Every team starting out in NASCAR today has one thing in common, the perception that there is a ladder to success within the NASCAR system. The ladder has been diagramed by NASCAR. Start in one of the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series, move up to the Elite Tour, next climb up to the Grand National Series, then on to Craftsman Trucks and the Busch Series and in due course a driver will reach the final destination, the NEXTEL Cup.
On paper it sounds good.
But out in the real world the NASCAR Cup car owners are not always picking their drivers from the drivers ascending NASCAR’s ladder. They are just as likely to look elsewhere. Competing successfully in NASCAR is not necessary criteria for landing a good ride with a big team.
Jack Roush, car owner of multiple NASCAR teams, ran his “Gong Show” to pick the most advantageous driver he could find, there were a few token NASCAR drivers selected to test, but in the end when the competition was tough and the decision on whom would be the best driver for Roush’s racing operation, Roush and his team selected Todd Kluever, an ASA Tour driver.
It was reported in “Car and Driver Magazine” that Roush told the media Kluever was from Wisconsin and has the same values as an Alan Kulwicki or a Mark Martin or a Matt Kenseth. "I can relate to where he comes from," said Roush.
In this case the ASA ladder offered a better climb to the higher series in NASCAR.
Champion NEXTEL Cup car owner Rick Hendrick did not look for NASCAR experience either when he went on a hunt for new talent. He signed 15 year-old Chase Austin, a driver that is a multiple winner on dirt in micro sprints but one that never wheeled a NASCAR ride.
“The State”, a South Carolina newspaper, reported that the color of Austin’s skin which is different than anybody in a Nextel Cup or Busch Series car, led Hendrick to say, “Is a bonus.”
And then of course there are drivers such as Kasey Kahne, J.J. Yeley, Dave Blaney and Tony Stewart; all with careers started in open wheel, skipping several of NASCAR’s rungs.
Without changes from NASCAR, the suggested climb to success may reveal nothing more than an empty view when the drivers that have paid their license fees all the way up start reaching for the top rungs. It may be when they reach the level to move up the rung that leads to Busch or Craftsman Trucks they are now too old for consideration in one of these series. They will have spent too many years on the ladder.
A solution would be for NASCAR to stipulate a rule that no driver can compete in NASCAR’s Cup level without having paid their dues in NASCAR Weekly Racing, NASCAR Tour and NASCAR Grand National. In other words, drivers and car owners would know to compete in NASCAR Cup a driver has to compete a season in each of the NASCAR feeder series, a year in Weekly Racing, a year in Tour, and a year in Grand National.
NASCAR is successful in pushing a driver diversity program, why not a driver loyalty program? Drivers work hard climbing the NASCAR ladder and should have support from NASCAR when they start reaching the upper rungs. Why not reward the drivers that financially contribute to NASCAR year in and year out?
NASCAR’s ladder is a slow climb and without car owners such as Kevin Harvick who supports the series and tracks he came from and will pluck a driver off the NASCAR ladder, the quickest way to the top may not be a ladder at all. There are a lot of drivers that are cutting in line to a Cup ride by taking the USAC and ASA elevators to the top.
