Sunday, October 15, 2000
Auto Racing Insider
Race teams already making moves for 2001
They call this the Silly Season, and it rarely has been busier.
The “silly” tag refers to sponsors, owners and drivers jockeying for position, in this case for the 2001 season.
In case you've missed them, some changes/developments for 2001:
• Ford Credit announced Wednesday it had signed a multi-year deal to continue its sponsorship of Dale Jarrett and the No.88 Robert Yates Racing Ford. Rumors had circulated that United Parcel Service would be sponsoring the car in 2001.
• The Penske-Kranefuss team is now just Penske. Michael Kranefuss has sold to Penske South his 50 percent ownership in the Winston Cup team that fields the No.12 Fords driven by Jeremy Mayfield.
Penske South had been Kranefuss' partner in ownership of the team. Penske South is a partnership involving racing mogul Roger Penske, Don Miller, and driver Rusty Wallace, who drives the No.2 Fords owned by Penske South.
Mayfield's team now will be called Penske Racing, and he will still drive the No.12 car.
• Buckshot Jones, a big name in the Busch series, will take over Kyle Petty's No.44 Hot Wheels car next year. Kyle Petty will switch to car No.45, the number once used by his late son, Adam.
• Michael Waltrip, Bill Elliott, Kenny Wallace and Bobby Hamilton are switching teams.
• A.J. Foyt is considering a NASCAR Busch team for his son Larry, 23. Larry has run some ASA and ARCA races this season.
• Joe Gibbs plans to end his drag racing program after six years and 33 NHRA victories. Cory McClenathan will continue to drive the MBNA Top Fuel dragster for the rest of 2000, and then Gibbs will focus on his NASCAR program featuring Bobby Labonte and Tony Stewart.
• ARCA driver Shawna Robinson could drive in some Winston Cup races next year, and hopes to become the circuit's first full-time female driver by 2002.
• In CART, Michael Andretti is switching teams. Also, the Target-Ganassi team needs new drivers, with Juan Montoya jumping to Formula One and Jimmy Vasser's contract not renewed.
• In the Indy Racing League, Scott Goodyear and Davey Hamilton are moving on. Goodyear might not return to the IRL, while Hamilton will join a new team. Greg Ray, the 1999 season champion, will remain with Team Menard despite rumors to the contrary.
What does it all mean? Mainly, plenty of new T-shirts, hats and jackets for souvenir hunters. Then again, that is the case every year.
POWER HITTERS: Jack Roush, one of racing's most powerful car owners, reportedly has talked with baseball great Hank Aaron about minority hires.
The goal could be to eventually put an African-American driver in a car owned by Aaron, baseball's all-time home run leader.
Roush's driving stable includes Mark Martin and Jeff Burton.
BRING YOUR MONEY: Most of the top NASCAR Winston Cup teams command more than $10 million in annual sponsorship money.
Car owner Robert Yates has said he spent over $12 million to win the Winston Cup title with Jarrett in 1999. But Yates said he spent even more on his second Winston Cup team in '99, which finished 19th in the standings.
Yates said he spent another $7 million on his inventory of parts.
And that was last year. This year, the bills still are coming in.
Also, the cost of Busch sponsorships may hit $5 million next season, according to some teams. But some current sponsors are balking at the higher prices on NASCAR's second tier, which will make its first appearance at Kentucky Speedway next June.
SECOND THOUGHTS: Darrell Waltrip, with five races left in his Winston Cup career, admits he might have stayed too long.
Waltrip is retiring after the 2000 season and will become a color analyst for Fox Sports telecasts of Winston Cup races. The three-time Winston Cup champion has 84 career wins, but now struggles to even make a race.
“Probably if I had it to do over again, I would have made 1997 my last year and stood around and been a substitute driver every now and then, or something to that effect,” Waltrip recently told NASCAR Online.
Waltrip, 53, will also continue as a paid consultant to Kentucky Speedway.
E-mail: tgroeschen@enquirer.com
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