Inside an auditorium at Lowe's Motor Speedway, a few dozen boys and girls are fidgeting in their seats, throwing paper wads and listening to their iPods.

A track official gets on a microphone and warns the restless crowd, "Whoever just threw that paper wad, go pick it up, you're the reason we can't have drivers meetings in here."

Wait, did he just say drivers?

Yes, but most of the kids aren't old enough to obtain a valid driver's license in the states they reside. Well driver's license, or lack thereof, is a mere technicality for the future drivers of NASCAR.

Their parents may have chauffeured them to LMS that afternoon, but it's the kids who are behind the wheel on the track, honing their skills and following in the footsteps of their famous fathers who race in NASCAR's present.

A part of the Summer Shootout Series, several young racers, NASCAR progeny, are competing against more than 200 Summer Shootout competitors every Tuesday at LMS until Aug. 7.

The series features three classes of Bandolero racing and four divisions of Legends Cars and Thunder Roadsters; the same style of racing stars Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch and Reed Sorensen began their careers.

If Ryan Blaney, son of Cup series driver Dave Blaney, has it his way, the 13-year-old will be no different.

Cup driver Kyle Busch was Blaney's age when he started racing Legends cars and today holds the record for the youngest driver to win a NASCAR event at age 19.

Busch said the choice to start with Legends, as opposed to street stocks or go-karts, was instrumental in his development as a driver due to the degree of difficulty the Legends cars present.

"The biggest thing about those cars is they are hard to drive, hard to handle and hard to set up," said Busch, who from 1999 to 2001 earned 65 wins in Legends cars and won two championships at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. "There's a lot of horse power, but not a lot of weight or tire, so it's like racing on a street tire really. Overall, the mechanics are more difficult and you had to learn and try different styles and learn to adjust your line in order to pass"

Reed Sorenson, also a Cup driver who comes from Legends cars, dominated the series winning multiple championships and breaking several track records at 12 years old.

"Those cars were a great training tool because they don't have a good tire and the motor has more power than the tire can handle, it was harder to drive," Sorenson said. "And the competition was good."

Passing the competition is what Blaney said he does best.

His opportunity to go racing came when he was nine years old. He started racing quarter midgets, something his older sister Emma, now 16, was already doing.

Blaney's father said he waited as long as he could to put his young son in a car, but some young racers today are starting at five and six.

"I started at 15 or 16 in go-karts," he said. "They are learning a lot earlier these days and have so many different avenues to take. There are lots of kids out here who, eventually, if they stick to it, will be in NASCAR." (Continued)