J.T, I agree with you when you started racing at Bloomington and North Vernon we pitted next to each other frequently. If you were unsure of something you would ask and if I could answer I would. You never extended youself outside of your ability. I do however remember the accident that you and Jason Setzer had on the backstretch at Vernon when the back of your seat cracked your helmet. For me as a driver of several years at that time had my eyes opened at the prospect that "hey these cars can be dangerous" it was a reality check. I do not think it is a bad idea to have an age limit. As for respect most kids at the age of 13 to 17 don't know the meaning of the word. In racing I was always told you had to earn respect of others on the track. And that was what I always strived to do and in the late 90's and early 2000 that was a tall order. The one thing I worry about is a young driver that doesn't understand the danger of our sport putting his fellow drivers at risk with dangerous moves on the track. This for the most part isn't that bad on a continual basis but I have seen it. I do not want to see anyone hurt, but I also know in the sport of sprint cars it is not a matter of if it,but of when. I would hate to see that be a 13 or 14 yr. old and the damage be something permenant. I have a daughter close to this age and I would not want her to be in a sprint car at that age. And believe me she would do it in a heart beat and that not only scares me but makes me proud. But long story short we do need to be careful with allowing any age driver to run a sprint car. There are to many factors at a young age that make it a very risky venture that the law of averages will catch up with. Sorry for the long post.

Kevin Chambers
#18 sprint car

We often complain about our part of the sport not getting enough positive publicity, but you can bet than when one of these young tyros gets seriously hurt or worse when competing against adults the media will be there. While the Jeff Gordon story and others make for interesting publicity fodder. I would humbly suggest that any sanctioning body who does not require a minimum age of 18 get a new legal advisor.

Why is it that the older a driver becomes.....the less respect he feels the younger generation has for the sport?(Just a general statement and not directed toward anyone in particular)

The problem isn't that many of the kids don't respect the other drivers or the cars they are driving(Honestly....how many people can fully respect anything until they have done it themselves?) They are just not in awe of the competition. That is because they have been racing for 10 years and have accomplished alot in their respective divisions. That is a big difference today verses days gone by.

It is often forgotten how much help A.J. Foyt got from his father when he started racing. A.J.'s dad helped him tremendously and had new motors shipped by air to help keep his son racing. Obviously A.J. Foyt's legend speaks for itself, but lets not let time convienantly erase some of the facts.

I only mention this because it is often thought that the Golden Era drivers didn't have alot of parental help. Maybe not as much as today and definately not all of them, but many did.