From WSCC Racing
Jump to: navigation, search

Starting and Parking is the name given to a practice in stock car racing where a racing team will start the race, but drop out shortly after the start to collect prize money while saving money on expenses such as tires, crew, and fuel. The practice exists mainly due to the relatively high purses in stock car racing, even for lower positions in the finishing order, as well as the higher costs of fielding an entry over the course of an entire race. While start and parkers can be considered "field fillers", the terms are not interchangeable.

In some instances, a team will start and park one car in order to fund the efforts of a competitive car in the same series. This is most prominent in developmental series, where start and parkers are often older veteran drivers who bring sponsor money and name recognition to these teams.

The practice is banned outright in the World Stock Car Championship and World Stock Car Lites, where series officials will investigate any retirement deemed suspicious; teams found in breach of the start and park ban are subject to heavy fines and points penalties.