The Start-and-Park Debate—An Easy Fix

The rational of starting and parking doesn’t sit right with NASCAR fans. Teams qualifying in on time, running a certain amount of laps, pulling it behind the wall and collecting the paychecks. Some teams even do it with two cars. Media members and NASCAR fans have frowned upon the idea, and say those teams do not deserve to race every week.

However, I blame something other than teams. I blame NASCAR. As silly and crazy as that might sound, hear me out and let me tell you just how crazy some NASCAR rules are.

Two rules have forced start-and-parkers. The top-35 rule is one, even though it doesn’t play as much as of role as the NASCAR pay out system.

The top-35 rule is an easy thing to blame. After failing to qualify for the Food City 500 at Bristol, Max Papis and his No. 13 Germain Racing team have “parked” in the two races following Bristol. Can you really blame them? After missing the Food City 500, that team basically has no shot at making the top 35, something that guarantees them into the field of 43 every Sunday from now until March of next season. Now that they have no chance at making the top 35 and have no shot at winning the race, maybe parking the car is the best option. After all, he will basically get the same money for finishing last that he does if he finishes 20^th , which leads me to my next point.

The payout system has change since the 1990s. For those of you who are unfamiliar with how the system works, let me explain it to you.

The payout system is broken up into many parts. First, it’s the purse handed out by the track in a declining system from one to 43. Then, there is the TV’s purse, which is handed out in the same fashion. It is how you expect it. First gets the most, last gets the least and so forth. The bonuses are where it gets really confusing.

There are many different companies that pay bonuses for certain things. Some give it for the biggest mover or the pole-sitter or leading the most laps and things like that. Other bonuses are for sponsors that are associates on the car, which are handed out to their best driver. For example, Coca-Cola might give an award to their highest finisher in the Coke family of drivers.

The next part is where it gets absolutely ridiculous, as far as I am concerned. NASCAR has four special programs. The Winner's Circle program is a race-by-race award given to the previous season’s top ten winners and the first two winners from the current season not already in the program. Those 12 drivers split $130,000 each race. $130,000 divided between 12 drivers equals and extra $10,800 a race for those teams. There is then a car owners program, where the previous season’s top 30 in owner points are paid an additional $8,000 a race. Then, there is Plan C1, which is given to the top 40 car owners not already guaranteed into the Winner's Circle program.  Then, there is a car/championship owner program. Details on that program are not made public.

To me, the four special plans are way out of date. To make the Chase, drivers now have to make every race, and sponsors only will sponsor a team if they attempt and race every race. It’s in some sponsors' contracts.

To give you perspective on this, let's take last Sunday's Subway Fresh Fit 600 at Phoenix. Kasey Kahne finished a dismal 39^th . For that effort, his Richard Petty Motorsports team received an astounding $113,540. Clint Bowyer finished ninth and ended up making $105,275, $7,000 less than Kahne, eventhough Bowyer finished 30 positions ahead of Kahne. That’s more ridiculous than guaranteeing a team into a race because of points.

Let’s look at it from this point. Scott Riggs and the No. 90 Keyed Up Motorsports Chevy ran 377 of the 378 laps during Sunday’s Subway Fresh Fit 600 at Phoenix. His team made $72,575 for finishing 28th. Michael McDowell and his No. 66 PRISM Motorsports Toyota “parked” on lap 149 due to overheating problems and finished 43rd. McDowell and his team went away with a sound $70,967. 

So what is Keyed-Up Motorsports’ reward for running  and not parking in Sunday’s Fresh Fit 600? A measly $1,500! Not exactly what I call a bribe for Keyed-Up Motorsports to pay run the entire race. It’s sad, but Prism Motorsports made more money Sunday than Keyed-Up Motorsports when you add in all the variables. Now, the Keyed-Up Motorsports team will not go to Texas, basically because they can no longer compete with the start-and-park teams, and because Keyed-Up Motorsports refuses to start and park.

The payout system should change. If NASCAR had a payout system that made sense, Prism Motorsports would run most laps to gain the cash for the next spots and run the whole race to make as much money as possible.

Start-and-park teams will continue, especially if teams running the full race lose more money than. It's something NASCAR hasn’t changed for some unknown reason. However you feel, the payout system is crazy and is something that needs to change.