You Asked For It! ~ "Brian And The RTA" 7/15/2014 |
I bid
you welcome gentle readers to what promises to be at least an interesting, if
not fun-filled time a'comin'. We welcome also our
assigned NASCAR reader du jour, somewhere within the confines of the Fan and
Media Espionage Center in the beautiful Queen's City of Charlotte, North
Carolina. If you'd care to save some time, feel free to just pass this one way
up the line right now, 'cause you might just see a hissy fit pitched here.
Mr.
France... may I call you Brian? I am your elder by a great number of years, and
it's much nicer than what others call you when you're out of earshot. Brian...
what were you thinking; or indeed, were you thinking at all? Do you remember
back in 2008 or 2009, when one wave of your empirical wand limited all NASCAR
teams to four individual teams under one owner? At the time, Jack Roush called
it the "Get Shorty" rule. Jack stands 5'2" tall in his socks and
was the only owner with five active teams at the time.
This scribe
seriously doubts the rule was aimed at the Cat in the Hat, but in another
direction. All that however, is now immaterial. You
see, that old law of unintended consequences once again stepped in and played
havoc with what might have been good intentions. It was not read by the teams
and team owners as a limit to the number of teams, but rather a strong
suggestion that teams without such major affiliation would be hard pressed to
survive. In short, you might as well have hung out a sign that read, "Multi-car
Teams Only Need Apply."
As teams
scrambled to merge or form "alliances" with larger teams, many
familiar names disappeared from the NASCAR roster. Gone now from the ownership
ranks are names such as Earnhardt, Evernham, Yates, Bill Davis, Cal Wells,
Larry McClure and many others that used to comprise the entrants on any given
Sunday afternoon. For those that don't fully grasp the "Sports Group"
thing, the name of Richard Petty should probably also appear on this list, as
by virtue of a chain of succeeding takeovers and buyouts, the only thing left
of Richard on that team is his good name, which, to be sure, is worth $millions...
to someone else. Those are all owners that lost out on the game of musical
multi-car deals. As the old song says, the rich got richer and the poor...
well, the poor got the shaft. It was enough to make an old lady cry.
But,
dear Brian, you must realize that from those seeds, sown by you with glee, have
grown nine entities, rich enough and powerful enough to be listed as a group by
Forbes as NASCAR's Most Valuable Teams. Forbes estimates that the average wealth of those nine teams is
$140 million each, with Rick Hendrick and his Hendrick Motorsports teams being
worth twice as much as whoever comes in second... and no, that does not count
anything or anyone from Stewart-Haas Racing, Junior Motorsports or any of the
other "allied" teams that HMS supports. So, tell me... how's that
four-car limit working out for you Brian?
The
following is a list of recognized owners of those nine Powerhouse teams:
Rick
Hendrick
Joe
Gibbs
Jack
Roush /John W. Henry/Fenway Sports Group
Tony
Stewart/Gene Haas
Richard
Childress
Roger
Penske
Michael
Waltrip/Rob Kauffman
Chip
Ganassi/Felix Sabates
Andrew Murstein (Medallion Financial Corporation)/Richard
Petty/George Bergeron
Isn't it
strange how that number nine keeps repeating itself? And isn't it funny that
nine is the same number of teams that very recently announced they were forming
something called the RTA, an acronym for Race Teams Alliance? Even funnier is
the fact that we're speaking here about the same nine teams in each
instance.
At first
blush, I watched many of my fellow journalists tip-toe
around the original announcement, waiting for the other shoe to drop. When it
did, it was a soft, fuzzy slipper placed gently on the floor by NASCAR
Vice-President and Chief Communications Officer, Brett Jewkes.
DAYTONA BEACH,
Fla. (July 7, 2014) – “We are aware of the alliance
concept the team owners have announced, but have very few specifics on its
structure or purpose. It is apparently still in development and we’re still
learning about the details so it would be inappropriate to comment right now.
NASCAR’s mission, as it has always been, is to create a fair playing field
where anyone can come and compete. Our job is to support and strengthen all of
the teams, large and small, across all of our series and we’ll continue to do
that. NASCAR is a unique community with hundreds of stakeholders. They all have
a voice and always will.”
Really
dear Brian, if that was the best you could muster, you should have opted for
silence. All that rather weak whisper accomplished was an admission that
someone got caught with his knickers at his knees. This, Sir, is an alliance of
your making. When there were no restraints on those same gentlemen, they were
silent and content to play their high-stakes games with each other. Then, you
opened the door by changing the rules one more time... the one more time that
proved to be the proverbial straw... and the camel lies crippled and broken.
Surely
by now you realize that every man on that list is in a high tax bracket, and
that at least two and possibly more are in your tax bracket, and as such are
capable of hiring the same number and quality of attorneys that NASCAR has
summoned to crush smaller opponents over the full course of its existence. Oops?
Many of
my gentle readers have asked questions... a veritable plethora of them... about
the why of the RTA, and I say the answer is legion. Speculations center on the
division of the new TV contracts, and I say, "To be sure, that is part of
it." NASCAR strives constantly and vocally for "parity" in all
things but money. Then Sir, NASCAR wants it all. These men, who have invested
their lives, companies and wherewithal into making your business thrive have never been allowed any say in how their money is
spent. Now Sir, I'd say they outnumber you and are expressing a firm desire to
change that situation. The mice that roared? No Sir,
more like the pride of lions that just found out it can rule the jungle.
In other
professional sports, the owners pretty much run the show, but in NASCAR they
are designated as "independent contractors" which spelled out
differently means that you get the hog's share of the profits while they take
all the risk with very little proportional rewards. Why ever would you be
surprised that when you opened that door, they chose to walk through it? The only
thing I wonder about is what took them so long. This aged lady has been
expecting this and waiting for it since probably 2010 or 2011, but I'm sure
there were reasons for waiting. The best cat doesn't pounce the first time the
mouse moves, but waits for a sure catch.
Gentle
readers, this could go on for several thousand more words, but in your best
interest I'm going to link you to another column, one written by Bob Pockrass at Sporting News. Bob took the time to record all of the applicable
numbers, ratios, percentages and who gets what of the new TV deals. Suffice it
to say, it's all about the money... as always.
Does
this scribe think it's all about the TV deals? Not in this lifetime. We have
here a consortium of well-healed men, each of whom knows the sport of stock car
racing very well, and each of whom has a vested and invested interest in seeing
it succeed. Their purpose is not to see it fail, but blossom and return to its
former glory and grandeur... but not for free and not on their dime any longer.
Most of
you have heard me use from time to time the phrase, "Some species eat
their young." That's the reason baby guppies are immediately separated
from Mom and Dad... so that they don't become brunch. NASCAR is one of those
species. Just look over their sponsor list and almost to a fault, every
"Official" sponsor on it was once on the hood of a racecar. I'd wager
that every man in the RTA has lost one or more sponsors to the "Mother ship"
that is NASCAR, and what is seen as the biggest problem with funding a team
today? That, gentle readers, would be sponsorship, or more specifically, lack
of same.
NASCAR
has become expert in taking, and I believe that the RTA means to end that
practice, probably effective yesterday. The split of the TV money might be
perfectly fair as is, and this scribe is not qualified to speak to that. Read
and check the numbers provided by Mr. Pockrass and
judge for yourself. One thing I do know... stealing
has never been legal, no matter who does it or what is stolen. Brian, as they
used to say on a TV program older than you are, "I think you've got some splainin' to do."
That's
enough of that for today gentle readers, but the subject is not closed and we
will be revisiting it as things develop or change. Keep asking questions and
I'll keep finding answers for them. Now it's time for our Classic Country
Closeout and a surprise. First, I've chosen a song that reached immense
popularity in my teen years, sung by a young man that like so many Country
stars of that day, left us far too soon. Here, gentle readers, is Sonny James
doing his smash hit of 1957, "Young
Love." Please enjoy:
And one
more from Sonny, done about ten years later, called "I'll Never Find Another You." I
hope this one still brings a smile to a certain face.
And the
promised surprise... last week, we shared a story about a racer of some age,
Red Farmer. I had this CD on order, but it didn't make it here by deadline, so
rather than place it on an article already read by so many, I'll put it here
instead, so all of you can enjoy it. The artist on this cut is T. Jae
Christian, and the song, appropriately enough, is entitled "Red Farmer."
Be well
gentle readers, and remember to keep smiling. It looks so good on you!
~
PattyKay