Busch fields shrinking because of rising costs

Stephen Hawkins

Thursday, April 19, 2001 | 12:43 p.m.

There aren't many lines of car-carrying haulers leaving the track early these days after NASCAR Busch qualifying sessions.

In fact, Busch fields have shrunk so much this year that rarely does anybody pack up and go home for failure to make the field.

Two of the eight races this year have been run without the standard 43 cars, and there were just enough for a full field in three other Busch events. Only four drivers have failed to race, down from 89 at the same point last year.

"I'm happy that nobody's going home. I've been there, one of those 15-20 guys not making the race," said defending Busch champ Jeff Green. "But the bad thing is that there are now five or six cars that would not be in the race."

There were more than 43 cars trying to qualify for all 32 races last season, which meant teams had to do more than just to show up to race. At least 50 cars tried to compete in 22 of those events.

The biggest factor in the decline appears to be a costly NASCAR-mandated engine change to make the Busch cars more similar to those in the elite Winston Cup division. Green and other drivers say the engine change added about $500,000 to their budgets.

And the increased costs come at a time when many teams struggle to get and maintain sponsorships during shaky economic times for corporate America. The average cost for maintaining a Busch car is up to about $4 million annually.

"The stark reality of it is the No. 1 issue is financing you need," said Greg Pollex, a co-owner of Green's car. "Auto racing, to do it at a premium level today, is extremely expensive ... the testing, the right motor program, enough cars, quality personnel."

PPC Racing had the top two Busch drivers last year, Green and Jason Keller. Pollex said PPC expected that 1-2 finish to help attract "a bunch" of additional associate sponsors for this season.

"That hasn't been the case," Pollex said. "Right now, it's extremely difficult."

Green's primary sponsor for the second year is NesQuick. But Keller, even after 19 top-10 finishes in 2000, needed a new primary backer when Excedrin pulled out.

Then there are drivers like Mike McLaughlin, whose car has no primary sponsor despite being fifth in the standings with four top-10s this season while driving for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Dean Noble, vice president of business for Joe Gibbs Racing, said the difficulty in finding sponsors was somewhat expected because of a downturn in the economy.

"It isn't a total shock, but not a pleasant experience," Noble said. "The positive side is TV numbers are up, we are going to more markets than ever before and fan interest is there.

"The sport as a business is thriving, but the economy is the one thing we can't control."

Not even McLaughlin's success on the track has been enough to fill that obvious blank spot on the hood of his car.

Increased operation costs and lacking sponsors aren't the only factors in the shrinking Busch fields. There also are fewer Winston Cup drivers stepping down each weekend to race on the Busch circuit.

"That is a factor being overlooked. When we had huge fields of 55-60 cars, 12 to 16 of the guys were regular Winston Cup drivers," said Kevin Triplett, director of operations for NASCAR. "A lot of the excess or surplus we were having was coming from Cup drivers."

"We are still confident in the quality of the competition and the difficult nature to get into races."

With two more races on the schedule this season and the ever-growing pressure to win on the top circuit and satisfy off-track commitments, fewer Winston Cup drivers want to divide their time between the two series.

"It is so hard to do as a driver, it's incredible," said Todd Bodine, one of the handful of Winston Cup drivers still racing regularly in Busch.

Michael Waltrip, who got his first Winston Cup victory this year in the Daytona 500, also has raced on both circuits this season. He owns his own Busch car, and his goal is to eventually just be a team owner for the Saturday races.

"That's a job that I enjoy that I don't need," Waltrip said of his Busch driving. "But I'd love to have a team and have someone drive it for me."