NASCAR NEXTEL CUP RACING  is the most popular form of motorsports in the country, not in the world. Formula One continues to be the clear cut number one most popular form of motorsports in the world. However here in the United States Formula One takes a back seat to the massive marketing machine of NASCAR.
But Cup racing seems to be in a little trouble. NASCAR is having difficult times in getting full fields of race cars for their Cup events….at least full fields of quality cars.
At North Carolina Speedway Joe Ruttman, close to a time in his life that he should be thinking about when to sign up for social security, qualified for the Subway 400. However he was quickly parked by NASCAR officials. It seems that he was not taking it all too seriously. When officials noticed that he had no pit crew for a 400 mile race he was told to park the car. He was credited with one lap and paid more than $54,000. NASCAR spokesman Jim Hunter says that will not happen again.
Kirk Shelmerdine, crew chief for Dale Earnhardt during his best racing years, continues to try to get his driving career going in the right direction. He qualified for the race and drove around for 18 laps until NASCAR decided he was going too slowly. For safety reasons they told him to take the car to the garage area and park it. He was paid $54,500 for finishing next to last.
That is a big pay day for an independent. For a Cup regular that would just about cover the tire bill on race day and the hotel expenses for the weekend.
Saner minds prevailed in the case of Morgan Shepherd and the 62 year old racer, who never turned a wheel in practice, was not allowed to make a qualifying attempt.
Andy Belmont, a top shoe on the ARCA RE/MAX circuit, put together a Pontiac to try for a spot. His effort only last a couple of practice laps before something broke putting him into the wall. He did not make a qualifying attempt but he does say he will be at Las Vegas with this Continental Fire & Safety/Chaser sponsored Pontiac.
NASCAR Nextel Cup racers had an off week before heading to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for a March 7th race. That gave officials time to work the phones and be sure they have a full field. Perhaps another big pay day for Ruttman (if he brings a pit crew this time) and Shelmerdine.
The expense of fielding a Nextel Cup car has gotten out of hand and the sport is controlled by just a few car owners (Roush, Hendrick, Yates, Childress, Ganassi and one or two others). Few owners can afford to play in the Nextel league and it seems that few sponsors can afford to ante up the loot that is needed to help the owners play. With so few members of Corporate America in a position to pay the $10, $15 or even $20 million needed to field a Cup team there are now many teams that have had to divide up the sponsorship of a team between several different sponsors. And you know . . . sponsorship just does not work as well when there are so many players trying to gain exposure off one team.
On the sidelines are some people who were major players in the sport for so many years. Jim Smith has parked his No. 7 and that has Jimmy Spencer looking for work and planning to revive his Busch Series team. Travis Carter, at one time one of the top car owners, has nothing going on. Brett Bodine, one of the last of the dying breed of driver/owner, is selling off equipment just to survive and he has nothing in the works as far as a ride or a job. The list of casualties goes on.
And there are some major players who are still active who are facing financial problems unless sponsorship is found. A.J.Foyt continues to field a team for his son Larry but that may not last too much longer especially when you consider the success of the effort. Owners like Foyt might just have to pick and choose where they run.
NASCAR has to take a look at how they can cut costs so that more owners can afford to race or they could just decide to cut the starting fields. Brian France told us in Daytona that they prefer quality over quantity. And NASCAR spokesman Jim Hunter claims there are no guarantees to the tracks or to the TV networks that 43 cars have to start a Cup race.
And then there is the fact that just a little over 41,000 people bought grandstand tickets for the Sunday race. North Carolina Speedway has 61,500 seats to fill. The Rockingham track used to have two Cup races but NASCAR took their November date and gave it to Darlington Raceway. Darlington had lost their Southern 500 to California Speedway.
Rumor has it that NASCAR brass has now decided they may have made a mistake. They are thinking of giving the Southern 500 date back to Darlington and giving the November date to California Speedway so it can have one of the final events in the Championship Chase.
You have to believe that the folks at International Speedway Corporation and NASCAR have some big plans for Darlington, despite rumors that they would be losing a date in the future, as they spend big bucks installing lights and the so called soft walls at the popular racing facility. We are told it cost about $1 million just to install the soft walls.
Because of the poor fan support for the Subway 400 North Carolina Speedway will probably lose their only Cup date. (I guess it could have been worse. This past weekend there was snow on the ground in the Carolinas with some areas getting 8 or more inches.) That date could very well end up in Phoenix, Texas or even Las Vegas on the 2005 schedule. And North Carolina Speedway will join North Wilkesboro Speedway as a forgotten part of the great history of Cup racing.
But NASCAR is not the only major motorsport having trouble. Championship Auto Racing Teams, once the premier sanctioning body of Indianapolis car racing, filed bankruptcy. Open Wheel Racing Series, headed by racer Paul Gentilozzi, bought the assets. They plan to kick off their season in Long Beach, California in late April. Most insiders would be surprised if the new group is able to field 18 cars.