Tony Stewart and Brad Keselowski Lead the Protest Against NASCAR’s “Unfair” Direction as They Demand for Change

The discussion about the age limits in racing is endless. While NASCAR has set the bar currently at 18 years of age, many believe the age bar to be too low for such an exposure. Among them, NASCAR champions Tony Stewart and Brad Keselowski are ones advocating against it.

The reasoning mainly comes from keeping in mind the adolescent tendencies of teenagers that can cause them to make impulsive decisions. The other side of the coin is NASCAR going above and beyond to expand on its younger fan base, and that won’t materialize unless there is a younger pack leading the community. Weighing out the pros and cons, Tony Stewart believes it to be a “disservice,” to begin with.

“It makes zero sense to me”: Tony Stewart slams NASCAR for allowing underage racing

The age limit has decreased from 21 to the scenario we see now since the sport’s inception in the 1940s. Over the last two decades, there have been instances of teenagers below the age of 16 making their debut in late-model races. But it was still a rarity.

“I don’t like the direction motorsports is going as a whole,” said Tony Stewart, an Indy, Midget, and Sprint Car winner. The Stewart-Haas Racing owner believes that the cons of such situations massively outweigh the pros of it.

“I’m not just picking on NASCAR. There are series putting kids in late models at 12 and 14. It makes zero sense to me,” he further elaborated. 2012 Cup Champion Keselowski has a rather aggressive approach to the issue. Known for being vocal about the problems in the community, he dissected the situation perfectly, projecting its side effects in the long run.

“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.”

There have been cases of such teenage sensations making it big in NASCAR as well. Hailie Deegan and William Byron would make fine examples of that. Keselowski has voiced his opinion about this concern previously when 19-year-old Ty Gibbs almost hurt his driver Chris Buescher’s pit crew with questionable intent.

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Brad Keselowski’s constant effort to the cause ever since the Ty Gibbs incident

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Kenny Wallace rightfully named Keselowski as the next Mayor of NASCAR, comparing him to Jeff Burton. An active contributor to the necessary issues in the industry, he never backs down from his honest stance. Speaking on the present issue of age limit in NASCAR races, he conveyed that if he is given the authority to implement changes, he would raise the age limit in every single garage.

“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.” said a concerned Keselowski.

“That’s one (thing) that’s probably near and dear to my heart is letting 16-year-olds be 16-year-olds and not trying to make them superstar race car drivers because it damages them so much in their lives. That ends up hurting our garage area, too, and our industry.”

Last year in September, Keselowski was put in a similar situation when Ty Gibbs’ actions posed a possible threat to his driver Buescher’s pit crew. Owing to a temper tantrum, Gibbs tried to unsettle Dillon who was the initiator of the tussle. This led to Dillon moving on course to hit crew members and officials beside the pit road.

Keselowski analyzed the incident and proposed a suspension for Gibbs as well. Although he did explain his standpoint later, saying, “Ultimately, what I see here is a teenage kid who is working his way through it. He’s making mistakes on the biggest stage in our sport, and it’s a really difficult situation. I can’t be mad at Ty. I did a lot dumber things when I was a teenager, but I wasn’t on this stage.”

Gibbs was fined $75,000 and  25 owner points deducted by NASCAR for his fit of anger at Texas Motor Speedway. 

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