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Gibbs Racing Opposes Raising Age Minimum

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By TONY FABRIZIO, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 24, 2008

Updated: 01/24/2008 12:11 am

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. - Joe Gibbs Racing is lobbying NASCAR to keep the minimum age for the Sprint Cup Series at 18 so the team can promote 17-year-old prodigy Joey Logano as soon as next year, team president J.D. Gibbs said late Tuesday.

NASCAR is looking at raising the age for its top series to 21, in part to assure that drivers don't move up too quickly and in part to build more star power in the Nationwide (formerly Busch) and Craftsman Truck series by making up-and-coming drivers stay longer.

If the change is made, Logano wouldn't be able to race a full season in the Sprint Cup Series until 2012. That would scuttle JGR's plans to move Logano up within the next couple of years.

"For us going to a fourth Sprint Cup car, he's our guy," Gibbs said of Logano. "So, clearly, we don't want to wait 'til 2012. We couldn't. So I think there's a process there. ... Hey, if a guy is ready to go, let him go. If he's not ready, don't let him go."

Gibbs said the current system, with NASCAR officials having to "approve" drivers to move up to larger tracks or higher-level series, works well. If the age limit is raised, he said, there should be a clause that exempts existing developmental drivers.

"Hey, we want them to have a strong Nationwide series," Gibbs said. "We want them to have a strong Cup series. I think we've been good partners in that. ... But we've invested a lot in our young guys."

Gibbs' view is not universal among team owners. For instance, Richard Childress, who has two teenage grandsons racing, favors raising the age limit to 21 and making drivers "pay their dues."

Logano turns 18 on May 24, and he is scheduled to run 18 Nationwide races for JGR starting June 2 at Dover. He said on Tuesday night's preseason media tour visit to JGR headquarters that he hopes there is no change but that he will leave the lobbying up to bosses Joe and J.D. Gibbs.

The Connecticut native won the Busch East championship last year with five wins, proving that Mark Martin was a good judge of talent in 2005 when he said Logano was ready to race in the big time at age 15 and could become one of the greatest NASCAR drivers of all time.

One of his victories was a battle with Kevin Harvick in which they traded the lead 15 times. Harvick had won the Nextel All-Star Challenge the night before.

J.D. Gibbs said that even though the 6-foot-2, rail-thin Logano has yet to turn a lap in Nationwide competition, he is confident he will be the guy for JGR's long-awaited fourth Cup team.

"It could be '09, it could be '10," Gibbs said. "We're not in a hurry to do it, but you need to do it fairly quickly to make sure you capitalize on all of your assets."

HOT LAPS: Dale Jarrett, who will retire after the first five races, is replacing Rusty Wallace in the booth for ESPN's NASCAR coverage, and Wallace will become the lead analyst for the network's studio programs. Jarrett, whose father, Ned, was a longtime broadcaster, received acclaim for his work last year in 10 Busch Series races. ... Asked what he thinks of Tony Stewart's long hair and facial growth, J.D. Gibbs said, "Here's the problem: Three or four girls told him he looks hot. That's all he needs."

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