March 3, 2009--The Road to Recovery
At times I like to fancy myself a man-of-the-people. But even when trying hard I can’t make myself get into NASCAR. It seems so noisy and boring to watch a bunch of cars hurtling around the track at 200 MPH while everyone waits around for the occasional crashes.
I’m so uninterested in stock car racing that even being close to Daytona this winter, I couldn’t manage to drag myself up there to watch, rather, check out the 500.
But then I read this interesting piece in the New York Times about a bunch of NASCAR guys who fell on hard times because the current economic contraction is affecting their profession almost as much as it is hurting banks and shopping malls. (See article linked below.)
NASCAR racing teams depend for their support on sponsors such as Lowe’s, FedEx, Miller Lite, Long John Silver’s, Havoline, and M&M’s; and since most of these companies are experiencing hard times, they are cutting back on what they spend on auto racing. Support from corporations declined this year by nearly 6 percent, down $190 million from nearly $3.5 billion, with a “B.”
And then of course NASCAR’s blue-collar fans have been hit the hardest by the Great Recession; and as a result, unlike 2008, this year at the Daytona 500 thousands of seats went unsold even though many had been discounted from $95 to $55.
While the Wall Street Journal and CNBC have been opining about what the “talent” who have lost their jobs Downtown are going to do--some as noted here last week are hiring out as butlers and clowns--on the NASCAR circuit another thing seems to be unfolding, something perhaps that offers a glimpse of a more promising, entrepreneurial future for auto racing and perhaps the larger American economy.
Dispossessed crew members are joining together to build cars of their own from left over chasses and spare parts. These one-car teams do not require much sponsorship and one cobbled together this way finished 25th in Daytona in January, winning $273,513. Not a bad payday, and enough to keep them going.
This is the way auto racing got started back in the day. With guys in their spare time tinkering on cars in their garages and showing up on weekends at dirt tracks to let ‘em rip.
The downturn has opened up opportunity for these kinds of enterprising folks. On a typical Sunday at the big races there are 43 slots available for racers. Until recently, all went to well-sponsored teams that could hire all the best mechanics and had all the best equipment. This year, there are only 35 fully-funded teams which means that each week there are up to nine spots on the grid for teams such as Tommy Baldwin Jr.’s which did so well at Daytona.
To quote the New York Times, “The new business model calls for small staffs [major racing teams consist of 20 members], leased engines, borrowed technology, used haulers, rented workshops, cheap motel, and commercial aviation.”
As one of the fellas operating one of these startups said, “No more Garage Mahals.” And they seem to be loving it as they share the challenge and camaraderie that used to be associated with back road racing in small towns all over the South.
By the way, all these cars run on biofuel.
Wall Street, are you listening?
I’m so uninterested in stock car racing that even being close to Daytona this winter, I couldn’t manage to drag myself up there to watch, rather, check out the 500.
But then I read this interesting piece in the New York Times about a bunch of NASCAR guys who fell on hard times because the current economic contraction is affecting their profession almost as much as it is hurting banks and shopping malls. (See article linked below.)
NASCAR racing teams depend for their support on sponsors such as Lowe’s, FedEx, Miller Lite, Long John Silver’s, Havoline, and M&M’s; and since most of these companies are experiencing hard times, they are cutting back on what they spend on auto racing. Support from corporations declined this year by nearly 6 percent, down $190 million from nearly $3.5 billion, with a “B.”
And then of course NASCAR’s blue-collar fans have been hit the hardest by the Great Recession; and as a result, unlike 2008, this year at the Daytona 500 thousands of seats went unsold even though many had been discounted from $95 to $55.
While the Wall Street Journal and CNBC have been opining about what the “talent” who have lost their jobs Downtown are going to do--some as noted here last week are hiring out as butlers and clowns--on the NASCAR circuit another thing seems to be unfolding, something perhaps that offers a glimpse of a more promising, entrepreneurial future for auto racing and perhaps the larger American economy.
Dispossessed crew members are joining together to build cars of their own from left over chasses and spare parts. These one-car teams do not require much sponsorship and one cobbled together this way finished 25th in Daytona in January, winning $273,513. Not a bad payday, and enough to keep them going.
This is the way auto racing got started back in the day. With guys in their spare time tinkering on cars in their garages and showing up on weekends at dirt tracks to let ‘em rip.
The downturn has opened up opportunity for these kinds of enterprising folks. On a typical Sunday at the big races there are 43 slots available for racers. Until recently, all went to well-sponsored teams that could hire all the best mechanics and had all the best equipment. This year, there are only 35 fully-funded teams which means that each week there are up to nine spots on the grid for teams such as Tommy Baldwin Jr.’s which did so well at Daytona.
To quote the New York Times, “The new business model calls for small staffs [major racing teams consist of 20 members], leased engines, borrowed technology, used haulers, rented workshops, cheap motel, and commercial aviation.”
As one of the fellas operating one of these startups said, “No more Garage Mahals.” And they seem to be loving it as they share the challenge and camaraderie that used to be associated with back road racing in small towns all over the South.
By the way, all these cars run on biofuel.
Wall Street, are you listening?
posted by Steven Zwerling at
6:10 AM
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