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The Nascar Insiders
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The NASCAR blog by insiders for outsiders. Two NASCAR insiders, including a crew member and journalist will expose the world of NASCAR to fans and readers. We cover topics ranging from news and rumors, to driver development, to experiences.
Recent Posts Tagged With 'the business of nascar'
Everyone Wants Danica!
Oh to be a track promoter right now. Yeah I know times are tough and people aren’t buying tickets like they used to, but a gift has landed on their doorsteps. That gift is of course Danica Patrick and you better believe every track operator on ...
Sponsorship Acquisition: It’s Not Personal, It’s Just Business
The single biggest problem facing NASCAR teams that want to continue being NASCAR teams is the search for, acquisition of, and retention of sponsors. Without them, we don’t get to go play on the weekends. But as the economy continues to strug...
NASCAR Needs Dan Patrick
Dan, if you’re reading this (which I doubt you are) we need you. OK, maybe not Dan per se, I doubt he’s too interested in becoming a member of the NASCAR press corps (though if he is…), but this sport could really use someone like h...
The 2010 Silly Season Will Be Interesting
The previous two seasons (2007 and 2008) have provided interesting Silly Seasons with free agents like Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2009 though will go down in the record books as a refreshingly light free agent year. While 2009 won’t be m...
And We’re Back!
After a nice (but brief) vacation, both myself and Journo are returning to action this week. As Journo said last week, we are going to cut down our posting frequency during the off-season to a post for Monday, Ask The Insiders on Wednesday, a post...
NASCAR Perception and the Media
Following Talladega and comments by NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston on his blog, there has been a lot of discussion of the coverage of NASCAR races; more importantly how that coverage is shaping the audience’s perception of what they’re se...
A Truck Series Rebound? And Rick Ren Leaving KHI?
This year has been a particularly brutal one for car counts in the Camping World Truck Series. While there usually is a full field, many teams choose to start and park. Looking at 2010 though things are looking up for the truck series. Richard Childr...
The Nationwide COT…Looks Pretty Cool
After years of complaints from fans (and drivers for that matter) over the looks of the Cup Series COT, NASCAR undoubtedly didn’t want a repeat as they developed the Nationwide COT. This weekend we got our first glimpse of all four stickered up...
Updated: Your Favorite Team and a Funded Driver (or John Wes Townley)
I heard a rumor this weekend about a “funded” driver with an opportunity at a large, well respected organization. I would name names, but I don’t know how much credit I give the rumor. That really isn’t the point of my post th...
A Questionable Move For Aric Almirola
Last week Aric Almirola filed paperwork with the North Carolina Superior Court indicating he may have a breach of contract dispute with Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. According to SceneDaily, which reported on the filing, Almirola indic...
I’m Still A D4D Skeptic
About this time last year I wrote a post about NASCAR’s diversity. I called it “Strive for Diversity.” You see I’m among those who think there is value in having people of different backgrounds in our sport. We’re all at...
Juan Pablo Montoya And A Lesson In How Not To Behave During A Press Conference
If you follow us on twitter, you may have seen me point this out over the weekend (NASCAR Scene writer Jeff Gluck beat me to the punch with a post about this incident on his blog). During the regular press availability for the Chase contenders this w...
Crew Guys Need More Exposure
This post may end up sounding self serving, but hear me out first. I think it’s time that NASCAR and the media partners start putting more of the spotlight on the faces behind the drivers. If the fans knew some of the people that work in...
A Saudi Prince? Why Not?
I’ve got to say NASCAR fans, I’m a little disappointed. I was looking around at unnamed Web sites and I came across a story about George Gillett and his partnership with Prince Faisal bin Fahd bin Abdullah al-Saud of Saudi Arabia (if his ...
Montoya and Ganassi…Straight Shooters
Say what you want about Chip Ganassi and Juan Pablo Montoya, they’re cut from the same cloth. By that I mean both of these guys are straight shooters. Arguably that isn’t always a good thing. One thing is sure though, you always know what...
An Open Letter to Wayne Auton
Dear Wayne, What a year we’ve had! The battles, the triumphs and the moments of defeat; it’s been a good season so far. Especially last week. Did you see that race? I guess you did. Anyway I should tell you, I’m a big fan of the tru...
Fans At The Banquet? Come On
NASCAR announced on Monday, for the first time ever, fans would have the opportunity to attend NASCAR’s end of season banquet at the Wynn Las Vegas. The idea will give the top-12 teams access to about 300 tickets, what NASCAR says is about one-...
Down On NASCAR? Find The NASCAR Media Group
It’s been a couple of days since I’ve been called a NASCAR homer, and honestly I’m starting to think some of you are changing your mind, so I figure let’s end that for a couple of weeks. Let me back up for second though. I was...
During Silly Season You’ve Got To Strike While The Iron’s Hot
In this sport timing is everything, on track and off. Do you take tires? Do you stretch fuel? Who was first off pit road? And who was smart enough to sign with a team while the getting was good? As we get to the beginning of the end of the 2009 seaso...
Don’t Blame Darnell For Labonte’s Situation
Earlier this week Yates Racing announced Erik Darnell would run seven races this season (beginning this weekend at Atlanta) in the #96 Hall Of Fame Racing car. This of course meant Bobby Labonte was out of a ride, at least temporarily on that end. He...
2011 Could Be A Good Year For NASCAR
In the name of transparency I’ll tell you I’m kind of borrowing this idea from a piece Art Weinstein at Scene Daily wrote addressing how NASCAR can’t match the success of the NFL. Namely I pulled this idea from his comment about the...
Why Cost Saving Measures Don’t Matter
Doesn’t it seem lately that many of the moves made by NASCAR have dollar signs attached to them in terms of the teams? Let me briefly give you a few examples: Why develop the COT? Safety and cost savings. Why only allow five over the wall...
The Rise and Fall of Ginn Racing
In 1986 real estate developer Edward Robert Ginn III, better known as Bobby Ginn, was quickly making a name for himself, though not for the right reasons. He owned eight of 20 golf courses (among other properties) in Hilton Head Island, S.C. and his ...
Not Every Crew Guy Is Making $100K A Year
Although that would be really nice, it just isn’t true. There was a piece written by Dustin Long that came out on Monday that revealed some numbers about a specific crew member’s pay. And while numbers like these are a reality for so...
ESPN’s Twitter Memo UPDATED
Our friend John Daly over at The Daly Planet covered this topic the other day and he got a big response. TC and I spoke about the matter and since my opinion is differing from his and many of those who responded to Daly, I thought I would take an opp...
The Other Side of the Garage
You know in a lot of neighborhoods how there is that one street that’s just different from the others. It’s not necessarily a bad street, it’s just different. The yards aren’t kept up and there are big oil stains in the drivew...
It’s Silly Season Again!
EGR has an open seat. Martin Truex is replacing Michael Waltrip. Jamie McMurray is out at Roush. Brad Keselowski wants to go Cup racing. While this will not go in the history books as the most exciting Silly Season we have ever had, there still remai...
The Problem With “Funded” Drivers
Something that has always bugged me about NASCAR and racing in general, is that if you have a boat load of cash you can race at the highest levels regardless of how talented you are. In the other major professional sports, only the best of the best...
The Future Of NASCAR Ownership
I’m not sure if you saw this little tidbit today, but amid the endless Mayfield talk and the announcement from Roush Fenway Racing that DeWalt would not return as a sponsor next year, was Jimmy Spencer floating the rumor that Earnhardt Ganassi ...
How To Scare Away Sponsors; and Danica Patrick
I always feel bad for the folks who service sponsors this time of year (the account managers, the business development executives etc.). It’s not that they are having to gear up to look for sponsors (they’re always doing this), or that th...
