What role do NASCAR teams play?

The Game Room
1

I used to follow Formula One closely and it seems teams played a huge PR role because many of them were manufacturer based ie Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren, Renault are often top teams with most of the others hybrid teams. There is only 2 drivers per team and a driver moving from team to team is a big deal, especially if a manufacturer team signs one.

NASCAR is different in that they are not owned by manufacturers as a matter of fact many teams use the same cars. I also sense unlike F1 where fans often get behind a team, NASCAR fans usually will follow their favorite driver and don’t care what team they sign up with. In terms of strategy, while a F1 driver might follow orders to help their teammate, I can’t imagine someone like Kyle or Kurt Busch lifting a finger to help their teammate unless they are completely out of the race.

So what is the purpose of a team in NASCAR? I imagine it’s a combination of guaranteed salaries for the drivers (how much?) plus shared technology and being part of a successful team helps sell sponsorships. I also read somewhere each driver has 20 versions of their car ready for race day which is hard to do without a larger entity paying for it. How does a race team owner make money? How much cash do you need to start a team, and how much money does it cost a year? Who is the most recent driver to succeed without being signed?

2

Well, you won’t see a repeat of the 2002 Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix, where Rubens Barrichello was ordered to let teammate Michael Schumacher pass him for the win on the final lap, mainly because each driver has his own primary sponsor.

Keep in mind that there’s no “team championship” in NASCAR. There is an “owners championship,” but I am under the impression that “officially,” every car has a different owner; the Team Penske cars, for example, do not combine their points. (The difference between owners points and drivers points; owners points belong to the car, regardless of who drove it.)