NASCAR to Franchise?

Last winter, some of the larger teams approached NASCAR with the idea of becoming franchises within the organization. As it stands now, teams are independent operators that have no financial share of NASCAR. Franchising would give the teams a monetary book value they now lack. But Ganassi, who owns 10 cars in four series (Nextel Cup, Busch, IRL, GASC) says the value is there. "Sponsorships, physical plants, equipment, contracts all mean something," Ganassi said. "Racing operations all have the challenges of traditional sports teams – payrolls, competition and the demands to be successful to win support. "But there are also some major differences. There's no players union in racing (nor are there pension plans). We don't have home courts. In your traditional sports, half the teams will win every day. We're like golf in that respect. All our stars are always in one place, with one winner. "But every racing team is part of the pie, just like the Pirates and Cubs are part of the National League." With the difference that racing teams are not officially part of the organization. More at Union-Tribune