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| Racing and War: If U.S. fights, can race teams cope?? | With war with Iraq appearing imminent for the United States, some race teams have begun to look ahead at what they will need to do to prepare at home. The unknowns of a war’s effects on air travel, highway movements, procuring parts and the economy are all part of that process.
While all insisted on support of U.S. action, several race teams did discuss their take on what a war would mean to their operations and how it could affect them.
EDDIE JONES, GENERAL MANAGER, BAM RACING (#49 1 800 CALLATT Dodge of driver Ken Schrader):
"The sport was built on making adjustments, and that’s what we’re going to have to do once the shooting starts in Iraq. You sit and consider the different scenarios but there are so many of them, it’s hard to decide exactly what you need to do.
"If the airports are closed or air travel is restricted in some way, we’ve put together a transportation plan. This week it’s not that big of a deal, since we’re only going up the road to Bristol. Next week at Texas or the California races, it’s probably going to be considerably more complex. That might mean leaving a day or two earlier than you normally would, and getting home a day or two later.
"If they race, we’re going to be there. Unless I get a phone call saying, ‘Don’t come,’ we’re going to load everything up and get there.
"Our transporter is at every race, so we know you can drive them. We’d rather not, of course, but we’ll do whatever we need to do."
BRIAN FLYNN, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, PETTY ENTERPRISES:
"There are so many unknowns as far as the Iraq situation - what the country does, how that affects the airline and travel industries - it’s very difficult to make plans. We have had one major discussion, taking a look at some of the possible scenarios, but there are so many possibilities, we can’t do much more than that.
"Richard Petty took one look at it and said, ‘Hey everybody drove to all of the races when I was driving, so what’s the big deal?’ From that standpoint, he is right. If we have to drive, we’ll drive. We have a fleet of Dodge vans ready to go, and a transporter that moves our equipment track to track anyway.
"Frankly, if we go to war, the concerns will be a lot better given to our troops and their families than to how we move our racing teams from track to track."
ANDY BELMONT, OWNER, DRIVER, ANDY BELMONT RACING (Verizon Ford in ARCA/Remax Series and NASCAR Busch Grand National Series):
"From the racing point of view, we’ve been through this before. We went to Daytona in 1991 with the Gulf War, and there were certain security issues and that sort of thing that went on but, other than that, the racing and American life went on.
"Obviously, our thoughts now are with our troops and what they are going through, and that’s the important thing. Any effects a war might have on us as racers is pretty much small potatoes.
"We have an airplane one of our sponsors lets us use, and that should help us if there is a problem with commercial air traffic. The hauler still goes as usual, so that is already scheduled. If we can’t fly, then driving is no real problem. I don’t like to fly anyway; I’m pretty much of a white-knuckle flyer.
"The main effect on racing, as I see it, is not travel and preparation but how the economy is being affected. All racing is sensitive to economic issues, and especially since we’ve been in pretty much of a downturn the past year or so. Our (ARCA) series still plays to the working man. As far as our teams, we have a handful of fulltime teams like ours, and a lot of part time teams. Another big economic downturn could easily effect those teams pretty drastically.
"From what I saw in the Gulf War, we’ll keep moving forward because the country has to keep moving forward."
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