RE: NASCAR Says: Sport looks strong heading into 2009

Quoting the former Presidential Candidate and Senator Hillary Clinton, NASCAR statements on Friday truly requires a “willing suspension of disbelief” if they want us to think the “sport looks strong heading into 2009.”

Nothing could be further from the truth and it pains me to see the sport I love destroyed by in-action and failure to comprehend the gravity of the economic times. The Big 3 automakers are on the cusp of bankruptcy, unless President Bush provides an immediate multi-billion dollar bridge loan from the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP). Without the Big 3 – the NASCAR economy will rapidly contract and a large percentage of teams will be added to list of defunct organizations. And with that – NASCAR thinks the sport is “strong” – but in reality – teams are dissolving faster than Kyle Busch racked up victories in the beginning of 2009; and without competitive teams – NASCAR is heading for a death spiral.

Without sweeping changes to the fundamental way NASCAR operates – the long term future is bleak. In comparison to Formula 1, following the announcement of Honda to close their F1 Racing operations, the FIA, the sanctioning body of Formula 1 racing, immediately acted with the support of their constructors (teams) to implement meaningful cost cutting measures for the 2009 and 2010 seasons. Formula 1 Cost Reduction Plan

This type of leadership and decisive action may curb future team closures and ensure the viability of the sport. Contrasting the bold leadership of FIA and F1 to NASCAR’s failure to address their challenges is cause for great concern. NASCAR’s value proposition for automakers and corporate sponsors is decreasing rapidly and they must act not only to increase their value proposition; but act to immediately cut costs and increase teams’ participation in the television revenues.

Without describing my complete cost reduction plans, the key areas that MUST immediately be changed by NASCAR are the following:

• Length of the race weekends – two day shows instead of three days at the track
• Reduction of race team members allowed at the track
• Elimination of credentials and “hard card” for necessary race team personnel
• Limitation of number of sets of tires available for use per race weekend
• Elimination of track testing at non-sanctioned race tracks
• Limitations of wind tunnel testing for aerodynamic development

As always, I offer my opinion to strengthen the sport and help ensure its long term viability.