Downshift is felt
NASCAR negotiates treacherous turn in economy
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - A deafening roar reverberated in the distance at Daytona International Speedway.
Trucks from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series were squeezing in a quick practice session Thursday morning before giving way to the Sprint Cup cars for the Gatorade Duel, a pair of 150-mile qualifying heats that set the field for today's 51st Daytona 500.
The noise was music to the ears of Dave Bogdzewic Sr.
"I wouldn't miss it," he said.
For the last eight years, Bogdzewic, a truck driver from Lowell, Mass., has made the journey here in his 33-foot motorhome, a 1999 Georgie Boy Cruise Master, to escape the frigid New England weather.
"It's become a nice getaway for us," Bogdzewic said. "Sometimes the winters back home get to be too tough to take."
When the nation's economy went into a deep freeze, Bogdzewic did not even think about canceling his annual trip to Daytona, forking over $1,500 for a pair of Super Infield passes and a parking spot in an infield RV lot.
"We just tightened our belts and planned for it," said Bogdzewic.
Mark Wyman, owner of Wyman's Auto Body in Lowell, closed his shop for a week and came along.
"They brought me to help with the gas money," Wyman cracked.
"And to help with any bodywork we might need," Bogdzewic shot back.
But when Bogdzewic pulled his motorhome into a staging area outside the track, he was shocked at what he saw.
"They have a staging area for the RVs on this 100-acre lot," Bogdzewic said. "It's usually packed, bumper-to-bumper. But when we got there, it was about a third full. It was completely dead. I couldn't believe how many RVs there were."
"Or," chimed in his son, Dave Jr., "how many there weren't."
That was the lament of Dennis Devlin, owner of the Desert Inn. Devlin said his 225-room beachside hotel was booked to only 80 percent capacity for Speedweeks, which he said accounts for 10 percent of his annual business.
"We were 100 percent this time last year," said Devlin, who was forced to lower his weekend rate by 50 percent and reduce his required minimum stay from 5-7 nights to 2-3 nights. "Anyone who says they aren't hurting right now isn't telling the truth."
"Everybody is very interested and understands what we're up against," said Brian France, NASCAR's chairman and CEO. "Tracks, owners, drivers - I'm meeting with every one of them the next two weeks, to talk about what we need to do to weather the storm."
NASCAR's domestic auto manufacturers were caught in the maelstrom when the CEOs from
"Our budgets are set pretty long-term and are based on a pretty conservative forecast of the industry," said Brian Wolfe, director of Ford Racing Technology. "So our commitment to our teams is solid.
"I think the biggest risk that everybody faces is the primary sponsors. While we are putting in an enormous amount of funds and it goes across many cars, the funds that keep each of those cars going is coming from those primary sponsors, who are, really, like everybody else, impacted fairly heavily from the current economy.
"To me, that's going to be the biggest challenge we all face, regardless of anything else."
NASCAR took preemptive cost-cutting measures by developing the Car of Tomorrow, which was designed to help teams eliminate the costly practice of building a fleet of track-specific cars. In addition, NASCAR last November announced a ban on offseason testing.
Even drivers attempted to tighten their belts. Jeff Gordon, who estimated it cost him $3,000-$4,000 per hour to operate his private jet, said he would make a concerted effort, whenever possible, to fly commercial.
"I flew for $69 from LaGuardia to Charlotte, so I'd say I saved a little bit," Gordon said.
"I think everyone is paying careful attention to expenses," said Mike Dee, Red Sox COO and president of Fenway Sports Group, which purchased 50 percent of Jack Roush's race team in 2007 and rebranded it Roush Fenway Racing. "I think NASCAR did everyone a favor by cutting back on the testing that took place in the offseason. That saved teams a considerable amount of money.
"I don't know what it was for our team, but it's material," said Dee, who is listed as the owner of record on David Ragan's No. 6 UPS Ford. "It's in the hundreds of thousands and it can get to seven digits by the time you haul cars and people around the country testing. And keep in mind we have five cars, so it's a material number.
"I think there's going to be more that's going to be needed to be done. In this sport, there's always been a sense that if expenses grew, there was enough interest in the marketplace to offset that. I don't sense there's that same feeling anymore."
As Dee noted, NASCAR is "a sport that has relied singularly on sponsorships as a means to compete. You look at the stick-and-ball sports and you see signs on the outfield wall at Fenway or you see signs at Gillette Stadium; all that matters.
"But teams are going to go out and play whether those signs are there or not. Here, you don't see too many cars lacking sponsor support out on the track, so there's a direct connection."
With the assistance of several volunteers who had been displaced by layoffs at other race shops, Baldwin prepared an unsponsored
"Actually, it was pretty overwhelming the amount of people who came to help and not one of them asked for anything in the beginning or still today," Baldwin said. "They're just hoping that we land something and have a future with us so they can have a job.
"These aren't people who have just started, they're all experienced and have been in the business for years. They're all top-notch people. They know by helping me now, if we get something, I'm going to give them a job, which I will to show my thanks and gratitude for helping us out."
Baldwin's team earned a $250,000 minimum for making the race.
"I was really proud of everybody, but I was really proud of looking up there and knowing how much we spent and knowing how much everybody else spent," Baldwin said. "We were running in the top five for most of the race, running with those big guys, and that felt pretty cool."
While corporate sponsors have become reluctant to "write the big-ticket check" to become involved with a Sprint Cup team, Dee said, "There's definitely a feeling, you sense it, as you talk to the corporations that are involved in the sport, certainly you can see the effects of what's going on in the real world.
"On the other hand, there are very few people who are opting out of the sport altogether. I think in these kinds of times, it's also a testament on how the sport has delivered over a sustained period of time, on a business-to-business basis, on delivering value for businesses who market to consumers.
"I think when you see sponsors go, 'Hey, I want to stay in; I just can't stay in at this level,' as opposed to, 'I'm going to jump out,' to me, that's very reassuring.
"I remain very optimistic. I think it's going to be a very challenging year, but I think over the long haul, this sport needs to continue to embrace what makes it so appealing, which is the competition, the rivalries between drivers, the speed and excitement of the product.
"It's like the old saying: In good times and in bad times, if you take care of your product, it takes care of your fans, it takes care of your customers, and ultimately it takes care of you."
Michael Vega can be reached at vega@globe.com. 
