What if the Big Three Pull Out of NASCAR?
By: Drew Hierwarter
What if the big three major auto manufacturers pull out of racing? So what if they did? Well, for one thing racing would go on and NASCAR would survive. It wouldn’t be the first time that race teams have had to do without factory support. There’s plenty of history to suggest that major league stock car racing would continue.
In 1957 Chevrolet introduced a system of mechanical fuel injection for their small block powered cars to make them a little more competitive with the big inch Buicks and Oldsmobiles of the day. Ford countered that by making a supercharger available for their cars. NASCAR saw the potential for things to get out of hand and immediately banned both and required all cars to run with a single four barrel carburetor. Not too long after that all manufacturers mutually agreed to not participate in racing of any kind. There was little impact on NASCAR and racing went on. This lasted for no more than a couple of years when special “police interceptor” parts started to appear in dealer’s inventories and eventually, with the exception of General Motors, the factories were back.
History repeated itself in 1965 when NASCAR issued some new engine rules that essentially were aimed at handicapping Chrysler’s 426 cubic inch Hemi. And of course Chrysler responded by boycotting NASCAR and requiring all of its factory teams to sit it out. Most of them went drag racing. GM was still not participating and the fans responded to what was, in effect, a Ford only race series by staying home. The following year Chrysler was back, albeit with the Hemi restricted to 305 cubic inches, and Ford was pressuring NASCAR to allow its teams to use the newly developed single overhead cam (SOHC) 427 cubic inch engine. When it was not allowed Ford Motor Company decided that they would boycott the series but, unlike during Chrysler’s boycott, Ford’s factory racers did not agree and they continued on their own without factory support. Ford was able to gain some concessions from NASCAR and in 1967 they were back.
The early seventies was another time of recession much like today and the factories once again pulled out of stock car racing. And it wasn’t long before the sources for those few remaining “good” factory parts began to dry up. As a result, NASCAR had to loosen some of its rules about using only production parts. They began to allow racers to use more and more parts made by outside companies as long as they were “stock type”. Of course the definition of what was “stock type” became the subject of some debate, but that’s a topic for another time.
The fact remains that major league stock car racing has survived without the manufacturers before, and can certainly do so again should they choose to pull out. For many years now, in addition to cash, the Big Three have been providing race teams with millions of dollars worth of much needed wind tunnel and engineering data. But the return in advertising value that the car companies get for that investment is crucial for their survival. Their participation in NASCAR puts their name and their product directly in front of people who like cars. You can make the argument that race fans are their core customers and it would make very little economic sense for them to pull out now when they need every customer they can get. But in the unlikely case that they do pull out, rest assured that racing will continue. Because racers will always find a way to race, and factory money or not, they will be there whenever and wherever somebody is waving a green flag.
December 22nd, 2008 at 2:37 pm
If you think NASCAR can survive as an ALL Toyota show you must be on something illegal. Most of the NASCAR fans I know stand and cheer every time a Toy crashes or better yet blows up. They can lose Dodge but NOT Ford and Chevy both. With out Ford and Chevy NASCAR as we know it is done. Also if NASCAR is serious about controlling cost make the teams build there own engines instead of Hendricks and Yates having to compete against a mega company like Toyota.
December 22nd, 2008 at 4:25 pm
GM and Chrysler won’t pull out of racing. However, they will both disappear from the face of the earth before spring. First, GMAC will file bankruptcy, followed by GM with Chrysler close behind. None of these companies will find debtor-in-possession financing and all will be liquidated. The Chevy and Dodge teams in NASCAR will be devastated.
December 22nd, 2008 at 5:06 pm
The racers could try to compete, but the Toyota teams with their endless foreign backing would dominate the sport and essentially it would become the Nascar Toyota series.Then Mr France would be satisfied.
December 22nd, 2008 at 10:37 pm
You stated that the manufacturers agreed to quit racing in the early ’60’s. You are correct in that they did agree..the only thing is that Ford and Chrysler did quit but GM didn’t. GM kept on developing race engines and speed equipment and Pontiac became the race car to beat. It took Ford five years to get competitive again. That is why GM is has won so many races and manufacturers trophy’s. The authority for this statement is found in an article by Alex Gabbard in the May 1995 issue of Circle Track on page118 entitled “the AMA caper.. JOhn
December 30th, 2008 at 9:12 am
Dave C., In the unlikely event that the Big 3 pull their support of racing, very little will change in the make-up of the starting grids (except there may be a few less cars). The cars are all identical now anyway, except for the engines and the decals. If those decals are gone you won’t be able tell a Toyota from a Ford or Chevy or a Dodge anyway. It just won’t matter what brand of car a driver is in. Oh, and I’m never on anything illegal!
And for John C. yes, it’s true that Pontiac was the car to beat in ‘60 - ‘62. Those teams were receiving some “special” parts unofficially out the back door. But it didn’t take Ford quite that long to recover. Fords finished 1-2-3 in the ‘63 Daytona 500. And Ford driver Fred Lorenzen won 10 races, most of them on the superspeedways, in ‘63 becoming the first driver in NASCAR to win more than $100,000 in a single season. So the early ’60s weren’t all bad for Ford.