August 3, 2007
By Allen Madding

Allen Madding

A few years back Felix Sabates was credited with saying, “To make a small fortune in racing, you have to start with a big one”.

Over the last 30 years, the number of millionaires that have been involved in NASCAR, and then left the sport to pursue more profitable ventures, is staggering. NASCAR has continued to implement rules that it claims are money saving moves.

When NASCAR changed the rulebook to no longer allow having an engine for qualifying and another engine for the race, it was billed as a cost saving move for the teams. The introduction of the Car of Tomorrow as also billed as a money saver. But scrapping an entire fleet of cars and building an entire new inventory is a huge pill for teams to swallow.

Over the course of the 2007 season, we have seen the merger of teams with outside interests – Roush Racing sold 50 percent interest to Fenway Sports Group.

Why?

Jack Roush commented at the time of the sale that the team needed additional funding to develop the Car of Tomorrow.

Robert Yates announced at Indianapolis Motor Speedway last week that he had signed a letter of intent to partner with Champ Car racing team Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing. Yates had been investigating the possibilities of adding a partner since the 2007 season began.

DEI merged with Ginn Racing.

Real Estate mogul Bobby Ginn entered the sport last year salvaging MB2 Motorsports, a team on the brink of bankruptcy. After sinking millions of dollars into the operation, expanding it from a two-car operation to four cars, and bringing the team to the top level of competition, Ginn had reached his breaking point. Ironically, before Ginn purchased the team, MB2 was considering merging with DEI.

With the larger multi-car teams having to seek outside investors and team mergers now more the rule than the exception, it is obvious the days of the one and two car teams are numbered. Over the last 10 years it has become increasingly difficult for a one-car team to compete in NASCAR premier series.

If Jack Roush needs a partner to help finance the transition to the Car of Tomorrow, how much longer can the smaller teams continue to compete? How much longer can the cost of competing in the Cup level of NASCAR continue to escalate before NASCAR is faced with less than 43 cars showing up for races?

Is the NASCAR Cup Series about to price itself out of business?

Sponsors able to front the money to operate a Nextel Cup team are becoming a more precious commodity every year. There are fewer and fewer corporations that can justify marketing budgets large enough to meet the needs of today’s Cup teams.

What is the answer?

Multiple primary sponsors is one solution that several teams have pursued. But the long-term solution will lie on the shoulders of the sanctioning body. NASCAR will have to take a hard look at controlling the spiraling cost of competing in the Cup Series for the sake of the series longevity.

The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.