September 24, 2008
By Loren Dorrell
When Dodge announced earlier this month that it was pulling factory support from Bobby Hamilton Racing, the only factory team left in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, it effectively ended Dodge/Chrysler participation in NASCAR’s third tier series. After their high-water mark in the NCTS, with 36 wins over 99 races (2001-2004), Dodge scaled to just one team in 2008, and with the rough economy lately, I suppose it was only a matter of time before at least one of the Big Three decided to cut their losses. But the recent decision by Dodge puts one of the sport’s most respected teams in a very bad place.
BHR hasn’t done so badly this season: Dennis Setzer, driving the number 18, has a win, 3 top 5’s, 6 top 10’s and is ninth in points. His teammate, Stacy Compton, had 4 top 10’s in the number 4 and was in 21st before BHR was forced to cut back to a single team due to financial difficulties. Even with that, both teams did a tremendous job of keeping focused this year after the death of their boss and friend Bobby Hamilton, Sr.
Bobby Sr.’s widow, Lori Hamilton, has worked hard to keep the team running: in late 2007 she took on Arrington Manufacturing as a partner and moved the team’s headquarters from Tennessee to Virginia in order to be closer to NASCAR’s epicenter.
But now all they’ve managed to accomplish over the last couple of years may be in jeopardy. Without Dodge’s support, Bobby Hamilton Racing could very well be on the endangered species list, if not already headed into outright extinction. Although the team has yet to announce their plans for the 2009 season, it’s hard to imagine how they intend to compete without some sort of major factory support. They almost have to have someone like Dodge behind them if they plan to continue racing, particularly given that the biggest teams in NASCAR, names like Roush, Hendricks and Gibbs, just to name a few, are already dominating the truck series. Lacking the deep pockets that have come into the sport lately, BHR will be at a major disadvantage coming into Daytona next year if they don’t have big-time support backing them up.
As a fan of what has become the most watchable series NASCAR has, it would be a damn shame if they had to fold up shop and quit the sport altogether. Not to mention what a huge blow it would be to the all the employees and their families.
So, what are the options?
A merger may be possible, there are several one-and two-truck teams in the series, and so far, neither of the other two Detroit manufacturers has indicated they’re going the way of Dodge. Combining operations with an existing Ford or Chevy team to create a single four truck team may be one way to save BHR. But many of the eligible teams are headquartered in Charlotte and the vicinity, which means either someone would have to give up a prime location in stock car racing’s holy land and move to Martinsville or the Hamilton operation would have to pack up and relocate to North Carolina; not an easy thing to do one way or the other – and the team has made one expensive move already.
BHR could get picked up by Ford, Chevy or Toyota; anyone of them could step up and take over where Dodge left off. Of the three, my money is on Toyota: Ford and Chevrolet are both in the same economic quagmire that forced Dodge to leave in the first place, and both are making noises about scaling back their racing operations – not only with NASCAR, but all their motorsports operations as well. Put all your eggs in one of those baskets and there’s a fifty-fifty chance they’ll get broken. Besides, with teams like Roush-Fenway, Kevin Harvick Racing, and Hendrick Motorsports, Ford and Chevy have teams that dominate not only the racing but the sponsors as well. And let’s face it: sponsors get cold feet when you change drivers; what kind of fallout will BHR face after losing its manufacturer? Neither Ford nor GM is likely to jump headfirst into that kind of situation.
That leaves Toyota, and in my humble opinion, it’s the only option that really makes sense, at least for Lori Hamilton and her partners. Toyota is the only manufacturer with the money and credentials to step up and lend a hand. Toyota America is in NASCAR for the long haul, and has said so time and time again. Even with the all the craziness the economy has been through lately, Toyota hasn’t even mentioned scaling back support for their Sprint Cup, Nationwide or Craftsman teams and has stood by them through thick and thin.
For those of you who doubt, think about it: it would have been easy for Toyota Racing to dump any number of teams after the less-than-stellar debut seasons they had in all three series’, but they didn’t. In fact, they expanded their support and came back with strong sophomore seasons; even winning the NCTS championship in their second year in the series. How many teams has Detroit left in the dust after one or two dismal seasons – or less? BHR could do a heck of a lot worse than going with TRD in 2009, AND they could stay right where they are; that’s a big plus in my book.
I think we’d all agree that a sport with Bobby Hamilton Racing is better than one without it -– and I’m sure everybody who works there thinks so too. Right now, Toyota provides the best way of insuring BHR stays intact; for this particular situation, TRD is more savior than devil.
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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