Bang vs. buck

[Tim Northcutt]

Too many bean counters in the world HQ in Detroit...Cadillac was the same way....and Chevy wouldn't have gone all-out on the Corvette if they wouldn't have seen how it helped the Viper sales in the US when Chrysler started playing the "we Win Head-To-Head with the 'Vette" marketing game...

[Nick M]

Good point - I'd forgotten about Cadillac (mind you, that's easily done )

That seemed to be another odd decision (both the entry and the subsequent ending of the programme), and one which with just a *little* more effort could probably have started to pay dividends this season.

Mind you, I can't see most of the Cadillac drivers in my neck of the woods (Phoenix, Arizona) being in the least bit bothered by how well the Cadillac racing team was doing - they'd probably just tut and grumble about how noisy they were and how they appeared to lack any cup-holders....

[Tim Northcutt]

I still can't grasp why Cadillac would spend the $$$ to design a brand new chassis, only to pull the plug on the program with their announcement it would cease following Le Mans, then just let it die out even though the program started to make some gains and ran strong the last 2-3 races of teh season...

[Nick M]

I know - daft isn't it ! The final incarnation of the car was very impressive too.

Still, when all's said and done, I think it's fair to say that rational thinking is a rare commodity when big companies decide to go racing....

[batcave]

Tim, 5million is a figure the majority of sportscar teams would give anything for.Provided Michelin tyres were involved you could win in any series!

[batcave]

About the cadillac thing, when they started to look good they were so so over budget it was untrue. They could not justify carrying on whatever the results!

[Chevyguy]

Caddy could have let out a little slower though. Waco Racer pointed out to me how smart it would be to have one of the Northstar engines, and stick it into the Zytec, or whatever it's called. From that point, I say Caddy should have become an engine supplier, and then they wouldn't have been smeared. Just some thoughts.

[gttouring]

well now that caddy has it all built why not sell it? and let privateers run the team, or copy the molds for the body and let it go. they can just get money from it...And a sfar as Panske goes on spending money for his teams he is a big spender period, it all has to LOOK as professional as it is, so he spends bucks there, it is all amatter of what you want though- An F1 team or an ALMS team could run on a smaller budget if they used un painted haulers, slept in the trucks and well you see, how much do teams spend on the operation and appearances?

[Tim Northcutt]

On my Penske figures stated above....

Keep in mind that over the years:

1. He raced three cars in the early 1990s, plus had a test driver on the payroll

2. He built and developed his own chassis.

3. He built and tested a push rod engine with a turbo for one race -- Indy -- with Mercedes...

4. This year he bought a full complement of both Dallara and G-Force Cars, including back-ups... at $400,000 each...he has to have 4 of each to reasonably do it right at a minimum, in case he would decide one is better than the other (a primary & backup for each driver from Dallara and G-Force)

They are spending $$$ to test both on a variety of tracks (flatter short ovals, 1.5 mi. superspeedways, and Indy) with different settings, parts etc., to fully assess those two cars....

6. They have a full complement of nutritonists, physical therapists, etc., as part of their traveling operation..in addition to the mechanics, etc...

His budget might not be as high as $25 million with only two drivers this year....but that figure isn't far off with two big $$$ drivers on top of everything else...

His budget also has easily been that high in the past, even at the prices to run things as they were 10 years ago, and he certainly is outspending anyone else in that Series this year....

So it really is more than clothing and appearances, but it is also much more comprehensive than other teams would -- or in my opinion, should -- spend to run a race team...

He IS a big spender....and it could certainly be done effectively for a lot less....

Batcave said in another thread that a team like Taurus Sports that he drives for would kill to be able to run a $5 million budget, provided a deal for Michelin tires was part of the deal....

That pretty much says it all...