The Fall of Start-and-Parking in the NASCAR Cup Series (2011 - The End)

Thanks for watching!
Here it is, part 2 of the start-and-park project. Research and editing took way longer than I was anticipating, but I didn't want to cut any corners from my original vision. I had been thinking about making this video and the previous one for multiple months now and it has been a passion project of mine since then. Going forward, all uploads will return to normal (hopefully once every one or two weeks) and I have a lot of ideas for the offseason.

[@FREDDYBASANEZFAN]

Am I just dreaming or didn't NASCAR put out a statement or something in 2013 about teams needing to give 100% effort. I remember thinking for the longest time that that is what ended start and parks.

[@racingwithjoe]

They also clarified that the rule didn’t apply to start and park teams, so start-and-parking continued throughout the year and 2014

[@zenvofm]

Fun fact(s): The last Xfinity s&p came in 2020 with Landon Cassill & Shepherd Racing Ventures at Darlington 1, while the latest S&P in trucks came this year for GTG's 47 in the spring with owner/driver Tim Viens.

[@josephbettano2569]

Basically the Xfinity Series restructured its prize money and reduced its field size first in 2013 from 43 to 40 cars redistributing the prize money of positions 40-43 throughout the field away from the bottom-finishing positions then reduced the field size again in 2019 from 40 cars to 38 and redistributing the prize money accordingly all with the intention of avoiding field fillers who might be start and parkers. Then the Xfinity Series in 2020 reduced its field size again to 36 cars with them having a field size of 40 during the pandemic due to no qualifying. They continued with the 36 car field size in 2021 having 40 cars in races where there was no qualifying. In 2022, the Xfinity Series reinstated the 38-car field size, but start-and-park was, as you said, gone from the series by then.

[@josephbettano2569]

When I saw Phil Parsons, arguably the most prolific start-and-park owner, not parking the car after like 30 laps with Josh Wise and genuinely attempting full races, that was what signaled for me start-and-park was coming to an end at the Cup level.

[@Monkey832]

Yeah whatever changed between 2013 and 2014 killed S&P almost completely

[@MoltenRage41]

That Front Row Motorsports #35 A&W All American Food Ford Fusion is my favorite S&P Paint Scheme.

[@racingwithjoe]

That’s a good one for sure, mine was the 2009 front row #37 with long John silvers

[@slowturtle11fan7]

FRM rise is prob the most underrated story

[@racingwithjoe]

McDowell dominating and winning a road course race also really went under the radar this year

[@SoldiesBC]

I remember watching a few races with my dad from this era of NASCAR. I was young at the time, so I thought the start-and-parkers were just bad, lol

[@Ally_Rayne6]

I remember that Tommy Baldwin Racing only pulled one start and park in '11 if i remembered right. But it was amazing seeing them doing amazingly.

[@realbaron5714]

Michael Mcdowell drove for these teams in a couple of years, now he has a some decent runs and won last year making the playoffs.

[@Cramhead43]

Loved this documentary dude, keep up the great work!

[@sportsfan09yt]

i have continued to have start and parks for some teams after 2015 before 2023

[@Busch_the_best]

Awesome video

[@moneyjoefilms3744]

Would you be able to do a video where each Nascar is due purse money for all the positions depending on the track, team and charter from when the charter system from begin to now?

[@Monkey832]

I found it so stupid that they shortened the field and introduced the charters in 2016 because S&Ping had already been pretty much dead since 2014

[@seannolan9857]

Not only was start-and-parking dead, 2015 set a record for fewest DNF's in a season. We were averaging barely three DNF's a race.

[@seekerblackout]

You say they shut down but wasn't Identity Ventures essentially Jay Robinson's team, which was branded as Premium Motorsports for the first time in 2015? They even continued to run the 66 for a bit in early 2015. I think as early as 2013, NEMCO was aligned with Robinson, as it was called NEMCO-JRR Motorsports, and I assumed the 87 in 2014 was essentially their 2nd car but maybe I'm wrong.

[@racingwithjoe]

Yeah that is pretty much true. NEMCO merged with Robinson in 2013 but it was still essentially just NEMCO. And in 2014 the 87 was also technically Identity Ventures, which I believe I mentioned on one of the graphics. Just a lot of messy details that I didn’t mention explicitly. Then yes Premium was the successor of Identity Ventures as well since Jay Robinson (who was already a co-owner) formed Premium from the assets of Identity Ventures. But Premium was ran in Robinson’s own shop so it was moreso a new team than a rebrand

[@DuddleBug5]

You should do a FRN vid

[@racingwithjoe]

do you mean FRM as in front row motorsports or ...

[@TheHighRoad1748]

Me personally, I've never understood the concept of start and park. What is the point of bringing a race car, to a race track, if you never intended to actually race it?

[@josephbettano2569]

At one point it was a highly profitable venture. In 2009, Dave Blaney made $1.1 million in the first 12 races parking in all but one race. Also in June that year at Pocono, Dexter Bean ran the full race but got paid just $725 more than start-and-parker Joe Nemechek. Nemechek's start-and-park venture was more profitable since he could negate the cost of fuel, tires, and engine wear as opposed to Dexter Bean because he ran the full race. One could argue from this that NASCAR paid too much to finish last and that racing was becoming more of a business than competition.

[@seannolan9857]

Richard Childress actually got started by start-and-parking in 1972. The goal is to raise money to try to be more competitive down the road. Some succeed at that, some don't.

[@ZeteticPlato]

He wouldn't move man! "Park it Mr!" His fault! "Anyways he needs a Dr. Pepper."