I can think of nothing more boring than the bastardized truck series of the future. “Special rules” will make this the most successful series since IROC. Anybody seen an IROC race of late…anyone,,,anyone,,,? They lost their sponsor because the twelve people who were showing up for every race didn’t drink Crown Royal.

Truck racing had actually become exciting in the last few years leading to restrictor plates being added to the trucks as they were turning faster times than the new cup cars. The addition of the wild card cup drivers getting beaten by the regular truck series drivers lended legitimacy to a series that had grown up from the special halftime racing of old.

Why does every money saving idea NASCAR comes up with lately lead to the guys who really bust their humps and work the long hours losing their jobs? Are crewman not important to the team owners or NASCAR?

How about some of these owners and drivers spending a little less time in the Caymans via private jet and keep the series pure? Just like Wall Street. “Lets lay off a few thousand people so I can afford to decorate my office with new granite floors and a gold commode.” Thanks Brian France and the rest of you for freeing up my Fridays for a year or two.

West Coast Kenny
Alameda, California

Lack of teams = Reduction in License fees for Nascar

A few years ago, a moderately staffed Cup team was shelling out 50K for credentials. I can only imagine what it is now.

I should add that crew members actually have two things issued to them in order to work in the garage. First they have to have a license which in the Truck Series costs 550.00. A license is not transferable and stays with the crew member even if they go to another team. The second thing would be an annual credential or hard card, which is transferable with NASCAR approval and 150.00 bucks; an annual credential does not go with the crew member when they depart because it is actually issued to the team not the crew member; it stays with the team and can be assigned to another crew member. An annual credential runs 750.00, for a grand total of 1300.00 dollars for one Truck Series crew member. Is it going to save teams money probably not; the only folks who will save money would be the big teams who have money to burn and bring extra people. The smaller teams already know how many people they can bring. It will save a bit on basic necessities like food, housing, and transportation, but again the larger teams will be the ones who benefit because the small teams are already sleeping 10 to a room or motor home.

What needs to be fixed is the escalating cost of remaining competitive; an engine cost 35,000 to 40,000 if you want to run competitively with TRD. If you finish the race in say 25th place you will take home less than 10,000 dollars and you haven’t even paid your tire bill. It is an age old question balancing competition and cost. Right now the costs for go fast parts in the Truck Series are far greater than what you can get out of a sponsor or the purse. I don’t have an answer, but limiting annual hard cards probably isn’t it. Maybe we need to look at having to run an engine for 3 or 4 races. Then again the large teams will just throw money at that problem just as they always have.

How much does it cost to take one extra crew person to the track? Everyone needs to look at how cutting costs affect the low man on the totem pole. Sure, it may save teams money, but then that is one more person without a job (or earning less money because they aren’t working at the race). That person can then spends less because they can’t afford extras. And so it goes down the line.