NASCAR’s future on fast track

When I was Dylan Kwasniewski’s age, I was driving my old man’s Pontiac Tempest station wagon that had the power steering of a grain thresher.

Kwasniewski has been driving the 335 legally only since May 31, the day he turned 16 and received his driver’s license.

The flat-black Beemer is fast, though not as fast as his other car, the No. 03 Rockstar/Royal Purple Chevrolet he drives in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, which is what the old Winston West series has evolved into, now that it has a title sponsor.

Nine weeks after Kwasniewski became street legal, he became the youngest winner in NASCAR history by winning a 150-lap race in Colorado, breaking current Sprint Cup Series driver Joey Logano’s record of 16 years, 10 months. The next week Kwasniewski won another 150-lap race, in Montana.

Two wins in eight days racing against men, most old enough to be his father. Or grandfather. Or great-great grandfather.

One of the men Kwasniewski raced against this summer was 83-year-old Hershel McGriff, whom Kwasniewski called a “really cool guy.” And that was before McGriff took him for an ice cream cone.

When I met the future of NASCAR on Friday afternoon, he was wearing a silver Western-style shirt with snaps, black blue jeans and white canvas sneakers minus laces. His blond hair was nowhere near as poofed up as it is in those publicity shots they use on his website. Kwasniewski might be 16, but he looks more like 13. At least on the outside. On the inside, he’s going on 43.

Racing against men, one grows up quickly. This kid would have grown up quickly, anyway. Dylan’s father was Randy Kwasniewski, who was president and CEO of the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino on March 9, 2010, when he was found dead at home of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Dylan believes there was more to it. His dad was under a lot of stress, he said. The sleep medication was making him do “weird stuff.”

“My dad never gave up on anything,” Dylan Kwasniewski said.

Dylan thought about giving up on racing. After his dad died, he thought a lot about crashing, and what if it was a bad crash? Then what would his mom do?

When Dylan got hurt playing lacrosse at Faith Lutheran High, his mom made him quit. Jennifer Kwasniewski did not make her son quit racing.

Pretty soon, Dylan forgot about crashing.

He won’t be eligible to compete in trucks or in the Nationwide Series or in the Sprint Cup Series until he’s 18. But he’s on the fast track. He’s on the radar of the big-shot car owners.

“I’ve already met Mr. Hendrick,” he said of Rick Hendrick, whose Sprint Cup cars and drivers have finished first 199 times.

And now I’ve met the future of NASCAR. He was sliding behind the wheel of the flat-black BMW, on his way to another late model race in Lake Havasu City, Ariz., and you almost could see Victory Lane and trophy girls and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in his tire tracks as he pulled away.

His Twitter post Saturday afternoon said he had won the pole.

THREE UP

■ Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano, who orchestrated the scheme that sacked Alex Smith nine times on Thanksgiving, is the same Chuck Pagano who quit in the middle of the season as Jim Strong’s defensive coordinator at UNLV in 1991. Upon further review, sometimes winners do quit.

■ Interesting statistic I saw on the Internet: The only running back who has gained more yards than Las Vegan Steven Jackson of the St. Louis Rams since Oct. 16 is Las Vegan DeMarco Murray of the Dallas Cowboys.

■ After starting 1-for-16 in the recently concluded Arizona Fall League, Washington Nationals bonus baby Bryce Harper of Las Vegas had a stretch during which he hit five homers in six games. In 25 games for the Scottsdale Scorpions, Harper batted .333 with six homers and 26 RBIs. He also turned 19, on Oct. 16.

THREE DOWN

■ Two days before the Rebels’ potential showdown against No. 1 North Carolina at Orleans Arena, tickets still were available online, which seemed incomprehensible. Then I clicked on the price. A cheap seat cost $85, even if you got up at 4 a.m. to stand in line.

■ Kurt Busch’s interview with pit reporter Dr. Jerry Punch after Busch 22’s transmission blew up at Homestead recalled Ralphie’s dad in “A Christmas Story” when the furnace conked out, with the exception that NASCAR didn’t fine Ralphie’s dad $50,000 for poor behavior.

■ In a related note, Evan Dietrich-Smith refused to be drawn into Ndamukong Suh’s double-dog dare that the Packers’ offensive lineman place his tongue on a frozen pole. So Suh stomped him.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ron Kantowski can be reached at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow him on Twitter: @ronkantowski.