All in the Family?

By Nikki Gonzales
March 10, 2001 – NASACAR is family, right? Then how come fewer and fewer family-owned organizations still exist full time on the Busch or Winston Cup circuit? The few that do remain are struggling one way or another, mostly with finding a sponsor.

Although if you ask Todd Bodine, he might respond that lack of a sponsor doesn't always hinder performance. He qualified 11th for the Aaron's 312, and won the last two Busch races while sponsor-less.

Each season we lose another family owned team and more and more, we see multicar teams rising to the top. We can't entirely count out family teams; we still have Team Amick, and Buckshot Racing, among others in the series. Although Lyndon Amick hasn't ran a race since the season's opener. The team is still looking for a sponsor and has not yet named a crew chief.

There is also Ashton Lewis Jr. who is racing for Lewis Motorsports, with his father Ashton Lewis Sr. as owner, and his brother Charlie Lewis as crew chief. Ashton ran a limited season last year competing in 11 races with a season best finish of 17th at Michigan. He qualified a career best of fifth at Las Vegas last weekend. Lewis has qualified for the last three races in the top ten, including Atlanta, but is still struggling with an average finish of about 33rd.

In his just his third year of racing in the Busch series, Hank Parker Jr. has joined Tim Feweda and David Green at Cicci- Welliver Racing. Hank finished last season 14th overall, with two top fives, and eight top tens, while racing for his father Hank Parker. Hank has yet to capture that elusive first win but has finished a career best fourth in the NAPA Auto Care 250. Hank is scheduled to run a full season in the number 34 GNC Live Well Chevrolet.

Last season Grubb Motorsports closed its doors after four years of Busch racing. Their driver has headed to the local tracks of Virginia driving late models. Wayne secured a full time ride with Houston Racing driving the number 4 Terex Corporation car. Wayne enjoyed immense racing success in this series in 1997 posting 22 top fives, and nine wins out of 29 races. His first race will be March 11th. Wayne is scheduled to participate in the entire 48-race season at tracks such as South Boston Speedway, Myrtle Beach, and Martinsville Speedway among others.

Jason Jarrett finished 39th last season after only competing in 17 races, while racing for his father Dale Jarrett and Brett Farve. This season he is driving for the ARCA RE/MAX Series with the number 67 ML Motorsports car sponsored by Damon Corporation. Jason finished 21st at Daytona for the season opener and his next race will be April 13th at Nashville. He is signed on to compete for the entire 25-race season.

Even though family organizations are dwindling fast, family will always remain of the essence of NASCAR. Since we still have father, son, and brother racers. Not to mention the various vital roles that wives, and other loved ones, often play in a racer's life and team.

Well that's it for this report. Until next time remember, Safety First!!! Keep sending in your questions, I am working on getting the answers.

Nikki

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