December 18, 2008
By Doug Demmons
It’s time to consider what just a few months ago would have been called foolish at best and heresy at worst.
It’s time to ponder what the future of NASCAR might be if two of its primary manufacturers -- General Motors and Chrysler -- end up pulling out of the sport like Honda just did in Formula One.
It’s a question that is no longer just an academic exercise. Even if a federal bailout of the Big Three goes through, budgets are likely to be slashed to the bone. Suddenly, the unthinkable -- NASCAR without Chevy -- becomes imaginable.
Manufacturers are pulling back from motorsports at all levels. On Tuesday Subaru joined Suzuki in withdrawing from the World Rally Championship. And Honda has also pulled out of the AMA Superbike Series.
Ford and Dodge have already pulled away from the Truck Series, so it is no longer a given that the Sprint Cup is immune to a similar setback.
Among the chief contributions of a manufacturer to a racing team are engine development and engineering and technical support. If all that went away for the Chevy and Dodge teams what would happen?
Certainly, they could carry on, but they would be at a distinct disadvantage -- technically and financially -- to the Toyota and Ford teams, assuming Ford doesn’t pull out also. Eventually, the power in the Cup series would shift decisively to Toyota.
So what, if anything, should be done about it? Toyota Racing Development is not able to take on several more teams, so some teams would be left to fend for themselves. And it is unrealistic to expect any other manufacturer -- line Honda or Mazda -- to jump in to take Chevy’s or Dodge’s place.
So that leaves at least one possible solution -- crate engines.
If only Toyota and Ford are left in NASCAR it doesn’t make a lot of sense to keep things the way they are. And it doesn’t accomplish much to make NASCAR a weekly engine battle between just two manufacturers.
So perhaps NASCAR should start to consider moving to a spec engine -- what short-track fans know as crate engines. Identical engines supplied by the same manufacturer to every team for the same price.
This would greatly reduce costs for NASCAR teams and would have the effect of leveling the playing field. Teams would not be allowed to monkey around with the engines, just like the crate engines in short-track racing.
NASCAR could put up for bid the contract to be the exclusive supplier of engines for its three series -- and allow separate contracts for the Truck, Nationwide and Cup Series.
That way, Toyota might win the contract to be the Cup engine supplier while Ford becomes the Nationwide engine builder, or vice versa. Chevy and Dodge could use this as a way of staying in NASCAR by bidding on the contract. Other manufacturers -- like Honda -- could also make bids to gain a toehold in the series.
In exchange for homogenous engines, NASCAR could loosen its rules about altering the chassis of the Car of Tomorrow to give teams more flexibility. NASCAR could also allow teams to field cars that had a more distinctive look. Camrys could look more like real Camrys and Fusions could look like Fusions.
And while we are considering radical proposals, here’s another one to chew on:
It’s time for NASCAR to start thinking about a series that uses electric motors.
Eventually, most of us are going to be driving either hybrids or all-electric vehicles. Whatever manufacturers are left are going to look for a racing series that showcases their electric cars. Might as well be NASCAR.
NASCAR has already morphed over the years, so a few more transformations wouldn’t be anything new. The Car of Tomorrow is practically a different species from the behemoths that raced on the beach course at Daytona.
NASCAR is going to have to keep up with changing technology and the rapidly changing economic landscape -- or it might find itself regulated once again to the second tier of American sports.
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
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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