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Start and Park, a smart financial decision or an insult to Nascar?
Mary Jo Buchanan- Bleacherreport.com
Most teams and drivers cannot wait until race weekend to get out there on the track, practice, qualify and race all day long on Sunday. This packed weekend of racing is indeed the business model that team owners sell to their sponsors, providing maximum exposure while that car and driver serve as a portable bill board, advertising their particular product or brand.
In this tough economy, however, there are fewer and fewer corporate partners willing or able to continue to shell out the incredibly large amount of sponsorship dollars required to support NASCAR teams with this business model, especially at the top Cup level.
The impact of this sponsor dollar pinch has been felt throughout the garage and shops, with some teams, cars and drivers simply disappearing from the scene. Others have been forced to merge and scramble just to stay alive in the sport.
With teams fading away or partnering up, the fear for NASCAR has become whether or not their fields will be full each race weekend. Already teams outside of the top 35 in owner’s points have been able to move up and into a guaranteed place in the show, simply because of this attrition in the racing ranks.
While many are bemoaning this phenomenon, saying that it signals doom and gloom for the sport, other more entrepreneurial folks have decided instead to see this glass as half full.
Several enterprising teams have even publicly announced that they are going to take advantage of this lack of cars, pull together a team, and make some money in a new way, using the start and park strategy.
So, what is start and park? It’s basically when an under-funded team decides to bring a car to the race track, qualify it into the show, run a few laps, park the car for the rest of the race, and collect the purse for coming in last or thereabouts.
Several teams and owners have been doing this for many years, such as Morgan Shepherd, Derrike Cope and Kirk Shelmerdine. They have shown up at races where the fields may not be full, or better yet have raced their way in, only to run awhile and then sit out the rest of the race, collecting whatever prize money is due them.
The start and park business model works best when times are hardest and finances tightest. The strategy is absolutely dependent on the fields not being full so that anyone who shows up can race that weekend.
Start and park teams can make the purse money by taking the track and then pulling off after just a few laps. That way they do not have the overhead of other teams with buying tires, fielding a pit crew, or even having a war wagon in the pit stall.
These teams also get all the perks of race weekend, including garage privileges, hanging out with their favorite drivers, and some of the best seats in the house for the race weekend.
Of course, there is some risk. If a start and part team does show up, there is a full field and they have to qualify their way in, they may be in trouble. Then the funds they have spent getting the car to the track, paying for hotels and food, will have all been for naught.
In a recent interview, driver and commentator Kenny Wallace acknowledged that the start and park strategy will be a popular one this season, especially in the Cup series if the fields are not full. “The start and parkers only come out during financial hard times. There’s a lot of money to be made in start and park”.
The latest issue of Car and Driver also addresses this practice. They estimate that at the Cup level, start and park entries can average upwards of $1 million in purse money just by showing up and then quickly pulling over.
So, is start and park NASCAR’s newest business model? It just may be for some.
Whether wise, “old” veterans of the sport or young up and comers to NASCAR, we will no doubt see the start and park phenomenon taking place in a more visible way in the 2009 season.
And who knows, if there is a lottery winner out there who wants the ultimate racing experience or even if there is a group that wants to pool together for the best seat in the house on race weekend, this may be just the ticket.
I’m in….how about you?!
Alex Waters- PlanetRobby.com
Currently the Cup series has 5 full time start and park teams, the 09 driven by Mike Bliss, Sterling Marlin, and Aric Almirola. Keselowski and Fellows run the whole race with this team. The 36 of Scott Riggs, Patrick Carpentier, and Mike Skinner have ran a few full races but have been parking it of late. The 66 of Dave Blaney has parked it every race except the Daytona 500 and the Coke 600. The 71 of David Gilliland has run about half of the races full and parked it the other half. And the 87 of Joe Nemechek is trying to get enough money to run the full race but just hasnt got it yet. Other Start and Park teams are the 37 of Tony Raines, 64 of Mike Wallace, and the 04 of PJ Jones.
Most teams and drivers cannot wait until race weekend to get out there on the track, practice, qualify and race all day long on Sunday. This packed weekend of racing is indeed the business model that team owners sell to their sponsors, providing maximum exposure while that car and driver serve as a portable bill board, advertising their particular product or brand.
In this tough economy, however, there are fewer and fewer corporate partners willing or able to continue to shell out the incredibly large amount of sponsorship dollars required to support NASCAR teams with this business model, especially at the top Cup level.
The impact of this sponsor dollar pinch has been felt throughout the garage and shops, with some teams, cars and drivers simply disappearing from the scene. Others have been forced to merge and scramble just to stay alive in the sport.
With teams fading away or partnering up, the fear for NASCAR has become whether or not their fields will be full each race weekend. Already teams outside of the top 35 in owner’s points have been able to move up and into a guaranteed place in the show, simply because of this attrition in the racing ranks.
While many are bemoaning this phenomenon, saying that it signals doom and gloom for the sport, other more entrepreneurial folks have decided instead to see this glass as half full.
Several enterprising teams have even publicly announced that they are going to take advantage of this lack of cars, pull together a team, and make some money in a new way, using the start and park strategy.
So, what is start and park? It’s basically when an under-funded team decides to bring a car to the race track, qualify it into the show, run a few laps, park the car for the rest of the race, and collect the purse for coming in last or thereabouts.
Several teams and owners have been doing this for many years, such as Morgan Shepherd, Derrike Cope and Kirk Shelmerdine. They have shown up at races where the fields may not be full, or better yet have raced their way in, only to run awhile and then sit out the rest of the race, collecting whatever prize money is due them.
The start and park business model works best when times are hardest and finances tightest. The strategy is absolutely dependent on the fields not being full so that anyone who shows up can race that weekend.
Start and park teams can make the purse money by taking the track and then pulling off after just a few laps. That way they do not have the overhead of other teams with buying tires, fielding a pit crew, or even having a war wagon in the pit stall.
These teams also get all the perks of race weekend, including garage privileges, hanging out with their favorite drivers, and some of the best seats in the house for the race weekend.
Of course, there is some risk. If a start and part team does show up, there is a full field and they have to qualify their way in, they may be in trouble. Then the funds they have spent getting the car to the track, paying for hotels and food, will have all been for naught.
In a recent interview, driver and commentator Kenny Wallace acknowledged that the start and park strategy will be a popular one this season, especially in the Cup series if the fields are not full. “The start and parkers only come out during financial hard times. There’s a lot of money to be made in start and park”.
The latest issue of Car and Driver also addresses this practice. They estimate that at the Cup level, start and park entries can average upwards of $1 million in purse money just by showing up and then quickly pulling over.
So, is start and park NASCAR’s newest business model? It just may be for some.
Whether wise, “old” veterans of the sport or young up and comers to NASCAR, we will no doubt see the start and park phenomenon taking place in a more visible way in the 2009 season.
And who knows, if there is a lottery winner out there who wants the ultimate racing experience or even if there is a group that wants to pool together for the best seat in the house on race weekend, this may be just the ticket.
I’m in….how about you?!
Alex Waters- PlanetRobby.com
Currently the Cup series has 5 full time start and park teams, the 09 driven by Mike Bliss, Sterling Marlin, and Aric Almirola. Keselowski and Fellows run the whole race with this team. The 36 of Scott Riggs, Patrick Carpentier, and Mike Skinner have ran a few full races but have been parking it of late. The 66 of Dave Blaney has parked it every race except the Daytona 500 and the Coke 600. The 71 of David Gilliland has run about half of the races full and parked it the other half. And the 87 of Joe Nemechek is trying to get enough money to run the full race but just hasnt got it yet. Other Start and Park teams are the 37 of Tony Raines, 64 of Mike Wallace, and the 04 of PJ Jones.
Views: 56
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by TOG on
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If the purse structure were to have substantial increases for each position you GAIN, then more teams would run farther. A team that doesn't receive incentives from NASCAR & sponsor bonus programs( winners circle, etc ) only makes $$ from the race purse. Example, a 43rd place finish for Dave Blaney at Dover would be $70,000 , however, he could finish 25th and only make about $5,000 more, for running 375 more laps. Not worth it. IF the positions paid, lets say, $2,000 more for each spot up until the top 20,then they could justify the tire bill,etc.I dont blame the underfunded teams. They are doing the best they can with the hand Nascar has dealt them.
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Permalink Reply by Keith on
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The payout for additional spots won't cover the tire bill at some tracks.
Tommy Baldwin takes no pleasure in S&P, just the opposite.
It's the only way for him to keep his team alive week to week until an appropriate sponsor can be found.
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Permalink Reply by Dave-O on
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I feel for both Tommy Baldwin and Nemechek, but their situation will likely never change. Once the economy picks back up and sponors start coming back to NASCAR, the established teams will grow and these independants will be ignored. These guys are trying, but they are unlikely to even get to the stage RGM is at.
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Permalink Reply by racerx5091 on
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Stop allowing the Cup drivers to compete in the Nationwide Series and cherry pick the winnings. That should spread the wealth around a little more and allow some of the Nationwide teams to move up to cup, perhaps on a race per race basis. They'll want to run the full race and they could force the start and parkers out. But I also agree that re-structuring the purses to reward those that stay in the race would be a great incentive to the start and parkers. If the purse for finishing 2nd to last was double that of finishing last, you might just see some racing out of these guys.
One other thing about the start and parkers that always amazes me is that they have no crew! I would think there would be a lot of fans willing to do it for free. Do you need a license to be a pit crew man?
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Permalink Reply by gg91 on
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They all have a crew! and yes you need a license (hard card) to get in the garage area it's $2000!
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Nascar sanctions "start and parks" if they do not provide full fields the tv channels they are contracted don't have to pay as much to nascar.
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Permalink Reply by Bigzoom on
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Nascar needs to go back and come up with a better solution of the purse. Winner's circle program is the biggest joke...the rich get richer. It needs to be a set percentage for each position based on the purse, just like the points for a race. It would definitely increase the competition if every position was worth alot more cash!
Take the purse at Indy $8.4 million
Pay Positions good money based upon results, here's my formula I would use for Indy: Big money difference bewteen 43 and 35, and 25 and15, and so on, make them race for it! Imagine if a start & park team finished in the Top 5 on fuel strategy or something,,,it would change everything.
1 $600,000
2 $550,000
3 $500,000
4 $350,000
5 $300,000
6 $290,000
7 $280,000
8 $270,000
9 $260,000
10 $250,000
11 $240,000
12 $230,000
13 $220,000
14 $210,000
15 $200,000
16 $195,000
17 $190,000
18 $185,000
19 $180,000
20 $175,000
21 $170,000
22 $165,000
23 $160,000
24 $155,000
25 $150,000
26 $145,000
27 $140,000
28 $135,000
29 $130,000
30 $125,000
31 $120,000
32 $115,000
33 $110,000
34 $105,000
35 $100,000
36 $95,000
37 $92,500
38 $90,000
39 $87,500
40 $85,000
41 $77,500
42 $75,000
43 $70,000
Total $8,372,500
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Permalink Reply by Rob Hoban on
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TOG's comment makes perfect sense. However, is it the whole start and park thing for the added income? I really don't see how this could attract a sponsor.
"Look at our operation Mr. Sponsor. We qualified for 4 out of the last 7 races. We could have raced in the top 20, but we need companies like yours to put your name on the car in order for us to make that top 20 run!"
Is this really going to attract a sponsor. Imagine when the team has to make their first long green flag run of the year 3/4 of the way throught the season. Will they really perform well?
Hats off to RGM for doing what they are doing. They aren't fully funded, yet they have a more than solid position within the top 35 in points.
What's wrong with this... Brian Vickers just won a race, and is 12 points out of the chase with only a few races to go. His teammate can't catch John Andretti in points. How does Scott Speed sleep at night?
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Permalink Reply by Beagle7 on
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This has been going on forever..I dont see WTF the big deal is all of a sudden.
It seems like the entire Amercian public has friggin ADD...and everything is placed under a microscope and blown completely out of proportion and made a bigger deal that it really is.
The only fully funded car that could bitch about missing a race to a S & P is Scott Speed...and quite frankly they deserve to miss with the $$ they have and how well the 83 runs if they cannot get one of the 8 spots available.
When the economy turns and more fully funded teams appear, the S&P will go away for awhile just as always. I just don't see why everyone's panties are in a bunch when there is a 44 car field and 5 of those that make it pull it in to the garage. If anything as least it stops us from putting up the dreaded 43rd...lol
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That's true- RG is saved 15-21 points by the Start n parks. Plus, it's kinda fun to watch 'em qualify.
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Permalink Reply by R. ALDRIDGE on
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It doesn't save Robby any points. S&P finish in the last spots so its the same for everyone, essentially a 37 or so car field. Only makes a difference if you blow up early, like Labonte did last week. And Robby doesn't need any points anyway, he needs some momentum from a few well run, incident free, well called, races.
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