Can You Run A Busch Series Program Out of Connecticut?
29 May 2000
Can You Run A Busch Series Program Out of Connecticut? Steve Park's Connecticut Team Sees Good & Bad About Location Connecticut isn't exactly a hotbed of stock car racing. But it's home for Ted Marsh Racing where Steve Park's #31 Whelen Monte Carlos are readied for Park's dozen races in the 2000 Busch season. Having a race shop several hundred miles away from the Charlotte area has its pluses and minuses. The team has experienced the highs of nearly winning at New Hampshire before a last lap collision deprived Park of victory and running with the leaders at Richmond. It has also learned the hard way how much work it takes to prepare for Busch Series races. Marsh Racing Team Manager Brad Wheeler "To run a Busch car out of Connecticut you have to have a driver that is pretty strong technically and can tell you what you need to do. You also need to have connections with the people in the Charlotte area to keep you up to date on some of the technology stuff. We get some behind the scenes help from Dale Earnhardt Inc. - Steve's Winston Cup team. It would be tough to do all this on our own. "It took a little while for us to get going. Our chassis and bodies are built down there and we had to schedule things just to get them in and back to our shop. We were a second priority to some of the bigger Winston Cup teams as well as the Busch Series regulars. Which I understand but it put us in a bind and that is why we had a slow start. It's a logistical nightmare at times because of the travel, but it hasn't been too bad." Car Owner Ted Marsh "Could we run a full season out of Connecticut? I don't think so. I guess you could do it but it would be really hard to do. It would be expensive and mean a lot of trips to Charlotte. We might be able to do it if we had a C-130 airplane to fly the cars back and forth. Our sponsor Whelen is from Connecticut as well and they take a lot of pride in us being from their home state so there are a lot of goods things about our location as well as the challenges they present. We aren't ready to go full time racing, and Connecticut is home so I don't see us moving anytime soon." Park On The Team's Home In Connecticut "I think it is kind of neat that you got a bunch of guys from up North who are working hard during the week and bringing some pretty good stuff to the race track each time we race. I lived in Connecticut for a while in my racing career and know how important racing is up there. I'm not going to lie. Having a shop up there means you have to work a little extra harder, plan a little more and just generally put in extra effort because sometimes you can't get all the stuff you need as quick as you need it like you do in the Charlotte area. I think that is why we got a slow start this year. We got behind on ordering cars and now that we have caught up we have been at the front of the field each weekend. "I sympathize with what those guys go through and we are proving you don't have to be in Charlotte to do well, but it's just a little harder. Bill Elliott enjoyed his success in 1985 running the team out of Georgia so it can be done. One thing is for sure you aren't going to lose a lot of guys who are going to move next door for a few more bucks a week if your shop is in Connecticut." TNN will televise Saturday's Busch Series Race from Dover At 1 p.m. For more information contact Drew Brown at 704-895-3651 ###