NASCAR considers raising drivers' age limit

The Charlotte Observer is reporting that NASCAR is considering raising the age limit from 18 to 21 for drivers who want to race in the top three national touring divisions: Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Craftsman Truck series.
The move is being considered because NASCAR officials reportedly believe some drivers are being pushed through the developmental ranks too quickly. In the history of NASCAR, only two drivers younger than 21 have won races in the top division. Kyle Busch won his first Cup races when he was 20. Donald Thomas won a NASCAR race at Lakewood Speedway in Atlanta in 1952 when he as 20.
One driver who would like to see drivers enter the Cup series with a little more experience and seasoning is Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 12 Dodge for Penske Racing. He graduated from Purdue University with a degree in engineering before seriously pursuing an auto racing career and he wishes teams in NASCAR would show a little more patience with young drivers.
"People aren’t wanting to wait for kids to be out of college to hire them to be a race car driver," Newman told members of the media during testing at Daytona International Speedway on Wednesday. "I wish that weren’t the case. I wish that was some kind of stipulation."
Newman said he would like to see more drivers go to college and earn a degree before entering the ranks of NASCAR. Pursuing an education should be more important than pursuing a career driving stock cars in NASCAR.
“I just wanted to say, just for the benefit of NASCAR and the affect that we have on kids and people that are in high school, instead of saying, I want to go to NASCAR, I want them to say, I want to get an education then go to NASCAR," Newman said. "I think that would be nice.”