How drivers reacted to reports NASCAR could be for sale
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — What went through drivers’ minds when reports emerged Monday that NASCAR was for sale?
That’s what we want to know in the first race weekend since Reuters first reported the France family was exploring the possibility of at least a partial sale of the sport. So here’s a sampling of what drivers said when asked about the potential sale of NASCAR this race weekend.
Joey Logano
“I was surprised I think like everyone else. I didn’t hear that one coming. Usually I’m up on a lot of that stuff but it was a new one for me. It will be interesting to see how that develops but honestly I don’t know any more than you do.”
“I don’t really know what to add to but I think sports go through that sometimes. Obviously it’s been a family-owned sport forever but I think there’s opportunity for someone to invest in what we do. They’ll definitely want to add to it the best they can. And for me as a driver in the industry it doesn’t really worry me in any way. There’ll be some change but sometimes change is a good thing.”
Johnny Sauter
“I heard that rumor being kicked around for a while — I hear a lot of rumors quite frankly. And a lot of them never come to fruition … Nothing lasts forever so I really don’t know the inner workings, I’m sure it’s a huge, huge deal. And something that I would never want tackle. I’m just thankful I get to show up and race and not worry about all that. It wouldn’t surprise me.”
Kevin Harvick
Harvick commented on the sale Tuesday night on his SiriusXM show. He was asked Friday if he viewed the possible sale of part of the sport as an opportunity of sorts.
“I think if you look at sales of businesses, and NASCAR is a business, at some point there’s always going to be talk about sales and there’s always going to be talk about transition of ownership and it’s something that happens in every business. I think as you look at that the opportunities that come about when you have those situations, people don’t buy companies to make them worse. I think that there’s always opportunity if there were a sale for something to get better.”
Aric Almirola
“As long as there is a place for me to show up and race, I’ve got my helmet and I’m ready to go race. I just love to race cars and that’s kind of my take on it all. I’ve raced for a lot of different sanctioning bodies throughout my career, whether it was WKA – the World Karting Association – or the Florida Automobile Stock Car Racing Association in Florida or whatever the next series was or the NASCAR Late Model Series, and I just show up every single weekend excited to go race and that’s what I love. That’s what I’ve always done, so, for me, as long as there’s a platform and a ride available for me to go race, I don’t really care who owns it. That’s just the truth. I know that’s probably not the answer you’re looking for, but I could give a crap less.”
Martin Truex Jr.
“I don’t know. We’ll have to see going forward. I don’t know if we’re 100 percent sure there is any truth to it. I think there are a lot of questions. Everyone has a lot of questions. I think the people who are thinking about the doom and gloom, and racing coming to an end is just nonsense. There is a real opportunity that if it does happen for some good things to happen. We’ll just have to see where it goes but I’m not too worried about it. We have to find out if there is even any truth to it and get more details. It’s hard to give much of an opinion when we really don’t know much of what’s going on.”
Clint Bowyer
“Man, I don’t know. I think I’ll remain committed to the future and long-term future of this sport I think is what I probably ought to say.”
– – – – – – –
Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.
Follow @NickBromberg on Twitter
More from Yahoo Sports:
• Terez Paylor: Jets rookie’s unlikely journey from bouncer to the NFL
• Jerry Jones hurt Dez Bryant, but he doesn’t think it matters
• MLS team about to make $16M mistake with Wayne Rooney
• Did video game obsession lead to pitcher’s injury?
