What is the Right Racing Series for Career Development?

Wow!  That question has been asked a million times.  The challenge with the question, is most folks do not know the right criteria to arrive at a good answer.  The usual answer is about which series they think their driver can "get discovered" in ... or "get exposure" in. 

Why that line of thinking is off track ... is because the decision makers at Cup Teams are not watching entry level race series for their next driver.  Why would they?  In addition to talent scouts bringing them drivers, they have hundreds of talented, motivated, skilled, attractive drivers knocking on their doors all the time. So our answer to "what series" question ... may surprise you. 

We do not care which series gets the most "exposure" ... because it's not exposure to the right people.  We talk directly with the decision makers at the Cup Teams. So when we have a star level talented driver ... fully developed and ready to make that step ... RSWC coordinates an introduction & test directly with Cup Teams. 

With that in mind, the top two keys for RSWC are developing the driver's skills & racecraft to elite status ... and ... building an winning resume in MULTIPLE series that will be impressive to Cup Team decision makers. We believe the FIVE critical points of criteria are: What race CAR series can you AFFORD to race in ... competitively enough to WIN races ... that has CREDIBILITY ... for the AGE of the driver.

As an example: Drivers winning races in the USAC Ford Focus Midgets in the age range of 14-18 can be one step to a credible resume.  But not for a driver 20+ years old.  The series difficulty needs to match the age, or the wins are not impressive. When Ron Sutton started this driver development program, he learned what series top Cup Teams would respect Driver accomplishments in. 

The biggest things to realize, are ...

• There are racing series Cup Team decision makers respect & value.
• There are racing series Cup Team decision makers do not respect & value.
• Knowing which is which can mean the difference getting to a career ... or wasting years & lots of money.
• No one series makes the resume impress Cup Team decision makers.
• Winning in multiple respected series, that are competitive & respectable for the age of the driver, each year of their development ...is the KEY.
  

Most young Drivers coming into NASCAR in recent history … that have been successful … have come one of two routes: USAC Open Wheel and/or NASCAR Late Model Stock Cars. Here is where the stars have come from:

Stock Car Path:           Open Wheel Path:
Denny Hamlin                Tony Stewart
Jimmy Johnson              Carl Edwards
Kevin Harvick                 Jeff Gordon
Kyle Busch                    Kasey Kahne
Kurt Busch                    Ryan Newman
Matt Kenseth                 Dave Blaney


For this reason, RSWC develops drivers primarily in USAC Open Wheel AND NASCAR Modifieds & Late Models.  We do not develop drivers in just one OR the other, but BOTH USAC Open Wheel AND NASCAR Modifieds/Late Model types of races cars & series.  And ... with the two road course races on NASCAR's Cup & Nationwide schedule being critical to the points championship, road racing skill is also a key talent Cup Teams value.  So as icing on the cake, RSWC plugs drivers into a little road racing, with driver coaches, to develop those skills early in a driver’s career.  One of the road courses we race on, is Infineon, the West Coast track the Cup series races on.

For the RSWC Driver Development Program, we identified the best series to run drivers in ... and then formed alliances with the top teams in each series. RSWC has a multi-race team alliance capable of fielding 30 race teams for RSWC drivers. (Team details outlined later in Tour)

The Series RSWC uses to develop Drivers are:

Road Racing

  Skip Barber Series                              SCCA Formula Ford                            SCCA Formula Continental               Pacific Formula 2000

Dirt Oval Track

  USAC Young Guns Midget                  USAC Ford Focus Midget                  USAC/VRA Sprint Car

Pavement Open Wheel

  USAC Young Guns Midget                  USAC Ford Focus Midget                   USAC Midget                                        USAC Sprint Car

Stock Cars/Modifieds

  NASCAR Limited Late Model             NASCAR Modified                               NASCAR Late Model                           NASCAR K&N Pro Series

The series itself is important, because the driver needs to build a resume of winning races in series respected by Cup Team decision makers.  But it is only one part of the development equation.  The biggest keys are getting the young driver trained, coached and developed ... win races ... and to perform outside the cockpit as well.

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