Low Entries?

[Fisha695]

As did Hendrick, who had a #58 at Atlanta to secure the championship for Jeff Gordon. Well I guess it didn't start and park, but it would have if needed.

I forgot about that one. That was a strange situation all around, it was qualified & supposed to be raced by Jimmy Horton but he was injured in the ARCA race the day before so they put Purvis in the car. They pitted the car on the opening lap of the race to get it 1 lap down right away so that way Jeff wouldn't finish last, well a few other cars blew engines so Jeff was going to be the Champion no matter what so Rick decided to let Purvis actually race. Purvis ended up finishing 26th 8 laps down while Jeff ended up finishing 32nd 14 laps down.

 

[Cheeze]

And I believe it was another Hendrick car, Ken Schrader, who blew which clinched the championship for Gordon. Very strange indeed, and ironic

 

[RP Motorsports]

Just a note, they said that they won't be attempting any races this year in Cup, or atleast so they claim.

As for this issue: They HAVE been saying this for years, but it's never been THIS bad before. It may be the first year that we barely have 35 competitive cars. Start and parks will pop up around the clock I feel like, and if someone competitive comes along, he'll easily get near the top 35. It's a huge shame that our sport has come this low now that we have S&Ps. Did Hendrick, Roush, or Richard Childress start their organizations start and parking? No. Because they have class and respect for the sport, and don't look at it in a narrow view that all they see in is money!

It seems there are alot of misconceptions when it comes to this. The thing is, the S&P teams arent doing it for money because there is no money to be made. They collect a $25,000 purse for finishing 43rd, and then all that money is spent on getting them back to the track for the next race.

These guys want to go racing. They just dont have the sponsorship/funding to do so. The whole idea with S&P is showing up to the track every week to keep your name in the scene to hopefully attract a sponsor. They are banking on getting someone to come on board if they keep showing they can make the race. They just dont have the funds to run the complete race so they park it, collect the paycheck, and then put all that money into getting to the track next week. Its a tough way to start a race team but its even tougher to find investors right now to sign up before they even hit the track, especially with the economy the way it is.

As mentioned before, alot of the bigger race teams didnt start their team when the economy was belly up. Some were also able to get sponsorship or investors to help start the team.

I actually have a certain respect for these teams because they want to go racing and they are willing to go about it in more of a grassroots way. These owners have literally sunk their own money into buying a few cars and equipment and have gotten a few buddies to jump on board and work their tails off to try and build a race team. I think its important for people to understand that these guys really want to go racing and are trying to. It cost money to run a complete race and you cant spend money that you dont have.

-Ryan

RP Motorsports

 

[B.McKeever]

When the mega teams of now started, the cars were a lot simpler to build and race. Nemechek said last year that a motor package for a single race (one race) is $100,000+ for him. Stating that, I can't imagine what these teams go through. I was big fan of anti-start and park teams; but I see their importance to the sport now. Some may even catch a break and get a second car into the field, leading to sponsorship and possibly a mega "Roush-like" operation in 15 years.


Speaking of Roush; He has 3 / 4 drivers that are "free-agents" in 2012, as well as 3/4 major sponsors. Be interesting to see if Roush remains 4 car team. (Look at the Nationwide sponsorship situation.)

Turner Motorsports closed the Sprint Cup team when they purchased Braun Racing; so they will not appear this year. They have 3 full time trucks, 3 full time Nationwide teams, they will not stretch themselves too thin.

 

[Carl Robinson]

1. I agree with the Plate Look at the 66 last year at fontana qualified on the pole the race for those s and p guys is essentially qualifying because by showing that they can somehow get 3 year old equipment into the field would attract sponsors at some point because if they can achieve a pole with that kind of car just think if they had funding. I personally don't believe teams like prism are present to rob NASCAR of money but are trying to get there foot in the door.

2. Would it be at all possible for NASCAR to build cars to mandated specs nothing special just generic chassis and motors put bodies on them based on the teams manufacturer choice and sell them to the team as a whole car? It wouldn't even have to be NASCAR officals working in the shop they could sell contracts to teams like HMS, RFR, JGR, or Penske to make 2 or 3 cars and sell them to teams like prism giving them a change to be able to afford decent equipment to run a race with.

2

 

[denyerfan]

I respect all of the legit S&P teams.

But when it came to things like MSRP - who actually ran to make profit - kiss my behind!!

-

Look at Nemechek for example - he is clearly trying to get sponsorship because as soon as his bank balance reaches critical mass, he races!! I for one can't believe Joe hasn't got good sponsorship - man if I was rich and powerful I would sponsor that man - he could run top 20 anyday!

 

[B.McKeever]

Kevin Harvick did the "spec" building deal in the Trucks...and some in the Nationwide. I believe Rusty Wallace purchased his Chevrolets from Harvick, and just about every competitive Camping World Truck team that runs Chevrolet, purchases from Harvick.