More and more NASCAR drivers opting for early retirement

Elliott Sadler and Kasey Kahne spoke on back-to-back days at Bristol Motor Speedway earlier this month, and the message from each of them was pretty clear — their hearts no longer were into living a life of racing every week.

What they got from racing — Sadler perennially battling for a NASCAR Xfinity Series title but not having earned one while enjoying his time coaching his son’s baseball team, and Kahne often struggling to race in sight of the leaders in the NASCAR Cup series — wasn’t enough to compensate for their desire for more time to live more of a normal life. Sadler has two children, ages 6 and 8, and Kahne has a 2-year-old son.

“I’m at the next chapter of my life where my son’s and daughter’s life is more important to me than what I do on the racetrack,” Sadler said he told JR Motorsports co-owner Kelley Earnhardt Miller. “I told her to put her focus and energy on a new driver, a new partner. … I just feel like, personally, I want to do something else.”

Sadler would have needed to find sponsorship, and while that helped him make the decision easier, he sounded like someone whose mind already was made up before learning of the OneMain Financial decision to retire as the team’s primary sponsor. Kahne said he left a contract on the table with Leavine Family Racing, and potential discussions with other teams didn’t make him want to keep racing.

“There was money there. There were a few other offers that I had received over the last month and just options that we could talk about, things like that,” Kahne said. “It felt really good to have that. But at the same time, it wasn’t necessarily about that anymore, and I didn’t feel that I could seriously race all of next year and be completely committed 100 percent.

“And I feel like there are guys out there that can be and that should have those opportunities over me at this point in time, because I don’t feel like I can be that guy from this point on.”

Kahne is 38 years old and already “retired,” and Carl Edwards retired early last year at age 37. There are other drivers racing into their mid-40s; Sadler is 43 years old.

“I’ve got to keep going. I’ve got way too much debt, so, unfortunately, I don’t think I can retire as soon as the rest of those guys are currently at the moment.”

Kyle Busch

Kyle Busch, 33, joked when asked if he will be an under-40 retirement guy or more like the drivers who compete into their 40s.

“I’ve asked my accountant that question, and he says I’m screwed,” Busch said. “I’ve got to keep going. I’ve got way too much debt, so, unfortunately, I don’t think I can retire as soon as the rest of those guys are currently at the moment.

“But we’ll see how things go in the future with what I’ve got going on.”

There is speculation that if NASCAR goes to a drafting package — a package that could add more parity on the racetrack — some drivers might opt to retire if they don’t feel their talent will make a difference.

“We’ve gone through a lot of change over the years with packages and cars and things like that in the Cup series, and I’ve been around for a few of them — maybe not as many as some other guys like Jimmie [Johnson], most notably, and [my brother] Kurt,” Busch said. “It still feels like there’s some opportunity to excel, and you hope that you can excel.

“Obviously, the better drivers, the more talented drivers should always shine and come to the top, and maybe we can still have that opportunity with whatever new package is coming — if it is coming. We’ll see what happens in that regard.”

Obviously, running well could make a driver continue his career because he could have more job offers, and winning makes the grind less of, well, a grind. With drivers often needing multiple sponsors to race instead of one or two primary sponsors, that often means more requests for their time.

Kevin Harvick, 42, is doing so much television that it would seem he could retire and go right to the TV booth for a second career. But he’s also enjoying the best years of his 19-year career on the track.

“Success is obviously what everybody is here for, and when you get that on the weekends and you’re able to do those types of things and you don’t have to be a part of the process and the push to fight every week of what you do to get there, I think that really helps keep everybody motivated,” Harvick said.

“It’s a grind, and I think as you see Elliott and Kasey and some of these guys kind of call it quits, the common theme out of both of those retirements is not physical or didn’t have anything to drive, it’s the grind and ‘I want to spend more time with my family.'”

Harvick indicated he’s not ready to retire.

“I know for us we’re going through the same type of evaluation from what we do at this particular point and how you spend your time and the way that you manage your time,” said Harvick, who has two young children. “I’ve heard a lot of people say, ‘Are you retiring?’ I’m like, ‘No, I’m not retiring,’ but you’re going to see a lot of decisions come out that make you think that I am.

“But it’s really all about making sure that you have your time managed and do things that make sure that family is first. … We’ll worry about the retirement thing in a few years when we have to start thinking about that stuff.”

Martin Truex Jr. also is enjoying some of his biggest career moments, winning a title last year at age 38.

“[Success] makes dealing with all the other things that come along with doing the job a little bit easier,” Truex said. “I think as the years go by here, especially since I’ve started, it seems like things have changed to where there’s a lot more off-track commitments and there’s a lot more things we have to do to make things work.

“Obviously, it’s getting tougher and a lot more challenging each season to bring in the sponsorship and bring in the dollars it takes to be competitive, so that requires more work from us. I think if you’re not running good, it’s just hard to deal with it all.”

Truex doesn’t know yet where he will race next year because of sponsorship. And if he goes to a new team, that means likely more sponsor commitments to try to make sure that sponsor has a good experience.

“Some of these guys have been racing since they were 6, 7, 8 years old, and they have families and they want to go do some other things,” said Truex, who has no children. “So, I wish all those guys the best, and with that said, I don’t plan on retiring anytime soon.”