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Roush ready to step up to the plate vs. Toyota
CONCORD, N.C. -- To say Jack Roush is ready to take on Toyota with a baseball bat would be a bit of a misnomer.
First of all, to hear Roush talk, one bat wouldn't be nearly enough to do battle with the automobile behemoth that is readying to make its entry into Nextel Cup racing. That's why Roush apparently is lining up an unlimited supply of bats at his disposal -- as he prepares to take on Fenway Sports group as a partner in his Roush Racing operation. Fenway Sports Group is owned by John Henry, majority owner of the Boston Red Sox.
The official announcement of the unique partnership is expected to be made Feb. 14 in Daytona Beach, Fla. -- appropriately enough at Jackie Robinson Ballpark, the minor-league baseball home of the Daytona Cubs. Roush, meanwhile, said Wednesday that Toyota's entry into the sport has forced his hand in the pending move, the details of which he insisted are still being finalized amongst lawyers from both sides.
Put simply, he figures he needs the extra cash the partnership will generate to offset what he envisions as a sharp increase in expenses in the very near future.
"Toyota is going to bring about changes in the way we conduct our business," said Roush, an independent owner since entering NASCAR in 1988. "They've got the deep pockets and wherewithal to sit outside the box and pay more for a service and a technology than sound business practices would otherwise justify.
"We're going to have an announcement, if things go well, about a new investor in our program that will help us not as a sponsor, but as a partner. Part of the reason I thought about doing that was so we could stand the pressure of having a round of negotiations with sponsors who may not be rich enough to cover everything. I fully expect them [Toyota] to try to put the rest of us in a catch-up scenario, and I want to be ready for that."
Roush then issued a warning to Toyota, which has experienced rapid success in virtually every other motorsports series into which it has ventured.
"Toyota will not find that the established teams and manufacturers [of Nextel Cup] will wither in their path, as has been in the case in other series," Roush said. "I'm just going to say that nobody's frightened. We're going to war with them, and they should give us their best shot."
Roush said that there is possibility his operation could even take on a new name "to take on the impression and the significance of a partner" who could own a stake of somewhere between "25 to 50 percent" in Roush Racing.
Other owners reacted to the news that Roush is poised to take on a partner with a mixture of surprise and difference of opinion as to how much Toyota will actually change Nextel Cup racing.
"Everybody's got a right to their own opinion," said owner Rick Hendrick of Hendrick Motorsports. "Actually, I like to see other manufacturers come in. It makes the ones that are here step up and bring some more advertising dollars. If you only had one or two manufacturers in the sport, you'd have a lot of teams who wouldn't have the opportunity to have factory support.
"So I think it's good. I know they'll be competitive, but so is Ray Evernham in the Dodges and Penske in the Dodges. There's not shortage of funds at Penske's operation, either. I think it's good for the sport."
But while Hendrick said that he doesn't perceive Toyota as the threat Roush and some others do, owner Chip Ganassi said that Toyota's entry into Nextel Cup already has dramatically impacted the bottom line at his organization.
"They've had the impact already of raising everybody's salary level in the whole town," Ganassi said. "We're realizing that over the next couple of years, we're going to spend a million dollars basically [in upgraded salaries] -- and not get anything different for it than what we got last year. And that's the minimum."
Roush contends that Toyota is determined to pay whatever they think it will take to secure the services of all kinds of employees from other racing operations. But Hendrick insisted that there is a simple way to combat that strategy.
"In my opinion, if you give guys a good place to work, if they make good money and they see that it's going to be here, the guys that jump out and go after something else are not the kind of guys you want to keep anyway," Hendrick said. "I try to take care of our guys and pay them well, and they want to win. They know what it takes to build a place like we built here, and they've been a part of it.
"You're going to have some folks who want to go and do something different. Toyota has a lot of money, but as long as NASCAR keeps the rules where they are and make everybody equal, I think we'll be in good shape."
Joe Gibbs, owner of Joe Gibbs Racing, admitted that he was surprised to hear that Roush was taking on a partner.
"I was surprised just from the standpoint that I always thought Jack could do whatever he wanted to do. Jack's got a lot of clout," said Gibbs, who also is head coach of the Washington Redskins in the NFL. "But I think everybody over here is like ownership in everything else. It's just like in the NFL, they all believe in different structure and different ways to run the team. And certainly over here you see how different race teams believe in different ways their teams should be structured.
"I say what Jack is probably trying to do is say, hey, this is a better way for me to try to get ahead and compete. Who knows? That could be the wave of the future. I can't see us doing it. But I think everybody over here is just trying to find a better way to get something done; a better way to build a mousetrap. And I would say in this case Jack feels like this is going to help him do that. I know Jack is very competitive. He wants to win. And if he thinks there is a better way to help him try to win races, he's going to do it."
Neither Gibbs nor Hendrick said that they could envision taking on a partner anytime in the foreseeable future. Ganassi already has Felix Sabates on board as a minority partner.
"You never say never. But I think we're OK. I don't see a need to do that," Hendrick said. "I like where we are. I like being in control of our own destiny. I don't want to answer to anybody else if I don't have to."
Added Gibbs: "For us, I don't think it would fit. We always envisioned our [race operation] being in the family forever, hopefully."
CONCORD, N.C. -- To say Jack Roush is ready to take on Toyota with a baseball bat would be a bit of a misnomer.
First of all, to hear Roush talk, one bat wouldn't be nearly enough to do battle with the automobile behemoth that is readying to make its entry into Nextel Cup racing. That's why Roush apparently is lining up an unlimited supply of bats at his disposal -- as he prepares to take on Fenway Sports group as a partner in his Roush Racing operation. Fenway Sports Group is owned by John Henry, majority owner of the Boston Red Sox.
The official announcement of the unique partnership is expected to be made Feb. 14 in Daytona Beach, Fla. -- appropriately enough at Jackie Robinson Ballpark, the minor-league baseball home of the Daytona Cubs. Roush, meanwhile, said Wednesday that Toyota's entry into the sport has forced his hand in the pending move, the details of which he insisted are still being finalized amongst lawyers from both sides.
Put simply, he figures he needs the extra cash the partnership will generate to offset what he envisions as a sharp increase in expenses in the very near future.
"Toyota is going to bring about changes in the way we conduct our business," said Roush, an independent owner since entering NASCAR in 1988. "They've got the deep pockets and wherewithal to sit outside the box and pay more for a service and a technology than sound business practices would otherwise justify.
"We're going to have an announcement, if things go well, about a new investor in our program that will help us not as a sponsor, but as a partner. Part of the reason I thought about doing that was so we could stand the pressure of having a round of negotiations with sponsors who may not be rich enough to cover everything. I fully expect them [Toyota] to try to put the rest of us in a catch-up scenario, and I want to be ready for that."
Roush then issued a warning to Toyota, which has experienced rapid success in virtually every other motorsports series into which it has ventured.
"Toyota will not find that the established teams and manufacturers [of Nextel Cup] will wither in their path, as has been in the case in other series," Roush said. "I'm just going to say that nobody's frightened. We're going to war with them, and they should give us their best shot."
Roush said that there is possibility his operation could even take on a new name "to take on the impression and the significance of a partner" who could own a stake of somewhere between "25 to 50 percent" in Roush Racing.
Other owners reacted to the news that Roush is poised to take on a partner with a mixture of surprise and difference of opinion as to how much Toyota will actually change Nextel Cup racing.
"Everybody's got a right to their own opinion," said owner Rick Hendrick of Hendrick Motorsports. "Actually, I like to see other manufacturers come in. It makes the ones that are here step up and bring some more advertising dollars. If you only had one or two manufacturers in the sport, you'd have a lot of teams who wouldn't have the opportunity to have factory support.
"So I think it's good. I know they'll be competitive, but so is Ray Evernham in the Dodges and Penske in the Dodges. There's not shortage of funds at Penske's operation, either. I think it's good for the sport."
But while Hendrick said that he doesn't perceive Toyota as the threat Roush and some others do, owner Chip Ganassi said that Toyota's entry into Nextel Cup already has dramatically impacted the bottom line at his organization.
"They've had the impact already of raising everybody's salary level in the whole town," Ganassi said. "We're realizing that over the next couple of years, we're going to spend a million dollars basically [in upgraded salaries] -- and not get anything different for it than what we got last year. And that's the minimum."
Roush contends that Toyota is determined to pay whatever they think it will take to secure the services of all kinds of employees from other racing operations. But Hendrick insisted that there is a simple way to combat that strategy.
"In my opinion, if you give guys a good place to work, if they make good money and they see that it's going to be here, the guys that jump out and go after something else are not the kind of guys you want to keep anyway," Hendrick said. "I try to take care of our guys and pay them well, and they want to win. They know what it takes to build a place like we built here, and they've been a part of it.
"You're going to have some folks who want to go and do something different. Toyota has a lot of money, but as long as NASCAR keeps the rules where they are and make everybody equal, I think we'll be in good shape."
Joe Gibbs, owner of Joe Gibbs Racing, admitted that he was surprised to hear that Roush was taking on a partner.
"I was surprised just from the standpoint that I always thought Jack could do whatever he wanted to do. Jack's got a lot of clout," said Gibbs, who also is head coach of the Washington Redskins in the NFL. "But I think everybody over here is like ownership in everything else. It's just like in the NFL, they all believe in different structure and different ways to run the team. And certainly over here you see how different race teams believe in different ways their teams should be structured.
"I say what Jack is probably trying to do is say, hey, this is a better way for me to try to get ahead and compete. Who knows? That could be the wave of the future. I can't see us doing it. But I think everybody over here is just trying to find a better way to get something done; a better way to build a mousetrap. And I would say in this case Jack feels like this is going to help him do that. I know Jack is very competitive. He wants to win. And if he thinks there is a better way to help him try to win races, he's going to do it."
Neither Gibbs nor Hendrick said that they could envision taking on a partner anytime in the foreseeable future. Ganassi already has Felix Sabates on board as a minority partner.
"You never say never. But I think we're OK. I don't see a need to do that," Hendrick said. "I like where we are. I like being in control of our own destiny. I don't want to answer to anybody else if I don't have to."
Added Gibbs: "For us, I don't think it would fit. We always envisioned our [race operation] being in the family forever, hopefully."
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