Small Teams and Charters, Part 1

I had to take a day to cool off.  There is absoeffnlutely no way I could have written a nice response to a derogatory tweet in reference to small nascar teams yesterday.  It would have resulted in an inordinate amount of cursing and some very disparaging name calling.

Let’s be honest, Rob Kauffman (per my conservative estimated net worth time the market return of 6%) makes more money in one month than I will make in my lifetime.  That makes him loaded in Ron White terms folks.

Small teams are NASCAR.  Hell, even Rick Hendrick started small.  I’m old enough to remember Richard Childress as a driver.  Gibbs didn’t come into the sport with four cars and neither did Roush.  So to make a statement that small teams don’t belong at the Cup level is idiocy at best.  At worst, that statement has pissed at lotta folks with a background of working and supporting small teams.

The one time I was a car owner, South Boston

I’d recommend hitting twitter and reading Tommy Joe Martins and Brian Keselowski time lines.  They both share a small team driver and owner perspectives much better than I could.  However, since a small team is where I started and what currently pays my bills, I felt like a responses was more than warranted.

I didn’t like the Charters when they first came out.  Today, I’m still not sure that I like them.  I certainly don’t see where the charter system has created value in relation to the value of a national franchised team, ie NFL, NHL, NBA etc.

My first annoyance with the charters was leaving out the Wood Brothers.  That just got right under my craw and burrowed in deep.  Hit the beep beep button.  What was the RTA and Kauffman thinking?  The freaking Wood Brothers are NASCAR, its history and its future.  That was a deep, deep pile of doo doo and instantly sent my little financial radar to tingling. 

Have the charters protected investments and done what the RTA intended for them to do?  I don’t think so.  Now I don’t have access to the balance sheet of most race teams.  But being a (beep beep) accountant and pretty good with assets, I can tell ya that the big teams aren’t hurting.  If they are making like a BMW (more beep beep, you figure it out) about costs, then hire some better bean counters.

I once told an ARCA team you can poor mouth all you want.  I don’t need to see your deposits to know what you are spending.  Same goes with NASCAR.  Pissing and moaning about travel costs when the Concord airport looks like a G3 dealership.  

I kept digging, wondering why the leadership of the RTA would tweet something so ludicrous.  I looked into as much as his financial past as I could.  Prior to the economic turmoil that kicked a lot of small teams in the gonads, Kauffman was worth over 1.7 B.  I’m sure he lost a good bit of that, because its paper money.

His background is in hedge fund management. I’m not saying how that money was made, but I’d take a long look into the history of hedge funds and the market meltdown associated with the mortgage mess. Considering his financial associations with investments firms, it would appear to the financial novice that perhaps Kauffman intends to make a bid for NASCAR. 

Lastly some points to consider

Hendrick started with two cars, a borrowed motor and nearly shut down its 1st year.

Kauffman owned a team that cheated (work the gray areas, but don’t be stupid) and lost a major sponsor.

The Big Four (Hendricks, Childress, Gibbs and Roush) aren’t hurting or they’d restructure their expenditures.

Does the Charter system exclude more than it protects?

Planning for Daytona

Things have been very busy around the Thorpe household these last two weeks.  We’ve been winding down the school year, summer ball and getting adjusted to our summer schedule.  It’s been kinda nice to have the eldest home, running the family shuttle.  And to have Scott home these past two weekends, even though he’s been busy mowing and mechanicing.

No, my car isn’t fixed.  I’ve been fretting as my Grandma NancyBelle would say.  Do we rebuild the transmission? Buy a low mileage used transmission? Do I junk the whole thing and take on another payment? Horrors, no.  I’m cheap and really hadn’t planned to start seriously car shopping for one more year.  It’s not in my projected budget.

I guess we are going to check into repairing it. When, I don’t rightly know.  Right now I’m driving the Rover to work.  However, the old girl bad needs a tune up and won’t go far.  So essentially, no one get bad sick or die. 

On the racing front, Scott has painted another car and has started Driver (aka Jeff Green’s) Daytona car.  He should get it wrapped up this week in time to head to Charlotte.  With the demise of ol Bessie, we more than likely won’t be making the trip up which disappoints me as the All Star race was great.

I thought the passing and side by side racing was prenominal.  The cars didn’t look slow to me.  And damn, what is slow when you are running over 150 mph?  I’d much rather see the race we got Saturday night compared to the majority of the D ovals. 

Our next schedule race to attend is Daytona.  The girls want to go for the beach.  The race just happens to be their reason to get there.  I’m not a big fan of the sand but will happily go along for the ride.  Since Ryan has a gift for the draft, I’m looking forward to seeing what he and Mike can pull off at Daytona.  And I never, ever count out the centrum silver gang and Jeff Green. 



Carlee, AnnaBell & Maddie Daytona 2016

So far this year, the superspeedways have been very kind to RSS. Ryan finished 21^st at Daytona and 6^th at Talladega. Jeff Green finished 11^th at Daytona and 13^th at Talladega with JJ Yeley finishing 18^th at Daytona and 11^th at Talladega.  Considering that running 3 cars at a superspeedway is a ginormous task, these finishes are even more amazing because RSS is a small non cup affiliated independent team.  As in, no cup help.  All 3 cars finished both races and in the top 13 at Talladega.

Plus this little team is like a diesel engine.  They might get off to a slow start, but by Daytona in July, these guys are chugging along.  I have no doubt that either of these three drivers could pull off a win at Daytona.  And to experience Rod Sieg in victory lane, I’ll put up with a little sand. 

See y’all in Daytona.  I’ll be under a tent, wearing a hat, under a towel with about four teenage girls with me.  Come say hey and join in on the fun.

FSBO

Who’d thunk that sign would ever appear next to the world center of motorsports?  Not me.  Like most folks in the NASCAR and racing community I’m a little shocked or at the least mildly surprised from yesterday’s rumors of NASCAR putting out the for sale sign.  Having deep thoughts about the future of what pays my family’s bills is NOT how I envisioned the next couple of off weeks.

My husband has been very blessed to work for the only NASCAR team in Georgia.  In fact, he’s always worked for Georgia teams.  Billy Ballew, Mark Gibson, Charles Hardy, and Kerry Scherer are a few of the owners his been fortunate to drive their haulers. He is in his fourth season with RSS Racing and driver Ryan Sieg. 

We had hopes that he could essentially retire (he’s way older than y’all think) right here racing with the Seigs.  So yeah, we have a little apprehension about any type of sale of the sanctioning body. Not bragging, but Scott is one of the best damn hauler drivers in the sport.  So sure, he could find another type of motorsports to drive in, just probably not in our back yard.

Like most folks, i.e. racing fans, I would like to see more competitive racing.  I’m not, nor have ever been a fan of these D shaped mile n half tracks.  They. Are. Boring.

I would like to see NASCAR make a major schedule overhaul, especially to the Xfinity series.  I had hopes we would see this in 2019 schedule, but realize that most of the contracts with tracks for next year have been signed.  So 2020, in my mind, is the year for those changes.  And I mean BIG.  Like swing for the fences big.  So yeah, I’ve been expecting some pretty significant changes in the very near future.

But sale NASCAR?  What???  Where did that come from?  I’m trying to wrap my mind around it.  Is the France family cashing out?  Or is it too much, or too big? Granted NASCAR’s popularity has waned over the past decade.  We can argue til the cows come home that is partially due to a lack of leadership from the France family.  But outright sale the whole kit and caboodle? 

Flabergasted.  And right after buying the ARCA series.  I just can’t wrap my mind around all of this yet.  I’m sure more information will start trickling out.  We will soon find out how this impacts the racing community and yes, directly my everyday life.

Until then, we will mow some grass, spread some pine straw, fix a few broke down vehicles and enjoy this break in the schedule.

Dashing for the Cash

UPDATE: Due to a NASCAR rules violation, Ryan and the RSS Racing team will be eligible for the Dash for Cash $100,000 at Dover. 


This is a great accomplishment for a small nonaffiliated family owned team.  Like it’s a really BIG deal. It’s also a lot of pressure, but we aren't too worried about that.  Ryan has a great record at Dover, having never finished out of the top 20 there.  Crew chief Mike Ford doesn't do too badly there himself with 7 top ten finishes there in his Cup career.

What will this mean for the RSS team?  Well there will be tremendous media coverage.  During the race, the Dash for Cash drivers are highlighted in the running order for the entire race.  They receive many more mentions than the other drivers. So if you are a statistics person, who have access to the Joyce Julius reports, you realize that adds up to a lot of media value for sponsors.

The Dash for Cash drivers are also highlighted on other media sources such as twitter with a hashtags #Dash4Cash.  Search the hashtag on twitter and see the mentions.  Google Dash for cash NASCAR and see there are many articles written about the upcoming Dover race.

What are our chances you ask?  Well 1 in 4.  I have no clue what the Vegas odds are of RSS wining the dash, but a 25% chance is the same as the other 3 drivers.  However, I’m not that clueless.  I’m aware that Jr Motorsports and Gibbs have much deeper pockets and way more resources than a small family owned team.

Sixteen (16) of the 41 teams entered into the race are cup backed or affiliated.   Competing with these teams each week is extremely difficult as it’s hard to match their budget and personnel. The Dash for Cash is an opportunity for the Siegs’ to attract attention to their program. That’s exactly why this is so cool and amazing for the Siegs’ and their small north Georgia team.

Regardless of the outcome, I’m looking forward to seeing these guys get a little media love and attention. You may not have a favorite out of Justin, Elliott, Brandon or Ryan.  But this one time, I’d urge you to pull for the small team, the underdogs of the Dash. 

TMI #One

My 2003 Chevrolet has decided to bite the dust. Again.  Last time, a local dealer said it needed a motor.  I nearly wept.  With 233,000+ miles, I highly doubt that our friends @Chevy make ‘em as good as ol Bessie. This go round, she croaked on Scott on the way home from work.

He was able to nurse the old girl home in 2^nd gear.  She made it, but barely.  He thinks it’s the transmission.  Our son Brandon, thinks it’s possibly solenoids in/on the transmission.  At this point, we can only hope and pray that it isn’t terminal.

Of course, she only acts up when there is another major bill due.  Like you know, tuition.  Of course last time it nearly died, it was two weeks before Christmas and 3 weeks before spring tuition was due.  When is summer tuition due, you ask?  Only in 8 days.

It is the curse of the Thorpes’ and how it normally works in racing.  If it’s gonna break down or tear up, it normally does the day before Scott leaves to go out of town.  Semantics, two days before he goes out of town.  Regardless, we are down to one wore out vehicle.

I know, go buy a new one.  Have you met me?  I’m probably one of the most frugal accountants you’ll ever meet.  I like to plan a purchase and hunt the best price.  80% of our furniture is either 2^nd hand or given to us.  I don’t thrift, I just don’t like to shop.  And I especially abhor car shopping.

Note:  We did recently purchase our eldest a brand spanking new 2018 Rav4.  Her previous car was about dead and it too only broke down when Dad was out of town.  Since she is an extremely motivated student and has Zell plus other scholarships and works multiple part time gigs, we decided to go ahead and purchase new.  Plus a Toyota.  She has aspirations of grad school and to become an orthopedic physician’s assistant.  I wanted to purchase a car that she could get 10 solid years out of.

Conversely, my usual car philosophy is buy lightly used and drive until they are dead.  Wring all the goody out of them, and then get some more.  I’ve only bought two vehicles since I graduated from college, not counting the Rav4.  Occasionally, when we are going through a breakdown, I get pissed and look.  Then I get even madder at Detroit.  Have you seen those car prices?  Outrageous.

But just in case an overly generous person is reading and feels sorry for me, I want a Tahoe, a shiny red one, preferably with a heated steering wheel for my arthritic hands.  Heated seats are pretty standard these days and a backup camera for my achy shoulders would be bliss.  Hit me up for the delivery address.

What I really really, really really want.