead instead of looking at the past, as there are still quite a few big-name drivers competing, drivers who, in four or five years, may very well be retirees of their own.

Don’t take these years for granted, and certainly don’t take these veterans for granted while they are still competing.