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'I've been better' Team owner Carter rues ex-sponsor's financial woesPosted: Wednesday March 27, 2002 11:52 AM
BRISTOL, Tenn. -- It's a brilliant Sunday morning in Thunder Valley. Sunshine has warmed the cold-snapped bones of Bristol Motor Speedway, and visitors roam the Winston Cup garage, brandishing pens and cameras. Owner Travis Carter stands on the back steps of his No. 26 hauler, watching the pre-race pedestrian traffic. The smell of roasted meat wafts from random team grills, and he says, "Not good," when asked. "I've been better." He's not referring to his appetite. The only thing he craves is a pager buzz or cellular jingle that will guarantee his payroll. It's been two months since Haas-Carter Motorsports' former sponsor, Kmart, shut off the money spigot. Driver Todd Bodine's No. 66 team has been on hiatus for three weeks, leaving Joe Nemechek's No. 26 as the lone Haas-Carter Cup entry. With only enough funds for one team, Carter is down to hair-pulling and crystal-ball gazing.
He's lost approximately 25 employees from his Statesville, N.C.-based operation. A few resigned to seek more stable opportunities, but the majority got unavoidable pink slips. "We've got enough [people] to run a team," says Carter. "The thing you don't want to do is lose your best personnel. You put all the effort into finding good people and making something work, but if you can't keep them, that hurts you, too." NASCAR's traditional Easter off-week is a relief only because there won't be a mental battle over whether to compete and drain the financial well, or stay home and save cash. It's moot. What began with promise has been reduced to a naked black car and transporter, a bare-bones business, and unsalvageable goals. All Haas-Carter principals felt the 2002 season could be an organizational statement; the second full year with Robert Yates Racing engines, the veteran Nemechek replacing Jimmy Spencer in the No. 26, and Bodine ready for his second year with the No. 66 team. Now, sabotaged by Kmart's bankruptcy declaration in January, Carter knows that if another company replaces the discount retailing giant, life still won't be the same. On this Palm Sunday morning, he acknowledges that his marketing people are courting a potential sponsor, and that any deal would fund only one team. Bodine and Nemechek have remained loyal, but Bodine has inked a full-time Busch series contact, and Nemechek may soon follow him. "They want to race, too," says Carter. "Practice makes perfect and you're a better driver if you race every week." Around him, crew members bop through the No. 26 hauler's mirrored doors, fetching this, hunting that. Their black sweatshirts are adorned only with, "Haas-Carter Motorsports." Carter himself is conspicuous in a logo-less jacket, something almost intolerable to someone with as much NASCAR heritage; the 53-year-old was a crew chief for Bobby Allison, Cale Yarborough and Benny Parsons -- a frank type who doesn't sugarcoat, or dodge inquiry. He's been an owner since 1989. A familiar face materializes, someone in the industry who's squiring guests through the garage throng. Conversation follows introductions. "It should have never happened," Carter says during the discussion. He speaks of economics. But his sunglassed gaze undoubtedly encompasses neighboring haulers, their eye-popping paint schemes blinding, and one senses that dollars and cents aren't the only losses he's ruing. Denise N. Maloof covers NASCAR for CNNSI.com.
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