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NASCAR scrutinizing reasons teams give for parking their cars during races
By Bob Pockrass - Associate Editor
Friday, March 06, 2009
Robin Pemberton is the vice president of competition in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
LaDon George
NASCAR Scene
HAMPTON, Ga. – NASCAR won’t create a hard-line rule prohibiting Sprint Cup teams from starting a race and then parking their car a few laps later, but NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton said Friday there is an increased emphasis on making sure that the reason a team gives for falling out of the race is legitimate.
Although there are only 36 cars that have the funding to run the entire season, several teams are trying to make races each week. In past years, when there haven’t been 43 fully funded cars, some drivers started the race, parked in the opening laps and pocketed the last-place money.
“We owe it to the garage area [to make sure] that everybody is on the up-and-up,” Pemberton said in the Atlanta Motor Speedway garage Friday. “When they call [they’re] out, we will continue to look at what put those cars at.
“What we’re going to encourage at this level here is that people participate and do what they can do to race. What we want to prevent is someone legitimately trying to do a race setup and getting bumped out by somebody that may have gone above and beyond what the spirit of the rules are.”
Last week, Gunselman Motorsports had crew chief Doug Richert changing tires, co-driver Geoff Bodine holding the catch can and team owner Larry Gunselman jacking the No. 64 car driven by Todd Bodine.
The Gunselman team eventually retired after 227 of the 285 laps with an engine issue to settle for 37th, but took home $84,175 with the start. The team did not qualify for the first two races.
A week earlier, Prism Motorsports’ Dave Blaney retired with a fuel-pump issue after 50 laps and NASCAR inspected the car after the race to make sure that was the real issue, Pemberton said.
“They want us to run, and we do want to race,” Gunselman said. “I understand NASCAR’s standpoint that if you’re sending funded teams home, they want to make sure that the teams that are sending them home are legal.
“If you only run a handful of laps and don’t run all day, I can completely understand NASCAR’s perspective on that. [And] I don’t want to get torn down.”
Gunselman said the team needs about $50,000 to get to the race track and attempt to qualify while it takes a total of $100,000 in sponsorship to run the entire race. It can be more depending on whether the car is damaged. Last week, his team had some sponsorship from Curtis Steel and Core Construction that was enough to pay for the refreshing of the engine and the tires, which costs about $25,000, and run the laps.
“We’re racers and we want to race,” Gunselman said. “We got a little bit of sponsorship last week. Unfortunately we hurt a motor there right at the end or we probably would have ended up 26th or 27th.
“It was a good day for us, unfortunately we hurt the motor but I don’t think it’s hurt bad. We all want to race. Our whole program is based on the amount of tires we can buy and the amount we can race is dependent on the money we can bring in.”
Pemberton said NASCAR doesn’t expect every team to be able to run up front, but those that make the final 43 need to be on the track racing someone.
“There’s people that aren’t top-10 cars but they compete against other people that are 25th through 35th,” Pemberton said. “We need to encourage those guys to race each other.”
There are 47 cars entered this weekend, and of those, 45 have entered every race this year. Two teams – BlackJack Racing and the Front Row Motorsports No. 37 – attempted but did not qualify for the first three races and have withdrawn from the Atlanta event.
Gunselman’s team has used the same car at all four tracks this year. He said his team is in the process of finishing three other cars.
“It’s going to be interesting for the small teams as to who can outlast who financially,” Gunselman said. “You’re spending $40,000 to $50,000 a week whether you make the race or not. That’s gets expensive in a hurry. I can’t say how proud of I am of my guys.”
That expense required Bodine to race conservatively at Las Vegas, Gunselman said.
“Last week, [our crew] got all four tires on and didn’t lose any laps in the pits and the reality of it is if we had gone up and raced hard, we would have been in position to get the lucky dog when we went one lap down," Gunselman said. "Our car was good enough that we could have done that but we just couldn’t jeopardize [damaging] the car.”
As far as the Nationwide and Truck events, where there have traditionally been start-and-park racers over the last few years, Pemberton said there could be a little more leniency.
“There’s more at stake with the purses and whatever else that goes on [in Cup], but we are going to encourage the level of competition throughout the ranks the best that we can,” Pemberton said.
2009 Sprint Cup Race for the Chase Standings
Driver Standings after the Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500
| 1 | Jimmie Johnson | 6492 |
| 2 | Mark Martin | -108 |
| 3 | Jeff Gordon | -169 |
| 4 | Kurt Busch | -211 |
| 5 | Tony Stewart | -285 |
| 6 | Juan Pablo Montoya | -289 |
| 7 | Greg Biffle | -321 |
| 8 | Denny Hamlin | -352 |
| 9 | Ryan Newman | -411 |
| 10 | Kasey Kahne | -476 |
| 11 | Carl Edwards | -520 |
| 12 | Brian Vickers | -666 |
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6 responses to "NASCAR scrutinizing reasons teams give for parking their cars during races". Post a Comment.
Sally Kapp said:
Mar 7, 2009 at 12:23 PMSo does that mean Derrick Cope is not going to race this year! He started so many races the last couple of seasons, and would drop out after 10-20 laps- oh a vibration, oh handling issues. Several times he ran so slow he caused wrecks. Good Policing on this issue!
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» Confirm Abuse ReportWerner Boehmert said:
Mar 7, 2009 at 12:24 PMso what Pemberton is saying, if they're short of cars it's a non-issue...when there's an abundance of cars it becomes an issue...geez..."As far as the Nationwide and Truck events, where there have traditionally been start-and-park racers over the last few years, Pemberton said there could be a little more leniency."
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» Confirm Abuse ReportDonnie Sessions said:
Mar 7, 2009 at 2:48 PMCar & Driver magazine did an article on this practice a few months ago. Some of these "Start & Park" teams are making a lucrative living doing this. I just don't like it when they get in a race and someone trying real hard to make a go of it doesn't.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportButch Spisak said:
Mar 7, 2009 at 6:10 PMThis is a good start. And, as far as the Nationwide series, I feel the Nationwide drivers should be able to all enter, then, if there are spots left over, let the cup teams fight for them. It is sad to see Nationwide drivers go home so that the BIG cup teams can get some practice on the track and then take home the biggest portion of the purse.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportBernadette Motherway said:
Mar 7, 2009 at 6:39 PMI agree with NASCAR stepping up and policing this in the Cup. If teams and drivers don't like it, they can drive in the Nationwide where there is more leniency and get out of the Cup series.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportB HAUGE said:
Mar 8, 2009 at 11:05 AMNASCAR / Mr. Pemberton,
Report as AbuseIf there is such a concern for top cars going home and avoiding the start and park competitors, why does NASCAR allow a 5th team with a Rookie driver (ex. Team Hendricks) to start a rookie within the first 5 races of the season? During this time the top teams are trying to establish their "top 35 guarenteed positions" in the ranks for the season. Good teams are being sent home and these rookies, who are not scheduled to compete in a cup full schedule can have a negative impact on those trying to establish a top 35 starting place.
This could use some attention.
B. J. Hague
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