Even NASCAR not immune from economic woes
Hardcore NASCAR fans might not recognize their favorite sport when the season picks back up on February 15th at Daytona International Speedway in Florida. Chrysler, General Motors, Ford and Toyota have all cut back funding 20 to 30 percent, and once strong teams like Petty Enterprises have merged with rivals and closed up shop. What's more, fewer fans will be able to afford a weekend at the races, and that equals less revenue.
Still, Brian France remains optomistic that the 2009 season will remain compelling. Top-shelf drivers like Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch will be back to battle for the championship and there are still 50 teams that have signed up to race at Daytona in 2009. Come what may, it's a virtual guarantee that NASCAR racing will go on, though perhaps with a bit less sparkle, flash and income than in previous years.
[Source: Detroit News]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
mcampasini 7:19PM (2/06/2009)
who cares they ruined nascar when they went to the chase.
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Rocketboy 6:53PM (2/08/2009)
You're making the assumption that there was something to be ruined.
TeamNutmeg 7:19PM (2/06/2009)
Be prepared for an awful lot of park 'n' pay teams, even at the Cup level. Despite all the announcements of new teams forming, I'd be surprised to see more than one or two teams outside of the top 35 genuinely competing after the first two months - and even those are likely to be third and fourth cars of the big teams.
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JayP 7:26PM (2/06/2009)
Bring back the Jr Johnsons, Fireballs, and Lee Pettys... they'd run a season on what a new team pay for tires during Speedweek.
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VP 8:13PM (2/06/2009)
No the Petty and Allissons will be in the same boat. Do you think somebody will give them tires and engineering support for cheaper just because of their names? Do you think a Rick Hendrick and Jack Roush wouldn't mind cheaper costs? Please going back to the old school is not the solution to the problem. It's the same in NASCAR, F1, FIFA or anything else. Costs go up over time no matter who you are.
Snix 7:33PM (2/06/2009)
Bring back the stock in nascar. You could run modified Chargers, 300's, G8's,Lexus IS or GS, etc. Anything with RWD.
This COT is a load of crap. It's a spec series now.
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catgirlshyla 8:07PM (2/06/2009)
Yeah, bring back the "Stock Car' in NASCAR!!!
Either give me a 700 BHP RWD Toyota Corolla, or face being sued for false representation!!
catgirlshyla 8:08PM (2/06/2009)
I'm sorry, Camry. But still, Formula D still owes me a RWD Scion tC. "Stock car" rules and specs my arse.
why not the LS2LS7? 8:21PM (2/06/2009)
It was a spec series before COT. But I agree, I'd love to see stock cars out there.
It's odd that street cars are more capable than ever nowadays, and yet there are few race series that run street cars.
Farris 1:36AM (2/07/2009)
Agreed. Why isn't there a STOCK class of oval racing?
Andy 6:28AM (2/07/2009)
You can see all of this and even more in Koni Challenge - even for free, if you live near Miami:
http://www.grand-am.com/konitickets/
And the cars even turn RIGHT!
Metar 12:59PM (2/07/2009)
On the other hand, the Camry is the car that most resembles the road-going version, visually. The road Camry's front actually looks like the NASCAR version...
Kimura 7:50PM (2/06/2009)
LEFT!
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Kitko 7:53PM (2/06/2009)
Of course it's not immune, for crying out loud, Nascar is the homeground for three US manufacturers, two of which survived to this date only thanx to the bailout money. Compared to Ford, Toyota is still a granny who can afford to throw money around.
BTW, I like the pure American spirit streaming out from Brian France's surname :-)
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KA 8:22PM (2/06/2009)
Yeah, I don't understand why NASCAR of all things would be considered immune to recessions. If anything, I'd guess the opposite. What a weird choice of words for a post title.
howard 1:47AM (2/07/2009)
I'm glad ole' Benny Parsons didn't live to see this mess! It's going to take a lot of guts and know how to put 43 cars on the tracks every week! If I was the head of NASCAR I'd cut the starting field to 33, even then they'll be lucky to have 35-40 cars show up to qualify! Jack Roush and Rick Hendricks will only lose money for so long before their Board of directors tells them to shut it down like Karl Kiekaffer's Board of Directors told him; You're either in the OUTBOARD MARINE MOTOR business or Automobile racing! He got out of NASCAR!
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Marc 2:53AM (2/07/2009)
"who cares they ruined nascar when they went to the chase."
Oh, yeah! 'Cause it was Sooooo much better in the "old days" when only one or 2 drivers had a chance to win the cup than with the Chase when 10 have a legit shot at it with the Chase.
/ sarc tags off.
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catgirlshyla 4:36AM (2/07/2009)
At least the cars were real steel cars, not the fiberglass-tubed cars of today. And there were alot more crashes.
Jay Evans 8:32AM (2/07/2009)
'not the fiberglass-tubed cars of today.'
Wow you really don't know much about Nascar do you.
Stumpy 9:24AM (2/07/2009)
I really don't pay attention to the Standings, I just enjoy the races. As long as they keep doing circles, I will keep watching.
Come on Jeff Burton! =)
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