THE NEXT GENERATION; NASCAR's young guns have a monopoly on winning.(Motorsports)

Byline: AL PEARCE

The "greening'' of stock car racing is in full bloom. In a sport that once celebrated the patience and cunning that came with experience, it's now kids-relatively speaking-who rule. For the first time in NASCAR's 57-year history, nobody in his 40s won a Nextel Cup race last year. Jeff Burton was the year's oldest winner, and he was only 39 years and change when he won the fall race at Dover.

Five of last year's 13 winners were in their 20s. Kyle Busch was 21, Brian Vickers 22, Denny Hamlin 25, Kasey Kahne 26 and Kurt Busch 27. Champion Jimmie Johnson was 30; Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr. were 31. Matt Kenseth was 34, Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon 35, Greg Biffle 36 and Burton 39.

Unless Burton wins after his June 29 birthday, don't expect any 40-or 50-somethings to win this year. Among the 40-year-olds: Mark Martin and teammates, Joe Nemechek and Sterling Marlin, Michael Waltrip, Jeff Green, Ward Burton, Dave Blaney, Mike Bliss and former champion Bobby Labonte and teammate Kyle Petty. Former champion Dale Jarrett and Ricky Rudd enter the season as 50-year-olds, and Ken Schrader is the tour's resident senior citizen, turning 52 this year.

Despite what happened last year, Eddie Wood, whose family-owned team fields Fords for Schrader, sees no reason older drivers can't win. "With good equipment and if they're still physically able to get in and drive, those guys are as good as anybody,'' he says. "They've seen so much and been through so much that almost nothing fazes them. It's like riding a bicycle and some other stuff-those guys can still do it at almost any age. There's nothing keeping them from winning except circumstances.

"One of the best things about older guys is they're calm and under control. That helps keep everybody around them under control. At best, racing at this level is a rat race. It's 24/7, and you don't get any timeouts. With all the stress and pressure, it's comforting to have a guy who's been there and done that. I'm an old ...