Posted on February 29, 2008

NASCAR: Equal Opportunity Racing?

by Pamela	Email   Print

As the racing heads west, far west, after the Daytona 500 in Florida, racing teams travel in excess of 2,300 miles to California and then Las Vegas.  Last week only to find rain, rain and more rain.  But I see that quest out West, has a few problems.  If Brian Frances quest to expand out west, you better have a plan to help out the teams outside of the top-35 in case of things like like mother nature.

After reading a press release from BAM racing, I found myself feeling bad for the teams that went home without even turning a lap.  The press release says: “According to NASCAR’s rule book, the starting lineup for the Auto Club 500 would first be set by the top 35 in 2007 points, then all winning drivers from the previous year would be eligible, next all previous champions, and finally 2008 points.  For BAM Racing and driver Ken Schrader, this meant that the late race tire problems the team suffered in their Gatorade Duel in Daytona, not only eliminated the team from the Daytona 500, but from the Auto Club 500 in California as well.”

The racing team traveled 2,390 miles, with two truck drivers driving over 40 hours and not to even turn a lap at the speedway.  Fair or unfair?  If you are going to make teams travel that far west, they at least need to opportunity to qualify.  I know the track schedule is tight and things like that, but NASCAR’s attempts to reduce cost and time seems to have forgotten unforeseen circumstances like this.

The release ends with “BAM Racing, Ken Schrader and the Qtrax.com Dodge Charger were forced to head back to Charlotte, NC without ever having turned a lap on the racetrack.  “Discouraging” isn’t a strong enough word.”  I think that says it all.

You can view the full press release here:

You can contact Pam at pamela@speedwaymedia.com

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