Racing Beat: Multicar Mania
F or a generation, NASCAR has been dominated by multicar teams to the point that, nowadays, single-car entries stand out for their novelty. For this, fans can thank or blame Rick Hendrick. The 2009 season marks Hen-drick's 25th year in the sport. Over the years, he's garnered attention for many things: his car dealerships' legal troubles, his battle with leuke-mia and subsequent charitable foun-dation to fight the disease, the trag-ic loss of his brother and son and, of course, for putting a young Jeff Gor-don in a top-level race car. It was Gordon who brought his boss his first Cup Championship trophy in 1995. But it was the multi-car foundation Hendrick established a decade earlier that paved the way for that title and the seven addi-tional championships drivers in the Hendrick stable have accumulated in the subsequent 13 seasons. Some will argue that Junior John-son assembled the first multicar team and, indeed, he owned cars for Darrell Waltrip and Neil Bonnett from 1984 to 1986. But those teams shared only a sponsor (Budweiser) and didn't even occupy the same shop. And after those three forget-table seasons, Johnson reverted to a single car. As Johnson fired and fell back, Hendrick saw the promise of a fully integrated operation that shared tal-ent, information and operations. In 1986, he hired Tim Richmond to join Geoff Bodine in his stable. In 1987, he added a third car for Waltrip, who had parted ways with Johnson. Obviously, the idea to put two, then three and now four teams to-gether has worked out exception-ally well for Hendrick. As he cel-ebrates a quarter century in Cup competition, Hendrick Motorsports remains the sport's richest, most suc-cessful organization. The rise of the multicar team has drastically altered the NASCAR land-scape. These squadrons so dominate that a single-car team attempting to enter Sprint Cup racing faces near-insurmountable odds. On the other hand, the growth of big teams has coincided with and in a big way, even fueled the incredible growth NASCAR has enjoyed over the past decade. But, of course, every silver lining has a cloud. Here's the good, bad and ugly. EconomiEs of scalE For owners, running multiple teams is a no-brainer. The economies of scale Multicar Mania Hendrick responsible for integrated-team operations I am among the many race fans saddened by Earnhardt Ganassi Racing's recent decision to park the No. 8 car for lack of sponsorship. And I get no satisfaction out of the fact that, less than two years after trying to get Junior and Hendrick Motorsports to fork over a king's ransom for the number, Teresa Earnhardt essen-tially wound up with nothing. The No. 8 holds special sig-nificance for the Earnhardt family. Ralph Earnhardt used that number in more than 50 NASCAR starts, and his son Dale Earnhardt made his Cup debut in the No. 8 in 1975 before rising to superstardom in the No. 3. Several other drivers used the num-ber until 1999, when Dale Jr. who wanted to honor his grandfather's legacy assumed it. He kept it until he moved over to Hendrick after the 2007 season and his stepmother held on to it. Unfortunately for her, the number had little value without Junior attached to it. There might be too many hard feelings for it to ever happen, but I'd sure love to see the No. 8 back on the side of Junior's car where it belongs. Soon after Tax Day, Indy Racing League star Helio Castroneves got the good news that he was acquitted of tax eva-sion charges. His Miami-based trial had kept him out of his highly successful ride at Penske Rac-ing for the beginning of the 2009 season and potentially threatened his entire career. Immediately after his acquittal, Castroneves jetted across the country and reclaimed his car barely in time to run in the Long Beach, Calif., Grand Prix. Despite being out of the car for six months and with virtually no chance to readjust to racing, he ran all the laps and finished a respectable seventh. And no one ever looked happier to be at the racetrack than Helio! Speaking of the IRL, I cannot help but notice that their race broadcasts are stuffed to the gills with commercials fea-turing Danica Patrick, while her fellow drivers are all but absent from the advertising. As a woman, I'm pleased to see Patrick suc-ceed both on and off the track. But as a race fan I find it a bit of a shame that such deserving drivers as Dario Franchitti, Dan Wheldon or Graham Rahal are finding their marketing opportunities so limited. LOOSE LUGNUTS Rick Hendrick speaks during the 2008 Cham-pions Week award ceremony. NASCAR VIEwS fROm ThE GRaNDSTaNDS kay bell June 2009 40 TRUcKERS NEwS