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Bruton Smith Was Right About Start-And-Park Teams

An Opinion



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February 4, 2010

By Doug Demmons


Doug Demmons
Bruton Smith, the chairman of Speedway Motorsports Inc. said during the Media Tour last month that start-and-park teams are a disgrace to the sport and should be done away with. NASCAR should listen to him.

Teams whose objective is to put in just enough effort to earn a paycheck have no business competing in Sprint Cup.

But this practice has been condoned under the theory that these teams are trying to get started and need to start and park in order to become financially viable.

That’s a flimsy excuse. If they don’t have the money or the resources to compete in Sprint Cup they should compete in a division they have the resources for. There are plenty of teams trying to make it in Nationwide or Trucks or ARCA that don’t try to compete in Cup because they know they wouldn’t be able to.

But that didn’t stop teams like Prism Motorsports and Tommy Baldwin Racing from starting and parking last year.

In fact, both those teams are planning to run more than one car this year.

We now have two-car start-and-park teams. God help us.

If this keeps up, NASCAR may need to start a new series just for the start-and-parkers -- the NASCAR Quitters Series. It’s either that or risk a big wreck as a pack of start-and-parkers rushes to beat each other to the garage by Lap 10 because of some mysterious vibration or brake problems or electrical problems or any of the other inventive excuses they give for dropping out.

It’s hard to blame the drivers for participating in this charade. If legitimate rides were available they’d take them. But real rides are scarce and so they do what they have to do to stay in the sport during tough times.

Scott Riggs deserves all the credit in the world for refusing to continue last year as a start-and-park driver.

Will NASCAR do anything about it? Not directly. NASCAR likes to perpetuate the idea that plucky start-up teams can still make it in this sport.

But indirectly NASCAR may have dealt a blow to Start and Park Nation.

NASCAR this year has cut the purses for its races by about 10 percent, a result of the continuing recession. Suddenly, finishing 41st isn’t quite as lucrative as it was last year. Suddenly, teams whose business model depends on not spending money on things like crew members and tires have even less money coming in for stinking up the field.

Cutting purses is like cutting back on feeding the geese that lay your golden eggs. Might help your quarterly earnings report but it damages your long-term interests.

But if it helps get rid of the quitters it will be worth it.




Doug Demmons is a writer and editor for the Birmingham News ~ he writes daily and weekly auto racing columns ranging from NASCAR to open wheel to Formula One, local tracks and more... you can read Doug's columns online at Blog of Tommorow

Follow Doug on Twitter: @dougdemmons


You can contact Doug Demmons at .... Birmingham News

You Can Read Other Articles By Doug Demmons


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.

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