Almost every little boy (and a slew of little girls) is enamored of fast cars.  Making that car go faster than anyone else around.  (Of course, doing this on our highways often means you meet certain folks in blue.  We are talking about doing this on tracks.)

When I moved to the South some four decades ago, I met a whole bunch of folks who clearly had the bug.  Some of them honed their skills delivering illegal refreshments (as in moonshine), others by training on various dirt tracks that existed around the states.

My skills were honed by taking classes and practicing on paved tracks.  And, once we were willing to spend a small fortune on a race car designed by the Howe Racing Enterprises, our capability to enter car races was virtually assured.

Because the ticket to entry was pretty much having a race car and a driver- and a crew to keep the car in drivable shape.  That was the rule since the late 1940s.

And, as long as were had the money,the car, and the driver , we could continue to enter the various races.   We needed a contract (typically for a season of racing) that stipulated the rules and regulations by which we’d abide.

But, those provisions have now changed.

Now, Nascar is “chartering” race cars.   Basically, that means you now have to an approved team or franchise- kind of like getting the NBA to approve your team or the NFL to let you play football.  Or, maybe it’s more like the taxi medallions one needs to operate a hack in New York City.

And, these charters are not one-year affairs- they have almost a  duration lasting almost a decade.  Once granted, the “franchise” has the right to race in all the Sprint Cup series.  And, you can sell your franchise to another team.   (The value seems to be about $ 1 million.)

Admittedly, the costs for year’s worth of racing is a lot higher now than it was back in the70s and 80s.  I doubt we’d be able to participate nowadays- since the costs run $ 20 to $ 25 million for a year’s worth of racing.   And, winning races doesn’t return those funds to you- so you better plan on losing money on each race.  (We used our winnings from each race to fund our teams, our supplies, and keep our car in outstanding condition.)

These rules and facts mean that obtaining a deep-pocketed sponsor is now paramount- because those sponsorship dollars provide the bulk of the team’s revenue.   And, that means racing without a sponsor is a bigger risk than ever before.  (Sponsorship dollars provide something on the order of 50 to 75% of the annual team revenue.)    Which explains an even bigger problem- the economic downturn in 2008 led to the evanescence of many of the NASCAR sponsors.

Supposedly that’s why this new NASCAR system has been developed.  Because a racing team will be able to guarantee the sponsors that they will be in all the races- which means the sponsor is assured of continued publicity.

And, to keep things interesting, NASCAR promises to keep a few slots (four?) open in their races for the non-chartered teams.  As long as those racing car teams deliver outstanding times in the qualifying races.

Or, the non-chartered teams have to be satisfied to play in the ‘minor leagues’.  Not in NASCAR’s Sprint Car races, but the Xfinity series.  Or, maybe those dirt tracks- which always seemed more like demolition derbies to me.

But, to me, this new system seems to keep only the established names in play.  It reduces the excitement of seeing a new face (ok, car) upsetting the old order.  And, gives even more power to the select few who run NASCAR.

Sigh.

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