Numer 27 Team Suspends Operations

[rbroyles]

Slugger Labbe, crew chief of the No.27 Toyota for Bill Davis Racing told Mike Bagley and David Poole on The Morning Drive (Sirius NASCAR Radio 128) that the team has suspended operations due to lack of funding. The No.27 may run Talladega but sponsorship money is needed to keep this team afloat.

Source: Jayski.com

This is the latest in a disturbing trend of teams going down. Most have been marginal teams before, this is a middle of the road team. I have mentioned in previous posts that more teams will be folding, that one day there will be only 10 -12 team owners. Is this one step closer to that prophesy, I truley hope not.

 

[JTrainDavis]

This is the latest in a disturbing trend of teams going down. Most have been marginal teams before, this is a middle of the road team. I have mentioned in previous posts that more teams will be folding, that one day there will be only 10 -12 team owners. Is this one step closer to that prophesy, I truley hope not.

I think the cost is prohibitive for alot of sponsors, especially for the teams that generally run in the 20's and below. Simply put, the advertising bang for the buck isn't there, when the car needs a minor miracle to be in the top 10, let alone parked in victory lane, and the only time it is on the TV screen is if they happen to be in the same frame as Junior, Jeff, or Jimmie.

On the same note, remember how the COT was supposed to level the playing field for all the teams, making the smaller operations more competitive? Other than Johnny Sauter having a few good runs last season while the big teams were working the kinks out of the system, things have basically remained the same.

 

[lll Adidas]

I have mentioned in previous posts that more teams will be folding, that one day there will be only 10 -12 team owners.

In your opinion rbroyles, What is the solution to this?

They have them limited to 4 car teams now. Should Nascar drop the number of cars to 3 and then maybe 2? Maybe they should do it gradually. Maybe make a rule that in 3 years team owners have to be down to 3 car teams and in 5 years they have to be down to 2 car teams. Is this a good idea?

What number of Cars would you limit the teams to? How about keeping the Big Boys out of the other divisions (Truck & Nationwide)? Or should they limit them in each division? 2 cars in each division? Would that cure any of this?

 

[lll Adidas]

On this same note, When is Nascar going to make Roush give up their 5th Car? Why are they still permitted to have 5 cars, and They wouldn't let Hendrick add a 5th when he brought Jr. on board?

 

[JTrainDavis]

On this same note, When is Nascar going to make Roush give up their 5th Car? Why are they still permitted to have 5 cars, and They wouldn't let Hendrick add a 5th when he brought Jr. on board?

I though there was a sort of grandfather clause, whereas Roush will get to keep 5 teams until a certain date.

 

[lll Adidas]

I though there was a sort of grandfather clause, whereas Roush will get to keep 5 teams until a certain date.

I assume that is the case, but when will he have to give the 5th car up?

 

[lll Adidas]

NVM about Roush! I found the answer Roush has to give it up after 2009.

 

[doozer]

As the economy slows so too will sponsorship dollars. This already playing out right now. Add to that the decline in attendance at all but a few tracks and companies don't see the investment right now. Even the larger teams have been looking elsewhere for money. I've read where almost every team is hunting deals like those struck with Fenway and Gillete. I've even heard the possibility of a publicly traded team.

 

[rbroyles]

In your opinion rbroyles, What is the solution to this?

They have them limited to 4 car teams now. Should Nascar drop the number of cars to 3 and then maybe 2? Maybe they should do it gradually. Maybe make a rule that in 3 years team owners have to be down to 3 car teams and in 5 years they have to be down to 2 car teams. Is this a good idea?

What number of Cars would you limit the teams to? How about keeping the Big Boys out of the other divisions (Truck & Nationwide)? Or should they limit them in each division? 2 cars in each division? Would that cure any of this?

I'm not sure there is a solution that NASCAR would embrace, because I don't think they care about the small teams anymore. I think they will eventually evolve into a franchise-type arrangement. As doozer said, the sponsorship dollars are not there, I just got word that Lowes is cutting back on their advertising budget. Not sure if any affect on their NASCAR involvement.

The main problem has been escalating costs not only for those related to building & developing the cars, but labor & travel expenses have skyrocketed over the last five years. Imagine what it costs to send all the race weekend crew members all over the country as well as run the team Haulers with the prices of gasoline and inflated housing and food at each venue.

Yes, their is a grandfather clause til 2009, but no new cars can be added.

If I were NASCAR Czar for the day, I would limit testing even more by a decreasing scale based on # of cars owned. I would try to get purses increased, or pay a minimum amount to even the non-qualifyers. I would place a limit on the # of crewmen on a team, they used to get by on about half of them. I would consider a limit on tires for each race similar to Nationwide series. I would make the share of the TV money more for the team owners, but not by cars owned. It would be the same for one car teams as 4 car. I would either eliminate the Go or Go Home situation, or decrease the locked in cars to 25.