Start and park
Encyclopedia
Start and park is a term used in NASCAR
-sanctioned and other auto racing sanctioning bodies to describe the practice of racing teams starting races but pulling the car off the track after just a few laps in order to collect prize money while avoiding expenses such as replacement tires, engine wear and tear, and/or hiring a pit crew. In some cases, a team will use a start-and-park car to help fund a team that runs one car full-time.
, driving for Richard Childress Racing
(RCR), entered the race with the championship lead. Mathematically, as long as Earnhardt did not finish worse than 34th, he would accumulate enough points to clinch the 1993 NASCAR Winston Cup championship, his sixth title. RCR entered veteran Neil Bonnett
in a second car (#31), and Bonnett qualified 35th as a team backup. The team arranged that Bonnett would step aside from the #31 car, in the last minute, in the event that Earnhardt's car, after pre-race inspection, suffered mechanical failure on the grid or during the pace laps. If Earnhardt started the race in the #31 car, by rule, he would be awarded full points for that entry. Earnhardt started his primary car as expected, and Bonnett pulled off the track to finish last after 5 laps. The team gave the reason of "engine failure." Bonnett's intentional start and park helped maximize Earnhardt's finishing position, as only seven other cars had to drop out for Earnhardt to clinch the title.
, Jay Robinson Racing
(which has one fully sponsored team (#28) to run the race, and one start and park team (#49) to help finance that team), and Joe Ruttman
during the final 2004 Sprint Cup Series race at Rockingham Speedway. Former Cup Series drivers Derrike Cope
and Morgan Shepherd
have admitted to the starting and parking some races in order have funds to qualify for others. In the late 2000s the number of start and park teams increased.
In 2009, teams like Prism Motorsports (#66), Tommy Baldwin Racing
(#36), NEMCO Motorsports
(#87, although Scott Speed
ran Darlington and Sonoma when his normal ride failed to qualify), Front Row Motorsports
(#37, while the #34 entry ran the full event with limited funding as Taco Bell
appears to sponsor the car, however team owner Bob Jenkins
is a franchise owner and therefore is contributing little to the team financially; the team has sponsorship in 2010) and TRG Motorsports (#71, although Bobby Labonte
ran full races) have mostly parked their cars throughout the season, only when they don't have any sponsorships. They also entered the #70 entry at Texas Motor Speedway
with Mike Skinner, and parked. Phoenix Racing
started and parked (#09) when Brad Keselowski
did not drive for them, although they have fully secured sponsorships and have won the 2009 Aaron's 499
at Talladega with him. Keselowski and road course ringer Ron Fellows
run Chevrolets previously owned by Rick Hendrick, while Aric Almirola
ran at Loudon, they ran the distance finishing 29th in a Dodge, the other drivers start and parked in Dodges.
In 2010, Blaney ran the whole race in Las Vegas Motor Speedway
, the first time he completed a race since the 2009 Coca-Cola 600
(rain-shortened), but the first entire distance race since 2008. However, his teammate Michael McDowell
(#55) in all of his races, minus the 2010 Daytona 500
, has parked in each of the races he ran. New teams like Latitude 43 Motorsports
(#26) currently driven by David Stremme
, and recently Germain Racing
(#13) driven by Max Papis
and Braun Racing
(#32) driven by Reed Sorenson
are start and parkers, although the #26 car has some sponsorship, and the #32 has sponsorship from Dollar General
for a few races and the #13 with secured sponsorship with Geico
for a limited number of races and treating others as test sessions in order to treat the races as test sessions because of the ban on testing at national series tracks. The Whitney Motorsports
(#46) driven by Terry Cook
and J.J. Yeley has started and parked on a few occasions, but has also run the full distance as well.
During the 2010 Subway Fresh Fit 600
, many of the drivers treated the sessions as test sessions because of the testing ban. These teams treated the race as a four-hour open test sessions, with the drivers taking a few laps, returning to the garage, making adjustments, and then returning to the track for a few more laps. The only teams that stayed in the race were Cook and Scott Riggs
from Keyed-Up Motorsports
, Riggs was taking over Casey Mears
as he was standing by Denny Hamlin
to take over if needed. He drove with only team decals and an associate sponsor in his car, and stood out until blowing a tire late in the race, and ran on the lead lap for the entire race to that point.
At the 2010 Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400
at Michigan International Speedway
, J.J. Yeley and Max Papis
parked with full sponsors. The following race, several teams acquired sponsors and ran the whole race, leaving only one driver parking in the race (P.J. Jones
).
During the first twelve races of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup season, Dave Blaney
earned over $1.1 million after completing only two of the races and 21% of all possible laps. At the 2009 Texas IndyCar weekend Camping World Truck Series race, nine of the 33 entrants parked their truck by the end of Lap 26.
In some short tracks, a team that may have one car and crash it in a previous week, but need to simply start a race for points purposes, will borrow another team's backup car and start and park to preserve points.
Critics have said that start and park teams take spots away from teams who intend to run the full race, especially since the all-exempt tour format was adopted in 2005. There isn't a financial incentive for teams to finish toward the back of the field. At a June 2009 race, Joe Nemechek
earned $64,725 after finishing 41st in a start and park effort, while Dexter Bean
finished 36th and earned only $725 more ($65,450). At the 2009 NASCAR Banking 500 only from Bank of America
at Lowe's
, only Joe Nemechek
parked, the fewest all season in which drivers who parked; four other start-and-park teams failed to qualify. The following race at Martinsville Speedway
, six cars parked. During the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway
, ThorSport Racing
entered a third truck (#98) which was driven by David Gilliland
who qualified fifth, and fell out of the race in less than five laps and finished 35th, mainly due to without sponsorships, thus a start and park situation.
Start and Parks are generally not feasible for the Daytona 500
, because teams must qualify by racing a 150-mile race on Thursday with one pit stop, and then run the 500-mile race on Sunday, unless the car was among the fastest in the qualifying heats the previous weekend. That race was the only one with no start and parks. Such teams attempt to run the full race regardless, as drivers who finish in the back will take home about $250,000. There were two teams, however, which were Start and Parks at the 2010 Gatorade Duels; NEMCO Motorsports
' #97 car of Jeff Fuller (Duel 1) and Latitude 43 Motorsports
' #26 car of Boris Said
(Duel 2) were start and parks in the Duels. The Latitude 43 Motorsports team was an exempt team and qualified, and the team did not start and park for the feature.
On Saturday, March 19, 2011, during the NASCAR Nationwide race at Bristol Motor Speedway
, driver Jennifer Jo Cobb
refused to start and walked away from the #79 2nd Chance Motorsports car when she allegedly was instructed less than ten minutes prior to the race by car owner Rick Russell to start and park rather than race to completion. Cobb said that she had agreed to race carefully to completion to preserve the car for later California racing, but objected to Russell telling her to start and park, especially in light of her racing contract that provided she paid for tires and engines. Cobb is the first driver to publicly refuse to start a race when instructed to start and park.
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
-sanctioned and other auto racing sanctioning bodies to describe the practice of racing teams starting races but pulling the car off the track after just a few laps in order to collect prize money while avoiding expenses such as replacement tires, engine wear and tear, and/or hiring a pit crew. In some cases, a team will use a start-and-park car to help fund a team that runs one car full-time.
Early instances
During the 1993 Hooter's 500, the season finale, Dale EarnhardtDale Earnhardt
Ralph Dale Earnhardt, Sr. was an American race car driver, best known for his involvement in stock car racing for NASCAR...
, driving for Richard Childress Racing
Richard Childress Racing
RCR Enterprises, LLC, doing business as Richard Childress Racing, is a NASCAR team based in Welcome, North Carolina, and is owned and operated by former driver Richard Childress...
(RCR), entered the race with the championship lead. Mathematically, as long as Earnhardt did not finish worse than 34th, he would accumulate enough points to clinch the 1993 NASCAR Winston Cup championship, his sixth title. RCR entered veteran Neil Bonnett
Neil Bonnett
Lawrence Neil Bonnett was a NASCAR driver who compiled 18 victories and 20 poles over his 18-year career. The Alabama native currently ranks 35th in all-time NASCAR Cup victories. He appeared in the 1983 film Stroker Ace and the 1990 film Days of Thunder...
in a second car (#31), and Bonnett qualified 35th as a team backup. The team arranged that Bonnett would step aside from the #31 car, in the last minute, in the event that Earnhardt's car, after pre-race inspection, suffered mechanical failure on the grid or during the pace laps. If Earnhardt started the race in the #31 car, by rule, he would be awarded full points for that entry. Earnhardt started his primary car as expected, and Bonnett pulled off the track to finish last after 5 laps. The team gave the reason of "engine failure." Bonnett's intentional start and park helped maximize Earnhardt's finishing position, as only seven other cars had to drop out for Earnhardt to clinch the title.
Recent instances
Among the most well-known examples are MSRP MotorsportsMSRP Motorsports
HP Racing, formerly named MSRP Motorsports and later Prism Motorsports, is a NASCAR team competing in the Sprint Cup Series and the Nationwide Series. It is owned by former NASCAR driver Phil Parsons and Randy Humphrey, along with their wives Stacey and Marcia...
, Jay Robinson Racing
Jay Robinson Racing
Jay Robinson Racing is a racing team that competes in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Currently, they field the #28 MAXelence Chevrolet Impala for Derrike Cope. Formed in 1995, they moved to the Nationwide Series in 2000, where they have attempted both full-time and part-time schedules.- Car #28...
(which has one fully sponsored team (#28) to run the race, and one start and park team (#49) to help finance that team), and Joe Ruttman
Joe Ruttman
Joe Ruttman , is an American former racecar driver. He currently lives in Franklin, Tenn. He actively competed in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series, Nationwide Series, and Camping World Truck Series and is a 13 time winner in the Truck Series, the seventh most wins by any driver in the Truck...
during the final 2004 Sprint Cup Series race at Rockingham Speedway. Former Cup Series drivers Derrike Cope
Derrike Cope
Derrike Cope is a NASCAR driver. He is best known for his win in the 1990 Daytona 500. He currently drives the #28 Chevrolet for Jay Robinson Racing in the Nationwide Series and the #75 Chevrolet/Dodge for his own team in the Sprint Cup Series.-Early years:Cope was born in San Diego, California...
and Morgan Shepherd
Morgan Shepherd
Clay Morgan Shepherd has been a NASCAR Sprint Cup driver since 1977. He has also raced in the Nationwide, and Camping World Truck Series. He is a born again Christian who serves as a lay minister to the racing community...
have admitted to the starting and parking some races in order have funds to qualify for others. In the late 2000s the number of start and park teams increased.
In 2009, teams like Prism Motorsports (#66), Tommy Baldwin Racing
Tommy Baldwin Racing
Tommy Baldwin Racing is a NASCAR team based in Mooresville North Carolina. The team is owned by former crew chief Tommy Baldwin Jr., son of late modified driver Tom Baldwin...
(#36), NEMCO Motorsports
NEMCO Motorsports
NEMCO Motorsports is a NASCAR team that is owned by driver Joe Nemechek and his family. After a two-year hiatus, NEMCO Motorsports fielded full time entries in both the Cup and Nationwide Series in 2009 with driver Joe Nemechek. It carried the number 87 in both Cup and Nationwide. The team ran...
(#87, although Scott Speed
Scott Speed
Scott Andrew Speed is an American race car driver. Formerly a driver for the Scuderia Toro Rosso F1 team, he made his Formula One race debut at the 2006 Bahrain Grand Prix; becoming the first American to race in F1 since Michael Andretti in 1993...
ran Darlington and Sonoma when his normal ride failed to qualify), Front Row Motorsports
Front Row Motorsports
Front Row Motorsports is a team that competes in the NASCAR Sprint Cup. The team began running part-time in 2004 as Means-Jenkins Motorsports under a partnership with Jimmy Means and restaurant entrepreneur Bob Jenkins, with Jenkins becoming the full team owner in 2005...
(#37, while the #34 entry ran the full event with limited funding as Taco Bell
Taco Bell
Taco Bell is an American chain of fast-food restaurants based in Irvine, California. A subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc., which serves American-adapted Mexican food. Taco Bell serves tacos, burritos, quesadillas, nachos, other specialty items, and a variety of "Value Menu" items...
appears to sponsor the car, however team owner Bob Jenkins
Front Row Motorsports
Front Row Motorsports is a team that competes in the NASCAR Sprint Cup. The team began running part-time in 2004 as Means-Jenkins Motorsports under a partnership with Jimmy Means and restaurant entrepreneur Bob Jenkins, with Jenkins becoming the full team owner in 2005...
is a franchise owner and therefore is contributing little to the team financially; the team has sponsorship in 2010) and TRG Motorsports (#71, although Bobby Labonte
Bobby Labonte
Robert Alan "Bobby" Labonte is an American race car driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. He currently drives the #47 Kroger/Clorox/Kimberly-Clark/Kingsford/Reese Towpower Hitches Toyota Camry for JTG Daugherty Racing. He currently resides in Trinity, North Carolina. He is married to his wife...
ran full races) have mostly parked their cars throughout the season, only when they don't have any sponsorships. They also entered the #70 entry at Texas Motor Speedway
Texas Motor Speedway
Texas Motor Speedway is a speedway located in the northernmost portion of the U.S. city of Fort Worth, Texas – the portion located in Denton County, Texas....
with Mike Skinner, and parked. Phoenix Racing
Phoenix Racing
Phoenix Racing is a NASCAR team owned by James Finch. It currently fields the #51 Chevrolet Impala in the Sprint Cup Series driven by Landon Cassill and the #1 Chevrolet Impala in the Nationwide Series driven by Landon Cassill and Jamie McMurray....
started and parked (#09) when Brad Keselowski
Brad Keselowski
Bradley Robert Keselowski is an American auto racing driver currently competing in the #2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger in the Sprint Cup Series and the #22 Discount Tire Company/Ruby Tuesday Dodge Challenger in the Nationwide Series for Penske Racing...
did not drive for them, although they have fully secured sponsorships and have won the 2009 Aaron's 499
2009 Aaron's 499
The 2009 Aaron's 499 was the ninth race of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. The race was run at the Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama on April 26...
at Talladega with him. Keselowski and road course ringer Ron Fellows
Ron Fellows
Ron Fellows is an accomplished Canadian SCCA Trans-Am, IMSA, and American Le Mans Series driver, and a NASCAR Road course ringer.-Early career:...
run Chevrolets previously owned by Rick Hendrick, while Aric Almirola
Aric Almirola
Aric A. Almirola is a Cuban-American stock car driver in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. He currently drives the #88 Unilever/Grand Touring Vodka Chevrolet Impala for JR Motorsports. Almirola attended the University of Central Florida working on a degree in mechanical engineering before leaving to...
ran at Loudon, they ran the distance finishing 29th in a Dodge, the other drivers start and parked in Dodges.
In 2010, Blaney ran the whole race in Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Las Vegas Motor Speedway, located in Clark County, Nevada near Las Vegas, is a complex of multiple tracks for automobile racing. The complex is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., which is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.-History:...
, the first time he completed a race since the 2009 Coca-Cola 600
2009 Coca-Cola 600
The 2009 Coca-Cola 600, the longest race of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup season in terms of distance, was the twelfth race of the thirty-six race season. It was also the 50th running of the race, and in celebration thereof Lowe's Motor Speedway painted the outside retaining walls gold...
(rain-shortened), but the first entire distance race since 2008. However, his teammate Michael McDowell
Michael McDowell (NASCAR)
Michael Christopher McDowell is an American race car driver. He currently drives the #66 Toyota Camry for HP Racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the #18 Pizza Ranch Toyota Camry part-time for Joe Gibbs Racing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series...
(#55) in all of his races, minus the 2010 Daytona 500
2010 Daytona 500
The 2010 Daytona 500 was the 52nd running of "The Great American Race", and it kicked off the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season on February 14 at the 2.5 mile Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Fox telecast the race while radio coverage was handled by Sirius XM Radio...
, has parked in each of the races he ran. New teams like Latitude 43 Motorsports
Latitude 43 Motorsports
Latitude 43 Motorsports is a NASCAR team currently competing in the Sprint Cup Series in 2010 and in 2011. They are fielding the #26 Ford driven by Boris Said and Bill Elliott. The team was started after Vermont businessman Bill Jenkins purchased the team from Roush Fenway Racing to satisfy...
(#26) currently driven by David Stremme
David Stremme
David Andrew Stremme is an American stock car driver. He is most notable as the 2003 NASCAR Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year, winning the award while running a part time for several different teams. He currently drives the #30 Chevrolet Impala for Inception Motorsports.-Early life:Stremme was...
, and recently Germain Racing
Germain Racing
Germain Racing is an American NASCAR team. It is owned by the Germain brothers, Bob, Stephen, and Richard. The Germain family owns many car dealerships across the United States...
(#13) driven by Max Papis
Max Papis
Massimiliano "Max" Papis is a racing driver who has competed in several top-level motorsports events such as Le Mans 24 Hours, Formula One and Champ Car. He has three Champ Car victories. He is the son-in-law of Emerson Fittipaldi. His son's godfather is fellow Italian Alex Zanardi...
and Braun Racing
Braun Racing
Braun Racing was a NASCAR racing team based in Mooresville, North Carolina. The team was sold to Steve Turner in September 2010. The Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series teams remain active under Turner Motorsports. Following the announcement of the purchase, Turner Motorsports announced that they had...
(#32) driven by Reed Sorenson
Reed Sorenson
Bradley Reed Sorenson is an American NASCAR driver. He currently drives the #82 MacDonald Motorsports Dodge Charger in the Nationwide Series...
are start and parkers, although the #26 car has some sponsorship, and the #32 has sponsorship from Dollar General
Dollar General
Dollar General Corp. is a U.S. chain of variety stores headquartered in Goodlettsville, Tennessee. As of January 2011, Dollar General operated over 9,300 stores in 35 U.S. states....
for a few races and the #13 with secured sponsorship with Geico
GEICO
The Government Employees Insurance Company is an auto insurance company. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway that as of 2007 provided coverage for more than 10 million motor vehicles owned by more than 9 million policy holders. GEICO writes private passenger automobile insurance...
for a limited number of races and treating others as test sessions in order to treat the races as test sessions because of the ban on testing at national series tracks. The Whitney Motorsports
Whitney Motorsports
Whitney Motorsports is a NASCAR team that currently competes in the Sprint Cup Series. It is based in Harrisburg, North Carolina. They currently field the #46Red Line Oil/International Trucks Ford Fusion for Scott Speed and The #81 Ford Fusion for Scott Riggs....
(#46) driven by Terry Cook
Terry Cook
Terry Cook is an American former stock car driver. He is married to former Craftsman Truck pit reporter Amy East, and brother-in-law to driver Bobby East...
and J.J. Yeley has started and parked on a few occasions, but has also run the full distance as well.
During the 2010 Subway Fresh Fit 600
2010 Subway Fresh Fit 600
The 2010 Subway Fresh Fit 600 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series motor race that was held on April 10, 2010 at Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale, Arizona. It was the seventh race of the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. The event began at 7:30 p.m. EDT. It was televised live in the United...
, many of the drivers treated the sessions as test sessions because of the testing ban. These teams treated the race as a four-hour open test sessions, with the drivers taking a few laps, returning to the garage, making adjustments, and then returning to the track for a few more laps. The only teams that stayed in the race were Cook and Scott Riggs
Scott Riggs
Russell Scott Riggs is a NASCAR driver. He currently drives the #81 Dodge Charger for Whitney Motorsports in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.-Early career:...
from Keyed-Up Motorsports
Keyed-Up Motorsports
Keyed-Up Motorsports is a stock car racing team currently on hiatus from the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series owned by Raymond Key. The team fielded the #90 Chevrolet Impala for 2010 but failed to qualify for the 2010 Daytona 500. Casey Mears was the driver for the first six events, their crew chief was...
, Riggs was taking over Casey Mears
Casey Mears
Casey James Mears is the driver of the #13 GEICO Toyota for Germain Racing in the Sprint Cup Series. He is a former winner of the Coca-Cola 600....
as he was standing by Denny Hamlin
Denny Hamlin
James Dennis Alan "Denny" Hamlin is an American race car driver. Though originally born in Tampa, Florida, Hamlin was raised for most of his life in Chesterfield, Virginia. After racing in go-karts for a number of years, he worked his way up to Late Models by 2004 and signed a development contract...
to take over if needed. He drove with only team decals and an associate sponsor in his car, and stood out until blowing a tire late in the race, and ran on the lead lap for the entire race to that point.
At the 2010 Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400
2010 Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400
The 2010 Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race that was held on June 13, 2010 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. Contested over 200 laps, it was the fifteenth race of the 2010 Sprint Cup Series season. The race was won by Denny...
at Michigan International Speedway
Michigan International Speedway
Michigan International Speedway is a two-mile moderate-banked D-shaped superspeedway located off U.S. Highway 12 on more than in Brooklyn, in the scenic Irish Hills area of southeastern Michigan. The track is used primarily for NASCAR events. It is sometimes known as a "sister track" to Texas...
, J.J. Yeley and Max Papis
Max Papis
Massimiliano "Max" Papis is a racing driver who has competed in several top-level motorsports events such as Le Mans 24 Hours, Formula One and Champ Car. He has three Champ Car victories. He is the son-in-law of Emerson Fittipaldi. His son's godfather is fellow Italian Alex Zanardi...
parked with full sponsors. The following race, several teams acquired sponsors and ran the whole race, leaving only one driver parking in the race (P.J. Jones
P.J. Jones
P. J. Jones is a race car driver. He has raced in NASCAR, Indycar, IMSA GT, ALMS, and Champ Car. He is the son of racing legend Parnelli Jones, and brother of Page Jones.-Sprint Cup Series:...
).
During the first twelve races of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup season, Dave Blaney
Dave Blaney
David Blaney is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver. He currently drives the #36 Golden Corral/Big Red Chevrolet Impala for Tommy Baldwin Racing. Blaney was a successful sprint car driver before he started racing in NASCAR...
earned over $1.1 million after completing only two of the races and 21% of all possible laps. At the 2009 Texas IndyCar weekend Camping World Truck Series race, nine of the 33 entrants parked their truck by the end of Lap 26.
In some short tracks, a team that may have one car and crash it in a previous week, but need to simply start a race for points purposes, will borrow another team's backup car and start and park to preserve points.
Critics have said that start and park teams take spots away from teams who intend to run the full race, especially since the all-exempt tour format was adopted in 2005. There isn't a financial incentive for teams to finish toward the back of the field. At a June 2009 race, Joe Nemechek
Joe Nemechek
Joseph Frank Nemechek III is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver and owner of NEMCO Motorsports. He won the 1992 Busch Series championship...
earned $64,725 after finishing 41st in a start and park effort, while Dexter Bean
Dexter Bean
Dexter Bean is a NASCAR driver. Bean has raced in ARCA and all three divisions of NASCAR. He made his Sprint Cup Series debut at 2009 Pocono 500, finishing 36th and 4 laps down. His team, BlackJack Racing, has attempted a number of races, but the Pocono event was the only race the team...
finished 36th and earned only $725 more ($65,450). At the 2009 NASCAR Banking 500 only from Bank of America
2009 NASCAR Banking 500 only from Bank of America
The 2009 NASCAR Banking 500 only from Bank of America is the thirty-first race of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup season and race five of the Chase for the Sprint Cup, serving as the only Saturday night race in the Chase. The 334-lap, event is scheduled to be held on October 17 at the Lowe's Motor...
at Lowe's
Charlotte Motor Speedway
Charlotte Motor Speedway is a motorsports complex located in Concord, North Carolina, United States 13 miles from Charlotte, North Carolina. The complex features a quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend and the Sprint All-Star Race...
, only Joe Nemechek
Joe Nemechek
Joseph Frank Nemechek III is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver and owner of NEMCO Motorsports. He won the 1992 Busch Series championship...
parked, the fewest all season in which drivers who parked; four other start-and-park teams failed to qualify. The following race at Martinsville Speedway
Martinsville Speedway
Martinsville Speedway is an International Speedway Corporation-owned NASCAR stock car racing track located in Henry County, near Ridgeway, Virginia, just to the south of Martinsville. At in length, it is the shortest track in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The track was also one of the first paved...
, six cars parked. During the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway
Texas Motor Speedway
Texas Motor Speedway is a speedway located in the northernmost portion of the U.S. city of Fort Worth, Texas – the portion located in Denton County, Texas....
, ThorSport Racing
ThorSport Racing
ThorSport Racing is a Sandusky, Ohio based NASCAR racing team that competes in the Camping World Truck Series. Owned by Duke Thorson and his wife Rhonda, the team currently fields the #13 Safe Auto Insurance Company/Curb Records Toyota Tundra driven by Johnny Sauter through an alliance with Mike...
entered a third truck (#98) which was driven by David Gilliland
David Gilliland
David Gilliland is a NASCAR driver and he currently drives the #34 Taco Bell Ford Fusion for Front Row Motorsports. He is the son of former Cup and West Coast driver Butch Gilliland. He was born in Riverside, California....
who qualified fifth, and fell out of the race in less than five laps and finished 35th, mainly due to without sponsorships, thus a start and park situation.
Start and Parks are generally not feasible for the Daytona 500
Daytona 500
The Daytona 500 is a -long NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held annually at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is one of four restrictor plate races on the Cup schedule....
, because teams must qualify by racing a 150-mile race on Thursday with one pit stop, and then run the 500-mile race on Sunday, unless the car was among the fastest in the qualifying heats the previous weekend. That race was the only one with no start and parks. Such teams attempt to run the full race regardless, as drivers who finish in the back will take home about $250,000. There were two teams, however, which were Start and Parks at the 2010 Gatorade Duels; NEMCO Motorsports
NEMCO Motorsports
NEMCO Motorsports is a NASCAR team that is owned by driver Joe Nemechek and his family. After a two-year hiatus, NEMCO Motorsports fielded full time entries in both the Cup and Nationwide Series in 2009 with driver Joe Nemechek. It carried the number 87 in both Cup and Nationwide. The team ran...
' #97 car of Jeff Fuller (Duel 1) and Latitude 43 Motorsports
Latitude 43 Motorsports
Latitude 43 Motorsports is a NASCAR team currently competing in the Sprint Cup Series in 2010 and in 2011. They are fielding the #26 Ford driven by Boris Said and Bill Elliott. The team was started after Vermont businessman Bill Jenkins purchased the team from Roush Fenway Racing to satisfy...
' #26 car of Boris Said
Boris Said
Boris Said is an American race car driver from Carlsbad, California but considers his hometown to be Stamford, Connecticut. His father, Bob Said, was a Formula One race driver and US Olympic bobsled driver in 1968 and 1972. He drove the #26 Ford Fusion for Latitude 43 Motorsports in the NASCAR...
(Duel 2) were start and parks in the Duels. The Latitude 43 Motorsports team was an exempt team and qualified, and the team did not start and park for the feature.
On Saturday, March 19, 2011, during the NASCAR Nationwide race at Bristol Motor Speedway
Bristol Motor Speedway
Bristol Motor Speedway, formerly known as Bristol International Raceway and Bristol Raceway is a NASCAR short track venue located in Bristol, Tennessee. Constructed in 1960, it held its first NASCAR race on July 30, 1961...
, driver Jennifer Jo Cobb
Jennifer Jo Cobb
Jennifer Jo Cobb is a race car driver and team owner. She has competed in the NASCAR Nationwide Series along with the ARCA Remax Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. She drives the 13 Ford Mustang for her own team Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing in the Nationwide Series-History:She started...
refused to start and walked away from the #79 2nd Chance Motorsports car when she allegedly was instructed less than ten minutes prior to the race by car owner Rick Russell to start and park rather than race to completion. Cobb said that she had agreed to race carefully to completion to preserve the car for later California racing, but objected to Russell telling her to start and park, especially in light of her racing contract that provided she paid for tires and engines. Cobb is the first driver to publicly refuse to start a race when instructed to start and park.