Turning Over the Driver Crop

With the news that Ken Schrader will likely retire after Homestead, at least from NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing, that begs a question: who is next in line to be the next Ken Schrader?

Or Bobby Labonte? Or…

Much like the Indy Car world collapsed (sort of) over the span of about five years when AJ Foyt, the Unsers, Mario Andretti, et al all called it quits, could NASCAR be facing the same thing?

Tony Stewart is 42, and so is Jeff Gordon. Mark Martin is 112…oops, it just seems like he’s been around since Prohibition. He is 54 and will be 55 before the Daytona 500 next year. Jeff Burton is 46, Greg Biffle has seen 44 birthdays, and the current star group—Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Carl Edwards, etc.—are all closing in on the big 4-0.

Sure, there are 20-something drivers everywhere you look, but are there enough of them to replace what we’re going to lose in the near future? 

It’s something that happens in cycles, obviously. When Richard Petty, Bobby and Donnie Allison, Cale Yarborough and that group gave it up, there were guys like Earnhardt, Rusty Wallace, Dale Jarrett—and Gordon and Stewart—who were there to pick up the slack.

Fast-forward five years to the early spring of 2018 and what will you have? Will it be Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Joey Logano, Danica? Or Darrell Wallace Jr.? 

It’s going to be interesting finding out!