Each season brings a new crop of young, talented drivers to NASCAR’s Winston Cup series, and 2003 is no exception.

Car owner Chip Ganassi is fielding teams for two rookies — Jamie McMurray and Casey Mears. The duo is part of a diverse class of six that also includes former Grand National champion Greg Biffle, former Truck series champion Jack Sprague and former Grand National drivers Larry Foyt and Tony Raines.

While those six have completed just a quarter of their first full season, plans already are in the works for the next batch of Cup drivers.

And the next. And the next.

Winston Cup car owners continue to look for young drivers to race for their teams. Many candidates are found in NASCAR’s feeder system — its regional series, Trucks and Grand National. But more often new drivers are being found in smaller series and at an even younger age.

Ganassi, a long-time successful car owner in open-wheel racing, is active in developing young talent and looking toward his organization’s future.

While he fields Cup teams for McMurray, Mears and veteran Sterling Marlin, he also is involved in a Grand National team that fields cars for McMurray and David Stremme, a 25-year-old driver in the American Speed Association.

“Everyone is looking for a young guy,” said McMurray, who earned a Winston Cup victory in his second start while substituting for Marlin last season. “I don’t know exactly Chip’s reasons for hiring me, and frankly, at the time I didn’t care.

“People ask, ‘Why did he hire you?’ and I was like, ‘Where’s the pen?’ I think I ran consistently well and hadn’t torn up a lot of stuff — that is very important to an owner.”

Eleven-year-old Matt Martin could follow in the footsteps of his dad, Mark, into Winston Cup racing.

Even with a solid base for the future, Ganassi is looking for more. He has worked with Grand National driver Chad Blount and is getting 17-year-old Reed Sorenson involved in his driver development program.

Sorenson, a rookie in ASA this season, began racing quarter midgets at age 6 and won more than 250 races and set 15 track records. He moved to Legends racing in 1998, winning 78 races and earning 139 top-five finishes in his first four seasons.

In 2002, he began driving stock cars and won three times. In eight ASA races last season, he had three top-five and seven top-10 finishes.

Ganassi is not alone in his talent search.

Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick has two up-and-comers — 19-year-old Brian Vickers, who drives in the Grand National series, and 17-year-old Kyle Busch, who has already won an Automobile Racing Club of America race and will make his Grand National debut May 24 at Charlotte.

Hendrick compares Busch to another young racing talent he helped develop, four-time Winston Cup champion Jeff Gordon.

“I can’t put it into words, that comment,” Busch said. “It’s the greatest thing I’ve ever heard even coming from a man like Rick himself. It’s a real honor to be involved with this race team.”

Children of Winston Cup drivers have been another traditional pool of talent.

Many have found their way into the sport, including Dale Earnhardt Jr., son of the late seven-time champion Dale Earnhardt and a two-time Grand National champion in his own right.

Matt Martin, the 11-year-old son of Winston Cup veteran Mark Martin, has raised eyebrows with his success in the Bandoleros series and quarter-midgets over the past two seasons.

“I want to drive Bandoleros, mini stocks, and then maybe Trucks and stuff. I don’t really have a timetable,” Matt said. “I’d like to wait to see what is going to happen and hope to keep taking steps up in my racing.”

Mark Martin said he thinks his son was well rounded in his pursuit of a racing career, more so than he was when he started.

“I don’t take any more pride in him driving a great race than in him doing something else that was real special like writing a terrific book report or any other kind of accomplishment that was competitive and difficult,” Mark said.

“Racing is something we’re having fun with.”