The president of Texas Motor Speedway accused start-and-park NASCAR teams of “stealing money” and said that NASCAR needs to find ways to stop the practice. Eddie Gossage, the guy in charge of Texas Motor Speedway, did not mince words or hide his feelings on the start-and-park matter before last weekend’s race at the track. He suggested NASCAR pare down the size of fields or change the purse structure to discourage the teams that have no intention of running the race.
The man has a valid point. NASCAR pays the last place finisher $85,000! By that logic we’re guessing that the next couple of places are well over $100,000 in prize money, so teams that are involved in this start-and-park stuff are involved in a mini-race that’s more about not being dead last than competing to win the contest.
Gossage suggested that NASCAR reduce the last place purse to $10,000 or make the NASCAR starting grid a 36 car field instead of a 43 car field. Those last seven spots are normally inhabited by start-and-park teams.
If you remember a story from last November about a start-and-park team that ran one lap and was parked because they had literally no pit crew. Now that’s a joke.
We’re obviously not the biggest NASCAR fans around but we agree with Gossage that it’s a scam for these teams to be doing what they are doing. At least if you finish last because you wrecked out you were racing in the first place.
Source — ESPN.com — Track Operator Accuses Start and Park Teams of Stealing Money
