Brad Keselowski and Tony Stewart demand drastic change to the UNFARE age limit in NASCAR

The minimum age for full-time racing for NASCAR national series’ is 18 years.

Brad Keselowski and Tony Stewart demand drastic change to the UNFARE age limit in NASCAR

Tony Stewart (Credits: sportscasting.com) and Brad Keselowski (Credits: nascar-nation.com)

Former NASCAR champions Brad Keselowski and Tony Stewart think that the minimum age for racing should be increased in NASCAR. They want to make sure this change happens as they believe the current limit isn’t enough for young drivers to become better human beings. The Cup team co-owner duo claims that the lower age limit is hurting the sport as much as it is hurting drivers.

The RFK Racing co-owner and 2012 Cup champion Brad Keselowski is of the opinion that it is better to start racing at an early age so that the drivers become experienced and ready soon. It deprives the young generation of the opportunity to grow in life. Keselowski’s father didn’t allow him to race until he turned 14, and though he was against it then, now he is thankful to him.

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“We did a disservice to our sport and to our industry when we reduced the age limits for all of these different garages. Not just for the industry itself, but probably more specifically for the kids that we did it for. I think we really hurt them. We hurt them in their ability to develop their own lives,” Keselowski is quoted saying by Autoweek.

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He added that it is unfair to make teenagers tackle these types of situations when they are not mature enough. Keselowski said, “It’s significantly too low for the maturity level that you can expect of someone at those ages to be able to handle these challenges and tasks. It’s unfair to them. It ends up limiting their ability to grow as a person. I think that hurts them later in their lives…That ends up hurting our garage area, too, and our industry.”

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Tony Stewart demands changes in the entire racing industry

Tony Stewart
Tony Stewart (Credits: Racer)

The SHR co-owner Stewart is a driver that has experienced every type of racing and the challenges it comes with. He has won championships in Indy, Midget, Sprint, and USAC Silver Crown cars, along with three Cup titles. The SRX series owner understands the challenges every driver faces in such situations.

He pointed out that the direction motorsports is going in terms of allowing teenagers to race at very low ages isn’t acceptable. Stewart said, “I don’t like the direction motorsports is going as a whole. I’m not just picking on NASCAR. There are series putting kids in late models at 12 and 14 (years old). It makes zero sense to me.”

Stewart went on to point out that racing is about micro-details, and having mature drivers behind the wheel will be beneficial for challenging races. NASCAR has already decided to review the 18-year limit there is to race full-time and might decide to increase the minimum age to 20 for the Cup series.

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