October 25th, 2010 
Journo Justin Allgaier has had a solid season. In his second year in the Nationwide Series he has one win, two poles, 11 top-fives, 19 top-10s, 221 laps led (including 88 laps led this weekend) and a solid lock on fourth place in the points. He’s the leading Nationwide-only driver in the points and one of only four in the top-10. And yet he’s looking for a ride (I wrote about this a couple of weeks ago).
On the flip side is Brian Scott. He’s an OK driver and an affable guy. He lost his ride this season after the sale of Braun Racing to Steve Turner, owner of Turner Motorsports – it turns out Steve Turner only likes funded drivers when he’s doing the funding. Anyway, Scott, who has been driving for RAB Racing as of late, has had a mediocre season in which he’s posted one top-five and five top-10s. He sits 14th in the points.
Now both of these guys have talked to Joe Gibbs Racing about next year. One has money to fund a ride, the other doesn’t.
Last month JD Gibbs spoke glowingly about Scott and their potential relationship.
On the other hand Allgaier spoke to ESPN’s David Newton a couple of weeks ago about where he stands.
Talking about how and why drivers have their rides these days has been a bit of a taboo subject. Consider this little back and forth between Kenny Wallace and Brian Scott on Twitter. Wallace, while talking about Trevor Bayne, said: “MY THOUGHTS..Trevor Bayne is a good driver, He will get a ride Imediately (sic) !..Brian Scotts dad is wealthy he will BUY a ride Imediately (sic)…”
Despite the bluntness of the statement, what Wallace said was true. Joe Scott’s the chairman of the JA & Kathryn Albertson Foundation, an Idaho real estate developer and the grandson of the founder of the grocery chain Albertson’s. The Scotts have money and are very able to help their son’s career.
Justin Allgaier too comes from a family who has been able financially to help his dream. Funding an ARCA team though is a little different than a Nationwide team. And the fact is, Allgaier got his job at Penske on his merits – not his family’s money.
Unfortunately, what we have today is a very expensive sport where winning and being competitive isn’t always the most important thing. There was a time not too long ago that rent-a-rides only existed at small organizations. Today, just about everybody has somebody paying for a ride.
I worry often that this practice is leaving us with a talent vacuum. The drivers are certainly out there, but if the only ones getting a chance are the ones with money, what does this mean for the future of competition?
It’s a tough situation we’re in, but one I hope doesn’t stand the test of time. It’s unfortunate a driver with all the talent in the world and strong record is no longer guaranteed a ride, but a driver with a thin record and all the money in the world is.
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Sad but so true. What happened to the day when the OWNER brought the sponsor?
Getting a ride in NASCAR sounds more like running for office in politics. You can’t do it without having a load of money first. Those with the money, not talent and skill get the job. Not the best for fans or voters.
If Justin Allgaier is not able to land a top notch ride because he isn’t able to bring a sponsor on him, that would be the biggest story in the Nationwide series this year in my mind. He’s got talent, he’s good in front of the camera, and he can mix it up with the big boys. It’s a crying shame that money is outshaddowing talent. It almost makes we want to stop watching NASCAR.
What I fail to understand is why someone with Penske’s talents and position in the sport cannot find some sponsorship for Justin. Doesn’t make since at all.
Justin has been able to run with the cup drivers who drive in this series. Sheer talent – the kind of talent that keeps me watching Nationwide races. Brad was another one able to do this when he was in the 88. Loss of youngsters like these from the series will doom it. Cup light racing is just plain boring.
I hate this for Allgaier, this is the worst thing going on in NASCAR right now. NASCAR needs new stars, there hasn’t been an influx of new Cup stars since 2004-2006 when K. Busch, Edwards and Hamlin burst on. NASCAR has always seemed to be a sport you need to be born into (family connections/family sponsorship money), but the real talent always still bubbled up. That’s not happening right now and it’s disappointing.
Having preference for a driver bringing money for a ride isn’t new or recent. But the blown economy has definitely made it more visible.
I’m furious about Allgaier’s situation in particular because it’s not his or Penske’s fault Verizon is pulling out, it’s NASCAR’s. Certain industry sponsors are being forced out because of “exclusivity” contracts. In this case, Verizon (who loves Justin as a rep) had enough of not getting their full due because of the Sprint deal. Just a few years ago this was not a problem. I understand exclusivity is worth mega bucks to NASCAR The Company but is it REALLY worth the loss of team & track sponsors? What about car counts? Kyle Busch, of all people, in his role as a team owner addressed this predicament at a presser a few weeks ago & was none too happy about it. Kevin Harvick, for KHI, also chimed in & I would bet that it was discussed at the recent Nationwide owners meeting. NASCAR needs to fix their end of this sponsor fiasco RIGHT NOW, and allow the money that wants to come in, come in.
You see stories like this and the underlying reasons (i.e. exclusivity deals) and it looks like NASCAR is either myopic…or managing the product as if it is in the “end of life” part of the product life cycle and you just milk it for all its worth with no regard to the future.
“On the flip side is Brian Scott. He’s an OK driver and an affable guy. He lost his ride this season after the sale of Braun Racing to Steve Turner, owner of Turner Motorsports – it turns out Steve Turner only likes funded drivers when he’s doing the funding.” By the logic of this statement you would think Brian Scott would still be with Turner Motorsports, as later you indicate his family has wealth. Did I miss something? Agreed that Justin is a very promising driver. Penske needs to hang on to him.
I wonder how the fans of the World Series bound Texas Rangers would react if “Brian” ,having hit .159 w/ 2 HR, 12 RBI and 22 errors in 75 games throughout the season, got the starting 3rd base position over “Justin” who played in the other 75 games having hit .299 w/ 17 HR, 42 RBI and committed only 4 errors??? Oh….I forgot to mention “Brian” has family backing!
Folks, this is unfortunately what you get when $ backing and marketing dollars trumps “on track” performance capabilities. Sad, but true!
Years ago,if I remember correctly, Jeff Gordon was headed to Indy Car racing but couldn’t get a ride because he had no money to bring with him or a sponsorship deal. He came to NASCAR instead and the rest is history. At the time I remember wondering if gaining a NASCAR ride would require the same thing in the future. Looks as if the future is now.
What about the good sponsors getting the shaft from the drivers and owners. Take the KK deal with Bud. If Bid were to leave NASCAR, who could blame them. They expected a driver and car for the full season, with KK’s defection, they are getting a whole lot less exposure. It is good that KK will honor his commitments to Bud for the rest of the year, but the on track exposure sure will be less. We all know that Paul Menard is driving because he brings his family’s business as a sponsor. So where do we go from here. If the best drivers can not get good sponsorship and mediocre drivers can bring money and get rides we need to make some changes. The fans can do that. Sponsors only get results if fans support their products and services. If XYZ is sponsoring a mediocre driver, buy UVW. The fans rule. Look what is happening to ticket prices now that the stands are not sold out.
This is another reason this sport is falling apart. Besides Scott…look at Townley, Conway, etc, etc, etc.
In an ideal world, I agree with Neon that the fastest/best drivers should be in the fastest/best cars at any given race. No rent-a-ride drivers. Hired shoes only. No provisionals. No top-35 rules. Fastest 43 drivers race, rest go home.
However, reality is that we do not have enough fully funded teams/cars. So when guys like Scott or Conway get a ride because they are bringing money, it is not taking a seat away from a more talented driver. It is simply filling a spot on the grid that would have been empty otherwise. Or maybe it would be another start & park ride.
So the “either/or” decision for JGR is “we either filed another car with Scott’s money. Or we do nto field a car.” Not, do we hire Scott or Justin.
And remember, rent-a-rides have been a part of auto racing since the first races. Shoot, I think you could classify Henry Ford as the first rent-a-ride driver!
And boy, looks like I have had too much Knob Creek already. Can’t spell my own name and I hit send before I meant to.
Along the lines of what I said above, I disagree with Lost in TX. Support the companies that are in the sport. Even if you do not like their choice of driver. If you don’t support them, they are likely to leave completely. Then we just have fewer and fewer sponsors.
I would challenge you to buy more from the companies that do sponsor the drivers you like. How many people here switched from Sprint to Verizon to save Justin’s ride? How many people have shopped at Best Buy to support AJ?
Breaking my heart to see Justin loose his ride. Literally watched him grow up from open when to ARCA. Was at his 1st ARCA win. It is so sad that in today’s motorsports business model that a trust fund trumps talent.
Best wishes to Justin and Ashley!
Justin should go to Stewart/haas and be his third driver. Or go to Hendrick after they drop Jr. becuase he is very over rated.
Someone should lobby for the tobacco money back. With the political scene changing now might be a good time.
I don’t see how the drivers do it. They have to show amazing promise on the track, then attract a sponsor to go to a team with. It seems impossible. The team owners seem to just let drivers with backing into their teams while better drivers get kicked to the curb. What are the team owners doing? I thought they picked the most talented drivers who are also “sponsor friendly” and put a deal together. If I was a sponsor the team’s reputation would be just as important as the driver.