NASCAR Next provides boost for young drivers

One of the hallmarks of Iowa Speedway - aside from it being universally well-liked among drivers - is that it's a showcase for up-and-coming drivers in the stock car world.

Aside from the IndyCar Series race this summer, every series that runs at the 7/8-mile track in Newton is considered a developmental series. So when NASCAR announced its 2014 NASCAR Next class, Iowa Speedway figured to play a big role in showcasing the future of the sport.

'It's a really good track to get people's names out there because the (K&N Pro Series) East and West guys are there, so it's good competition,” said 16 year-old Ladera Ranch, Calif. native Cole Custer. 'One of the huge reasons we love coming to Iowa is because it makes it a really big thing for the NASCAR community.

'It's one of the showcase (races) because it's just us and (NASCAR) Nationwide. We get more exposure and makes it a bigger deal.”

NASCAR Next is a program that showcases young drivers on the rise through the ranks of the sport, and gives them opportunities to be seen by fans and potential sponsors.

Some drivers are in their first year with the program, while others - like 22 year-old Oklahoma driver Kenzie Ruston - are getting another round of exposure.

It's a program that has featured drivers like Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson, and opens doors that might not otherwise have been opened.

'I know that I would not be in a car this year if it wasn't for the NASCAR Next program,” said Ruston, who met her car owner, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver and former fellow NASCAR Next class member Ben Kennedy, through the program. 'If I wasn't in the program last year, I probably wouldn't have met Ben Kennedy and his family.

'Somehow they picked me to be in (his car).”

Ruston and Custer will be among eight of the 12 NASCAR Next class members to be racing at Iowa Speedway on Saturday night, when the K&N Pro Series combines its East and West division for the Casey's General Store 150, which is set for 6 p.m.

And though they may have met at NASCAR Next functions, many of the racers who will meet in the combined event haven't raced against each other. They're eager to get on track with a bigger field and see how they stack up against classmates and fellow K&N Pro Series competitors from different parts of the country.

'It's a little different (racing against fellow NASCAR Next members) because you have a relationship, but it's still racing,” said Custer, who has two K&N Pro Series West wins already this season, and won at Iowa Speedway last August as the youngest race winner in series history. 'You've got to race them as hard as you can. You can't give them any breaks, really. It's the same deal; just a little more relationship off the track is all.”

When the Camping World Truck Series returns to Iowa Speedway on July 11, another NASCAR Next class member will be there in 18 year-old Erik Jones.

Jones became the youngest winner in Camping World Truck Series history on Nov. 8, 2013 at Phoenix International Raceway at the age of 17 years, five months and eight days, and is getting ready to graduate from Swartz Creek (Mich.) High School in a couple weeks. He and his family are balancing the opportunities NASCAR Next bring them, while also making sure they're making decisions that will best benefit his career long term.

Opportunities are rare, and though NASCAR Next facilities those that otherwise wouldn't be available, the risk of moving too quickly is written in the history of drivers who came through the program and never made it to the top.

'There's a lot of drivers that have come up too fast, and it ended up hurting them. So I don't want to get stuck in that, but at the same time taking every opportunity I can,” Jones said. 'I think it's a really fine balance of not trying to move ahead too fast, but I feel like we're at a good pace now.

'It's just kind of learning as you go, and it's worked out (for me) so far. Hopefully we can keep that going.”

l Comments: (319) 368-8884; jeremiah.davis@sourcemedia.net