Whelen Modified Tour Teams Could Face Forfeiture Of Prize Money For Skipping Banquet

[ShawnCourchesne]

Whelen Modified Tour Teams Could Face Forfeiture Of Prize Money For Skipping Out On Banquet ( http://blogs.courant.com/autoracing/2009/04/whelen-modified-tour-teams-cou.html)

[TJ1976]

As my friend Joe would say.....What a bunch of horse@#$%!

I can understand the teams frustration. I don't think NASCAR realizes the current economic situation and what a lot of teams go through in the season going from track to track. Besides, the mods arent as well paid as the Cupcake( Sprint, Nextel or whatever its called), Nationwide, Truck Series or even their Camping world late model series

[chrome horn]

Absolutely amazing. Great one Shawn.

[Photog1]

So now they expect teams to take an entire week off work, and spend tons of money for hotels, food, travel, etc. Just so NASCAR can "show off" in Charlotte. Unreal.

[catfish]

Photog1, I don't think they intend that at all. I think they expect the driver and car owner, they really don't care about the rest of the "team" as then there will not be enough room for all the Nascar stuffed suits in the hall.

[Jaws]

Photog1, I don't think they intend that at all. I think they expect the driver and car owner, they really don't care about the rest of the "team" as then there will not be enough room for all the Nascar stuffed suits in the hall.

Bingo, to all those that think they have to spend money, take time off from work to do this I have some good news, YOU WON'T BE INVITED!

See we have this all wrong Nascar actually saved people a lot of time and money.

Isn't that nice of them?

[Bobby1717]

How long will it be when all of the drivers say "enough is enough and screw the tour" and start their own sanction of racing like the True Value Tour. I know the drivers are very loyal but how much more can they take. Nascar tracks reduce the purses, make them travel thousands of more miles without an increase in winnings, 14 events and now mandating that they are at the banquet.

[limodmaniac]

Obviously there are a lot of benefits to having Nascar aboard, but you have to weigh the pros and cons. From my point of view, the cons are starting to win.

Still burns me that they decided to make a Busch North series. If ever there was a slap in the face to the modifieds, it was creating a new series in the Northeast. All that time, effort and money could have gone right to the modifieds.

Best part of it is that no one in Nascar seems willing to return phone calls and talk to people and explain their reasoning.

[racekitten]

What about the teams that usually run the shootout? If they want to still do that they are either going to spend the money to go back and forth or stay the whole week!! Hopefully it won't deter some of the drivers from participating. :mad:

[TJ1976]

What about the teams that usually run the shootout? If they want to still do that they are either going to spend the money to go back and forth or stay the whole week!! Hopefully it won't deter some of the drivers from participating. :mad:


Lets hope it doesnt come to that. The last thing we need to hear is that only an handful of cars are coming down to the Shootout b/c the Whelen North and South teams have to attend NASCAR's mandatory bull$%^! banquet

[WhelanModFan]

I thought the military was the only place where a party/banquet is an obligation rather than an invitation. I guess I was wrong. Pretty pathetic on NASCAR's part. If I was in that situation I'd be calling Jack Bateman. "Hey Jack, got room for one more car?".

[Jaws]

I thought the military was the only place where a party/banquet is an obligation rather than an invitation. I guess I was wrong. Pretty pathetic on NASCAR's part. If I was in that situation I'd be calling Jack Bateman. "Hey Jack, got room for one more car?".

Sounds good in therory but what do they pay Vs the tour?

[WhelanModFan]

Sounds good in therory but what do they pay Vs the tour?

Probably a big difference but at least you don't have your pocket picked for not attending a banquet. I'm really just speaking from my own personal experiences. I hate parties and do not like when they become an obligation. It really defeats the purpose.

[Rentawrench]

TVMRS has the Same Rule --- No Show NO Money--

One Owner /Driver could Not go to TVMRS (Work) called Jack's office ,was told OK , then After the Banquet called to get check was Told " you didn't Come NO money " . IF he was told that his engine builder would have picked up the check.


TVMRS from upper NH used to have there's in Chicopee,Ma. Moved it to Seekonk( Why ?? )


The NWMT was one of the Best Turnouts Of ALL the NASCAR Banquets( as many there as All that went to Vegas for Whelen All American Banquet)

[mattphoto]

is NASCAR doing the Whelen All American series banquet on friday ???

[MXCHAMP04]

Sounds good in therory but what do they pay Vs the tour?You really don't want to start comparing costs vs payouts between the two tours, do you? The TVMRS is by far the better cost/benefit ratio.

[PitGirl35]

Apparently NASCAR got word that the teams are pissed and it seems as a last resort they decided to withold the money as a last ditch effort to get the teams to go. and after reading the blog, its funny how NASCAR announced the banquet after the drivers signed the agreement. just my opinion

[GM.]

Apparently NASCAR got word that the teams are pissed and it seems as a last resort they decided to withold the money as a last ditch effort to get the teams to go. and after reading the blog, its funny how NASCAR announced the banquet after the drivers signed the agreement. just my opinion

You don't think that Nascar is stupid, do you??

[LiquidBread]

Add this to the ever growing NASCAR list. I cut and paste my opinion response to another thread earlier this year. I stand by it more than ever.

"I offer up another perspective. Has anyone considered that in adversity opportunity might be found? The fact that the economy is in the tank has probably allowed Wall and Waterford to open next year and not become condos.

Which begs another question; why not finally unify the mods and dump NASCAR once and for all? Common specs among WMT, ROC and TVMRS; an independent tour (like DIRT), without the track owners having to take on the NASCAR sanction. That would open up a ton of tracks in NE, NY, PA, NJ, OH and maybe more. Teams could run weekly home tracks, as well as tour for points. The race calendar would explode, per race expenses would drop, track overhead would drop and purses would increase to the point of allowing folks to maybe do this for a living again.

You'd most likely lose Whelen sponsorship (and others), but I'd bet that True Value and Sunoco might step up. You could replace Martinsville with Oswego (for example), and add a bunch of new venues (Lake Erie for example). You might lose a couple of teams, but I also have to believe that the hot shoes looking to move on would still get NASCAR's notice. Talent and ambition is still talent and ambition.

TV contracts albiet regional might be more doable, sponsorship increases, and the whole thing gets healthier. It's pretty much the same core people involved.

This might be the ramblings of a fan yearning for the old days, but hey, who'd have thought that we'd have gone to the moon or elected an African-American president?"

[uticamike]

Liquid , I've had a similar idea although not quite as ambishious. I'd really love to see a unification of the ROC and TVMS series given how similar they are. I always take heat for this but its my contention if NASCAR were doing a good job with the Mods those two sanctioning bodies wouldn't need to exsist. The current Tour Mod owners are going to have to have an open revolt to get NASCARS attention. They could bring their cars to Stafford but refuse to go in the pits till the Tour officials have a real sit down with them and have it out. Radical yes, but it might take something like that. (their version of a tea party). I'm a fan of ALL pavement Mods and could live with something called the ASA NE Modified Tour.I wish Richie were still around, his take might be interesting :lol:

[kja819]

I'd say if Richie was still around the Tour would not be in such shape. We would have a spokesman who really had NASCAR's ear. From what I remember NASCAR listened to Richie when he spoke. And your right the owners have to get unified and sit NASCAR down at the table, but holding what would amount to a protest at Stafford or any where else would hurt more than help. It would give NASCAR a reason to say "see ya". Something I think NASCAR would really love to see I think. You can't have cars that are faster that the cupcake series. That would make them look bad.

The owners need to get together and make a doable list of things they would like to see changed with the Tour and present it to NASCAR as a whole. (i.e shorter races so we get rid of the "just ride for now". 50 to 100 laps green flag laps would be great. Do it more like the WOO look at the money they pay.

Just my thoughts.

[LiquidBread]

Utica and kja, I guess that's my point. The interest and opportunity exist, and the timing seems right. There are at least a dozen tracks that support the mods, but can't cut the NASCAR sanction. A unified independent tour would do a bunch of things. 1.) allow the teams to earn a modest living, 2.) keep a lot of venues from becoming strip malls (waterford, wall) 3.) open up sponsorship and TV opportunities, and 4.) put fannies in the seats. I can see a 27 race schedule easy with $8K to win, and break even tow money. I don't know that an owner's revolt is gonna cut it with NASCAR because I also agree that you risk giving them an out. Bateman and guys like Pete Brittan have the testosterone to pull this off. Heck, I'd retire and jump in to give this a shot. Opinions?

[Jaws]

Utica and kja, I guess that's my point. The interest and opportunity exist, and the timing seems right. There are at least a dozen tracks that support the mods, but can't cut the NASCAR sanction. A unified independent tour would do a bunch of things. 1.) allow the teams to earn a modest living, 2.) keep a lot of venues from becoming strip malls (waterford, wall) 3.) open up sponsorship and TV opportunities, and 4.) put fannies in the seats. I can see a 27 race schedule easy with $8K to win, and break even tow money. I don't know that an owner's revolt is gonna cut it with NASCAR because I also agree that you risk giving them an out. Bateman and guys like Pete Brittan have the testosterone to pull this off. Heck, I'd retire and jump in to give this a shot. Opinions?

27 race tour, dream on. The fans complain more than the drivers about a shorter schedule. I do agree a 14 race schedule is way too short but 27 is a bit long. Can we settle on 20? Also $8,000.00 to win, tracks that don't host the tour now will not put on a race with that kind of payoff. The races they want are the $2,000.00 to win, if they can get a decent Field for that why would they go out on a limb for a big purse. Better get a big sponsor. If it was such a no brainer it would have happened a long time ago.

[uticamike]

Bread, i see a contradiction in your two above posts. On the one hand you advocate "dumping" NASCAR in favor of some unified Modified orginization. A sentiment I agree with. Then you say doing a protest of sorts would give NASCAR an excuse to rid themselfs of the division. Isn't that what we want? I know my
"strike" by the owners is extreme and what should really happen is for the better
team owners to work behind the scenes with SMS and Thompson with some other body to wrestle the Mods from NASCAR's grip. I'd bet they wouldn't fight that hard to hold onto them. Be fun to watch anyway. :drool:

[LiquidBread]

Utica, you may be right. At least it would bring things to a head. I also agree that it would be fun to watch. WWRD? I guess my point about opening the door for NASCAR is that if you threaten it, you best have a strong Plan B if indeed they do walk.

Not sure however that I agree with Jaws regarding the length of schedule and payouts. It wasn't that many years ago that 30 plus events were the norm. I believe that any driver/team resistance would be addressed by an improved financial position. Heck TC complained about 14 races earlier this year, and look how many WMT drivers/teams are running WSMT events this year. The purse could work because the overall cost to the track to put on an event would be a lot less.

Anyway, that's the beauty of The Chrome Horn forum. Even knuckleheads like me can debate an issue.

[Jaws]

Utica, you may be right. At least it would bring things to a head. I also agree that it would be fun to watch. WWRD? I guess my point about opening the door for NASCAR is that if you threaten it, you best have a strong Plan B if indeed they do walk.

Not sure however that I agree with Jaws regarding the length of schedule and payouts. It wasn't that many years ago that 30 plus events were the norm. I believe that any driver/team resistance would be addressed by an improved financial position. Heck TC complained about 14 races earlier this year, and look how many WMT drivers/teams are running WSMT events this year. The purse could work because the overall cost to the track to put on an event would be a lot less.

Anyway, that's the beauty of The Chrome Horn forum. Even knuckleheads like me can debate an issue.

Yes it is a debate and no you are not a knucklehead. We all respect all opinions in here thats what mekes it great.




LOL, yes it is a debate and no you are n

[MJProcko]

You really don't want to start comparing costs vs payouts between the two tours, do you? The TVMRS is by far the better cost/benefit ratio.

If that was the case I don't think the TVers would have had short fields at more than a few events last year.