Belts tighten for NASCAR

[DogPoundPup]

Source: McClatchy Newspapers

As the NASCAR season ends Sunday, the likelihood of widespread layoffs has sent a shudder through the Charlotte region, home to roughly 90 percent of race teams.

Cuts already have come at some shops, and more could lose jobs in the weeks ahead. While the total number of layoffs is hard to pinpoint, estimates run from 500 to 1,000 or more.

As NASCAR gained prominence and was heralded as America's fastest-growing sport, the Charlotte region proudly touted its strong racing ties. More than 400 motorsports-related companies are based in the area, business recruiters say. A 2005 UNC Charlotte study placed that employment at almost 20,000, and estimated the industry's economic impact at more than $4.5 billion a year.

In recent days, though, the prospect of job cuts has caused anxiety in the region and cast a pall over the season finale in Homestead, Fla., where team owners and drivers say their sport, like many other industries, has been dragged down by the economy.

Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/55965.html

[Dawgs]

1. It's because of the product, not the economy, IMO.

The new car has ruined the sport. There are almost no wrecks, there is little passing, very little side by side racing; just plain boring.

[Mudoria]

3. I agree

Not nearly as much racing as there used to be, not to mention the CoT is heavier and harder to handle which is a killer on the tires. Seems like more races this year have been decided on who has better tires (or whose tires didn't blow up). It's almost as boring as F1 now but it's getting there in a hurry.

[Blue_Tires]

18. not to pick nits, but

the F1 title this year was decided on the last turn of the last lap of the last race...and the last few laps of the Belgian GP was the most insane, edge-of-my-seat racing action I've seen in all my years of watching motorsport

[Nitrogenica]

19. I agree with you. Obviously the entertainment value is subjective.

That Belgian GP was very very exciting.

[DS1]

30. and they're bringing slicks back next year

about damn time

[truebrit71]

34. ...but the new rear wings look awful....as do the new front wings I've seen pcitures of...

...Max Moseley was obviously not caned hard enough.... :grr:

[DS1]

35. I hate the look of the Force India cars

with the top air intake that thins out all the way to the back. But, even if it is fugly, it must do something to make them go faster.

Haven't seen any of the new wings yet.

[a la izquierda]

5. Seriously...went to Texas for the April race.

So boring. My husband nearly fell asleep!

[AyanEva]

44. I got the chance to go to Pocono this year

as a Red Cross Disaster Relief volunteer for the Southeastern PA chapter based in Philly.

I quickly decided that as boring as the races are on TV (my sister and I tend to fall asleep after lap 40 or so), they're STILL more fun to watch on TV than in person. It was neat because it was my first race, but I left with my ears hurting (crappy ear plugs) and thinking that I was glad I hadn't paid for a ticket because it wasn't worth it.

[Lugnut]

7. I agree with you.

The stupid Chase for the Championship didn't help either.

I've been a NASCAR fan for many years. Other than the Daytona 500 in February I haven't watched a complete race once this season. I enjoy racing. Follow the leader doesn't do it for me. It's no fun watching the same handful of drivers win week after week.

[meow2u3]

10. I strongly agree

NASCAR ought to scrap the "chase for the cup", in part because it's a colossal waste of fuel and oil resources which could better be used to lower prices at the pump and provide oil changes to family cars instead of race cars.

[DainBramaged]

27. Right, everyone should trudge off to their jobs and have no release

I guess ALL sports should be banned as a colossal waste of gas and oil to change in people's cars hey?



I bet you worry about peak Starbucks too. :eyes:

[customerserviceguy]

31. Dain, I know you and I have often disagreed

but that was a great comeback, bravo! :applause:

I'm not a NASCAR fan, but I sure do like going to the demolition derby at the dirt track upstate of me, and while that may be seen by weenies as some sort of waste, it entertains about a thousand people at a time.

A pox on the buzzkills who try to diss somebody else's harmless fun.

[DainBramaged]

33. I never realized how petty 'we' as Progressives have become

till I saw so many here criticize the recreation of others as 'harmful' yet their house is made of glass.

Good to see ya.


:hi:

[One_Life_To_Give]

25. Did you see the Truck Race??

Very competitive championship between Benson and Hornaday.
And where have you been for the four wide racing this year?
I think with the drivers being better able to recover from loosing control with the COT that they are actually pushing harder with this car. All 43 appear to be working the wheel thru most every corner.

[Wabbajack_]

2. NASCAR is a sport?

[Chan790]

38. Is a car an athlete? n/t

[Speed8098]

50. No, but the driver is

I'd like to see you or anyone else jump into a car moving 200MPH and withstanding 8G's every few seconds for 5 hours all the while manuvering around 42 other vehicles that are trying to stop you from doing so.

That takes physical training and discipline.

Those of you that watch Nascar for the wrecks aren't fans and you never were, you're what we in NY call rubberneckers.

[Billy Burnett]

4. Just saw on the local Miami TV news that today's finale in Homestead isn't sold out...

... for the first time.

[Lugnut]

9. I don't think any race has sold out this season. n/t

[Bravo Zulu]

6. Well,at least some of the bu$h enablers are suffering too,

even though I don't like to see anybody lose their job!

Air Force One rises above the grandstands along the super stretch at Daytona International Speedway while taking off during the NASCAR Daytona 500 Sunday, Feb.15, 2004, in Daytona Beach, Fla. President Bush arrived before the race, talked with drivers and gave the command for drivers to start their engines before watching the race.

[Billy Burnett]

11. Well over half were booing and giving Bush* the finger.

Don't fall prey to RW MSM bullshit.

Plenty of those race fans are UAW/AFL/CIO union supporters all the way. Most of them hate Bush.

[the other one]

8. So hard to believe that people would get bored

of watching other people drive in a circle.

I thought that fun like that would be impervious to the economy.

[gratuitous]

43. It's baffling

The fans of motor sports I've met seem endlessly fascinated by shiny things going around in a circle. Even when the orange one "wins" all the time, they're just transfixed.

[quidam56]

12. Thanks NA$CAR dads

NASCAR should get with the different brands and look at the future of generating speed via clean sources. At Bristol, you can't smoke in the stands, but you can sure fill your lungs with plenty of good ole CO2.

http://www.wisecountyissues.com

[Haole Girl]

13. Dems railing NASCAR fans is a little like Repugs slamming latte drinkers.

Can we give it a rest? Ever? Sigh.

[DainBramaged]

28. Nah, they don't think you should be in their bedrooms but they should be involved in YOUR recreation

And we call ourselves Progressive.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

14. I have this good friend in Motorsports.

He is a publicist in Drag Racing, but knows the whole motorsports industry in an encyclopedic manner. He is also a fine, rock-ribbed DFL Liberal as all get-out guy, which surprised the hell out of me.

We once discussed the economics of Drag Racing versus that of NASCAR. There is no real comparison. The NASCAR teams spend, for a race or two, what an NHRA Top Fuel or Funny Car team spends for a season, or damned close to it. Helicopters, gourmet catering, frippery, tomfoolery and just plain fiscal idiocy. These NASCAR teams employ armies and maintain huge facilities, with high-tech factories that build a huge number of cars every year, usually one new car for every race. The cost of their engine programs are, in themselves, amazing. Those numbers and metrics add up. The cost of a sponsors decal on a quarter-panel on a NASCAR car is staggering. The amount the teams will spend wooing sponsors, in a most luxurious manner, is in itself, stunning.

Considering the economic climes we are now in, NASCAR is in for a period of very painful rejiggering of the way they go about things. NHRA Drag Racing may be better positioned for the short and medium term for better return on sponsorship dollar for those who choose to go that route.

[Chovexani]

45. Interesting

I work in student finance and was a financial aid counselor for Wyotech, the official school of the NHRA. Now I know next to nothing about motorsport, never had an interest in it whatsoever (I'm one of those "what's fun about watching cars go in circles?" people). But one weekend I got dragged to work the Wyotech booth when the NHRA came to town for race weekend in Phoenix, and it was a totally different atmosphere than what I've seen with NASCAR on tv. Our booth was fairly swanky, but it was much more "down home" if that makes any sense. There was corporate sponsorship but not to the level of NASCAR; most of it was smaller niche companies and mom and pop racing outfits. From what I understand the admission is a lot cheaper at NHRA events, too. For that reason I think NHRA will do just fine.

Here is a pic of me on our reaction challenge bike at the booth last summer:

[Hubert Flottz]

15. Before the country is finished paying for the damage the GOP has done

to this country, those guys may be back hauling moonshine like they did after the last GOP induced great depression.

By the end of the "AWESOME" Great Depression II, it will be "AWESOME" Hyundais, "AWESOME" Mitsubishis and "AWESOME" Daewoos going round and round those super-speedways gunning those "AWESOME" straining, roaring, restrictor plated, battery powered, slot car like motors, toward those "AWESOME" Nicorette Cup, O'Drools beer sponsored, checkered flags.

I quit watching, not long after # 3 passed his last finish line.

[Bombero1956]

16. this is why they're having to tighten their belts

This is a typical shop for a front line Nascar team. The average team will build 15-20 cars for the racing season. That requires $15-20 million dollars for testing, fuel, tires, wind tunnel time, engineers and engine building. The haulers that bring the cars to the track are $400,000 without any equipment. Each team has at least 100 employees either at the track or back at the shops. Nascar has become too much like F1. Time to get back to basics, get rid of the CoT and reduce the season to 30 races at most. The season now is the longest in sports starting in February and ending in November.

[bumblebee1]

40. I'm a little light on the NASCAR lingo.

What is CoT?

[ContraBass Black]

42. Car of Tomorrow

An unpopular new car body mandated by NASCAR.

[bumblebee1]

48. Thanks, ContraBass Black. n/t

[Blue_Tires]

17. things could get worse if the big three wise up and pull out their sponsorship

automakers pay tens of millions for the privilege of having their logo on the hood of what is essentially a spec-racer "stock car" which offers zero innovation or r&d for their commercial products...

[Nitrogenica]

20. NASCAR was almost ruined for me because of the NASCAR

dads bullshit in 2004, and their over the top pandering to the right, so although I don't feel that sorry for NASCAR's management, realize that here in Minnesota there are a TON of NASCAR fans who are Democrats, including myself. It's not the drivers fault NASCAR's management sucks.

This purge within NASCAR might bring about the change NASCAR needs to survive.

[ACTION BASTARD]

21. Boring is right! Until they add machine gun turrets, flame throwers

ejectable tire spikes and a sexy female navigator/co-pilot--Nascar will never rise above the status of "southern cult" sport.

That's right I went there.

Now find me a Starbucks, I desperately need a grande carmel-mocha chai latte.

[fascisthunter]

22. lol...

[onager]

24. And Joan Allen replaces the France family! Damn right!

I just saw Death Race on Saturday, so I'm hyped.

Saw it at a mall theater here where I live, in Alexandria, Egypt. For the curious, the maximum ticket price for a movie is 25 Egyptian Pounds (LE), or about US $4.50. Down in Cairo they have a "VIP Movie Theater" where tickets are LE 100, but you sit in a Barcalounger etc. All Egyptian movie theaters still have ushers, who escort you to your seat with a flashlight. And as an added bonus, you can read the Official Censor's permission card before each movie. If you read Arabic, that is.

If NASCAR doesn't want to go full-bore D.R., they can at least get back to the original no-frills concept: STOCK cars, just like they were built at the factory. (Though these days, that would REALLY be boring.) Hell, in the good old days many drivers drove their cars to the track and didn't even use a trailer.

I read somewhere that when NASCAR made the first rule about roll bars, it left out one critical word--"metal." So some drivers made their roll bars out of 2x4s. They were a lot easier to install and remove after the race--no welding or metal cutting. Heh!

[Wabbajack_]

26. LOL 100% right

[RamboLiberal]

23. NASCAR bans testing at sanctioned tracks for 2009 season

HOMESTEAD - Richard Childress spent $3.053 million on testing for his three-car team this season. That's not counting parts or pieces.

Next season he won't spend a dime at NASCAR sanctioned tracks. NASCAR informed its teams Friday morning that it banned testing at NASCAR sanctioned tracks for its top three series in 2009. That starts with the two-week preseason testing period at Daytona International Speedway.

The organization made the move to cut costs in an economic climate where many teams are struggling to keep up with the constantly rising price competing.

"We're doing this after a good deal of conversation that's been taking place since June regarding testing" said NASCAR President Mike Helton. "That conversation coupled with the continued turn of economic conditions has led us to this decision."

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/motorracing/sfl-flspnascar15sbnov15,0,4290164.story

Except for the wrecks I could never see the lure of NASCAR or most other auto races. To me its boring, but hey, if that's your sport, go for it.

[DainBramaged]

29. DO you watch soccer? What is your 'preferred' sport?

[RamboLiberal]

41. Except for Steeler games I'm not much in to any televised sport

I enjoy going to an occasional major league baseball game, faithfully watch all Steeler games though I hate all the freaking commercials, and I may watch the Pittsburgh Penguins if they get deep in to the Stanley Cup playoffs.

I used to be a big Pittsburgh Pirates baseball fan when I was younger - before they sucked!

Soccer to me is another boring sport - too low scoring.

And I only get in to basketball if I pick well on the NCAA pool and may be in the money.

Somehow though I know squat about NCAA basketball I've lucked out the last 2 years in picking the office pool and won a couple hundred bucks each time. Being a computer nerd I went with the computer ratings.

[Serial Mom]

32. Maybe if the controlling family gave a little more back...

I was a fan for years, but have since become disinterested in it since one family controls it all - from the marketing, the money, the rules, etc. - it reminded me of the BFEE only with cars and people's lives.

[Bombero1956]

36. Team Hendrick will find a way to circumvent the ban

They've shown they will do anything including cheating to win. Now I know cheating isn't new in Nascar because even back in the day of Smokey Yunick he found a way to put fuel in the rollcage to increase fuel mileage. Hendrick will do anything to gain an unfair advantage. Note the ban only includes tracks where Nascar and Cascar hold sanctioned races. There are plenty of places where they can test and Nascar can't stop it.

[jxnmsdemguy65]

37. I've been saying since Nov. 4...

that President Obama's first act should be an executive order banning NASCAR and SEC football.

[DainBramaged]

39. .................

[Chovexani]

46. Please don't think all non-racing fans are douchebags

Some of us just don't get the appeal (I'm one of those latte swilling Northeastern elites and NASCAR culture just plain baffles me), but I know there's hobbies I'm into that make other folks scratch their heads. To each his/her own, right? :)

FWIW, I was forced to go to an NHRA event one time for work back in June (I posted a pic of me at our school's booth upthread), and I liked it more than I thought I would. I was just sort of twitchy from the loud noises for a day or two afterwards because I had to hang around the pit area with our students for a bit.

[DainBramaged]

47. An odd bit of information that means nothing

with all of the allergies and physical problems I have, I am not allergic to nitromethane, as a matter of fact it smells wonderful to me. Doesn't make me cry, no chokeing, nothing. I raced professionally in the Seventies and for a bit as a Top Fuel crew member in the Eighties. And I too had that 'reverberation' fr days after a National event.

Cars will be in my blood till I breath my last breath of burning rubber.

:hi:

[Skittles]

49. LOL, I imagine watching cars drive around in big circles

gets less appealing when you can't afford groceries