NASCAR cut Prism Motorsports a break when it adjusted its post-race inspection procedure after last weekend’s Fontana race to enable Phil Parsons’ impounded “random post-race inspection” car — the #66 Toyota driven by Dave Blaney — to be checked Thursday afternoon and Friday morning at Las Vegas Motor Speedway rather than taking the car back to NASCAR’s R&D facility in Concord, N.C. “They really went out of their way to help us by sending their guys in [Thursday] to start the inspection process — they didn’t have to do it,” Parsons said with a relieved wave of his hand. “I really appreciate them working with us and doing that. I understand being the random [car]. We may have overachieved at [Fontana] by qualifying fifth — I don’t know if we expected it, never mind anyone else. But I’ve been in this thing my whole life and all we ever ask is a level playing field. And [NASCAR] does all they can to ensure it’s a level playing field — they’re the umpires. We know we have to qualify into the field on time, just like the other nine cars that are here, and if they need to make sure the playing field is level for anybody, it’s those 10 [go-or-go-home cars].”
“Following last Sunday’s race at Auto Club Speedway, as we do after each NASCAR Cup Series race weekend, we impounded two cars — the race winner and a random selection,” said Kerry Tharp, NASCAR director of communications, competition. “The #48 car was the race winner and the #66 car was the random selection. Due to West Coast travel and logistics, we [inspected] the 66 car prior to practice at Las Vegas. The 48 car will come back to the R&D Center and be inspected early next week.”
In a tough economic climate, Prism is short-staffed and financially challenged. While the team proved its mettle in 2009 by sending a car to every event, with its last-minute decision to field two cars this season, Prism only has two complete cars — one for each team — with a mostly-complete backup on each hauler. While trying to accrue enough sponsorship backing to be able to afford to race complete events, Prism does a “start and park” strategy to offset the sizeable expense of traveling to and attempting to qualify for Cup races.
“We really appreciate all the hard work by all our guys this week,” Parsons said. “It was a great job [Friday] by all of them.” But Parsons wouldn’t short sell what NASCAR and its inspectors had done, along with engine builder Terry Elledge from Pro Motor, Mark Smith’s partner who Parsons said was the head of the company’s Toyota program, turned around a complete backup engine for Blaney’s car, plus a carburetor and intake manifold that were intended as the former backup engine’s primary pieces, which weren’t needed when NASCAR bent over backwards. “NASCAR actually came in here [Thursday] and let us take the engine out of the [Fontana] car so it could be inspected, and let us take some of the pieces that we needed to put in the backup car — so they did us a favor,” Parsons said. “They actually came in early to do that, they unloaded it and we took the motor out so they could inspect it. They finished it [Friday], doing the body, the rear end housing and the rest of it. If we’d have been on the East Coast, all this would have been done at the R&D Center on the Tuesday after the race.”
The newly-assembled “Vegas primary” was in the inspection line at Las Vegas on time Friday morning and went out for the first of its 10 laps in pre-qualifying practice about 15 minutes into the 90-minute practice.(in part from NASCAR.com)(2-28-2010)
