Start and park teams may be the most controversial issue facing NASCAR today outside the Jeremy Mayfield drug suspension. Some cry that start and park teams are eroding the integrity of the sport, while others claim that this is a tired and true practice of many under funded NASCAR teams. They also argue that some start and park teams, once they get themselves into a guaranteed starting spot, can then work towards getting sponsorship and become legitimate race entries each week.

For those unfamiliar with NASCAR start and park teams are exactly what they sound like. They qualify for the race, take the green flag and then pull into the garage inform NASCAR officials that some mysterious mechanical problem will not allow them to continue to race. There is virtually no way for NASCAR to police this beyond taking a strong look at cars that do this each week.

So why would someone do this? Well it is all about money, finishing last in a Sprint Cup race pays roughly 87 grand. That may not sound like a lot in the costly world of premier auto racing but when a team owner doesn’t have to buy tires, or pay a pit crew a large portion of that money is pure profit.

NASCAR fans remain split on this issue, some think that anyone who shows up for a race and passes inspection should be allowed to race the race the way the see fit. More pure racing fanatics, like me, would rather see 43 of the top NASCAR teams all out there trying their hardest to win the race.