CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — There is no clearer example of the disconnect between NASCAR and its teams then
the fight earlier this year over the procedures to cool cars down during qualifying.
NASCAR refused to allow the use of cooling boxes, so teams had jerry-rigged a system that created a
dangerous on-track situation for the drivers.
NASCAR summoned the crew chiefs from every Sprint Cup organization to hash out a solution. The teams were
almost unanimously in favor of using the cooling boxes, but NASCAR officials on that conference call in
March wouldn’t budge. They were OK with using fans, but smaller teams were against having to go buy
them.
Exasperated, NASCAR reminded the participants on the call that the engine manufacturers were against the
use of cooling boxes. Two of the top engine builders in NASCAR immediately denied that claim, and one
said nobody from NASCAR had even talked with them.
The call had turned comical. In the end, NASCAR allowed the cooling boxes in a small victory for the
teams.
The battle to get that win was absurd.
The Race Team Alliance, at its core, hopes to prevent those fights going forward.
Announced two weeks ago, the RTA was described as “a collaborative business association” that for the
first time creates “a single entity to engage with stakeholders on creative ways to market and
experience the power of the sport’s teams and drivers.”
Michael Waltrip Racing co-owner Rob Kauffman is the elected chair of the RTA. He has talked of banding
the RTA teams together for purchasing power, creating travel partners and finding a common insurer. The
RTA is not, Kauffman insists, a union. And if the goal is to seize a larger share of the TV money,
that’s not a topic any members of the RTA are openly discussing.
“That’s a big obvious issue that’s out there that the teams really have no influence or control over,”
Kauffman said of the $8 billion in TV money that is split with the tracks (65 percent), teams (25
percent) and NASCAR (10 percent). “We’re going to focus on stuff we can do. If someone wants to discuss
any big picture issues, we’re happy to discuss and engage in a constructive way.”
NASCAR has made it clear it isn’t talking to the RTA about anything. Despite NASCAR President Mike
Helton’s dismissal of any animosity between the two sides, the RTA was informed all communication must
go through NASCAR attorneys. International Speedway Corp. issued the same command.
Sure, it is NASCAR’s court and nobody has to play NASCAR’s game. But it’s the only game in town for
high-performance, profitable racing, and being part of the show means playing by NASCAR’s rules.
Only NASCAR seems to have gotten so big that it’s lost sight of the plight of its primary “stakeholders.”
The teams have always existed under an owner-operator model. It’s risky. It’s dangerous.
Bill Davis once won the Daytona 500 and the Southern 500 as a Sprint Cup Series team owner. He entered
drivers in all three of NASCAR’s national series, but when the economy collapsed in 2008, his
sponsorship evaporated and his NASCAR participation came to a halt. In the cruelest twist of all, he won
the Truck Series championship on his final weekend of NASCAR participation.
When it was all said and done, he had a building and some used parts and a little bit of equity in the
owner points he’d accumulated that season to show for his 20-year NASCAR career.
It’s a fear every NASCAR owner loses sleep over. When a sponsor pulls out, the whole house of cards can
come crashing down. Kauffman lived it last fall when NAPA Auto Parts left MWR and the organization was
forced to lay off one-third of its workforce.
So who can actually blame these owners for not resenting the NASCAR model just a little bit? After all,
the Buffalo Bills may sell for at least $1.1 billion — a far sweeter golden parachute than listing used
car parts on EBay.
It’s unclear if altering the landscape to a franchise model is on RTA’s ultimate agenda. For now, the
owners insist it’s about creating one voice to benefit every team — and there’s a need.
Several years ago, Rick Hendrick organized a meeting between many of the top owners, who all put together
lists outlining their concerns. After debate, the group whittled it down to roughly a dozen ideas on how
NASCAR could help them save some money. Nothing spectacular — maybe $1 million a team in savings.
The list was presented to NASCAR, which heard the ideas with deaf ears.
Perhaps the RTA will soon have the authority to step up and demand cost-saving measures. But for now, the
question is not what the RTA is out to accomplish, but what took the team owners so long to get their
act together.