April 1, 2009
Upheaval on tap for NASCAR as controversial memo emerges.
By Peter M. De Lorenzo
Detroit. With pivotal news already rocking the auto industry on a daily basis, Autoextremist has learned that massive changes are in the works for NASCAR after a highly controversial memo was leaked to us by a disgruntled employee at NASCAR headquarters. The document is a stunning rebuke of virtually all of Brian France's initiatives undertaken during his reign, and remarkably enough, it seems to have been written by the NASCAR chairman himself.
After the eye-popping title - "We've Blown It" - the memo launches right into an acerbic, combative and at times rambling and unfocused diatribe against the "ball-busting" length of the NASCAR schedule, the "ugly-ass CoT," NASCAR's longtime habit of going to the same tracks twice in a season, and more.
"We've blown it," the memo begins. "No, make that I've blown it. Virtually every damn thing we're doing now sucks, big-time, and I'm going to make some changes. NOW." Rather than print the entire memo in its entirety, we thought we'd share just the highlights with you. It does make for entertaining reading.
On NASCAR's schedule: "What the hell were we thinking with this ball-busting, death march of a schedule? And no Southern 500 at Darlington on Labor Day? Even I know that's crazy. Our 2009 schedule is locked-in, but 2010? We're going to change it up. Loudon, Phoenix, Fontana and Homestead are out. Period. And we're only going once to Michigan, Pocono and Dover. If people don't like it, tough. I want suggestions for schedule flow so that we can bundle races in regions to reduce travel costs, and I want to know where we can add one more road race, pronto. And see if we can't make Tony's dirt track show at Eldora part of the schedule too."
On the "CoT": "This ugly-ass POS is a frickin' disaster. It's bad enough these manufacturers are getting killed in the marketplace, and we're probably going to lose two of them outright, but if I have to sit through one more meeting with some car company executive complaining about how there's not enough manufacturer identification I'm going to scream. So for 2010 we're racing Camaro, Challenger, Mustang and whatever Toyota can muster up in Sprint Cup. I don't care if we have to pay for the 'bodies in white,' pick them up at the factory and deliver them to the teams ourselves. And I don't want to hear any whining about safety either. Don't tell me you can't put all of our safety gear in these cars. And let me make something else really clear, too - these will be stock cars. That means bone stock body dimensions. I don't care if we have to tweak the added front air dams and rear spoilers every damn race to even 'em out. I want the people in the stands to know what they're looking at. And we better start courting Hyundai with that Genesis thing they have out now too. It's not looking too good for GM and Chrysler."
On updating the engines: "Can we please stop the bullshit about carburetors and the lack of alternative fuel? We're going to 2.4-liter V8s with electronic fuel injection running on e85 in 2011. Figure it out."
On Sprint Cup drivers in the Nationwide Series: "Okay, this has to stop too. Starting in 2010, the only Nationwide race Sprint Cup drivers can run in is at Daytona. End of discussion."
On the next TV contract: "We better get used to the fact now that we're going to get killed when our TV contract comes up for renewal. I mean k-i-l-l-e-d. Like half the money. Which means my reduced schedule directive even makes more sense. We're going to have to get smaller before we can build this thing back up again and get better.
On the NASCAR offices in New York. "While I'm at it, I'm sick of this remote headquarters bullshit too. We'll keep an office in New York, but I'm going to be spending most of my time in Daytona Beach from now on. I have to focus on this thing before it blows up for real."
Good stuff, no? We tried in vain to extract a comment from someone in Daytona Beach, but as expected, no one would say anything.
Will any of this actually happen? Stay tuned.
See another live episode of "Autoline After Hours" hosted by Autoline Detroit's John McElroy, withPeter De Lorenzo and auto industry PR veteran Jason Vines this Thursday evening, April 9, at 7:00PM EDT at www.autolinedetroit.tv. Special guest- and industry anyalyst extraordinaire -Maryann Kellerwill join us. You can chat with us "live" too. Again, that's "Autoline After Hours"this Thursday evening, April 9, at 7:00PM EDT at www.autolinedetroit.tv. Subscribe via iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=311421319
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Publisher's Note: As part of our continuing series celebrating the "Glory Days" of racing, we're proud to present another noteworthy image from the Ford Racing Archives. - PMD
(Ford Racing Archives)
Daytona Beach, Florida, 1956. Vern Houle, Driver and Mechanic for Bill Stroppe Racing, standing beside "Thumper," the highly modified 1956 Mercury that ran 152 mph in the Factory Experimental Class at the NASCAR Daytona Beach Speed Weeks. It had a modified 391 CID Lincoln V8 engine with Hilborn fuel injection and Spalding ignition. It was also called the Jato-450-X.