Rusty Wallace’s face said it all.
He couldn’t decide what to do. Smile? Frown? Look embarrassed? The
indecision was evident. Thankfully, Brad Daugherty didn’t talk for
very long, and Rusty was able to quickly change the subject.
What was that subject? During prerace
for Saturday’s Nationwide race, Allen Bestwick asked the prerace panel
who they thought would be a surprise this year. Daugherty said that
he felt that the pressure was on Wallace’s team now that they had
Toyota horsepower.
We all know that Rusty owns his own
Nationwide team, and among NASCAR analysts, his situation may be more
common than uncommon. NASCAR is the only sport that has television commentators
financially invested in the outcome of their event, yet people seem
to be OK with it, if they even care. Imagine the outrage if Troy Aikman
would earn more money if the Cowboys won the game he was broadcasting.
So here’s a handy guide of the personalities
you see on television every week and their involvement in race teams
in NASCAR’s top three series:
Brad Daugherty, ESPN: Partially owns
Marcos Ambrose‘s Sprint Cup team, JTG-Daugherty Racing. JTG-Daugherty
fielded a Nationwide car last year for the entire schedule, but start
and parked the last half of the year because the car was sponsorless.
Nationwide team is now defunct.
Jeff Hammond, Fox: Part owner in Red
Horse Racing with Tom DeLoach. Red Horse fields trucks for Timothy Peters
and Justin Lofton in the Camping World Trucks Series and also ran Nelson
Piquet at Daytona. Last year at California while covering truck qualifying,
Hammond went on a 30-second rant about how bad it was that Johnny Benson,
the defending series champion, was sponsorless. No, he didn’t mention
that he was an owner of that truck.
Phil Parsons, Speed: Co-owns PRISM
Motorsports in the Cup Series with Randy Humphrey. Started and parked
most events that they qualified for with Dave Blaney. He and Humphrey
also run MSRP Motorsports, perhaps the best start-and-park team in the
Nationwide Series.
Rusty Wallace, ESPN: Fields cars for
both Brendan Gaughan and his son, Steve Wallace, in the Nationwide Series.
Team is on its third manufacturer in four years. Wallace is perhaps
the most open commentator about his ownership, as he’s usually referenced
when his cars are on camera.
Of course, this leaves out people like
Darrell Waltrip and Wendy Venturini, who are indirectly tied to race
teams. Are you OK with analysts being team owners? Is it a bigger deal
than it’s made out to be? Have your say below.
Announcers who own race teams: cool or conflict of interest?
Incoming search terms:
- randy humphreys divorce
