Felix Sabates talks about closure of No 40 team
Quote selected text Published July 2nd, 2008 in NASCAR News
Felix Sabates spoke with Claire B. Lang on “Dialed In” on XMSN (XM Channel 144) Tuesday evening about Dario Franchitti’s future with the team
CBL: You didn’t have a sponsor - people forget this team was unsponsored:
Sabates: “What happened to us - we kind of got hung out to dry by Coors. Coors was with me for almost ten years and they had a management change and the new people come over and told us don’t worry about it - ‘Don’t look for a sponsor; we’re going to be back with you in 2008, 2009.’ So, we never looked for any sponsors and come October they come and tell us well Coors is going to do something else. They’re going to sponsor the NASCAR Coors pole and this and that so then it was too late (for the 2008 season)…so we have been running all year long without a sponsor.”
CBL: Talk about the options for Dario Franchitti:
Sabates: “Dario had a hard time with it. He made a change from the Indy Racing League to come here. But truth of the matter is that he needs more seat time. We gave him an option to go in the Nationwide car because we do have a sponsor for the #40 Nationwide car. He’s going to decide what he’s going to do in the next few days and maybe he’ll be racing in Chicago (Nationwide race July 11)…..I hope he does get in the Nationwide car. He’s a very talented driver and if he gets a few more months under his belt maybe we can get a sponsor for next year and we can go racing next year.
Sabates told CBL on the cost of running the team and how much he’s paid to keep it running: - “It cost you $20 to $21, $22 million dollars to run a competitive team and if you run 15 races and you don’t have any money coming in you have already lost $10 or $11 million dollars.”
Sabates on Dario’s choices: “Chip pretty much told him if he wanted to go to back to Indy that, because it doesn’t cost near as much money there as it does here, and over there Chip is the Rick Hendrick of over here - so he can get a sponsor for an IRL car very easily. So he’s got his choice - if he wants to drive the Nationwide Car - get some more experience, maybe we’ll get a sponsor for next year or go back to the IRL — it’s up to Dario - he has a contract and we intend to honor it.”
Sabates on what he thinks Dario will do: “At the end of the day - I think he will get in the Nationwide car- he needs more seat time anyway.”
XM Radio PR
- Sabates leaving NASCAR in five years
- Sabates to be recognized at college commencement
- Charlotte Bobcats block Felix Sabates from donating stock share in team to charity
- Is Ganassi’s next to move to Toyota?
- Ganassi swaps No 41 and No 42 crew chiefs to help struggling team
They should have forced him to run a year of Nationwide before he even attempted to get into a Cup car…. But I guess that would be too logical….
This whole deal is a crying shame. Sabates and Chippy have floundered for 8 seasons now. They wasted way too much money developing Mears. Their equipment is junk. They can’t attract sponsors. They got rid of guys like Elledge and Stremme only to embrace Hmiel. The parade passed Hmiel years ago. They hire 2 world class drivers like Dario and Montoya and then can’t give them the equipment and support they need. The deep rooted problems of this organization have finally come to light and they won’t go away. Unless you close down the entire NASCAR program.
Fisha you are sort of right.
It appears the Trucks are closest to the Cup cars
they should have run him the route they are running Speed
skipping the Nationwide series altogether since the cars are no longer the same as the Cup cars
Dustin wrote:
Or make a significant investment in engineering and bring your
chassis and engines in house (Im not sure that they do their chassis in house)
Fisha695 wrote:
I agree with that if dario would run a full season in the trucks or nationwide series it would only help him and maybe throw in a few cup starts,but its not really his fault these owners throw these irl drivers in cup cars expecting them to win and run in the top 10 every weekend and thats not gonna happen.
Ganassi must be learning something in NASCAR, his Grand-Am team just won using the “NASCAR Pass” at the line. l0l