If the reports we’re hearing are correct, Monday, November 24 is going to be a dark day for hundreds of crewmembers throughout NASCAR.
According to multiple sources we talked to this weekend, as many as 750 NASCAR Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Truck Series team members will be laid off or fired the Monday after the season-ending weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Knowing the axe is about to fall, the team members have already hung the title of ‘Black Monday’ on the date.
One source indicated the process had already started reporting more than 100 workers had been let go at Dale Earnhardt, Inc. (DEI) last Friday. That later proved to be false according to a DEI source Monday.
Still, other organizations – especially in the Nationwide and Truck divisions – have been stung by funding cuts on the manufacturer and sponsorship levels and are circling the wagons with smaller efforts, fewer people, or shutting down entirely. If there were still any questions about NASCAR being impacted by the recent downturns in the economic conditions, they are no longer valid.
Layoffs/firings are not uncommon at the end of any NASCAR season. With many organizations retooling because of new ownership, sponsors, drivers, crew chiefs, etc., team members routinely roll their tool boxes out the door of one shop and into another during the off season. This year, however, the consensus seems to be that exodus will be on a much greater scale than in the past and there will be fewer places to go because of the recent seismic downturns in the economy.
It is also rumored that the greatest cuts at the team level are going to come in older, more experienced and well-paid workers. Teams needing to stop the financial bleeding are said to be cutting those workers in a cost-cutting measure. Kind of sounds like the involuntary layoffs of thousands of high-salaried, white collar workers announced by General Motors and Chrysler late last week, doesn’t it?
Regardless of how many team members get the axe on ‘Black Monday,’ the picture is clear. The economy – not Jimmie Johnson winning a third-straight Sprint Cup title – is the story of the 2008 NASCAR season. Given the bleak forecasts for the next couple of years, it could also be the headline event for all forms of motorsports in 2009 and beyond as well.
Stay tuned. This story is going to be with us awhile.
Show Jimmie The Money
Jimmie Johnson pretty much had the 2008 Sprint Cup title locked up heading into Atlanta, but a smooth move with a handful of laps remaining Sunday all but put him and his Hendrick Motorsports team at the head table at the banquet in December.
Johnson stopped for fresh tires and rocketed from outside the top 10 to finish second in the final seven laps of the Pep Boys 500 Sunday. The decision to pit and subsequent finish boosted Johnson to a 183-point lead in the points – basically one full race – over his nearest competitor in the championship chase with three races remaining.
Turn out the lights, the party is over.
Give Johnson the trophy, the money and the props now. He’s earned it. You don’t win three titles in a row without knowing what you are doing. On Sunday, Johnson and his HMS team proved again without a doubt that they are, and have been, the best team in NASCAR for a long time.
Congrats.
Tuning Out?
The overnight television numbers from Atlanta are still not in at the time of this writing, but it will be interesting what kind of pull Sunday’s Cup race had with viewers.
With fall colors and the 2008 NFL season in peak condition, NASCAR television numbers have been down or flat for most of the events in this year’s Chase. Last week, ABC’s coverage of the event at Martinsville Speedway earned a final national rating of 3.3, down from last year’s 3.7. That translated to an average viewership of 3,776,618 people.
Those kinds of numbers have to make you wonder where are the 75 million fans NASCAR reports it has?
Hmmmmmm…
Unfortunately, the television numbers probably aren’t going to get any better now that Johnson has all but deposited the check on the championship. With only a second-place battle in the points between Carl Edwards (6.065 points), Greg Biffle (6,063) and Jeff Burton (6,030) to tout, it’s going to be a tough sell for both ticket and television folks at the final three events.
Flawed Chase
The fact that the championship can be decided before the final race shows the Chase format is flawed. Ditto for the old NASCAR point system for that matter.
In today’s highly competitive sports/entertainment world, if you are going to have a championship playoff, you have to have a championship event. A championship has to play out to the end to have suspense, be compelling and hold interest.
Don’t believe us?
We offer you the Super Bowl and the NCCA Basketball Championship Game – the two most watched, discussed, gambled on events in all of sports/entertainment every year. One game for all the marbles.
Fans love the excitement of the big game. The current Chase format with multiple events and premature endings doesn’t provide that ultimate climax most seasons and certainly hasn’t again this year. Only an amendment to the current Chase format – one where drivers/teams are systematically eliminated from the competition and the remaining contestants are zeroed out and equal again heading into the next event - will create a true ‘playoff’ system and elevate fan interest in NASCAR’s championship.
Until then, enjoy the next three no-suspense Cup events to close out this season and better luck next year.
Let’s Go Camping
Through the mist of projected layoffs, a non-existent championship race and soft television viewership, NASCAR announced Camping World will replace Craftsman as the title sponsor of the Truck Series next season. The deal was announced as a seven-year pact. No financial terms were disclosed.
The addition of Camping World ends months of speculation as to who would replace Craftsman as the Truck Series title sponsor. Craftsman had served in that capacity since 1995 – the only title sponsor the Trucks have ever known.
Camping World already has NASCAR ties with Kevin Harvick Inc., Richard Childress Racing, International Speedway Corporation, Speedway Motorsports, Inc., Dover Motorsports, ESPN and SPEED. It is also the title sponsor of the NASCAR Camping World East and West Series.
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will debut at Daytona International Speedway on Friday, February 13, 2009.
Waltrip Cracks 1,000
Michael Waltrip made his 1,000th NASCAR career start in the Pep Boys Auto 500 Sunday.
Waltrip made his first career start in 1985 at Charlotte in the Coca Cola 600 finishing 28th. At Atlanta Sunday, Waltrip finished 37th.
Who knew? Waltrip has just one top-five in 46 career Atlanta starts. It was the 17th time he has finished 25th or worse at Atlanta.
In all, Waltrip has 722 Cup starts notching four career wins (slightly over one-half of one percent), 39 top-five and 126 top-10 finishes. Waltrip's Cup career finishing average in those 722 events – 21.6.
Waltrip’s 270 Nationwide starts (11 wins) and eight Truck Series starts make up the remaining 1.000 NASCAR career green flag starts.
Another Open Wheel Wonder?
Paul Tracy is the latest open wheeler to give NASCAR a shot. The Canadian ace will drive a Toyota truck for Germain Racing this Friday at Texas Motor Speedway.
After a trio of third-place points finishes (1992, 1994, 1999), Tracy won the 2003 Champ Car title. Tracy has five Indy 500 starts, his best finish a second in 2002.
Tracy will be 40 in December.
Next Up
All three NASCAR series – the Trucks, Nationwide and Cup – will be in Texas this weekend. It’s the first of three-straight events where NASCAR will showcase the trio at 
the same track with Phoenix and Homestead coming up in following weeks.
Clint Bowyer leads Carl Edwards by 116 points in the race for the ‘Cup Lite’ Nationwide Series title while the Trucks, as in most seasons, have the best point’s race with Johnny Benson leading Ron Hornaday, Jr. by just 31 markers.
The Trucks are on SPEED Friday night, Nationwide on ESPN2 Saturday, and Cup on ABC Sunday.
Enjoy.
