Friday, February 24, 2012

NASCAR Owners?

The NASCAR off-season is always crazy and has been termed "Silly Season." Daytona is one of my favorite races to watch NASCAR at, well on TV anyway. While watching the trucks battle tonight, I stumbled across the entry lists for all three of the Nascar series running this weekend. Apparently it is just as silly behind the scenes as what is announced to the public.

It was a busy off season for Kevin Harvick Incorporated and Rusty Wallace Racing. Kevin and Delana Harvick closed KHI essentially, selling off the company's truck assets to Eddie Sharp Racing and combining the Nationwide program with Richard Childress Racing. In English, that means Eddie Sharp added the #8 and #33 truck teams while RCR added the #2 truck team and the #2 and #33 Nationwide teams to their respective stables. That all makes sense, so far. On the official entry list for the Camping World Truck Series, Delana Harvick is still listed as the owner of the #2, #8, and #33 truck teams. As for Richard Childress' three Nationwide teams being raced on Saturday, Harvick is still listed as the owner of both of her former teams, the 2 and 33 cars while Morgan Shepard is the listed owner of the #3 car driven by Austin Dillion.

Now on to Rusty Wallace's winter vacation. He was forced to shelf both of his Nationwide teams for season because of the lack of sponsorship dollars. Based on the official Nationwide Series entry list, Wallce is the owner of the #4 car driven by Danny Efland the #50 car that TJ bell is driving. Efland's car is fielded by JD Motorsports and MAKE Motorsports fields Bell's ride.

The contracts that these organizations sign during a purchase or merger must be a legal nightmare and include many different provisions for minority ownership. Maybe the highest profile name is listed as the team owner for visibility for sponsors or to attract additional sponsorship. I really don't know, it just seems confusing and a jumbled mess. As a fan I'll just route for Harvick and Junior and leave the rest alone.

1 comment:

  1. I believe it has to do with owner points from last year being transferred around.

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