Not much stumps Steve Francis. After all, he's won championships. He's won the biggest races there are to win. He's adapted to different car owners and chassis and race tracks.

But when asked if being a wise, ol' veteran was a good thing, he hesitated.

"That's kind of a tough question to answer because as you get smart, sometimes you get dumber," he chuckled, taking a break from preparation for a recent Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event. Francis tossed the idea around in his head for a moment and drew upon his early days in dirt late model racing as well to conclude his answer. "When you're young and somebody tells you [a setup] won't work, well you've got to go try it for yourself. Where sometimes as you get older, you're more apt to take that tried-and-true top-five [finish] than you are to go out on a limb and try to win a race ... something way outside the box."