“We’re trying to do more with less. That’s the difficult part of this economy,” France said following his state-of-the-sport address to media at NASCAR’s Research and Development Center. Just back in December, NASCAR issued a statement stating that NASCAR heading into 2009 was “strong”.

This outlook is a rather quick reversal, but perhaps the gravity of the current economic climate and mass sponsor deflections is making an impact.

Doing more with less? Working with teams to develop new business models? I apologize, but in my humble opinion, it’s a little too late for a half-baked plan. But even worse and what is frustrating is NASCAR’s continued unwillingness to restructure the distribution of television revenues to rightly supplement teams’ operating budgets.

What NASCAR needs is a business model which more closely replicates Formula 1 or a franchise structure like every other major sport. As a fervent advocate for team rights, I have repeatedly voiced the need to develop a franchise model that would enable teams to weather macroeconomic difficulties; and subsequently, become less cyclical and more stable during recessions and economic turmoil. The time for leadership, sacrifice and decisive action on behalf of the France Family is NOW. But to the contrary, the Brian France plan is nothing more than reinforcing their past strategies of working with teams to help locate and secure sponsors. While his intentions may be honorable; they are nevertheless naïve when considering there is a global economic recession; and specifically, when the NASCAR industry is in a depression of historic proportions. At this moment, I don’t believe there is a single corporation that is considering spending $15-$30 million required to fund a primary sponsorship program for a NASCAR Sprint Cup team. So I am rather befuddled with Brian France’s simplistic strategy to save the sport, which unfortunately in its current form will contribute to the sport’s certain collapse.

Is it possible that the past success of NASCAR is blinding Brian France from seeing the light? Reflecting back to 60 years ago to the earlier days of NASCAR, Bill France Sr. (Brian France’s grandfather) executed a flawless business plan to convince the then stock car racers and event promoters to become part of his newly formed organization and sanctioning body (NASCAR), whereby he gained complete control over stock car racing. The foundation of NASCAR’s “business model” problems ironically stem from the grand success of Bill Sr. and his unilateral control of a racing empire, including control over the majority of racing venues (International Speedway Corp) and the stock car sanctioning body. Over the past half-century, teams competing in NASCAR relied almost exclusively on corporate sponsors to fund their operations – enabling the France Family to retain a majority of the sports revenues and amass a large network of racing venues, and establishing NASCAR Holdings, an incredibly profitable wholly owned private company.

Those times have dramatically changed and for too long, NASCAR teams have tolerated the exploitation and willingly bore the total burden to exclusively fund their operations through advertising and sponsorship. The rapid increases in costs of racing and teams’ operating expenses of the past 5 years, combined with the minimal increase in sponsorship value – have brought the teams’ very existence into question.

One must wonder, how long can the France Family continue their racing monopoly? Historically, race teams have avoided conflict with the France Family; and the only entities to challenge the France Family’s monopoly have been race track owners, such as Burton Smith and Speedway Motorsports. Even through the France Family has weathered many possible anti-trust challenges with settling most disputes outside the judicial system; I believe the current financial crisis and advertising recession is about to test the resolve of the France Family and their prehistoric business model.

In a stark contrast to the past decade, NASCAR is falsely promoting an image of growth and strength by stating that 15 new organizations have applied for licensing to compete in the Sprint Cup Series. What they fail to mention and what many novices are unaware – almost all of those “new” teams are merely opportunistic racers attempting to profit by a method called: “start and park”, which allows them to collect sizable race winnings (in comparison to their expenses) with a team and car specifically built to just run one or two laps, enabling them to collect profits – all without adding ANY value to the sport. What a sad day it is for the diehard NASCAR fan.

As many of you know, I was the founder of Bang Racing which was NASCAR’s most successful first year team in history. At the young age of 23, I built and operated this highly successful team and we made history finishing 2nd in our first race (Daytona) and winning our 13th race (Michigan International Speedway), which was the first win for Toyota in NASCAR history. While all this is now historical facts found in the archives of NASCAR history, what is typically not understood is that even as a very competitive team, our business model was fundamentally flawed because generating a profit was nearly impossible. Simply put; the cost of running a NASCAR team far exceeds its sponsorship/advertising revenue potential and without significant “business model” changes by the France Family, teams are doomed for failure.

NASCAR must be the only sport where the most profitable teams are the biggest losers’ and where finishing dead-last or not even attempting to win makes more money than being a top competitor. Something is dreadfully wrong when the most competitive teams with great on track performance cannot survive because the costs of running their teams far exceed their revenue potential. The problem is clear: without teams receiving a larger share of the sports’ multi-billion dollar television contracts – there will be no strategy that can make viable a long-term solution for the sport – that is the simple reality.

However, being the “optimist”, I hope Brian France and will realize quickly that his family has the unilateral ability to deliver the change in business model the teams and sport require to survive.

It had been a turbulent few weeks leading up to this incredible day. Perhaps; in some ways, this made the win ever sweeter. I had recently made significant personnel changes to improve our racing operations and team chemistry; wanting to provide a better chance to score our first victory. Our two race teams entered Michigan International Speedway with a renewed confidence and attitude following the departure of Larry McReynolds from Bang Racing and we expected to demonstrate our team’s unity and potential at the Line-X 200, a race event sponsored by Line-X Spray-On Bedliners, one of our team’s primary sponsors.

We didn’t disappoint our sponsors or racing fans that day; our trucks combined to dominate the entire event finishing 1st and 3rd and bringing Toyota a victory in the backyard of the Big 3 American Carmakers. Much was noted in the press about this precocious internet whiz kid who came out of nowhere to lead Toyota’s flagship racing team and become the youngest NASCAR team owner; and then, breaking numerous NASCAR records and going on to make history as the most successful first year race team. It was a tremendous achievement for our new team; and an honor to herald the banner for Toyota in their inaugural year in NASCAR. But equally rewarding was having a childhood dream become a reality.

This dramatic victory has paved the way for today’s on-track performance of Toyota’s flagship NASCAR teams. But Bang Racing will always remain in the NASCAR and Toyota motorsports history books — as the team which brought Toyota their first victory in NASCAR. Without a doubt, this victorious day was etched in the hearts of many and will not be soon forgotten.

Alex Meshkin and Bang Racing Make History — Toyota’s First Win in NASCAR

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AY3dCl-TGng

Speedway Motorsports Inc., which owns eight tracks that hold NASCAR events, already has been told GM will not renew contracts at two tracks — New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway.

Scott Cooper, vice president of communications for SMI, said nobody is panicking.

We’ve seen bad times with the economy before, and we’ll likely see them again, Cooper said Wednesday. At the end of the day, we’ve still got a sport that pairs up well with the American car manufacturers. We believe the sport will continue to have tight relations with those manufacturers.

Read the whole article at ap.google.com

In 2007 Dario Franchitti was one of the most accomplished drivers in American motorsports. When he moved from IndyCar (IRL) to NASCAR in 2008 he was full of hopes and dreams for an exciting future – and yet now he finds himself without a “ride” in 2008. What is happening in NASCAR? For Dario Franchitti, he isn’t sure what his future holds, but the former open-wheel star said Wednesday he’d like to remain in NASCAR.

It is not surprising, when viewing NASCAR and the economic climate today, that Dario Franchitti lost his ride when team owner Chip Ganassi closed down the unsponsored No. 40 Dodge – with 17 races into Dario’s first season in NASCAR.
But there is more in the making of this decision and the announcement really doesn’t surprise me – you have a team whose performance has been downright awful, a rookie driver struggling to adapt to a new form of racing, mass inflation in an already expensive business and serious downward pressure on the U.S. economy – specifically corporate advertising budgets. This is a wicked mixture for more future shakeups in the financially changed business model of team ownership in NASCAR.

The only question in my mind is when will there be a similar announcement from the Yates Racing organization. I can’t image that the Ford Motor Company will continue to fund the operations of a sponsor-less team; regardless of the fact that their performance has been promising.

More dark days are ahead for the NASCAR economy; rising gas prices and overall inflation are just the beginning – soon to come are significant effects of poor race attendance and souvenir sales. Since NASCAR Corp. is mostly focused on protecting the bottom line of their sister company – International Speedway Corp (ISC) – I would image there will be no relief in sight for the fledging racing teams – which are truly the heart and soul of NASCAR.

Congratulations to Dale Earnhardt Jr., the Earnhardt Family and Hendrick Motorsports.

“If I win tomorrow, I’m going to run through the grass and spin out across that logo but only if that’s ‘OK’ with everyone here,” he asked. Call it fate with a little bit of luck, but just don’t call it happenstance. Kvapil was on a mission to keep that promise and did. After capturing the checkered flag, he wheeled the No. 24 Line-X Tundra into the infield as a victorious nod to the jubilant yellow Line-X shirts lining the roof of their suite.

The historic victory was one of many firsts: the first checkered of the season for the 2003 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Champion, the inaugural win for first-year team, Bang Racing, and an achievement that etched a place in the history books for Toyota as the championship manufacturer continues its winning legacy in NASCAR.

“This is huge.what a day!” Kvapil exclaimed. “Toyota gave me some great horsepower again. I screwed up yesterday and drove my truck into the wall off turn 2 after only getting five or six practice laps. Then we broke a motor and had to start in the back. I really have to thank crew chief John Monsam, Mike Skinner and the 42 crew for helping us out with all their notes. They had a fast, fast race truck in happy hour yesterday, and we were able to look at their notes and go a little bit more in their direction from where we were and tune on our truck for the race. So we relied a lot on my teammate and his setup.”

The win marks the second time Kvapil and Bang Racing have made history and helped Toyota to the forefront of acclaim after an impressive out-of-the-box display at Daytona International Speedway earlier this season. Kvapil drove Bang Racing and the No. 24 Line-X Tundra into the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series history books by breaking the highest finish for a new team at Daytona, previously held by Kenny Martin who finished fifth at the Speedway in 2000, clinched the highest qualifying position (third) for the new manufacturer and led the first lap on Lap 8 for the Toyota Motorsports contingent.

“We went to Daytona and didn’t really think we had a shot at the win – and we finished second,” Kvapil said. “It seems like it’s been so long since then. To be able to pull it off here with Line-X sponsoring my truck and the event is just awesome. We’ve been trying so hard all year. For Bang Racing and Toyota to put the total package together in the other manufacturers’ backyard is pretty special.” Kvapil battled against the odds from the back of the pack and another grazing off the turn 4 wall as the initial laps ticked down. From the wave of the green flag, racing action looked more like Daytona as Kvapil worked the advantage of the draft and quickly knocked off 15 spots in 20 laps at the two-mile venue despite loose conditions.

“The draft definitely played in my favor at times,” Kvapil said. “I’d be back a little ways and I’d just fit in and catch the next group. Then I’d pass some more and draft up behind the next group. But it played against me a couple of times, too. I’d try to make passes down on the bottom, and it seemed like everyone wanted to lay-up on the outside. If I had any help, I could make some passes but everyone wanted to stay in line. It was just like Daytona – if you had someone to go with you, you could make your way to the front. But during the last 20 laps of the race, my truck was strong enough to do it on my own.”

Following the first caution flag for debris and a quick pit stop for air pressure, track bar and wedge adjustments to tighten up his ride, Kvapil exited pit road just outside the top-10. As teammate Mike Skinner took the lead mid-way through the 100-lap event, the reigning champ had worked his way into 10th and waited for his green flag pit stop. Then fate stepped in. Kvapil pulled the wheel from heading down pit road for a green flag stop in seventh place as NASCAR called the fourth of seven caution flags for debris. After the crew feverishly changed all four tires taking air pressure out of each and added two cans of fuel, the No. 24 team gained four spots as an ecstatic crew watched Kvapil fall in line behind teammate Mike Skinner. The pair sailed past race leader Bobby Hamilton on lap 77 until yet another caution on lap 81 for Kelly Sutton’s spin in turn 2. When racing action resumed three laps later, Kvapil drove past Skinner and never looked back despite two additional yellows and the race finale ending under caution. “I knew if I ever got to the lead and out in clean air, I could get to the front fast,” he said. “Clean air is so big at Michigan. You’ve got all the downforce on the truck working for you. I thought I had a good enough truck that I could drive away from them, and that’s exactly what happened. It was a great feeling to look in the mirror and see that I was pulling away.”

“Eric [Phillips] and everyone on my team did a great job and gave me tremendous pit stops today,” he said. “They picked up three and four spots every time I pitted and made perfect adjustments on the truck. Earlier in the race, I was able to drive up to about 10th or 15th fairly easily, but once I got to those trucks they were pretty good and it was hard to pass. My truck was just too loose. We really had to work on our truck pretty hard to get it to where I was that fast. The draft was a big equalizer, too. There were some guys that probably don’t have the horsepower that Toyota has under the hood, and they were able to keep up. But I had a good horse under the hood. The last 20 laps were the best laps I had all weekend. I was just riding around wide-open. And Mike and I worked together really well at the end. I thought it was going to be a one-two, but it was pretty darn close.” Kvapil’s joy ride couldn’t have come at a better momentum-boosting time mid-way through the season.

“I expected it a little earlier than 13 weeks into the season to be honest,” Kvapil said. “I knew my owner, Alex Meshkin, had put together a tremendous group of people. With Toyota behind us giving us all the tools we need to go to the race track to run well – I know I’ve got great bodies, I know I’ve got great engines and I know Alex has got the best pieces bolted on the truck that we can buy. I’ve got Eric and Brad [Whaley], a great engineer, and now John’s on board as the new 42 crew chief. We’ve got a good group of people that really work together and communicate well, and I think that’s what the key was to our weekend. We finally put the whole package together. We tested last week in Nashville, and it was a huge turn around for our team. Since testing there, we brought a completely different truck with a totally different setup to Michigan, and Toyota providing us with that testing time and giving us that opportunity to get on the track was a key in my victory.”

As the youngest team owner in NASCAR to reach victory lane, 24-year-old Meshkin’s laurels were all the more sweet as both drivers finished inside the top-three after a roller coaster month of average finishes and changes within the organization. “For the past couple of weeks, I’ve taken more hands-on control of the team making changes to help the two teams become stronger and bring them together,” Meshkin said.

“I think we’ve accomplished that. Thanks to the hiring of our new crew chief on the 42 team, John has helped further solidify our team. Our track performance today, Mike having the best happy hour yesterday, two top-five finishes in which either of our trucks could’ve won and to have Travis win his sponsor’s race, it just can’t get any better than this. It’s an honor to be able to deliver Toyota their first win. To have Travis in victory lane – nothing could be more special.”

“I’m just really proud of the teamwork from the 24 and 42 crews working together to change the motor after we hit the wall in happy hour,” Phillips said. “Everyone put in so much effort and hard work to get us to the front, and I had all the confidence in the new Toyota engine we put in our Line-X truck. Our team has had the Michigan race circled on the calendar since Daytona and really wanted to win for Line-X and for Toyota in the big-three manufacturers’ backyard. To go up there and run really well with both teams just shows how good our race team really is. Our momentum keeps getting stronger which is so important since we’re just getting into the middle part of the race season.” “One of the biggest positives of our team’s win is an answer to a lot of the doubts over the past month about our race team and where we’re headed and what we’re doing,” Phillips said.

“There have been a lot of changes, and I still believe all of the changes are for the best for Bang Racing and its future. I’m really proud of the guys standing behind me and this race team through all of it. I think running one and two at the end of the race just shows how strong this race team can be when we work together. The communication with John has been really great, and I know we will work well together the rest of the year to continue down a successful path.” From victory lane and a momentous time in motorsports history, it’s hard to imagine less than 10 months ago Bang Racing didn’t even own a hammer. “I remember last fall when we didn’t have any employees or a race shop,” Kvapil said.

“We have done a lot in a very short time. And we just keep getting stronger and stronger. I’ve been saying for the last couple of weeks, the second half of the year is when Bang Racing is going to come on strong. We’ve been testing all this time, and the engines are getting better under the hood. Now that we’ve been to a lot of these race tracks once and know exactly what to bring for setups, we’ll start climbing our way to the top. We still definitely have a shot at the championship. Our team hasn’t given up and is looking for some more victories.” As Kvapil pulled away from the field during the last laps of the race, his crew and the Line-X employees weren’t the only ones acting as a cheering squad. Little known to anyone else, Kvapil himself acted as a cheerleader for his team before the race had even begun. “I told my crew the last time I wrecked my truck in practice, I won in Texas a couple of years ago,” Kvapil smiled. “And we’ve seen Carl Edwards change his motor a couple of times and come from the back to the front to win. So, this wasn’t going to be all bad. I knew if there was a place that I had to drive from the back to try for the win, Michigan was going to be one of the easiest places to do it. I’m just proud to be the driver to bring home Toyota’s first NASCAR victory.”

Bill Davis Racing, Innovative Motorsports Inc., Waltrip Racing Inc. and Bang Racing, all new to the series, will field Toyota Tundra trucks in the season-opening event Feb. 13 at Daytona International Speedway.

Davis will bring 18-year-old Shelby Howard to the truck series, while Robert Huffman and Hank Parker Jr. will drive for George deBidart’s Innovative Motorsports.

Darrell Waltrip, a three-time Winston Cup champion who is now a TV analyst, has hired David Reutimann as his driver and will get behind the wheel of a second entry for two or three events in 2004.

The new Bang Racing team, co-owned by Larry McReynolds, former Cup crew chief and now also a TV analyst, and Alex Meshkin, has hired 1995 truck series champion Mike Skinner and is expected to run a second entry for new series champion Travis Kvapil.

Davis also will work with Toyota Racing Development in building the race trucks and V8 engines for all four teams.

“What I’ve seen Toyota accomplish in such a short time in the IRL series, and the support they have given those teams … there’s no question that their intentions and goals are the same as they head toward the truck series in 2004,” said McReynolds.

Toyota engines competed in the IRL series for the first time in 2003, and Scott Dixon won the series championship in a Toyota-powered car.

In another truck announcement Friday, General Motors will add to its role in the Craftsman series with sponsorship of three teams.

A Chevrolet Silverado driven by Dennis Setzer for Morgan-Dollar Motorsports will carry the Silverado sponsorship, while Jack Sprague will drive a vehicle sponsored by Chevy Trucks for Xpress Motorsports.

Kevin Harvick Inc., will field a Silverado driven by Matt Crafton and sponsored by GM Goodwrench.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2003/racing/11/14/notebook.ap/