Older drivers race away from retirement to stay on track

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- James Hylton nearly backed his race car over a jack last weekend, then needed help getting his 72-year-old body out the window.

Hylton removed his helmet, exposing a full head of gray hair, countless wrinkles and a smile.

"I ain't shaking too bad, am I?" he asked.

Nope.

Need a nap?

"No, and I don't need no walker, either," he added.

Hylton has heard all the age jokes, even the ones about not being able to see over the steering wheel and about driving the entire Daytona 500 with his left blinker on.

He laughs them off -- along with the notion that age has anything to do with driving in NASCAR's Nextel Cup series. The only thing tougher than stepping into a car for a grueling race season is knowing when to get out.

That's why despite an increase in the number of young drivers in NASCAR's elite series, several older ones are snubbing retirement.

"We see this with other kinds of sports, and we also see it in all walks of life -- people who spend 40 years at a certain job that is their passion," said 48-year-old Mark Martin. "One day, you just shut it off? Then what do you do? I have a love for this sport, and I am spreading my passion out through teaching, mentoring, leading and other things other than just driving. But I am not finished driving."

Neither are many of his older colleagues.

Bill Elliott (51), Ken Schrader (51), Dale Jarrett (50), Ricky Rudd (50), Sterling Marlin (49), Derrike Cope (48), Kirk Shelmerdine (48), Mike Wallace (47) and Kyle Petty (46) all are more "experienced" than the oldest driver to ever win a Cup championship.

Bobby Allison was 45 years, 11 months and 28 days old when he claimed the 1983 title.

Allison also has the distinction of being the oldest to win the Daytona 500, taking the checkered flag in 1988 at 50 years old.

"I can't see where (age) comes into play whatsoever," said Jarrett, a three-time Daytona 500 winner who won the Cup championship in 1999. "Obviously, the race cars don't know which one's the 21-year-old and which one is the 51-year-old. It shouldn't make any difference whatsoever whenever you get behind the wheel of a car."

And so older drivers are reluctant to retire.

Martin spent much of 2005 saying goodbye, but team owner Jack Roush talked him into returning for one more year. It didn't take much arm-twisting.

Martin knew he still had the desire to race. He had the skills, too, making the Chase for the Championship the past two seasons and finishing ninth in the series standings last year.

"At some point in time, you have to face the fact that you can't compete on that level anymore," Martin said. "For me, I still choose to compete."

Even now, Martin can't walk away. He's racing partial schedules in the Nextel Cup, Busch and Truck series.

Schrader, Jarrett, Rudd and Petty are guaranteed spots in the season opener Daytona 500 on Sunday. The others will try to make the race through one of today's 150-mile qualifying races.

"I feel I'm as sharp as I ever was," said Rudd, who qualified second and will start on the outside pole in the 500. "There's a lot of talent out there now, a lot of young guys with talent. On the track, there's probably too much made out of a young guy, old guy.

"Obviously, a young guy, when it comes to sponsors, a lot of sponsors want you. Television wants you. As far as performance-wise, I don't really see a big difference."

Rudd never used the word "retirement" when he quit after the 2005 season. Maybe he knew he would be back.

He didn't know how much he missed racing until he spent five hours a week mowing his 30-acre lawn and getting saddled with other chores around the farm.

"I had a chance to figure out really what I wanted to do, and I've always done this year-in, year-out, year-in, year-out -- almost like autopilot," Rudd said. "And I really wanted to sit back and analyze: Do I want to retire? Do I want to come back? ... I didn't really know if it would end up leading to retirement or not, and it ended up not leading to retirement. I still want to be out here."

Hylton, NASCAR's 1966 rookie of the year and three-time series runner-up, is trying to become the oldest driver ever to make a Cup race. The Cup record of age 65 is shared by Hershel McGriff (Sonoma, 1993) and Jim Fitzgerald (Riverside, 1987).

"There's no reason to retire and sit around and wish I hadn't retired," Hylton said. "I'm having more fun than I did when I was young. It's hard to explain to the general public what a thrill you get when you get behind a high-powered machine like this. I can't put it in words."