Former NASCAR crew chief Larry McReynolds talks business

Crew chief-turned-TV-analyst Larry McReynolds says people have two misconceptions about NASCAR.

First, they focus all of their attention on the drivers and fail to realize it’s probably the biggest team sport there is.

Second, they don’t understand how big a business Winston Cup racing has become.

Preparing for his second season of NASCAR television coverage with Fox Sports, McReynolds spoke Tuesday night at the annual meeting of the Salisbury-Rowan Merchants Association at Holiday Inn.

McReynolds spent 20 years as a mechanic and crew chief for the likes of Davey Allison, Ernie Irvan, Dale Jarrett and Dale Earnhardt. He won 23 Winston Cup races as a crew chief and two Daytona 500s, arguably the Super Bowl of the sport.

In 1980, when he started in the business, McReynolds belonged to a race team of only three full-time employees that entered 31 Winston Cup races that season.

When McReynolds left racing after the 2000 season, he said farewell as crew chief for a Richard Childress Racing team that had 205 full-time employees, of whom 10 were engineers.

But the infusion of money into the sport over the past 20 years may be even more dramatic, according to McReynolds.

The major sponsor of a race team and car faces an $8 million to $15 million investment, and probably must spend a similar amount again in marketing every year, McReynolds said. Twenty years ago, a major sponsor “at the top of the heap” paid $200,000 a year, McReynolds recalled.

The eight-year television package NASCAR signed with Fox Sports and NBC cost the networks together $2.8 billion. The networks take turns every year in covering the Daytona 500, the first race of the season. They also take turns with the Pepsi 400 in July.

Otherwise, Fox covers the first half of the Winston Cup season; NBC, the latter half. McReynolds teams with former Winston Cup driver Darrell Waltrip as an analyst in the Fox booth.

McReynolds noted how the types of sponsors and the ways they can be part of NASCAR racing have changed over the years. In the past, cars usually found beer, oil and tobacco companies as typical sponsors, but today the sponsoring companies run the gamut, from candy and laundry detergent to Viagra.

McReynolds predicted that the next five seasons will see as much growth and change as the past five seasons experienced.

Today, the Winston Cup circuit goes coast to coast and includes 38 weekends. McReynolds personally tired of that kind of schedule and wanted to stop making excuses for missing his children’s ball games and dance recitals. He said the Fox offer was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that has allowed him to stay close to the sport.

McReynolds leaves open the possibility of returning to a race team as crew chief but acknowledged that he needed some “fresh air” first. He said he also recognizes that Winston Cup racing is a different kind of sport than football, for example.

A football coach might be able to leave the game for a few years and return, using the same methods as before. But with racing and the constant technological advances and changes, “it’s not a sport you can turn your back on for so long,” McReynolds said.

As a broadcaster, McReynolds said, his goal is to become the John Madden of NASCAR. McReynolds arrived in Salisbury early Tuesday and had time to tour the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame in Salisbury. He said the hall of fame gave him some incentive to be a better broadcaster.

“It’s a pretty neat place,” the Birmingham, Ala., native added.

Noting how 2001 was a rough year for Winston Cup racing and America in general, McReynolds said driver Dale Earnhardt’s death proved to be a wake-up call for the sport, leading to head and neck restraint devices for all drivers.

The Sept. 11 tragedy put true heroism in perspective for Americans, McReynolds said.

At Tuesday’s dinner, the Merchants Association honored four Rowan County organizations — local heroes who, in executive director Richard Perkins’ words, performed small acts of kindness with great love after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in Washington, D.C., and New York.

Perkins presented framed, limited-edition posters of firefighters raising a flag at Ground Zero in New York to representatives of the Rowan Rescue Squad, Elizabeth Dole Chapter of the American Red Cross, Rowan County United Way and Rowan County Salvation Army.

The organizations also received copies of a new book, “Ground Zero Spirit.”

Image 500 Inc. of Salisbury produced a 3.5-minute mini compact disc in honor of the heroes from Sept. 11 and the local organizations.

Summie Carter, president of the 77-year-old Merchants Association, reviewed the organization’s past year and, in particular, its efforts in the community.

The merchants group gave away five $1,000 college scholarships and eight $500 scholarships, sponsored the Rowan County Spelling Bee with $3,000 in prizes, raised $50,000 to pay for its 42nd edition of the Holiday Caravan and provided Rowan teachers with lists of incentives and discounts to local businesses.

The association’s foundation contributed $5,000 over three years to Waterworks Visual Arts Center, $1,000 to Rowan Museum, $2,000 toward Shuford Stadium renovations at Catawba College, $1,000 to Livingstone College, $2,000 to Hood Seminary, $1,000 to Salisbury-Rowan Choral Society, $12,500 over five years to the East Rowan YMCA, $25,000 over five years to the new Salisbury YMCA and $5,000 to Meroney Theater.

Carter said the annual dues of $96 continue to provide the best value in helping business, youth and the community.

“We do try to make a difference,” he said.

Contact Mark Wineka at 704-797-4263, or mwineka@salisburypost.com .