Under Age Drivers !

There has been an ongoing trend to bring younger and younger children into sprint car racing. Most recently there is a family that plans for their 12 yr old son to compete in 360 sprint car racing in New York State.

Prior to the days when Jeff Gordon was given a sprint car ride at a very, very young age, you had to have lots of racing experience and maturity to compete in a sprint car. Of course in those days the cars weren't hooked up like they are now and it took strength , experience and talent to control the car. Now with power steering and commonly available parts and setups the cars are more controllable. At the same time, the progress that created increased control has also created increased horsepower and speed. The tracks and the walls remain the same, the speeds are higher.

The cars are still open wheel and dangerous, (though maybe less dangerous than before as safety measures have increased the surviveability of the driver). Even so, an upset sprint car can still injure and kill the driver or other competitors. Racers know the danger. Open wheeled midgets and sprint cars are not like the fendered taxi cabs where two cars get together and bend some sheet metal.

So, it is a reasonable question to ask "what should be the minimum age" to race sprint cars.

In other Major Professional and Semi Professional Sports, you pretty much have to be out of high school to get a chance to play ball. In most states you have to be 16 yrs old to be deemed mature enough to get a drivers license or working papers.

Why should racing organizations allow children to compete at the GROWN UP level of the sport?

If you let one 'under age' compete, even if highly competent, then how do you stop others of the same age who aren't? With 14 yr olds competing now, how much different is it to let a 13 1/2 yr old compete, or then what about 13, 12.... where does it end? If 12 is ok, then "soon to be 12"?.... how about 11?.... 10?....

It should be obvious that for a lot of reasons, there has to be a limit.

Sprint car racing is a GROWN UP sport that is something for children to aspire to when they reach an age, where most will be expected to have the maturity to compete, and be respected by the other drivers.

And, the problem isn't with the children that want to race full size cars (we all wanted to, as kids, but it was an obvious NO WAY). The problem is with the grown ups that have the money to buy the equipment, maintain it, drive the child and the equipment to the track and plead the case to the officials to let them race.

Therefore it is my opinion that drivers for full sized sprints or midgets should be legally LICENSED DRIVERS.

This will at least insure that we are racing with someone that has passed the minimal state tests for driving a vehicle responsibly on public highways and have reached the minimum age where an individual is given adult responsibility by the state. This age is typically 16 yrs old ( plus however long it takes to pass the tests). Remember that even these individuals are still young enough to be in high school. Drivers licenses can be easily verified by the cop at the track.

Those under aged competitors that have already competed responsibly, could be allowed to continue.

There are many classes of race cars that are scaled to the abilities of children and adolescents. Those classes should continue to be a training and proving ground for the young competitors, aspiring to full size open wheel cars.