Courtesy of Examiner.com

It’s the white elephant in the room of the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series. An issue talked about on the sly, mentioned briefly in the media, and then quickly forgotten.

Racers who come to a race, but don’t. In NASCAR they are called ‘start and parks’; teams who have no intention of completing a race. Their only hope is to qualify, make the show then complete a few laps before heading to the garage with a ‘problem’ and parking. The money they collect is used to head to another race while they hope for better days ahead.

While NASCAR has expressed their displeasure over the practice, publicly they have said very little nor issued a rule preventing the practice.

Saturday one driver forced the issue into the public eye by refusing to race a car that would be parked shortly after the NASCAR Nationwide event at Bristol Motor Speedway got the green flag.

Jennifer Jo Cobb isn’t a household name like Kyle Busch or Dale Earnhardt Jr., but she has worked hard over the years to make inroads into a sport not only dominated by males, but one that affords very few opportunities for drivers to race in the big leagues. The chances are few and far between and for any driver who wants to race in NASCAR, every opportunity is golden. For a driver to pass up an opportunity based on principal speaks volumes about that driver.

Cobb was entered in Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide race and qualified 41st in a car owned by 2nd Chance Motorsports, led by owner Rick Russell. According to Cobb, ten minutes before the race she was told that she would park the car after the green flag dropped. Cobb said that while there had been a discussion that the team would start and park earlier in the week, the decision wasn’t made, or told to her, until just before the race started.

Rather than get into the car, take the green flag, then park, Cobb elected not to race at all.

“I have a commitment to my sponsors, my fans, (and) NASCAR that I won’t start and park.” Cobb said. “I’m very serious about my career and my performance, and I’ve worked hard to prove it to everyone.”

For his part, owner Russell said Cobb was aware that she would be a ‘start and park’ on Friday.

“She said to keep her from looking bad, she would allow me to black flag her and she wouldn’t say anything about it as long as I agreed to let her drive the car in California,” Russell said.

Cobb said she and Russell have a five race agreement; she would provide tires, engines and half a crew while Russell would provide the racecars. She also denied she knew anything on Friday of Russell’s intention to park the car and added that he threatened her Saturday if she refused to leave the race track after the green flag.

“As the owner of 2nd Chance, he has the right to ask NASCAR to black flag me and said he would do that if I didn’t comply,” Cobb said. “There were also rumors that he was going to surprise me and take me out of the car at California (the next race on the Nationwide schedule).”

Under a new NASCAR rule, drivers are only permitted to collect championship points in one series; Cobb normally competes in the Camping World Truck Series but said because of their five-race agreement, she decided to collect driver points in the Nationwide Series.

“Because of those promises, I made decisions accordingly for my career,” Cobb said. “So after thinking about it for a few minutes, which there weren’t many, I made a decision to walk away.”

Saturday, Russell quickly recruited driver Chris Lawson. Lawson completed four laps before taking the car to the garage for the day.

Cobb’s decision not to race Saturday is obviously an opening salvo in a battle between her and Russell that seems far from over; but her decision to take a stand and not take part in a ‘start and park’ team will hopefully spur NASCAR to finally address and end the practice.

Fans pay to see everyone who enters race, not everyone except for a couple of drivers who will only make a few laps. By not preventing the practice of ‘start and parks’ NASCAR is cheating the fans and the sport.

No doubt Jennifer Jo Cobb wants to make history as the first female driver to win a NASCAR race. But with her defiance Saturday she could make history in a way she never intended; ending the practice of ‘start and parks’ forever.  By walking away Cobb shows the strength of character that is sorely lacking in some parts of NASCAR and will continue to be until the practice of ‘start and parks’ is ended.

“I thank God for giving me the strength to do that,” Cobb said. “Sometimes that is the best thing to do. I just felt like I owed it to my fans and my sponsors that I’m seeking and to NASCAR that if I say, ‘I’m here to race,’ that I go out and race.”

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