NASCAR Tours - Have Car, Will Race

Diercks figures his team spent about $100,000 to win the 2005 championship. His season winnings-gained from three victories, seven Top-5s, and nine Top-10 finishes-was $29,925. For many teams, that's not enough to build an engine.

The $100,000 budget for Diercks is modest compared to some Elite Division operations. Season budgets can be twice that high and purses don't begin to cover the costs, so anyone who wants to be successful in the division also has to be successful at tapping sponsors.

Fultz was the big winner in the Elite divisions last season, closing out 2005 with $51,706 in winnings. Jefferson, who won his third consecutive title, took home only $17,982.

When you add points fund money and contingency awards, a driver winning a championship is lucky to recover half of what he spent by the end of the season.

The bottom line also is a factor for track operators, who have to pungle up at least $50,000 for a purse to attract enough cars to offer fans a good show. For small ovals, that purse may be 10 times what they offer on a typical Saturday night.

Searching For OptionsFrom a corporate standpoint, NASCAR will save money by paring its cost from managing eight series to four, including the two Grand National divisions and two Modified tours.

Still, NASCAR's decision leaves a couple hundred of its driver/members wondering what they can do next year with the thousands of dollars they have invested in cars and equipment to race in NASCAR's junior leagues.

"I feel sorry for those guys," says J.R. Scott, who runs the Champion Racing Association, an 18-race series in Diercks' Midwestern backyard. "They are racing dinosaurs.

"As the cars are raced today, there isn't another series east of the Rockies where they can compete and hope to win. NASCAR created a platform so different from anything else being raced today that it simply became too expensive for most people to afford. And now the expense is killing the series."

"The writing has been on the wall for a number of seasons," Scott says. "Look at car counts and the cost of racing and the number of tracks willing to take the series. It shouldn't be a surprise."

The biggest hurdle is the basic chassis. The Elite Division uses a Cup/Busch style perimeter chassis with frame and rollcage closely following the outline of the bodywork. Just about all other series use a straight-rail chassis, with the right-side suspension hanging off the side of the car from extensions, and the chassis not much more than half the width of the bodywork.

"There are a lot of pieces that can be used from an Elite Division car to create a straight-rail car," says Chuck Carruthers, crewchief for Jefferson's three titles. "You can do it for probably $10,000 or so."

There is one other thing the loss of the Elite Division means to drivers: There will be no reasonably priced touring series that carries the NASCAR name.

Owners of Nextel Cup teams look at success in a touring series as an indication a driver can compete on a variety of ovals, as opposed to being a one-track-wonder at his hometown venue. As team owners cast a wider net in their talent hunt, young stock car drivers also must compete with those in open-wheel racing series.

"The Elite Division offered us a great variety of tracks," says Diercks. "The cars are so much alike that the difference really comes down to driving talent and how well a team can set up a car. It is a great way to develop.

"I understand, I guess, why NASCAR has to kill it off. I just hope someone comes along with another series that will offer something similar."

Just like drivers trying to find a new home for their cars, race sanctioning bodies are trying to figure out if they can take on the touring cars and make a profit even though NASCAR says there isn't one.

The American Speed Association was the first-and perhaps the only-organization to come up with an option.

Others have all but ruled it out.