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PPI Motorsports continues to downsize
By Mark Ashenfelter
Thursday, November 30, 2006
BAMBI MATTILA/NASCAR SCENE
The doors are still open at PPI Motorsports, but the downsizing continues as owner Cal Wells laid off six employees on Wednesday and now has a staff of nine at his Hickory, N.C. shop.
The total will remain there for the time being but will be reduced to four by January unless a sponsor comes through to keep the No. 32 Nextel Cup team on the track in 2007.
Wells signed a contract with a company based in California's Silicon Valley back in June but said the company, which he wouldn't name, has changed its business philosophy and isn't ready to invest in motorsports at this time. Wells found that was tough to take after spending more than two years working with the company.
NASCAR worked with Wells to attract the sponsor, and Wells is grateful for that help, saying NASCAR can't be blamed for the company's decision.
"We all checked them out - we did, NASCAR did - and we felt very good about it," Wells said Thursday. "We actually felt the type and style of sponsorship it was was going to be huge for NASCAR, huge for the tracks. We've taken them to [International Speedway Corp.] and [Speedway Motorsports Inc.] to negotiate track deals and put an immense amount of time in it.
"But at the end of the day, they just haven't done what they said they were going to do. When that happens [it's tough]. I just don't have the depth to keep spending the money [without sponsorship]. So I had to stop."
Wells said he's been able to place many of his employees with other teams, including Michael Waltrip Racing, saying, "very few of them" are on the unemployment line.
While the owner plans to register the No. 32 with NASCAR for 2007, it will take something out of the blue to field a team next season. At the moment, he's talking with people interested in buying all of the team's equipment and inventory.
"There are a couple of folks that are looking at running a limited program [in '07], and we're just perfect," he said. "They could come in and start a new lease - our lease is up on the building, but the owners [really want] to have somebody in here. We're trying to work a deal where we can just hand the keys [to the shop] to somebody and lease back some office space."
Wells said he's "pricing it to sell" and will see what happens. The employees on hand are inventorying the equipment and preparing it to be shown to additional parties.
"It's horribly painful," Well said of the process.
Wells will keep four employees through January before deciding on the next step. And he hopes the sponsor eventually steps up to the plate.
"I'm really excited about this sponsor, too, I'm really excited," he said. "I hope someday it all works. But we've been carrying them now for a couple of months, and we just can't keep doing it. ... We're liquidating equipment and selling stuff off. But I'm not closing down.
"I'm keeping PPI as a business. I'm going to enter my number for next year. And I'm working on some other things that I can hopefully partner up or do something. I've still got some other deals out there cooking."
Mentioned Drivers: Michael Waltrip
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