OT: Let’s talk about NASCAR. They just decided to give up on a track in New York on Staten Island.
RP: They didn’t have enough money to buy off all the politicians. (Laughs)
OT: Is it time for franchising the teams in NASCAR Cup racing?
RP: It’s been time for franchising. They done a little bit toward franchising by guaranteeing the top 35 in points a starting position. If you had a franchise, that would be automatic – you would make the race. It’s a step in that direction without going there.
I just feel like for NASCAR to be a major player in the sports world -- that’s a part they are lacking – franchising. Football, baseball, basketball – they are all franchised in order to make the system work for everybody. In NASCAR we have a bunch of individuals trying to help themselves, and NASCAR. So we’re all going in a direction that from time to time we help other people, but we’re not looking after them, we’re looking after ourselves.
With franchising, I think the tracks, NASCAR, the owners, and drivers would get in one room.
OT: Cohesive?
RP: Even though they don’t have to have organizations – the drivers don’t need to be telling the car owners what to do, and the car owners don’t need to be telling the tracks or NASCAR what to do. I don’t like that part. That’s not what I’m looking at. I’m looking at continuity to the rest of the world, to our major sponsors.
If you had a franchise – when General Mills comes in and wants to put their money with Petty and paint their brand on a car and have us do advertising for them and all the rest –
then they’ve got a guarantee. They know they are buying into a legitimate operation. We’re going to be here next week, next month, next year.
The way it is now, the way these players are playing – guys will come in for two or three years and if they don’t do any good, they go home. Most of the major players have stayed over a period of time. But over that period of time you’ve lost Holman-Moody, Bud Moore, Junior Johnson. These were the people that helped establish NASCAR. So why should they just go away? Why shouldn’t they be supplemented for the work that they did to get NASCAR in the position they are in.
We’ve been here like I said from the first day [of NASCAR]. If I decide to close this place up all we got is material – we might get 10 cents on the dollar. That’s all you’ve got man!
OT: How do you get franchising done?
RP: NASCAR is the only one that can do that. They would have to eventually see that’s the way they need to go.
OT: Do you think they would do it?
RP: I don’t think they will. Let me put it this way, I don’t know that they won’t in the future, but right now that is not a big player in their domain because they’ve got control over everything like it is. If I’m the top dog, and I’m dictating what comes down to everybody, why should I let them be involved in whatever it may be?
If you do franchising – say 35 cars – those 35 have some control. They have more power than one or two or four. They are not going to agree – it doesn’t work that way. But if you’ve got an organization and the organization agrees to do something – even if you dissent from that – you still belong to that organization and that’s the way it’s going to be. 51% gets it done.