Nascar did not handle this whole CASCAR transition very well-not running a western series
is going to hurt the car counts considerably-Last year there were 37 cars in Vernon and 41 showed up for the Grand Prix in Edmonton-3 had to go home!  Nascar left the Western teams with one option-join the Eastern series if you want to race.  Financially impossible for the greater majority of us.  Financially stupid to prepare cars, with the changes that were mandated to race twice, leaving them gather dust for the rest of the year.  A portion of us chose to go our own way-and we have a fairly steady car count in the WEST, costs went down, and the track did make it financially feasible for us to go-both with hotel rooms and tow money ala midamericas previous posts.  Some others went to other series (slms, trucks) as they too did not want to wait for two races.  The car counts for the two NCATS west races this year are being talked about in the 20's-about half of last year.  At the end of the day, the fans are going to be the ones disappointed, and possibly some of the sponsors as the shows are not going to be as good as last years.  The Grand Prix show was the favorite show of the weekend-talked about more than the Champ Cars.  People expecting this are possibly going to wonder why, and the answer lies with NASCAR making it hard for anyone without deep pockets to compete-midamerica is right on with the realities of the situation-especially about taking sponsors monies when you know you may not be able to come through to their satisfaction.  So many sponsors have been burned that it makes it hard for people to get them because they have a bad taste in their mouth from the last time.  NASCAR has really dropped the ball on a lot of fronts in this whole deal, and if they truly want it to go, changes are required that benefit racers, fans and sponsors-not just NASCAR pocketbooks.

Nascar did not handle this whole CASCAR transition very well-not running a western series
is going to hurt the car counts considerably-Last year there were 37 cars in Vernon and 41 showed up for the Grand Prix in Edmonton-3 had to go home!  Nascar left the Western teams with one option-join the Eastern series if you want to race.  Financially impossible for the greater majority of us.  Financially stupid to prepare cars, with the changes that were mandated to race twice, leaving them gather dust for the rest of the year.  A portion of us chose to go our own way-and we have a fairly steady car count in the WEST, costs went down, and the track did make it financially feasible for us to go-both with hotel rooms and tow money ala midamericas previous posts.  Some others went to other series (slms, trucks) as they too did not want to wait for two races.  The car counts for the two NCATS west races this year are being talked about in the 20's-about half of last year.  At the end of the day, the fans are going to be the ones disappointed, and possibly some of the sponsors as the shows are not going to be as good as last years.  The Grand Prix show was the favorite show of the weekend-talked about more than the Champ Cars.  People expecting this are possibly going to wonder why, and the answer lies with NASCAR making it hard for anyone without deep pockets to compete-midamerica is right on with the realities of the situation-especially about taking sponsors monies when you know you may not be able to come through to their satisfaction.  So many sponsors have been burned that it makes it hard for people to get them because they have a bad taste in their mouth from the last time.  NASCAR has really dropped the ball on a lot of fronts in this whole deal, and if they truly want it to go, changes are required that benefit racers, fans and sponsors-not just NASCAR pocketbooks.

We have a winner....I hate to say "I told you so," but if you go back and look you'll see that I called this happening...

roger -your statement's are way out in left field and you are making statements that you know nothing about, and for that reason I will give up on your conversation's.

Sorry about all that folks but I had to deal with that guy... onto the topic at hand.

RDracing, I am happy that you understand the situation, and I also feel for every racer out West that had to make a decision to move on when you guys had a good thing going on out there. I have read on here that NASCAR told you guys that down the road they might start the Western Series back up. If that is true I would have to say they are a little to late as most teams have already moved onto other series and the trust factor to start up again would almost be out of reach.
I guess the big question is how do you fix it?.

As I noted earlier, we have never gone West to run in the 2 events because of the cost so I understand 100% where you guys are at from the West, that cannot afford to run the East races. The big quote of the day down here is, next year will be better and this deal takes time to build. I have a problem with that statement, because I thought the deal had already been built by CASCAR, and was running pretty smoothly with good car counts, good sponsor's, and a great fan base.
Can NASCAR return this program back to what it was, and if so, how long will it take?.

In NASCAR's defence, they could have picked a better time to start up here in Canada, as the economy is very slow, at least here in Ontario. More company's are looking at staying alive in their own Industry's and the last thing they have is money to spend towards Racing Sponsorships, so this adds fuel to the fire when it comes time for teams to look for funding, thus creating a smaller car count.
You cant blame NASCAR for that part of the deal, although I believe they could help the teams out by having NASCAR Canada and TSN help find sponsors for the teams they have now that are on the border of quiting because of the lack of funds needed to run this deal. Who knows, maybey they have already figured that one out, and are already on the case !! I think NASCAR knows they have a hurdle to get over here in Canada if they want this series to succeed.
They will tell you, Racing is a show to them, and I am sure they realize this movie needs more actors, so time will tell for those that can hang on long enough to get the chance.

Its kind of ironic when you think about the whole West deal situation.
They dropped the series off, even though there is allot more corporate money out West to be spent, then down here in the East.
Another point is, NASCAR Mexico is doing pretty good with the transition, as the Mexican dollar continues to grow and business's prosper.
I don't think the previous series in Mexico was as strong before NASCAR stepped in, unlike the CASCAR deal that was successful and was well equipped with a strong car count.
Tony Novotiny orchestrated the birth of CASCAR, and grew it to the point where it had become to big for him and Linda to run, and that was his reason to sell.
NASCAR's mission is to put the CTS deal back to what it was, then somehow continue to build the car count which hopefully build's the sponsor count.
Good Luck to all out West. 

I just opened my mail from NASCAR, and inside was the entry blank for the biggest race of the year for NASCAR Canada. We did have full intentions of running this race as I thought it would be a great show, big money, and the opportunity to showcase in front of the Busch and Nextel Cup Teams.
After opening it, my mind has taken a double take, and we will be missing another show.

I booked rooms- 40 minutes away from the Track which saved allot of money but still was not a deal at all.
The cost of $146.00 per night for 4 rooms, for 4 nights... $2336.00 plus taxes !!
The travel cost of $1,000.00 min. is about average unless your flying.
The Tire bill and Fuel bill will run another $2600.00
Feed the crew for 4 days and nights, another $1600.00
Entry fee's an additional $250.00

The total cost before you even unload your car from the trailer - $7,786.00
The purse for the Race- to win $3125.00, run 10th - $1250.00, run 28th or worse $675.00

So, for those that wonder why the Western Cars don't come east, you do the math.
We are from the East and the best case scenario for us would be to win the race and only loose $4661.00, the worse case scenario is finish last and you loose $7110.00

I am pretty sure we will not be in Montreal , and it is unfortunate because my loyal team was looking forward to this event, but I have to say no when I know the outcome before we load up the trailer.
You would almost think I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night !!

Until you see the travel cost, and minimum race cost, matching the minimum payout, you will see this series always short on car counts. Until that happens its only obvious that the Sponsored teams will participate in the shows and the unsponsored will stay home, which is a really bad deal for everyone from the Fans, to the Sponsors, to the Track Promoters, and to the Series.

Don't get me wrong- I will bet a field of 30 cars will show up at Montreal, but one race does not make a series, and teams loosing money before they start only spells trouble down the road.

Again, I am not blaming NASCAR for this, but you would think after all the years that they have been in racing they would know when trouble exists in the series.
I have no idea what the Sponsors of the series pay NASCAR, but I think it's time they stepped it up and put a real effort into supporting the Teams and NASCAR.
There is no way that NASCAR is taking that much money from the sponsors and putting it in their own pockets.
NASCAR told all the teams at the beginning of the year that the purse money's would be up by 30 to 60%, and that is what we were all counting on,  but it looks to me that either the sponsors have reneged on their part, or NASCAR has a major accounting problem, and if they do, I am sure they will fix it.

So for the Teams out West, I do understand 100% your issues with the cost to travel and compete and lets hope this thing gets figured out before its to late. 

Just curious. What were the payouts last year under the CASCAR banner?