That Brad Sweet knows how to wheel a race car has never really been in question. After all, this is a driver who finished second by eight points last season in the U.S. Auto Club's national midget standings, and has scored victories on renowned dirt tracks like Knoxville, Iowa, and Eldora Speedway in Ohio. In his most recent start in the Camping World Truck Series, coming last month at O'Reilly Raceway Park outside Indianapolis, the 24-year-old from Grass Valley, Calif., earned his first career top-10 finish.

But Sweet has more going for him than just talent. He's also been the beneficiary of some good fortune -- in this case, the good fortune of catching the eye of Cup Series star Kasey Kahne, who became a friend and mentor to the young driver and helped facilitate his first steps from USAC into NASCAR.

“

I'll be honest, without Kasey, I don't think I'd ever have gotten a shot down here. For sure, you need a lot of people on your side and you need a lot of lucky breaks. I'm sure there are a lot of great drivers out there who deserve the same opportunity I'm getting, but who'll never get the opportunity.

”

BRAD SWEET

"I'll be honest, without Kasey, I don't think I'd ever have gotten a shot down here," said Sweet, running a slate of 10 Truck events this season for Stringer Motorsports, an organization connected to Kahne through sponsor Great Clips. "For sure, you need a lot of people on your side and you need a lot of lucky breaks. I'm sure there are a lot of great drivers out there who deserve the same opportunity I'm getting, but who'll never get the opportunity."

That there are great drivers in USAC who may never get a chance in NASCAR seems strange, given the strong track record former sprint, midget, and silver crown pilots have complied in stock cars, and given how team owners once scoured the USAC ranks looking for the next big thing. Ken Schrader cracked the door open, and Jeff Gordon -- who tore up the USAC ranks during the old "Thursday Night Thunder" days -- kicked it down, precipitating a flood of former USAC drivers into NASCAR's national divisions. Gordon's success made USAC a choice destination for NASCAR teams seeking talent, and helped Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman, Mike Bliss, Kenny Irwin, J.J. Yeley, Kahne and others land in stock cars.

That trend continued into the latter half of the previous decade, until the pipeline of promising drivers that once flowed so easily between USAC and NASCAR appeared to run dry. The last former USAC driver to reach the Cup level and establish himself as a consistent threat to win races was Kahne, who made his NASCAR debut eight years ago. While there are drivers like Sweet, Jason Leffler and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in the Truck or Nationwide ranks, and still more in USAC hoping for their chance in stock cars, climbing the ladder from one level to the other has clearly become more difficult than it once was.

The reason? Many cite the flagging economy, which has dried up sponsorship and taken a toll on driver development. People who know USAC think the talent is still there, that there's a next generation of potential NASCAR drivers waiting to be tapped. The problem is finding them, and finding the money to help them take the next step. Breaking through these days requires cash or connections, of the kind Sweet forged with Kahne and Stenhouse made with Stewart.

"The hard part right now is, the economy's kind of got everything backed up a little bit to where it's hard for these drivers," said Stewart, who operates a USAC program in addition to his Cup Series team. "Unless they have millions of dollars in sponsorship that they can bring, their talent alone won't get them the opportunity down here they deserve. It's really hard right now for those guys to get the opportunity. There's a ton of talent not only in USAC ranks but all over the country in different forms of racing. The hard part is, there's only so many spots here to fill. So it's still back to the way it always has been. It's really hard to get your opportunity down here. There's definitely a lot of drivers, not only in USAC, but across the country that have the talent to do it."

To be fair, there are some drivers trying to make the climb. Stenhouse, driving a Roush Fenway car on the Nationwide tour, is in his third season on asphalt. Kevin Swindell, the 2010 Chili Bowl midget winner, is in his first full season on NASCAR's K&N Pro Series. Cole Whitt, the 2008 USAC midget champion, is a K&N Pro Series rookie in a Red Bull developmental ride. USAC graduate Bobby Santos is a championship contender in the Whelen Modified Tour, and former sprint and midget champion Josh Wise competes in the Nationwide Series. Bryan Clauson went back to USAC after his Nationwide ride with Earnhardt Ganassi Racing folded, and has since become a title contender in sprint and midget ranks.

Then there's Sweet, with 10 Truck events this year to try and make something happen. That doesn't seem like much, but it's an opportunity, and more than many other drivers still in USAC will get.

"It's not that they're not looking at USAC. But if you look at the last two or three years, the economics of the sport have really slowed down driver development," said Ray Evernham, Kahne's former car owner. "I don't think it's particularly focused on USAC, it's young drivers coming from all over. I know if I were still a car owner looking for talent, I'd look at USAC. ... What's probably slowed things down more than anything is the economics. Every dollar has to go into your race team now, where it used to be we had a pretty good driver development budgets. We had extra money to go and try and go find kids, and I think that's dried up for a lot of people. Now the guys who get noticed are the guys who are bringing the money."

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.raced USAC for Tony Stewart before moving up to NASCAR with Roush Fenway Racing.

Right place, right time

It helps to be in the right place at the right time, as Stenhouse was in February of 2007 when he won midget and silver crown events at Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix. That drew the attention of Max Jones, then the general manager of Roush Fenway, who told the young driver to just keep winning. It also caught the eye of Stewart, who hired Stenhouse to drive his sprint and midget cars when Tracy Hines was injured in an off-track accident. At 19 years old, he won seven times in the two series combined, and with Stewart's blessing signed with Jack Roush for the 2008 campaign.

Like many up-and-coming sprint or midget drivers, Stenhouse's initial career goal was simply to race USAC at the highest level. But it was difficult not to notice the progression of so many USAC drivers into the more lucrative arena of NASCAR, and think he could do the same thing.

“

I felt like there were better quality rides in USAC when I was racing, and more so when Tony [Stewart] and those guys were coming up though there. It's getting tougher for mom and pop to run their sprint car team the way everybody else runs their team. There are still definitely some good sprint car rides out there, but overall they're getting pretty slim.

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RICKY STENHOUSE JR.

"It definitely caught my eye and let me know it could be done, going that route," Stenhouse said. "Dad didn't have a lot of money to go out and run late models on pavement or go that route, and he had always run sprint cars, so those were kind of the cards we were dealt. When the opportunity came to run for Tony, I looked at stuff like Tony coming from USAC, and Ryan, and Kasey. Everyone had run USAC, and it was obvious they were doing very well in NASCAR. I definitely thought that would be the way to go, especially since I could get some pavement experience that I'd never had before. It definitely kind of kept me motivated, for sure."

Sweet said young USAC drivers still aim toward NASCAR, simply because that's where the rides are. Even in its cash-strapped state, there are more seats available in NASCAR's three top divisions than in a unified IndyCar Series, once the singular destination for USAC drivers looking to move up. Even so, he seemed content running on dirt until Kahne noticed Sweet competing in midget and World of Outlaws -- which use winged sprint cars -- events on consecutive nights in Washington state. The NASCAR star was impressed. "That's something I would have done 10 years ago," Kahne thought to himself.

In time Kahne's cousin Willie hired Sweet to drive sprints and midgets at Kasey Kahne Racing. The team owner sent his new driver a welcoming text message -- and never heard back.

"I didn't hear from him for a couple of weeks, and I was like, 'Man, what a punk,'" Kahne said, laughing. "This kid, we just hired him, we're giving him a pretty big opportunity, and he doesn't even text back. So finally I run into him down the road and I'm like, 'Did you get my text?' Turns out I had sent it to the wrong number. We weren't even on the same page. He had no clue I was texting. I tried several times to call him. It was just a dead number or something. It took me two weeks to figure out what was going on. I was like, 'I guess he's not too bad.' I thought he was a punk at first."

He turned out to be anything but, and Sweet's progress through the sprint and midget ranks led to his 10-race Truck schedule with Stringer, who was general manager of Akins Motorsports when Kahne raced there. It's a limited operation, with crew chief Trip Bruce overseeing a staff of just four full-time employees, and Sweet placing an emphasis on finishing laps and not tearing up equipment. There are still the transitional hurdles, like pit stops and restarts, elements of NASCAR that are very different from USAC competition. But his last outing, at O'Reilly Raceway Park, brought something of a breakthrough -- an eighth-place finish heading into his next race, Aug, 18 at Bristol.

"We know we're close and capable," Sweet said. "We just need to make it all work. I need to get better at pit stops, restarts, all the little things that are so different from driving the open-wheel cars. Making laps is one thing, but it's all the little things that make you do better in this sport. I've got to get better at those."

It's a start. Although Kahne said he hopes Sweet can run more Truck races or maybe some Nationwide events next season, he wants to be patient and see how his protégé develops over the course of this season. No question, there's plenty of hard work yet to be done, and Sweet had no guarantees in NASCAR beyond his 10 races this season. But in some ways, the hardest part is behind him. He's made the jump many drivers in USAC, those without the perfect timing or the connections of Sweet or Stenhouse, have yet to make.

"I wouldn't say it's harder to get noticed, because those are still pretty neat cars, and I think people enjoy watching that stuff," Kahne said. "I just think there aren't as many developmental programs going on right now, just because of the times. That's where it's at right now, for the big teams and the smaller teams. There's just not as much developmental stuff going on right now. That's life, that's the way it is right now. I wouldn't take anything away from any of those other drivers, I just think it's timing."

Tony Stewart is still involved with ownership of tracks and a USAC team, but has to cut back on some of his investment.

Trickle-down effects

When Kahne broke out of USAC into NASCAR, at the height of the fervor surrounding the stock-car successes of Gordon, Stewart, and Newman, things were different. The economy had recovered from its post-9/11 tumble, sponsor money was flowing like champagne in Victory Lane, and most major teams had developmental programs that served as holding areas for up-and-coming drivers. Kahne was recruited like a high school quarterback, with both Richard Childress Racing and Ford Racing pursuing him. Because Ford had played such a role in his USAC development, he initially went with the blue oval.

These days, top USAC drivers aren't exactly being fought over. They've having to climb their way up.

"I think it was a little different, because you don't see as many owners looking at younger guys right now," said Kahne, a former national midget champion in USAC. "I think it's kind of where the sport is. That to me will come back, but right now it's not there. Things will change, and that will come back in a few years. But I think right now is more of a difficult time to try and make that happen. When I did it, it seemed like there were a few kids getting opportunities with good teams, so I think the timing was really good for me. I think that timing was really good for me, but right now, it's slowed down, for sure."

That slowdown, evident in the fewer number of USAC drivers making their way into NASCAR's national divisions, raises the natural question of whether the talent level in sprint, midget, and silver crown racing is as good as it once was. Those familiar with the circuit dismiss that notion outright. "There's definitely a lot of talent," Stewart said. "... There's just not good opportunities for them to come down [to NASCAR] right now."

“

The hard part right now is, the economy's kind of got everything backed up a little bit to where it's hard for these drivers. Unless they have millions of dollars in sponsorship that they can bring, their talent alone won't get them the opportunity down here they deserve. It's really hard right now for those guys to get the opportunity.

”

TONY STEWART

Stenhouse agreed. "I believe the talent is still definitely there," said the Roush Fenway driver, who was 19th in Nationwide driver points before sitting out the road course event at Watkins Glen. "Obviously the cars aren't getting any easier to drive. They're still the same sprints and midgets that everybody else ran, the same race tracks. So I don't think the talent level is down, I think it's a combination of a lot of things that's slowed the transition from USAC ranks to stock cars."

The issue, at its essence, seems twofold. NASCAR teams don't have the money they once did to beat the bushes and find drivers ready to take the next step up. And the sluggish economy has had a negative impact on the USAC ranks as well, shutting down some prominent rides and forcing some top drivers into lesser cars. Renowned USAC car owner Steve Lewis, for example, no longer operates the midget program that helped launch the careers of Gordon, Stewart, Leffler, and Kahne, among others. Stewart and Kahne have both cut back their USAC involvement. That's left some prominent USAC drivers settling for lower teams, something evident in their results.

"It's a trickle-down effect. I think every series across the country is struggling. If you can't find money to put on NASCAR, which is on TV, then you're definitely struggling to find money to put on the local Saturday night cars. But definitely rides are down. Money is down. There's no testing. It's definitely gotten a lot more challenging," Sweet said.

"I think Kasey was right there on the edge where, it was just a little bit easier to get in. They were searching for guys. Guys like Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart opened the door for guys like Kasey and Leffler, and they opened the door for guys like J.J. Yeley and further on down the road. Back when Kasey got his first couple of rides, that's the way it worked. If you drove Steve Lewis' midgets, and you did really well in them, you got a chance at some kind of stock-car ride. That's kind of the way it worked at that point. A lot has changed since then, and there are just a lot less rides. Even if you do get a ride, you have to perform, with no testing, against guys who have been doing this for years. It's very challenging."

Stenhouse agreed. "I felt like there were better quality rides in USAC when I was racing, and more so when Tony and those guys were coming up though there," he said. "It's getting tougher for mom and pop to run their sprint car team the way everybody else runs their team. There are still definitely some good sprint car rides out there, but overall they're getting pretty slim."

It's a tough cycle to break. The economy limits NASCAR driver development, and limits USAC car counts, and limits NASCAR testing, which means those USAC drivers who do sneak through are less prepared than their predecessors. That much is evident in the struggles of a driver like Stenhouse, who as recently as three years ago had never raced on pavement. Forced to adapt with little or no testing, he's scored five top-10s in 26 career Nationwide starts.

"We were fortunate to test quite a bit with the ARCA car," said Stenhouse, who won two races in 21 starts in that series in 2008. "But now that we're in Nationwide, we have not gotten to test that much. Coming from sprint cars and coming from dirt, it's kind of tough to get the transition set up without the testing part of it."

Of course, if the results aren't up to expectation, few of those issues seem to be taken into account. Not every former USAC driver bursts onto the NASCAR scene with the immediacy that Kahne or Newman did, especially in an era of limited testing and more limited budgets. If there's not patience and commitment on the part of the car owner -- well, then that former USAC driver might well find himself behind the wheel of a sprint or a midget once again.

"The type of racing that we do [in NASCAR], it takes a little time to figure out," Kahne said. "And if you don't have somebody who wants to spend a little bit of time with you, to figure out that heavy car and just all the little things that go along with it, it's tough. You need somebody who wants to stick with you for a little while in order to do it, and I was fortunate to have Ford Racing behind me when I was kind of in my learning year. My second year, everything seemed to go pretty well. But that first year, there are definitely a lot of little things being sprint car drivers you have no clue about until you actually get in one of those cars and see. A lot of times it goes back to commitment and also the money, and if they can handle taking that learning curve."

Kasey Kahne is going back to where his career began and trying to help young drivers with a dream.

Adapt and communicate

Like swallows returning to Capistrano, former USAC drivers always seem to gravitate back home. In addition to his USAC team, Stewart is a regular visitor to premier events like the Chili Bowl in Tulsa, Okla. Kahne's foundation hosted a charity sprint race earlier this week at Williams Grove Speedway in Pennsylvania -- of course, Stewart was there -- and has another planned for Aug. 27 at Skagit Speedway in Washington, Kahne's home track growing up. In addition to his Truck duties, Sweet jumps in a sprint or midget car almost every chance he gets, and estimates that he's competed in more than 50 events already this season.

That sort of flexibility, that aptitude for being able to jump into almost anything and drive the wheels off it, is why many believe USAC drivers have historically fared so well in NASCAR. Unlike late model stock drivers, who typically focus on only one kind of car at one track, USAC drivers compete in a very NASCAR-like series that travels the country and has three disciplines within its national divisions. The heavy, blunt-nosed stock cars and the spindly, slipping-and-sliding USAC machines look nothing like one another. But on both circuits, drivers have to do one thing exceptionally well: adapt.

“

I think it was a little different, because you don't see as many owners looking at younger guys right now. I think it's kind of where the sport is. That to me will come back, but right now it's not there. Things will change, and that will come back in a few years. When I did it, it seemed like there were a few kids getting opportunities with good teams. I think that timing was really good for me, but right now, it's slowed down, for sure.

”

KASEY KAHNE

"I think it's because they race so much, and they race different race tracks," Evernham said. "They learn to read race tracks, they learn how to get a feel for a car, they drive different sized cars. You've got a guy going from a 900-pound midget to a silver crown car that's got 70 gallons of fuel behind him. They learn a lot of different things, so when they come here, they're kind of faced with the same thing. There are so many tracks, so many different ways you have to drive them, and the car never really feels the same way. They're used to being able to give feedback, 'I feel this, I feel that.' Not necessarily, 'fix it,' but, 'this is what I feel.' When I see a guy who's won on a lot of different tracks in a lot of different types of cars, more often that not, that's the ability to adapt, and that's what you need to do to be able to do this. Adapt and communicate."

Newman agreed. "I think it's just our mentality of racing at different race tracks," he said. "You're not a track champion, you're a series champion. A lot of guys in late models and whatnot are track champions. That's different. [In USAC] you have to have the ability to go and adapt to different tracks on different nights in different conditions, and Cup racing is like that. Every time we come back to a race track, it seems a little bit different. It's like you're racing a different race track, and it's like that all throughout the season. Charlotte in the spring is not necessarily the same as Charlotte in the fall. Whereas racing at South Boston might be the same every weekend."

Newman believes the similarities go even deeper, that the 30-lap sprint races in USAC are like NASCAR fuel runs in the fact that drivers push the car as far as they can for a given length of time, come in for new tires, and do it all over again. Stenhouse points out that most USAC cars are driven with the throttle, as Cup cars are, a notion that may explain why so many NASCAR stars coming out of USAC didn't post great numbers in less-powerful Nationwide vehicles. But so much of it goes back to adaptability, and a talent for being able to pick up on what the car needs at different types of tracks. Sweet feels that each time he slips into his No. 90 truck.

"You have to be really diverse to drive so many different types of car, from a pavement midget to a pavement silver crown, from a non-winged sprint car on dirt to a dirt midget. You learn to adapt between all these different cars, and I think when you get into a stock car, and you focus on a single thing, and you race all these laps, and you're used to driving a car so sideways and loose all the time, that maybe we can adapt a little quicker than most, and figure out how to drive it on the edge a little quicker," Sweet said. "The truck is so different in how it handles, so heavy and it slides around. But I'd say adaptability is what USAC teaches you. You have to adapt so much to drive so many different cars all the time, I think it helps when you get in the truck."

That adaptability is still there, still a shared trait among top USAC drivers. In that regard, very little has changed since the days of Stewart and Gordon. But everything else around it has. Perhaps one day when the economy fully recovers, top USAC drivers will find themselves in better cars, and NASCAR teams will have more money available to devote to talent development, and up-and-comers will be able to do more testing to prepare themselves for a stock car career. And then, maybe, the pipeline between USAC and NASCAR will again flow as freely as it once did. These days, though, it manages barely a trickle.

"There are just not a lot of cars available for these guys to get in. That's the hard part," Stewart said. "There have to be cars for them to drive before they can actually make that move."