More on the “Start and Park”

How closely will NASCAR watch for "start and park" teams in this time of less than fully funded fields in Cup races? And how harshly will NASCAR deal with them? That depends on who you talk to within NASCAR. Vice president of competition Robin Pemberton largely confirms what scenedaily.com began reporting Friday: that NASCAR is watching closely. But two officials with higher seniority are taking a more benign posture.

Jim Hunter, NASCAR's veteran vice president for corporate communications, wonders how and why NASCAR could enforce start and park. And NASCAR president Mike Helton doesn't even like to use the term "start and park" anyway. Could NASCAR actually prove a driver has parked, not for mechanical reasons stated, but to save money and still collect the minimum prize to start? "Sure we can," Pemberton said Sunday. "If somebody says the motor was sputtering due to a fuel-pump problem, we can take it apart and look at it." Bottom line, "We're encouraging people to come in and race," Pemberton said.

But, said Hunter, "It's not an issue that's paramount to the success or failure of an event, so why is it an issue [at all]." Said Helton, "I don't look at them as start and parks. I look at them as teams and drivers that are trying to figure out how to get into the sport, and that's a good thing. People talk about start and park as a negative thing, so I don’t like to use that term. "I think of it more as people who have an opportunity," Helton said. "Maybe they're not up to speed yet. Maybe they're not quite capable of doing things that they want to do one day. And this is the way they get started." Helton agrees that "What Robin was referring to, we're watching to be sure that that [getting started] is the intent of these owners."

"If you were going to label somebody a start-and-parker, you would have to understand his financial situation," Hunter says. "Does the guy who might do it this week and not do it next week? Does he have the money to buy tires to really race?" It's race by race, case by case, so that there are so many factors that I don't think it's an issue," Hunter said. ESPN Insider