Fan's Eye View ~ Is NASCAR Trying To Drive Out The Star And Park Teams?
2/15/2013
Jim Fitzgerald
“It’s a joke,” Smith stated. “It’s a joke for the race fans.”
Last week, NASCAR announced a reallocation of prize money would take place for the last five finishing positions. For positions 39 through 43, the purse money will decrease by $4,000 per spot. For example, 40th place will receive $4,000 less than 39th place, 41st place will receive $4,000 less than 40th, place, and so on.
NASCAR President Mike Helton stated that this will be done to make the actions of a “Start and Park” team less profitable, while Gossage said that “Start and Park” teams collected more than $6,000,000 at TMS events last season, and more than $17 million dollars during the entire 36-race schedule.
So, what will this reallocation of purse money do? Let’s look at the last race of 2012 at Homestead. The last five drivers in the finishing order all completed less than forty laps, except for Ricky Stenhouse who completed 157. Stenhouse, Josh Wise, Michael McDowell, Scott Riggs, and Mike Bliss all took home just over $62,000 for their efforts, or a total of $310,000, which jives with Gossage’s remarks. In the new plan, Stenhouse would have taken home approximately $62,000, Wise would win $58,000, McDowell would get $54,000, Riggs would win $50,000, and Bliss would get $46,000. Mike Bliss obviously takes the heaviest hit with a $16,000 pay cut. Assuming that exact scenario happened every week, Mike Bliss and his team would be out more than $500,000 by the end of the season.
With shaving $4,000 off of each succeeding finishing position, there would be a $40,000 surplus at the end of each race. Where does that go?
“We have moved the prize money higher in the purse,” Helton explained. “So, if someone’s intent is to run a lap or two and park, the revenue stream shrinks.”
That means there is an extra forty large out there to be distributed among thirty-eight other finishing positions. Quick math shows that it works out to be about $1,052.63 per position.
Excuse me, Mr. Helton? Mr. Gossage? Mr. Smith? I have a question. What is hurt by having someone pull off of the track after running forty laps?
Bruton Smith said it’s a joke to the race fans. I’m a race fan. I don’t think it is a joke at all. I think it is admirable for a less than fortunate team to have found a way for some decent folks to make a living. I think it is great that these teams are following their dreams, even if they cannot do it all at once. When you are watching a race, do you really care if Joe Zabblewack in the Joe Zabblewack Pinto is on the track or not? As long as he doesn’t wreck your favorite driver, I’m guessing the answer is no. In fact, if you miss the driver introductions or the starting lineup, I’m going to go so far as to say that you may not even know that Joe Zabblewack is in the race to begin with.
I found out recently that my car needs some major repairs. Sorry, I cannot afford to have it fixed all at once, so I will have them fix what I can afford, when I can afford it. I’m sure if it were up to Bruton Smith, I would have to keep my car off of the road until I could pay the whole sum for all of the repairs in one chunk. However, then I would not be able to get to work, which would keep me from earning money, and therefore keep me from getting the repairs completed.
What NASCAR has done with this new plan is the same thing. They are taking money from the low or non-funded teams who are doing everything they can to make enough money to get a full race in every now and then. By giving them less money, NASCAR is forcing them to do exactly what they do not want, and that is to start and park even more. If I need $180,000 to race, I would start and park three times to each $60,000 per race, and then when the fourth race came along, I could run the full show. Now, because I am only making $46,000 per race, I need to start and park in FOUR races, not three, in order to have enough money to run a full race. With the old way, I could run nine full races per year. Under the new plan, I can only race seven full races per year.
Let’s also go back to that $1052 per position again. Do you think the race winning team, or a team with million dollar sponsorships is really going to notice that extra $1,000? NASCAR has taken money out of the hands of the teams that are struggling to survive and given it to other teams that may not need it as much.
I simply cannot wrap my head around it. How are you helping an underfunded team by giving them even less money?
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