Fuel Costs Hurt NASCAR Teams In Transportation, Not On Track

NASCAR Teams Feeling Affects Of Rising Fuel Costs

NASCAR officials said that its teams on the track are "not affected by the day-to-day fluctuations" in fuel costs, but by "sending transporters to races and tests, and flying crew members all over creation, NASCAR's teams are feeling the pinch just like everyone else," according to Marty Smith of ESPN.com. Fuel for the races is "provided cost-free from Sunoco to the teams as part of its exclusivity agreement with NASCAR," and NASCAR's use of the racing fuel has "no impact on the availability or price of regular gasoline." NASCAR indicated that the "amount of fuel used during races is insignificant when compared to the amount of day-to-day consumer use of fuel." Americans on average use 366 million gallons of gas per day, compared to 135,000 gallons per year for the Sprint Cup Series. Smith noted NASCAR "plans no change in race lengths." But Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) GM Ty Norris said that "over-the-road cost is up" 35% in '08, and the "real cost is airplane fuel." Norris indicated that MWR "continually shop[s] for more affordable prices, and three weeks ago landed 20 minutes south of McCarran Airport in Las Vegas in the effort to save money." The decision saved the team $10,000. Richard Childress Racing Team Manager Mike Dillon said that his team has "reduced its fleet of airplanes" from five planes to three. Dillon: "We've been flying to Bristol for the last 10 years, but last week, all of our teams drove." With Sprint Cup teams "hurting, Nationwide Series and Craftsman Truck Series teams search for new ways to combat the fuel cost." Craftsman Truck team Owner Stacy Compton said that his team is "pursuing sponsorship opportunities just for fuel credit cards." Compton: "That's something we've never done before, but with fuel prices almost triple the amount that they were three years ago, it's certainly putting a cramp on everything we're doing" (ESPN.com, 3/26).