Since the end of World War 2, the United States has had a love affair with stock car racing. At first, it started on the streets and unpaved roads of the South, soon moving to modified horse tracks, as well as road courses, and eventually to speedways.
In Daytona Beach, however, racing had been established long before the love affair with circle tracks. The beaches offered a straight, well packed surface that led to numerous high speed runs, and eventually to a stock car race that took place half on the beach, and half on Atlantic Avenue.
It started with people who jumped into their own cars and souped them up to try and outrun the other guy. When the races became larger events, companies started to notice, and the prize money grew.
That led to professional race teams, where the owner went out to find the fastest guy he could to put into his car and win. It was the owners job to provide the car, find the sponsor, and the drivers only responsibility was to get into the car and go fast.
Late in the 20th century, however, that arrangement began to blur a bit. Car owners expected their drivers to not only be fast behind the wheel, but to be fast talkers as well, able to impress and become a pitch man for the products that provided the money to put on the show. Soon, the drivers were not only required to be a spokesman for the corporation, but were expected to help bring in sponsors to the teams themselves.
As with anything, however, sponsors want to be winners. They want to make sure that the money they spend, often in excess of $1 million dollars a year, is seen as much as possible. For this reason, the bigger teams take in a larger chunk of the sponsorship pie than the smaller ones, which is often reflected on the track.
It is simple logic, really. When you have more money from sponsors, you can afford to hire the best people. You can build the best equipment, and make sure that you have enough spare parts in case the worst happens.
The opposite is also true. Unless you are part of an organization with a winning tradition, you can’t attract the big name sponsors. The big name talent won’t want to drive for you, and the better crew people won’t stick around. It is all a Catch 22.
If you spend a few minutes at a race, you will start to notice the little differences. The ultra wealthy teams, such as Hendrick, Gibbs and Roush, can afford to take chances that the smaller teams cannot. They push the boundaries of the sport, and end up benefitting from their persistence in the long run.
Upper class teams, such as Penske and Ganassi, are able to do almost as much as their larger counterparts, but sometimes the fact that their two car operations are competing against the four car competitors simply means that the numbers don’t go their way.
Middle class teams, such as Front Row Motorsports, do the best that they can with what they have. They sometimes have to reuse parts that the larger teams would throw away after one use. They are not able to afford some of the higher tech devices that lead to more success, and are often relegated to the middle of the pack.
Other teams, which can only afford to operate a one car effort, are left at the bottom of the field. They are unable to share information with teammates, and have to make more mistakes in order to advance up the ladder. Oftentimes, these mistakes add up, and the teams are either doomed to failure, or they end up developing partnerships with the larger teams.
It has been said that money is the root of all evil, but it can also be tons of fun. It all depends on your particular set of circumstances, and how you budget your time, energy, and resources to improve your situation.
NASCAR may have originally been a bunch of backwoods hicks trying to run from the law, but it has developed into a multi-billion dollar industry where the amount of money you have can, and often does, determine how well you finish. Be sure to read part 1 of the series, and stay tuned for part 3 of the series, where we discuss the drivers and how they have become a better reflection of the world we live in today, as well as part four, where we find out a bit more about the most passionate fans in the world of motorsports!
About Me: Adam has been a race fan since the first time he went through the tunnel under the Daytona International Speedway almost 30 years ago. He has had the privilege of travelling to races all across the state of Florida (as well as one race in Ohio), watching nearly everything with a motor compete for fame and glory, as well as participating in various racing schools to get the feel of what racecar drivers go through every week. Adam has spent the last three years covering motorsports for Examiner.com., where he had the opportunity to see the racing world from behind the scenes as well as the grandstands. He invites everyone to follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, and looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for all things racing with the readers of SpeedwayDigest.com.Be sure to tune in for his weekly sports talk program, Thursday Night Thunder, where he discusses the latest in motorsports news with drivers, crew members, and fans. The show takes place every Thursday at 8:00 pm EST on the Speedway Digest Radio Network.
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