Saturday, Feb. 14, 2009 | 8:49 a.m.
Sprint Cup teams put everything they have into their Daytona 500 efforts. Teams often spend the entire off-season preparing for the premier race of the year. And for the large, well-funded teams that means a small army of people are dedicated to making the Daytona 500 car the best it can be.
Then there’s Jeremy Mayfield’s team. In less than one month, Mayfield has patched together a racing team that consists of 10 crew members who were laid off from other teams and used racecars purchased from another racing organization. Not only has he managed to get a team and car ready for the season opener in a fraction of the time it would take most teams, but he also managed to race his way into the 500 after finishing ninth in the second Gatorade Duel.
If these guys are good enough to cobble together a team in less than 25 days, then maybe there are other things they should be tackling. Like ensuring that peanut butter is safe.
I know this will anger the Tony Stewart fans out there, but I find Mayfield’s efforts more impressive than the good runs that Stewart has been having with his new team. At least Tony started with a team that already had an infrastructure in place.(Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman were involved in a wreck during this morning's practice after Newman's car blew a right-rear tire. Stewart will move to a backup car for the 500.)
This season could shape up to be the season of the underdogs as teams like Mayfield’s and Tommy Baldwin’s take advantage of the reduced prices on leftover chassis, equipment and unemployed personnel to put together race teams at a fraction of what the big teams spend. And a team that spends less requires less cash from a sponsor. Only in this economic climate would this be possible in NASCAR. It’s almost as if these teams are a throwback to the days when NASCAR teams were smaller and scrappier.
Obviously, the performance in one, short restrictor-plate race isn’t an indication of how these teams will perform throughout the season. But I would love to see them challenge the big dogs a few times this year.
Purchase your copy of "Nuts for Racing"
Wheels blog from The New York Times
Join the Discussion:
Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.
Full comments policy