4 Comments
Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
StumblePublished Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2009 | 8:03 p.m.
Updated Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2009 | 8:30 p.m.
Forget about the stumbling economy. Forget about the automakers’ crumbling fortunes. Forget about the declining sponsorships. Forget that Sprint Cup teams are laying off personnel. Tommy Baldwin thinks this is a good time to become a Cup team owner.
While other teams, some which have been around for decades, are merging in desperate attempts to survive, Baldwin is going full steam ahead with his plan to field a new Cup team this season. Baldwin thinks the current climate will allow him to operate with lower overhead, which would require less sponsorship money to fund a racing operation. There certainly are a lot of crew members who are looking for work and are probably willing to work for less money if it means they can keep a job in the sport.
Dr. Phil might diagnose Baldwin as being in denial. And I certainly think the odds are against him. But I like rooting for an underdog and it would be great to see a small team have some competitive runs. Sometimes there are opportunities in adverse times that other people can’t see. And if he is successful at keeping costs low while producing some respectable performances on the track, will that inspire other teams to do more with less? Do the top teams need to spend gobs of money on palatial facilities and private fleets of jets?
Robby Gordon once mentioned in an interview that it cost him around one million a month to operate his Cup team. Maybe Baldwin can find a way in this climate to keep his costs low, too, but will it be enough money to make his team competitive?
This re-inforces my idea of having a spending cap similar to the NFL salary-cap. Combine that with a restriction to 2 cars per team (and I'd really like to see just 1 car per team) and I think we could see some real competition again. Force the teams to choose between buying talent or buying hardware.
I hope he suceeds too, but as it stands now I think the old adage "Speed = Money, How fast do you want to go?" still rules the sport.
Tommy Baldwin has a proven track record (no pun) as a crew chief and team owner. I think he's crunched the numbers and figured he can build a competitive team with Toyota engines built by Joey Arrington and a proven driver like Dave Blaney. If they do well, he'll sign more sponsors; if they do real well, he'll sell it to fat cats with wallets that match their egos.
I see where Roger Penske suggests that Na$car may follow the IRL's lead not only on fuel, but perhaps on engines as well. That's one way to cap expenses while enhancing competition.
Also, starting a new team on the Toyota side of the fence is smart. Although Toyota's profits are down, it is still much healthier than any of the Big Three from Detroit. If you're going to have access to deep pockets, they might as well be pockets that actually have some change in them.
Joisting windmills maybe be personally ruinous, but it's fun to watch. Especially when only the highest-funded teams have a whisper of a prayer of a chance of winning races these days. Go Baldwin.