NASCAR Drivers Older Than Other Sports Stars
#10 Valvoline Pontiac driver Johnny Benson would never want to guard Jason Kidd, hit a Curt Schilling fastball, or get hit by linebacker Ray Lewis. But he knows those guys will never hit a wall as hard as he has in a Nascar Winston Cup. Benson also knows his sport is much kinder to its competitors as they grow older. A survey of the different sports show a Nascar Winston Cup driver’s average age is nearly 10 years greater than an all star basketball player, and about 8 years more than baseball’s and football’s all-stars. Also, a review of the ages of most of the regular drivers in NASCAR, Formula One, CART and the IRL over the last five years show those drivers’ average ages to be significantly different. Average Ages of Sports Stars: Years 2003 NBA All-Stars 27.7 2002 Baseball All-Star Starters 29.1 2003 Football Pro Bowl Starters 29.4 Top 43 NASCAR Drivers 37.3 Valvoline Pontiac Driver Johnny Benson: “I guess NASCAR drivers have nothing to complain about. I mean I wish we made the salaries they make in the other sports, but the flip side of it is I’d probably be retired now if I were a football, baseball or basketball player so I have no complaints. I thankful to be able to do what I love doing for as long as we get to in NASCAR. That’s cool. I think our fans like it too. They get to know us over our careers. I mean I don’t remember what NASCAR racing was like before Schrader, Bill Elliott, Rusty Wallace and those guys were racing. I think the fans like that continuity through the years. We are even lucky compared to other racing series. I guess I’m in the middle of the NASCAR average age, but I’d be an old man in open wheel cars. Like I said I have no complaints. We’ve had our youth movement in the sport and I think that is starting to level off. It still boils down to whether you can drive. If you can who cares how old you are.” Racing Series Nascar Drivers Average Ages (Top 43 Drivers) 2003 37.3 years old 2002 36.8 2001 35.9 2000 38.0 1999 38.5 IRL Drivers Average Ages (2003 Indy 500 Field) 2003 30.2 years old 2002 32.9 2001 33.6 2000 32.7 1999 34.1 CART Drivers Average Ages 2003 29.8 years old 2002 30.0 2001 30.3 2000 30.0 1999 30.1 Formula One Drivers Average Ages 2003 28.4 years old 2002 27.9 2001 27.4 2000 28.5 1999 28.9 Individual NASCAR Drivers Driver DOB Age Bill Elliott 10/8/1955 47 Ken Schrader 5/29/1955 47 Dale Jarrett 11/26/1956 46 Rusty Wallace 8/14/1956 46 Ricky Rudd 10/12/1956 46 Jimmy Spencer 2/15/1957 46 Terry Labonte 11/16/1956 46 Sterling Marlin 6/30/1957 45 Mike Skinner 6/28/1957 45 Mike Wallace 3/10/1959 44 Brett Bodine 1/11/1959 44 Derrike Cope 11/3/1958 44 Mark Martin 1/9/1959 44 Kyle Petty 6/2/1960 42 Ward Burton 10/25/1961 41 Dave Blaney 10/24/1962 40 John Andretti 3/12/1963 40 Jeff Green 9/6/1962 40 Todd Bodine 2/27/1964 39 Johnny Benson 6/27/1963 39 Bobby Labonte 5/8/1964 39 Joe Nemechek 9/26/1963 39 Michael Waltrip 5/30/1963 39 Kenny Wallace 8/23/1963 39 Tony Raines 4/14/1964 39 Jack Sprague 8/8/1964 38 Ricky Craven 5/24/1966 37 Steve Park 8/23/1967 35 Jeff Burton 6/29/1967 35 Greg Biffle 12/23/1969 33 Jeremy Mayfield 5/27/1969 33 Tony Stewart 5/20/1971 32 Jeff Gordon 8/4/1971 31 Matt Kenseth 3/10/1972 31 Dale Earnhardt, Jr 10/10/1974 28 Kevin Harvick 12/8/1975 27 Elliott Sadler 5/30/1975 27 Jimmie Johnson 9/17/1975 27 Jamie McMurray 6/3/1976 26 Larry Foyt 2/22/1977 26 Casey Mears 3/12/1978 25 Ryan Newman 12/8/1977 25 Kurt Busch 8/4/1978 24