I came across this article today. A 13 year old racing full time in 410 winged sprints. Lastly year, he raced 1000cc Lightning sprints snd before that believe go karts or quarter midgets.
At first, 13 just seems young to me. A middle schooler racing men in full sized sprints. I know this might not be unheard of but had me wondering. How young is too young? Let's not even say for your kid. In general, what age limit would you put for 410 racing wing or non wing regardless of prior experience.
Gordon attempted to start a couple all star races at the end of the year when he was thirteen.
Tyler Reddick ran a LM a lot when he was 13
Too young? Many have almost ten years racing at that age. But that I don't think should be the determining factor. Can they hold a line, Do they lose their cool? do they do stupid stuff? There's some 30 year olds that can't
The answer to me is I don't know. I remember a bunch of todays USAC stars running some of the tracks in sprinters when they were 14-15 and most of them did well.
I personally (a 19 year old racing a Lightning Sprint going on 4th or 5th year racing anything started in lightning sprints) think for Sprint cars 410ci 18 years old with a minimum 4-5 years of racing something bigger then a kart. 305-360ci 16 years old minimum of 3 year racing something bigger then a kart. I know a lot of people disagree with me but oh well.
This discussion was going on a couple of years ago when he wanted to start racing Lightening Sprints. They had to bend/ignore the rules for him to race. He's a good driver, holds his line well, and seems to hold his cool under pressure. That's all well and good. But how much can a 13 year old body withstand in a major impact compared to an adult? That's my issue, which was totally ignored by all involved.
There's a lot of new information coming out about concussions in adolescents, mostly from football studies. Kids have a higher chance of having long lasting effects from brain injuries that adults do. For that reason alone I think it's time to start considering caution when putting younger drivers in the big cars. I'm not suggesting a ban, but I would like to see an effort from crews and families of younger drivers (in any series, but especially the bigger cars) to take the time to learn how to recognize the symptoms. I would be all for a 'concussion protocol' for young drivers that are in a serious impact be cleared by a doctor before returning to action.
