Is This The End Of The Line For Mike Skinner?

By Brody Jones

If you are Mike Skinner, you can only be shaking your head in disbelief that one month ago, you signed an extension through 2011 with Randy Moss Motorsports, only to get booted from the ride in the next month. The timing couldn’t possibly be any worse for Skinner as most, if not all, of the competitive rides have been locked up for 2011 and, as sad as it may be, Mike Skinner’s career just might have reached the end of the line. Skinner has had an excellent Camping World Truck Series career, with 28 career wins and a championship in 1995. He was also the Winston Cup Rookie Of The Year in 1997, but he never quite achieved the heights he experienced in the Truck Series.

Yes, the Truck Series has been good to Mike Skinner. It has given him an avenue in NASCAR to be a consistent contender week-in and week-out for victories. It didn’t matter what team he was with, when you saw the starting grid, you almost had to pencil in Mike Skinner as a pre-race favorite. But it seemed like after a respectable 2009 season, everything went on a downward spiral in 2010 that Skinner just never could recover from. First, he lost crew chief Eric Phillips to Kyle Busch Motorsports. That wound up being a terrible blow to team chemistry as Skinner was largely a non-factor in 2010.

Then came the SceneDaily.com article last month where Skinner aired out his grievances with the Randy Moss Motorsports organization, decrying the lack of leadership with the team, in particular directing the comment at Randy Moss. He also complained that if he had another season like 2010 next year, he was going to look elsewhere for another ride. But all seemed well when it was rumored he had signed an extension to drive for RMM in 2011 and it seemed, at the time, that all was well and Skinner would be able to have a job after all.

One month later, he gets fired from the team and the rumored replacement is 2003 Truck Series Champion Travis Kvapil. Getting fired is bad enough, but getting fired a week before Christmas and a month after signing an extension? That has to be like pouring salt and lemon juice on an open wound. What’s worst of all is that pretty much most of the competitive rides have been filled for 2011 at this point and Skinner is likely going to have to take a ride in second-rate equipment if he wants to stay in the sport. But at 53 years old, he is definitely in the twilight years of his career and the “r word” may be something he might have to consider given how slim the pickings are at this point.

So this begs the question does Mike Skinner want to be in second-rate equipment or has he finally got to the point in his career where he doesn’t need racing anymore and walks away from it all? It will be interesting to see what Skinner decides to do because, for years, he has been a key name in the growth of the Truck Series. But now, he might very well find all doors closed to him and he may have to retire and reflect upon an almost 25 year career in some form of NASCAR and the thrills of victory and agony of defeat he has experienced. One thing is for sure though, Mike Skinner is not one to give up without a fight.

Has The Time Come For Jeff Gordon To Leave Hendrick Motorsports?

By Brody Jones

Whether you like him or hate him, the fact is that Jeff Gordon is the standard-bearer for NASCAR drivers of this generation. He has won 82 races in his career (2nd most in modern-era behind Darrell Waltrip), has become the first driver to reach $100,000,000 in career earnings, was the fastest to reach 50 career wins, been a four-time NASCAR champion, and co-owns the #48 Lowe’s Chevrolet driven by Jimmie Johnson. Unquestionably, Jeff Gordon has done it all in his career. In fact, he’s done so well that Rick Hendrick signed him to a life-time contract.

But in recent seasons, Gordon hasn’t been as dominant as he has been in years past. With all the extra attention in the Hendrick shops being devoted to Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, and Dale Earnhardt Jr., the cornerstone of the modern era at Hendrick Motorsports has suddenly found himself relegated to something of second-banana status, almost as if his team has become the research and development team for Hendrick Motorsports. Sure, the performance has been there at times as Jeff has won as recently as 2009 and had several strong runs going, but he’s only won one time in a points-race in the last three years. Though, to be fair, the fact he hasn’t won has been seemingly mitigated by circumstances not of his own doing (namely questionable pit strategy, engine failures, or crashes.).

His 2010 season started off strong and he, at times, looked like the Jeff Gordon of old. But there were times this year where Gordon was not a factor and the most notable thing he achieved this year was his scritch-fight with Jeff Burton. He’s even criticized his team-mate (and technically his employee) Jimmie Johnson at times for on-track moves and it almost seems as if Jeff has hit a personal and professional rut with Hendrick Motorsports. In fact, he has seemed to be so unhappy this year that one can’t help but wonder if perhaps the time has come for Jeff to fly the coop on Rick Hendrick, the only team owner in NASCAR he’s ever really known, outside of a two-year Busch Series stint with Bill Davis. At first, the idea sounds like a stretch as Jeff seems to be a company man, for better or worse. But by the same token, he would unquestionably be the cornerstone of any operation that he went to and be the team’s top priority instead of being basically used for research and development, as he seems to be doing at Hendrick now.

Plus, as the typical racer’s ego is known to do, losing like this has to be eating away at Jeff Gordon. He knowns he can’t have too many more seasons like this or he will quickly become irrelevant in the NASCAR landscape in terms of being consistently competitive. Of course, it can be argued that this happens to most every driver. It happened to Darrell Waltrip, it happened to Richard Petty, it has happened to many others as well. But Jeff’s career is far from over. At 39 years old, he still has at least four or five good seasons left in him. The question is does Jeff want to continue in his lesser role at Hendrick or does he want to be the top guy in an organization again?

The bottom line is that perhaps Jeff Gordon has reached a bit of a career plateau at Hendrick and maybe a change of scenery would do him and his career some good. Few have come out and said so, but you can almost see that there is some animosity on Jeff’s end that he’s no longer the reigning king of Hendrick Motorsports. Now, I’m not saying Jimmie Johnson didn’t deserve to usurp Jeff’s top-dog status at Hendrick. He actually earned it with his five straight championships. But I think now that Jeff sees that the changing of the guard at Hendrick is complete, he has to be wondering if it’s really worth staying on at Hendrick Motorsports if the best he can hope for is just cracking the top 10? Maybe the pairing of him and Alan Gustafson will reinvigorate his career and silence the doubters, but until that day, the question remains could Gordon be winning races elsewhere?

Reconstructing Jamie McMurray

By Brody Jones

After the 2009 season, Jamie McMurray was at about as low of a point as one could get in the world of motorsports. After what had been a disappointing four year stint with Roush Fenway Racing, McMurray found himself on the outside looking in when Roush was forced to cut his teams from five down to four. Jamie didn’t have a solid ride locked up for 2010 until his former boss, Chip Ganassi, needed a replacement for the departing Martin Truex Jr. and called his old friend to replace him. Most people likely were not expecting much out of McMurray in 2010. Perhaps a couple of strong finishes here and there, but nothing spectacular.

McMurray started his NASCAR career in 1999 for the Mittler Brothers Truck Series team, which has launched the careers of such drivers as Carl Edwards and Justin Allgaier, and showed great promise. He really shined in 2000 in the Craftsman Truck Series, splitting the season with the Mittler Brothers and TKO Motorsports, the latter team is where he earned two pole positions, a top 5 finish at Indianapolis Raceway Park, and 4 top 10′s. These results impressed Clarence Brewer of Brewco Motorsports enough to put McMurray in his Busch Series car for the 2001 and 2002 seasons, where McMurray won a pair of races in 2002 at Rockingham and Atlanta. Also that year, McMurray pulled off what has to be one of the five biggest upset victories in NASCAR history when in just his second Winston Cup start, he led 94 of the last 100 laps at the October race at Charlotte and won the race. In 2003, despite not visiting victory lane, McMurray beat out Greg Biffle by 37 points in the Rookie of the Year competition. McMurray also had solid seasons in 2004 and 2005 with Ganassi before taking what seemed like a dream opportunity with Roush Fenway Racing. Yes, life was good for McMurray.

But the four years with Roush Fenway were plagued with inconsistency on the track and generally not getting results. Oh, sure, there were a few fleeting moments of glory where McMurray edged out Kyle Busch in the 2007 Pepsi 400, breaking a nearly five-year drought from victory lane and he won the 2009 Amp Energy 500 in one of his last starts for Roush. But those strong runs were too few and far between for Roush and, when the time came to cut his organization down from five teams to four, Roush felt that McMurray was the odd man out and cut him loose. McMurray’s 2009 off-season looked to be very uncertain as there really just weren’t many quality rides available. But fortunately, Chip Ganassi, who has always been fond of McMurray, needed a new driver to replace the out-going Martin Truex Jr. and he gave McMurray a shot behind the wheel.

Fast forward to the 2010 Daytona 500 in the closing laps. McMurray had a strong car all day, but no one was seriously considering him a factor. But with two laps to go, McMurray slithered through traffic like a serpent to the front and held off a hard-charging Dale Earnhardt Jr. to win the Daytona 500 and start perhaps the most emotional victory celebration in Daytona history where more tears were shed than at a Baptist revival in victory lane by McMurray. It definitely was a feel-good story, but no one figured McMurray would have continued success in 2010. He nearly won at Talladega in the spring and, if not for a late-race caution, possibly had the car to beat at the Coca-Cola 600. If there were any doubts this was McMurray’s year, he put them to rest at the Brickyard 400, a race where many were pointing to teammate Juan Pablo Montoya as the odds-on favorite. While Ganassi won the race, it wasn’t with Montoya. It was with McMurray, who got to kiss the bricks and drink the milk at Indianapolis. But Jamie wasn’t finished yet. He won the October race at Charlotte, resulting in another emotional victory lane interview, dedicating his win to fallen former NASCAR star Shane Hmiel,, who just days earlier had been severely injured in a USAC race at the Terre Haute Action Track.

There were other personal high-water marks for McMurray in 2010, most importantly the birth of his first-born son, Carter, in November. McMurray attributes all of the success to this season to the power of prayer, saying that after the tough 2009 season he went through and to have the success he has had in 2010 that it definitely made him a believer in the power of prayer. So, following a season that turned Jamie McMurray from a journey-man driver into a legitimate weekly threat to win races, one definitely must wonder what lies ahead in 2011 for the Joplin, Missouri native? It definitely will be interesting to see if he can carry over this season’s success into next season.

Mayfield Goes From Riches To Rags

By Brody Jones

Six years ago, Jeremy Mayfield reached the pinnacle of his career when he made the 2004 Nextel Cup Chase For The Cup. Flash forward to December 2010, and he now finds himself something of a pariah in NASCAR circles, thanks, in part, to a failed test for methamphetamine. Lately, it seems as if Jeremy Mayfield has been afflicted with Munchausen Syndrome, with very twisted and bizarre attempts to keep his name relevant in NASCAR circles as he continues his plight against NASCAR, trying to stick it to “the man”, so to speak. Unlike other drivers that were suspended for drug tests, that, for the most part, took their punishment without much complaint, Mayfield has been trying to blame everyone but himself for the failed drug test and comes across sounding like a conspiracy-theorist on the White House lawn, at his worst (at best, he sounds like Dale Gribble from “King Of The Hill”).
And as far as his excuses go, there have been some true duseys! First, he claimed that an “overdose” on Claritin-D and Adderall allegedly caused his positive test for methamphetamines when most experts clearly concur that is all but impossible. Next, after his step-mother alleges that she saw Jeremy using meth on several occasions, Mayfield absolutely was malicious toward her, calling her a “whore”, a “gold-digger”, and even implying that she killed his father. Whether these allegations hold truth or not remain to be seen, but to air your dirty laundry in public was a low-blow on Mayfield’s part.
It gets better, fellow readers. He has claimed that NASCAR has a “conspiracy” against him and that they “spiked the test”. Plus he claimed that NASCAR suspended him to “send a message to fellow drivers”. First off, I highly doubt NASCAR would put together an elaborate conspiracy against a lower mid-pack driver. Second of all, what motivation would NASCAR have to spike the test? Third, if they were sending a message to other drivers that Mayfield alleges were on drugs, then why haven’t we seen any other positive tests of other drivers since or, to a large degree, before then? Sure, there were some positive tests, most notably Shane Hmiel, Aaron Fike, and the sad story of Kevin Grubb among others, and even in the 80′s, Gary Balough had his issues with drugs. But drugs in NASCAR are not the wide-spread problem that Mayfield claims they are, which makes his plight equal parts amusing and pathetic at times.
The latest allegation he has made was that Brian France had him “intentionally” black-flagged from a race at Indianapolis in 2006, just days before he was released from Evernham Motorsports. Jeremy has had a track record of sticking his foot in his mouth on more than one occasion. He made some disparaging remarks about Roger Penske that got him released from Penske Racing. He also basically exposed the fact that Ray Evernham was dating one of his development drivers, Erin Crocker (they would later get married.) on the way out of the organization. And now that all hope seems to be gone for his racing career, he’s firing low-blows at the CEO of NASCAR? There’s an old saying that you can’t buck city hall, but I think Mayfield has been bucking, spitting in the face, and giving the middle finger to City Hall.
Probably the best thing for Mayfield to do, to save himself any kind of face in the court of public affairs, is to stop trying to fight NASCAR because, as experience shows, no one has ever fought NASCAR and won. Big Bill France scared away the Teamsters in the early 1960′s by threatening to plant corn in the Daytona infield and using a pistol to keep drivers from joining the union and quelled a similar union effort in 1969 at Talladega. Little Bill France had to fight off the efforts of a clearly-ill Tim Richmond in the late-80′s, and I don’t imagine Brian France would back down from similar efforts either. But, knowing the never-ending circus that has surrounded Mr. Mayfield, I don’t see this saga ending anytime soon.

Kentucky Speedway Close To Their Dream

By Brody Jones

In almost eight months, an 11-year dream to see the highest level of NASCAR racing in the Bluegrass State will finally come to fruition. What Jerry Carroll helped start is what Bruton Smith finally managed to achieve in bringing the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series to Kentucky Speedway. The track, which is located about half-way between Louisville, Kentucky and Cincinatti, Ohio is sure to give fans of racing in Kentucky a different type of “horse-power” than the usual thoroughbred racing fare brings to the state and in its 10-year existence, has already made a considerable impact on the racing land-scape, giving fans in a market starved for NASCAR a venue to watch the best of the NASCAR world race at.
While Bruton Smith will (and deservedly so) get the credit for finally bringing the Sprint Cup Series to Kentucky, one cannot forget the contributions of the original owner, Jerry Carroll, who was determined to give racing fans in Kentucky a venue to call their own so they didn’t have to drive hours-upon-hours to go to a NASCAR race. Under Carroll’s guidance, the track was drawing sell-out or near sell-out crowds to their NASCAR races and also held ARCA Re/Max Series, Indy Car, Indy Lights, and USAC events on the facility. Perhaps the most notable race in Kentucky Speedway history was the 2006 NASCAR Busch Series race where David Gilliland, in a car that had never cracked the top-20 before, pulled off the biggest upset in NASCAR history, propelling him into a full-time NASCAR ride with Robert Yates Racing.
The race date didn’t come without its share of obstacles, however. Many detractors of the track say that it’s really not close enough to any major markets and it holds the smallest seating-capacity of any track on the Sprint Cup Series. But the biggest hinderance to the track getting a NASCAR date was an anti-trust lawsuit filed by Jerry Carroll in 2005 against NASCAR. The suit was dismissed three years later, and ultimately, Carroll dropped the lawsuit, which paved the way for Bruton Smith to move a date from Atlanta to Kentucky, to finally allow the dreams of many Kentucky NASCAR fans to come to fruition.
While the seating capacity, by NASCAR standards, is currently small, it won’t remain that way for long as Bruton Smith, who once said “The road to success is always under construction.” will definitely be having the track in a constant state of construction to boost seating capacity to a more NASCAR-friendly level. NASCAR teams will definitely be glad to have the track hosting all three major NASCAR series in 2011 because, before the ban on testing in November of 2008, was a fertile testing-site for many NASCAR teams and the crowds at Kentucky definitely take pride in their race track, as they do in all the major sports in Kentucky.
So in eight months, the dream Jerry Carroll helped conceive will finally bear the gifts of NASCAR exposure for the state of Kentucky and they desperately need this inagural race to be a success because, like many cookie-cutter tracks, the potential is there for so-called “boring” racing that will drive fair-weather fans away in droves. But there are truthfully far more positives that can come out of Kentucky finally hosting a NASCAR race than there are negatives.

Girl Power In NASCAR

By Brody Jones

At times, it is mind-boggling to comprehend how far our society has come as a whole from the 1960′s where women were not afforded the same opportunities as men. Such was the case for many years in the testosterone-charged coliseums of NASCAR. It was practically unheard of until the 1970′s for female drivers to ever enter NASCAR events. Sure, there were three females who broke the gender barrier in the neophyte days of stock car racing in Sara Christian, Ethel Flock-Mobley, and Louise Smith. But much like McCarthy-ism, these females were escorted out of NASCAR and discouraged from competing in the male dominated sport.
Enter Janet Guthrie in 1976, fresh off encountering alarming sexism from Indy Car officials the previous year in her attempt to make the Indianapolis 500, she came to NASCAR and fared respectably well at the top level, with a commendable five top-10 finishes in a career that included 33 starts from 1976-1980. Outside of one-off efforts by Belgian Christine Beckers and Italian Lella Lombardi during Guthrie’s NASCAR tenure, no Y-chromosome drivers of note attempted a NASCAR race until Patty Moise made some sporadic starts from 1987-1989. It would be almost 15 more years until Shawna Robinson’s abortive Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year campaign. At that point, it seemed like it would be a long while until a female driver got another opportunity in Sprint Cup.
However, in some of the lower-level NASCAR series, there have been a few females attempt full-schedules with a mixed crop of results. Jennifer Jo Cobb set a NASCAR record this past season, finishing in the highest season-ending position in points in a NASCAR series with a 17th place finish in the Camping World Truck Series final points standings, despite not having a single top 10. Erin Crocker even ran a full schedule with backing from Cheerios and the Betty Crocker people in the Truck Series in former Ultra Motorsports equipment and largely struggled. Deborah Renshaw and Kelly Sutton also ran full-schedules in the Truck Series while Chrissy Wallace, Kim Crosby, Tina Gordon, and yes, even Danica Patrick have run in the Nationwide Series with Danica, whether you like her or hate her, bringing in fans that would not otherwise watch a NASCAR event.
But on the horizon, there are a few female drivers in other forms of racing who have the potential to possibly topple Danica as the queen of motorsports, at least on a NASCAR level. Take into consideration Alison MacLeod, the winningest all-time USAC Midgets feature winner. She recently signed a deal with Venturini Motorsports for driver development and to hopefully get a few opportunities in ARCA. Given her success in USAC, it’s only a matter of time before she reaches NASCAR. Another name in ARCA that has been a semi-regular over the years has been Alli Owens and she has performed admirably in her ARCA appearances. Also take into consideration current Michael Waltrip Racing intern and part-time Truck Series driver Caitlin Shaw, Derrike Cope’s twin nieces, Amber & Angela, and also Michelle Theriault.
But perhaps the driver that could very well topple all of them is 18-year old Pensacola, Florida native Johanna Long, winner of last Sunday night’s prestigious Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway in her hometown of Pensacola. She ran seven Camping World Truck Series races in 2010 and turned quite a few heads in the process. She has already announced her intentions to run for the 2011 Rookie Of The Year honors in the Camping World Truck Series and should topple Jennifer Jo Cobb’s record points-finish with veteran crew chief Kevin “Cowboy” Starland calling the shots. So for all you chauvinistic, pig-headed NASCAR fans who don’t think women belong in racing, think again because NASCAR is quickly giving new definition to the words “Girl Power!”

Should NASCAR Have A Sponsorship Blacklist?

By Brody Jones

One of the more recent stories in NASCAR has been regarding the Extenze sponsorship and the fact that they now are facing not one, but two law-suits from two different teams. Extenze came into NASCAR this past season backing Kevin Conway and put him in a Front Row Motorsports car, where, under the alleged terms of the contract, the Extenze car had to be in the top 35. Conway and Extenze got shuffled to all three Front Row Motorsports teams just to keep them in the top 35. At the time of the Michigan race, when it became abundantly clear to car owner Bob Jenkins that Conway couldn’t keep his cars locked in, he replaced him with a more experienced driver.
The Extenze people would not stand for this, so they took their money and went to Robby Gordon Motorsports. Things got so bad there that Robby drove the car himself in a few late-season races and Extenze agreed to pay Gordon for those races. Only problem was Gordon never got the money. So now Front Row Motorsports and Robby Gordon Motorsports have filed law-suits against Extenze. Not the ideal way you want your product to get media attention, now is it?
Sadly, this is not a new trend in NASCAR. Far from it. Take the following examples in consideration as to why NASCAR might need to consider a sponsorship black-list. The first example was the saga of the Big Daddy’s BBQ Sauce company based out of Yukon, Oklahoma. They came into NASCAR on board with long-time NASCAR team owner Junie Donlavey in time for the 2000 season with NASCAR All-Pro veteran Mike Harmon set to run for rookie-of-the-year honors. The relationship was doomed from the start, with Big Daddy’s BBQ Sauce not paying Donlavey his money on time (or not at all). The team went to Daytona and it resulted in an ugly debacle in the middle of Speedweeks with Harmon and Big Daddy’s BBQ Sauce finally angering Donlavey to the point that he pulled the driver and sponsorship decals off of his car. Donlavey’s organization never really recovered from this fiasco. The same thing happened to Larry Hedrick’s NASCAR team a year or so later when Big Daddy’s BBQ again failed to pay sponsorship money to the team, causing it to shut down. Other victims of Big Daddy’s BBQ Sauce include Davey Hamilton in the Indy Racing League, South Boston Speedway, and Henderson Motorsports in the NASCAR Busch Series.
Another more-recent example of the case for a sponsorship black-list includes the saga of the Rockford-Montgomery Labs 360 OTC hangover product. They came into motorsports with a bang, sponsoring Jeremy Mayfield in the Sprint Cup Series and Tyler Walker in the Craftsman Truck Series (ironically, both drivers would later fail drug tests mandated by NASCAR.), not to mention they had committed to sponsoring Morgan-McClure Motorsports at one point in the Sprint Cup Series and they were the title sponsor of the World of Outlaws Late Model series. Much like Big Daddy’s BBQ Sauce, the 360 OTC people did not honor their financial commitments and were sued more times than anyone could count before leaving the world of motorsports with scarcely a whimper.
The way Extenze is going, they may very well find themselves on a NASCAR black-list if they keep getting sued like this. And the sad thing of it all is the smaller teams, the ones who desperately need the sponsorship most, are the ones who find themselves the victims of these fraudulent sponsorships. Companies like those listed need to be kept out of the sport because they do more harm to motorsports than they do good. Too many teams have been shut down due to a sponsor not fulfilling their end of the bargain, and perhaps the Extenze people need to get the “Get Out Of NASCAR. Do Not Pass Go. Do Not Collect $200″ card. But where does the blame lie? On these companies that promise people the moon and give them nothing? Or does it lie with the team owners that don’t take a close look at the book-keeping of these questionable sponsors? No one really knows for sure, but mark my words, this isn’t the first, or last, time you will hear about this sort of thing in NASCAR.

Feeding The Start And Park Beast

By Brody Jones

If you watch NASCAR consistently, one of the more disturbing trends in NASCAR has been the practice of starting the race and then parking about five laps in. It’s kind of like if you are coaching a football team and only have them play one series on offense and defense before forfeiting the game. But in terms of dollars and cents, the practice makes sense as it allows teams to build up funds to get more cars and better equipment without tearing up what they have. It also helps balance out the rather expensive tire bills that teams have from time to time.
In the Cup Series, some of the primary culprits include Joe Nemechek, Gunselman Motorsports, Whitney Motorsports, and perhaps the most notorious start-and-park team to ever disgrace NASCAR with their presence, PRiSM Motorsports. In roughly three years of existence in the Nationwide and Cup Series, the team has attempted the full schedule and only run the complete distance in a laughable three events in that team, with none of those being in their own equipment. The team has become fodder for racing message boards everywhere and a hot topic of debate. The many detractors say the team is making a mockery of NASCAR while their supporters say they are doing what they have to do to survive. There are a few other teams that will run two fully-sponsored cars and one start-and-park vehicle, or even one car for the full distance and two to start-and-park.
Some think this epidemic has only recently cropped up. Nothing could be further from the truth as this has been around at least since the 1960′s, except the difference instead of drivers getting creative with the reason the car didn’t finish, like today’s “rear end”, “ignition”, and “transmission” problems, they just simply listed the reason they didn’t finish as “Quit”. Pretty astute reason, if you ask me. Surprised you don’t see more owners that practice start-and-parking just come out and say they quit the race, because it’s the brutally honest truth of the matter. This practice has only become common knowledge in recent years and in fact, there have been Busch Series races at tracks like Pike’s Peak and Milwaukee where almost one-third of the field parked their cars. That’s right, 13 cars engaged in start-and-park practices in a race. Frightening, isn’t it?
But for the teams that actually use the practice, in hopes of becoming more competitive, one cannot fault those teams compared to other teams who are solely out to exploit the system. One team that uses the start-and-park practice from time-to-time in hopes of becoming more competitive is the K Automotive organization. While they park one (sometimes two) race cars, they try to focus their efforts on one primary car and have run respectably at times. A better example is the SS/Greenlight Racing team, which has been known to pull out a start-and-park effort every now and then, but over the course of time, with Jason White and Chad McCumbee, have turned themselves from an also ran organization to a competitive, mid-to-upper level Truck Series organization. So there is hope for some of the practitioners of start-and-parking.
In closing, start and parking is kind of a double-edged sword. If you practice it wisely, you can eventually become a consistent competitor. But if you are just out to manipulate the system, you make your team and everyone associated with it an absolute disgrace to NASCAR. To NASCAR’s credit, they have taken some steps to try and discourage the practice by inspecting these cars as soon as they exit the race and, even in a few situations, telling them to get back on the track. So what is the solution to the problem? Honestly, what people should be asking is does a solution even exist? One cannot fault the crews and drivers for the practice, as it allows them to feed families that are dependent on their income. But in terms of honesty, perhaps being a used car salesman, trying to sell rusted AMC Gremlins would be a more honest practice.

Mark Martin Can Only Benefit Turner Motorsports

By Brody Jones

With the grandiose plans of businessman Steve Turner and his Turner Motorsports organization in 2011, it was increasingly evident that the team needed some veteran leadership for their team. They had the young, up-and-coming talent in place, they just needed to add a veteran driver to the mix. Who fits that bill better than Mark Martin? Martin, who started his NASCAR career in 1982, has gained a reputation over the years as one of the most competitive, consistent, and even well-respected drivers on the circuit. With the rumor mills saying that Martin has agreed to a limited Nationwide and Truck Series schedule, this can only help a team which doesn’t completely have full sponsorship for all their cars in 2011.
Martin is a very marketable driver that has proven to be great with sponsors and interviews over the years and he can only help the younger drivers of the organization such as Brad Sweet, James Buescher, Justin Allgaier, and he’ll be back mentoring Ricky Carmichael again as an oft-forgotten note on Carmichael’s NASCAR career is that none other than Mark Martin helped him make the transition from the world of motocross to NASCAR. He brings leadership to an organization that truly needed it to go to the next level.
Now, I’m sure all the Nationwide and Truck Series fans who decry the presence of Cup drivers in their series will cry foul, but the bottom line is guys like Martin do sell tickets for events and can only help the team as a whole. But those fans need to look on the bright side. At least Mark is not running a full Nationwide schedule like Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski are doing, so those fans should be thankful for that. And can you really blame a guy like Steve Turner for turning to a driver like Mark Martin to get his team to the next level? The bottom line is Steve Turner is a business-man and does things in the best interests of not only his race team, but what is best for him financially as well.
When you add in the Hendrick power and tech support, it becomes clear to even the most lay observer that Steve Turner is serious about making this team a consistent competitor not just for wins, but for championships as well. So to anyone that wants to complain about Martin being added to the driver line-up, think of the bottom line in terms of dollars and sense. Martin is sure to bring much-needed dollars in the sponsorship department and it makes good business sense for Steve Turner to hire a veteran such as Martin to his fledgling operation.
The bottom line is that Steve Turner so far has been making all the right moves to make his team a consistent force to be reckoned with in NASCAR and if he can keep making such shrewd moves and continue to show good judgment like he has to date, there is no telling what kind of heights the Turner Motorsports organization could reach in 2011 and beyond. Fans may as well recognize the fact that Turner Motorsports is here to stay in NASCAR, much like manufactured debris cautions, Jimmie Johnson’s Chase dominance, and Cup drivers in the Nationwide Series.