Racing Fan Club

Have you noticed a trend in Nascar lately? Seems that the higher the sponsorship dollars, the better the tendency for that team to win. Don?t be fooled, nascar IS a business and IS focused on sponsorship, not racing. Maybe racing?s equivalent to wrestling?s ?for entertainment purposes only? motto applies here, as some teams seem to have large advantages. It would then make sense to keep all of your sponsors happy with an equalized amount of airtime so that everyone important enough is happy. Nascar works hard to ?equalize? the playing field.

Templates ensure that all brands of the cars are aerodynamically equal. Engine restrictions and limitations keep the power of all engines very close. The cars are also chassis dynoed after races to make sure no one is at an ?unfair? advantage. If so, new regulations will be put in affect to level the playing field. All this to keep the driver in control of winning, right? Maybe, but sometimes tech inspection will miss advantages for awhile, even though they have full access to engines when they tear them down weekly. Have you ever seen a driver that seems untouchable, enter the pit, leave with new tires and have no success after? Although tires can vary slightly, it sure would seem convenient that nascar pre-selects and hands out tires separately to each team.

Nascar?s image is also very important to them. It was believed that nascar was very pleased when Jeff Gordon came aboard. This allowed them to help shed the redneck image that the sport has had for so long. This also opened up new markets and more sponsorship to come on board. You see the same trend again occurring today. They have opened up opportunities for more manufacturers to step in such as Toyota has done. Nascar is also encouraging different targeted groups to get involved in the sport. One targeted group now has a race located in their own backyard, Mexico city. Is it then a coincidence that a heroic Latin racer, Juan Pablo Montoya suddenly decides to join nascar. He was one of the best drivers in the world?s top racing series, F1 racing. Seems like a backwards move for Montoya unless motivated by people that could benefit from his decision.

Nascar has done what it had to do to survive and grow tremendously. Nascar should be less concerned about sponsorship, and should allow a good team to win. If a team finds an advantage they should be rewarded by winning. The chances of another racer having a career such as Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt Sr. or Jeff Gordon in the future looks slim. But sponsors should stay happy.