Staff Writer

CONCORD, N.C. — If motorsports is evolving into a young man’s game, don’t tell the crowd of 40-something’s who sit atop the American road-racing mountain.
“It definitely helps,” Team Cadillac SCCA Pro Speed World Challenge driver Andy Pilgrim said of the experience that comes with age. “Being patient, knowing the tracks, knowing the cars.”
Pilgrim, 43, and his Team Cadillac teammate Ron Fellows, 48, are two of the sport’s top drivers along with K-PAX Porsche driver Randy Pobst, who will turn 40 next year.
Together, Pilgrim and Fellows, who is considering a semi-retirement beginning in 2008, have more than 40 combined years of racing experience.
At Laguna Seca just a few weeks ago, Pilgrim’s victory earned Cadillac the series’ Manufacturer’s Championship, while Pobst’s runner-up finish was enough for him to capture his second-career driver’s championship.
Pobst’s post-race comments were pointed at a veteran who understands road racing.
“Andy Pilgrim really knows how to race, ” Pobst said. “He races hard and he knows what he’s doing. He’s not going to take you out with some kind of a crazy maneuver.”
And then, he took a jab at himself.
“Today proves that you just can’t win them all,” Pobst said. “But, it is great to be able to win another Championship, especially at my age.”
While other forms of motorsport are looking for the next youthful driving/marketing phenom, road racing is led by a generation of drivers whose own cars may have once included eight-track tape players.
“I feel good about where I am right now — I’ve got a great team with Cadillac and I’m still competitive, but this is a decision we have to sit down and make after the season,” said Fellows of the “family meeting” that will decide whether or not he races a full-time schedule in 2008.
Other business interests, including work with General Motors and its Corvette racing program, keep Fellows busy enough. Even so, he said it is difficult to walk away completely and 2007 did not turn into the farewell tour some thought it would be.
“I know I will continue to drive in the NASCAR races whenever there’s an opportunity and maybe some other things,” said Fellows.
So, while drivers in their 40s — such as NASCAR’s Sterling Marlin and Joe Nemechek — are somewhat routinely removed from their NASCAR seats, veteran road racers seem to have the edge in longevity.
Then again, there just aren’t as many young, “can’t-miss” drivers waiting on their doorsteps either.
“Everybody in the world wants to go NASCAR driving,” said veteran driver Hurley Haywood, 59, who is considering a semi-retirement in 2008. “It’s appealing and it’s also a platform where a driver, when he starts young, can be competitive until he’s really in his early 50s — if he’s got a good team behind him.
“In sports-car racing, unless you are a driver associated with a manufacturer, it’s difficult to make a good living. Even if you’re driving for a manufacturer, you’re still not going to make anything close to that of a NASCAR driver.”
Without high-dollar contracts to fuel the sport, the drivers must rely on something else to drive them as they drive their cars.
“I still love it,” Pilgrim said. “I want to stay in it as long as I’m competitive — and I feel like I still am. I just don’t want someone to tap me on the shoulder and say, ‘It’s time to go.’”