NASCAR has seen a trend of father-son duos, be it David Pearson and his son Larry Pearson, Dale Earnhardt or Dale Earnhardt Jr., or Bob Keselowski and Brad Keselowski, the list goes on. Second generation racers or even the third generation racers, from a very young age are exposed to the sport. Who can forget that at this year’s Las Vegas Race, Kyle Larson’s son came running on the track as Larson took the checkered flag? He climbed on top of the car and celebrated his father’s victory. These big moments definitely leave an unforgettable mark on a child’s mind.

The children are often seen hanging around tracks, never missing their father’s races. Being born into the racing culture, there is a very strong likelihood that they will turn out to be racers too. Look at Brexton Busch! Now coming back to the older father-son duo of NASCAR, in a recent roundtable with Kyle Petty, Ryan Blaney, and Harrison Burton as their fathers accompanied them, the sons talked about their childhood and how they got into racing.

How does racing start for the kids of NASCAR drivers?

Both Ryan Blaney and Harrison Burton come from racing families. The former’s father is a legend in street racing, and Burton’s a former NASCAR champion. The two must have grown up around race tracks and racecars, something that led them down this career path. Exposure to the sport from a young age and growing up with it is what starts racing careers. In the same round table led by Petty were Dave Blaney and Jeff Burton, who talked on the same lines. Dave shared, “You kind of have to grow up with somebody around it to dive in.”

It is kind of obvious that Dave grew up in a racing world, as his father, Lou Blaney, was a legendary sprint car racer. However, for Jeff, he doesn’t come from a racing legacy, but yet he had exposure to racing, which proved to be a stepping stone for him. “No one in our family was racing, but my dad liked watching racing. Yeah, so we would go to a few cup races. South Boston Speedway was in our backyard. We would go there and watch races, and that kind of sparked interest.”

Thanks to their fathers, both Ryan and Harrison grew up in this culture and chose racing as a career path. Both spent their childhoods on and around the tracks. In the interview, they shared how racing was a natural choice for them. Talking about what piqued his interest in racing, Ryan said, “I think it was the easiest thing to relate to. It’s all you knew. I mean, it’s just what. I mean, Harrison and I were just born into it when our dads were racing, and this is what you do with your family on the weekends. This consumed your week life.”

Harrison has a similar story, as he got into racing at a very young age and would go race with his father. Harrison joked about how he tried various sports but was not good at them. Racing was what clicked for him. “You know racing I started when I was 5. So you know it’s really all Ive ever known. I think the first 5-6 years of it was just for fun. Like me and my dad would go and we would just have fun and I didn’t take it that seriously”. 

Like Harrison, racetracks were playgrounds for the children of drivers growing up. Watching races was a big part of their childhood, something that probably inspired them growing up. This trend has been there for a long time in NASCAR. Even now, this trend is continuing as a new generation of racers is in the making.

A new generation of racers is getting ready 

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As the current NASCAR drivers are still racing, their children have already taken the wheel. Kyle Busch is often seen with his son Brexton on the track. Brexton is following in his father’s footsteps, winning his share of dirt races. Taking about Brexton in a chat with FloRacing, he had said, “Yeah, I’d probably get into Midgets. But my mom doesn’t want me to get into Midgets, so…” 

Brexton Busch is just 9, and when NASCAR closed in Pocono, he was taking sprints in the annual Hyper Racing 600 Speedweek. While this is such a proud moment for Rowdy after a disappointing run at the HighPoint.Com 400 as he said, “He’s been getting a lot better in being able to describe the car and its feelings and being able to tell you what it’s doing to be able to make it faster. So that’s been really helpful and it’s also made his progression a lot better and also it’s given him a lot of good results. He wins a lot.” 

Like Busch, Kevin Harvick also has a successor. His son Kellan started racing when he was just 7. Young Kellan already has several wins under his belt in junior gokarting. Kellan seems to be in a hurry to step in his father’s shoes. Early in the year, he was also seen driving a stock car.

Another like-father-like son is Kyle Larson’s son, Owen. Just like his father, Owen is a champion in the making. Just recently, he won his first ever junior’s sprint race. Hopefully, the future kids of Ryan and Harrison will also carry their family legacies. However, we don’t want to put pressure on them.