Maybe Non NASCAR guys should stay out of NASCAR

January 11, 4:53 PMDetroit NASCAR ExaminerJosh Lobdell

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Over the last couple of years we have seen a rash of Non NASCAR Owners and drivers come to our sport, and in most cases quickly leave. NASCAR is a completely different animal compared to other Motor Sports, and especially compared to other stick and ball sports. With that being said it might be better if these non NASCAR types just stayed away.

Think about it like this the company Boston Ventures bought a controlling interest in Petty Enterprises less then a year ago. Already their influence has been removed from the sport. Granted on the business side they did acquire the Richard Petty Driving experience, and with their background running carnival attractions that is a good move. However their legacy as team owners is garbage. They did absolutely nothing.

A few years ago Bobby Ginn came to the MB2 Motor sports team as a sponsor. At the time MB2 was a mid pack team that had been able to break through to victory lane. They had recently signed Mark Martin to run a partial schedule and had nearly won the Daytona 500.

Once Mr. Ginn decided to through his hat into the ring of NASCAR ownership the team has done nothing. In fact months after purchasing the organization Mr. Ginn was at the bargaining table looking to merge with DEI.

Chip Ganassi has one of the premier team in the world of Open Wheel and road course racing, there is little doubt about that, but what has Chip done in the NASCAR ranks. Arguably his first few seasons were his best; his team ran well, won races and minus a serious energy to Sterling Marlin could very well have won a Cup title. Since then Chip’s team has failed to do much beyond getting Juan Montoya to NASCAR. Sure Montoya has been the most successful non NASCAR type in recent memory but is one win in two full seasons really what we expected from this team?

Now we have George Gillett who at the very best has a underperforming youngster (Reed Sorenson), another non NASCAR type with tremendous upside but no reliable Cup record to speak of (AJ Allmendinger), a legitimate star (Kasey Kahne), and a overrated driver who they just tried unsuccessfully to fire (Elliott Sadler). Is that an equation for Cup series success? I don’ think so.

Jayski is now reporting that the as yet to be renamed Gillett Organization has hired former Yates Racing Engineer Kevin Buskirk as Sadler’s crew chief.

Sure when Buskirk was with Sadler at Yates they were able to win two races, but there is a long history of engineer’s not being able to adequately run a Cup team as crew chief.

Chip Bolin at Roush Fenway immediately comes to mind. In fact the only former engineer that has had success as a crew chief seems to be Bob Osborne with Carl Edwards.

The simple fact here is for a NASCAR cup team to be successful many different things have to come together. It now seems that owners from outside the NASCAR universe are inept at putting the pieces together to insure any kind of sustained success.

The only team that has been able to bring in outside help is Roush Fenway, who brought in Red Sox owner John Henry as a financial partner. The reason this works is Jack Roush remains day to day control of the race team. If other owners want financial help this seems to be the ownership model that works best.