A Pre-packaged Show

What if all the cars in a class were owned by the track - kind of like the way all the Monster Trucks are owned by Clear Channel? Do you end up with a series where fans root for the car and not the driver?

Speaking of unknown drivers, who drives "Grave Digger" anyway? Hint - it's more than one person, actually it's SEVEN.

The idea of packaging a class is being kicked around by a local promoter. The identity is not a secret, but I wanted to keep the discussion to the concept, not let the discussion wander to the individual.

On one hand, I understand the premise - it makes a class easy to manage, easy to pay (you don't) and the logic is that for what you spend in purse and other expenses, you could just run the class yourselves and not deal with any of the usual promoter/owner hassle. In a time where car counts are uncertain, and where promoters are struggling, it makes sense for a promoter to be able to control as many aspects of their program's destiny.

While it "makes sense on paper," would it play out in the real world? I can't endorse the idea, but I don't know why not. I can't see a bad reason for this, but I just can't bring myself to get on board with the idea.

CART and Formula One are loosely like this; the owners have a stake in the company running them. But neither series is exactly thriving. IROC is a perfect example, but again the series is on hold with no title sponsor.

If it were a touring group consisting of nothing but the group of single-owned cars, then I'm all for it. But a weekly show...I'm not sure. I think the one issue that comes up is what do you do with other cars that want to race but aren't owned by the one person.

Do you let them run? If so do you pay them?

Are the fans going to be content with the same group of people each week (they get that for the most part in a weekly show anyway).

What about other people who want to race - do they need to buy a car, buy a spot, "apply" for a position?

Who maintains the cars and will they devote the kind of time when it's someone else's car? For safety reasons alone that's an issue.

There are a LOT of logistics to deal with, which in the end may be more troublesome than the headaches the current system brings on. It's going to take a lot of level-headedness and cooperation, neither of which seem to flow freely around the business of racing.

So how do I feel about it?

I don't know.

-Jason