[gusmahler]

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given how much nepotism seems to rule in NASCAR

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unless you're talking about the actual ownership of the company, what are you referring to?

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Dale Jr, Tony Jr. Bush brothers, Petty kids, Andretti kids (ok not nascar but still). Seems like being in the family is a pretty nice leg up into a ride.

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Did Richard Petty get his ride only because his father (Lee) was a famous racer? Possibly. But his 200 wins shows he probably deserved his ride. Dale Jr. isn't as successful as his father was, but 3rd in Nextel Cup standings shows he wasn't exactly unqualified either.

It's more like being born in a racing family gives one exposure to racing at a young age, thus making you a much better racer at age 20.

Marco Andretti (Mario's grandson, Michael's son) was a legitimately elite racer at the level just below Indy Racing. Did he have advantages? Of course. His family has money and could easily buy a ride. But probably the biggest advantage was that he was around cars and racing from the time he was born.