Influx of young blood has Hendrick set for future

CONCORD, N.C. -- Jeff Gordon is only 31, so he's got more than a few good years left in him. And Jimmie Johnson is not yet 28, so he'll be around a little while longer for Hendrick Motorsports, too.

But Rick Hendrick isn't sitting still. Sure, his four-team Winston Cup outfit is solid, but the future is always right around the corner. Planning for that future, the team is looking to a couple of youngsters. Teen-agers. Kids, really.

Fresh as a hand-picked apple. They weren't born yesterday, but maybe the day before.

	Brian Vickers currently stands seventh in points in the Busch Series.

Brian Vickers, the elder statesman of Hendrick's Busch Series program, is 19. Kyle Busch, who recently made his Busch debut, just turned 18. Add them together, and you've got an average-level experienced driver.

"Him and Brian are definitely going to be a force to be reckoned with in the Cup series for Hendrick Motorsports," said Ricky Hendrick, Rick's son and the owner of Vickers' Busch Series team.

If Busch and Vickers turn out to be as talented as promised, Hendrick Motorsports is faced with a unique problem. Sure, Terry Labonte is in the twilight of his career, but Joe Nemechek, Johnson and Gordon aren't even close to headed to Florida for an early retirement.

So in, say, two or three years, what does the team do if Busch and Vickers are ready for NASCAR's top division? Can you say "six-car team"?

"We'd love to have a monopoly," Hendrick said. "We'd love to be the top dog in the Winston Cup series. If the situation occurred where we had two hot, up-and-coming drivers that are ready for Winston Cup racing, and we need to put them in Winston Cup racing -- which we would do -- we would have to do whatever's necessary to provide them rides. We would find a way to put them in a Winston Cup car."

And that means there's a chance Hendrick would start two new teams.

Of course, we're getting ahead of ourselves. Neither driver has won yet in the Busch Series, and Busch has made only one start in a limited schedule this season. He won't be driving in this weekend's Trace Adkins Chrome 300 at Nashville Superspeedway, but will return Aug. 2 at Indianapolis Raceway Park.

HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS  •  Team Page  •  Brian Vickers' driver page  •  Disappointment for Vickers at Texas  •  Kyle Busch set to run limited NBS schedule

But the future is indeed bright, even if Vickers doesn't exactly look at himself as Hendrick's future.

"Hendrick Motorsports, to me, is a lot more than just the drivers," Vickers said. "There are lots of good drivers there: Jeff, Jimmie, Terry and Joe. And Jimmie's very young as well. On top of that, it's a team. What makes those cars run good every weekend has a lot to do with those guys in the shop, the guys in the engine department, the guys in the pit crew, Rick and Ricky -- he's the future of Hendrick Motorsports.

"As time goes on, we'll see what happens. Hopefully, I'll be one of their premier Cup drivers, ideally. If that's the future of Hendrick Motorsports, then maybe so."

Busch just chuckles. He does see himself as part of the future, if not THE future.

"I don't know if Brian thinks he's not the future of Hendrick Motorsports," Busch said. "Why else would they hire him?"

	Kyle Busch drove for Roush in the Truck Series in 2001.

Vickers was "recruited," if you will, by Ricky Hendrick. Hendrick was quitting as a driver and wanted a long-term solution. He had been impressed with what Vickers had done in family-owned equipment, so Vickers was brought in for a full-fledged interview.

Vickers even wore a suit and tie.

"It must not have hurt any," Vickers said.

Vickers has been nothing short of impressive this season, posting six top-10 finishes. But he's most remembered for the near-victory at Texas that was taken away by a controversial ruling on a restart.

He's bounced back from that and has finished fourth, second, 14th and fifth in his last four races.

"He has amazed me way beyond what I expected," Hendrick said. "I believe my father feels the same way. I feel like he was a gem in the rough that we found. I'm sure before too long, he'll be one to reckon with in the Winston Cup series."

The elder Hendrick was the one who nabbed Kyle Busch. The younger brother of Winston Cup star Kurt Busch had been with Roush Racing in the Craftsman Truck Series; but Kyle's NASCAR career was put on hold when the league mandated a minimum age requirement -- which Kyle didn't meet.

Busch ran in ASA last year as a 17-year-old, trying to work out a deal with Roush for the future. Busch hired an agent, whose priority was to get a deal with Roush. But the agent also looked around and found Hendrick Motorsports, who snapped him up with a two-year deal, starting with this season's abbreviated ARCA and Busch Series schedule.

Busch didn't have to do sit-down interview, per se, but since motorsports has gotten so big -- sponsors, manufacturers, etc. -- Busch and his father still had to sit down with Rick Hendrick and general manager Jeff Turner.

"Everybody assumed, including myself, that he was under contract with Roush," Ricky Hendrick said. "I thought for sure Roush had him locked up. I assumed he was already under contract, which he wasn't. ... Dad looked into that and found another gem."

But the two diamonds are still teen-agers, and there's a long way to go. Or is there?

"We kind of figured there would be mistakes here and there," Hendrick said. "The car was going to get spun out, we were going to wreck people. But Brian's driving like he's been in the Busch Series for four years. In my mind, there have been minimal mistakes."

Vickers, Hendrick said, drives like a veteran, and doesn't talk or act like a 19-year-old.

That's the idea, Vickers said.

"Sponsors like the age number, they like to see the 19, they like to see a youthful face," Vickers said. "But they don't like to see the average 19-year-old, the way he acts. I had to grow up."

Busch had to grow up quickly, too, and though he admits that "everybody has seemed to have made me" grow up too fast, he's mature enough to understand the way the sport works.

"I don't think there's any more of that going on any more," Busch said. "The racing world's a tough business. The things you've got to do to keep the sponsors happy, the publicity, the fans -- the people that make the sport possible -- you've got to keep on going out. There's not really much time for a social life any more."

Not that he's complaining. Besides, Hendrick Motorsports will probably have Busch in a Winston Cup seat someday.

"I'm not in any hurry to get up to Winston Cup," Busch said. "I'll tell you that for sure. I'm just trying to learn and get what I can. That's all I've been saying is, 'Learn, learn, learn. What else can you learn?'"

Busch doesn't want to be pressured, and Ricky Hendrick isn't about to pressure him. He understands that drivers work better in a low-pressure environment, and there's also a danger of moving a driver too quickly.

Vickers isn't in a hurry, either.

"They've had a lot of success with knowing the right time to take drivers to Winston Cup, obviously," Vickers said. "I respect their decision. Whenever they think the time is right -- they know a lot better than I do -- I'll go."

When that day comes, Kyle Busch might be with him again.

"It's pretty cool to have the young up-and-comers together and be able to learn and work together," Busch said.