MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Over the past decade, the ownership base in the NASCAR Cup Series was certainly skewing older with Rick Hendrick, Roger Penske, Joe Gibbs, Chip Ganassi, Jack Roush and Richard Childress making up the primary team ownership pool.
Most of these teams did not have faces for the future, causing many to speculate who would ultimately lead these organizations.
During the past month, that situation has changed dramatically.
Four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon was named vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports, making him the second ranking team official behind majority team owner Rick Hendrick. Whereas Hendrick is 72 years old, Gordon is 49 and will assume his new role working alongside team president Marshall Carlson and general manager Jeff Andrews on Jan. 1.
Gordon became an equity owner of Hendrick Motorsports in 1999 and the only partner Hendrick has had. As a driver, Gordon won 93 of the team’s 273 (through July 31) Cup Series races and four of its 13 series championships.
Jack Roush has been the face of Roush Fenway Racing since the team entered NASCAR competition as Roush Racing in 1988. He took on a partner in the form of Fenway Sports Group owner John Henry in 2007.
But the team’s performance has dipped in recent seasons and Roush, the team’s CEO, will turn 80 next April. Jimmy Fenning, the team’s executive vice president of competition, is 67.
Enter 2012 Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski.
Keselowski, who joined Team Penske in the Cup Series at the end of the 2009 season, won 34 of his 35 Cup Series races with the organization and the 2012 series title. But Keselowski who owned his own team in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for several years, wanted a bigger role within the operation.
As a result, he will make the move to Roush Fenway Racing next season, where he will not only drive the team’s iconic No. 6 made famous by Mark Martin but will assume an ownership role and oversee the team’s competition committee.
The Michigan native, who has finished in the top 10 in eight of the last 10 seasons, is 37 years old.
Ganassi, 63, became a NASCAR team owner by partnering with Felix Sabates in 2001. He had operated a two-car team ever since and was not looking to get out of stock car racing.
But Justin Marks, a former NASCAR driver including numerous races for Ganassi in the Xfinity Series, approached Ganassi with an offer.
As a result, Marks, who is in his first season as the primary owner of Trackhouse Racing that fields Chevrolets for Daniel Suarez, is purchasing the team and its assets with the sale effective at the end of this season. Marks, whose partners in Trackhouse Racing include internationally known musician Pit Bull, is 40.
Three-time Super Bowl winning football coach Joe Gibbs started Joe Gibbs Racing in 1991. He ontinues to lead the organization that fields four full-time Cup Series entries even after his 80th birthday, but his son, Coy, is very much involved and is the face of the future as vice chairman of JGR.
In addition, Coy Gibbs’ son and Joe Gibbs’ grandson, Ty, is an up-and-coming driver with the team and has already won a pair of NASCAR Xfinity Series races at the ripe age of 18.
Childress, meanwhile, is 75 and continues to lead his two-car Cup Series effort, with his grandson Austin Dillon one of the team’s two drivers. Torrey Galida is team president and Childress’ son-in-law Mike Dillon is executive vice president of competition.
Penske, 84, who added owner of Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the NTT IndyCar Series to his portfolio last year, continues to direct his NASCAR and Indy car teams. Tim Cindric, whose son Austin will graduate from the Xfinity Series to drive the No. 2 Ford next season in place of Keselowski, is president of Team Penske. The elder Cindric is 52.
Youth is being served in terms of team ownership.
“I feel like there’s a season of change, no doubt. I don’t see a lot of the ownership going away, but I see some fresher faces,” Keselowski said. “You look at Jeff Gordon kind of taking a more active role with Hendrick Motorsports and the Trackhouse transition with Ganassi, and there are probably a few more to come, no doubt. I think it’s natural over time to see those transitions. I think it’s a good sign for the sport that it’s going through a little bit of a metamorphosis and I’m proud to be a part of it.”