Landscape of garage set to change with financial woes (cont'd)

Gibbs added: "You know 'em. You see 'em and talk to 'em every day. It makes it hard. For us, this is the second time we had to make cuts like this. We had to let go a whole Nationwide team about five years ago, and that was really hard. It was like 14 guys -- and they worked so hard, so that was real difficult. This, too, is difficult.

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People ask me to explain it, and I'm like, 'Well, every Fortune 100 company that has been impacted by the economy and is in our sport, this is their marketing platform. So naturally it's going to have an impact on us.'

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MAX SIEGEL

"We have a lot of people who work there. But you still know everybody. It's not like we're a corporation with thousands and thousands of employees. I think it's hard for everyone who has to go through that and sit down in front of a guy and say, 'Hey, man, we just don't have a spot.'"

Siegel said DEI had no choice but to merge with another race organization to survive. But he also said he knows that DEI is not alone.

"Quite frankly, everybody is feeling the pinch," Siegel said. "The thing that's been actually pretty encouraging, to be honest with you, is that there has been a spirit of cooperation in the garage. I mean, all of the team managers have been calling each other [and saying], 'Do you need anybody? Who are you going to lose? What are you looking for?' So people are really digging in and really trying to make sure that as many people that get displaced in this sport, maybe there is another place for them somewhere else.

"It's hard to describe the impact the economy has had on the sport. People ask me to explain it, and I'm like, 'Well, every Fortune 100 company that has been impacted by the economy and is in our sport, this is their marketing platform. So naturally it's going to have an impact on us.'

Gibbs said the upheaval was unavoidable under the unusual circumstances. Then he added: "But I think the sport will be fine. I think it will retract for a little bit, but then it will come back out of it like every business. It's just going to take a little while."

A chill ran through the Florida night as the haulers began to pull out of Homestead-Miami Speedway, one by one. The temperature seemed unusually cool as the wind stirred when one emblazoned with Penske Racing chugged toward the tunnel leading to the outside.

On the back doors of the hauler, a decal proclaiming the driver of the No. 12 Dodge as Ryan Newman hadn't yet been removed. It, and others like it, will be gone when the hauler makes a return trip to Daytona Beach in February -- along with hundreds of workers who toil behind the scenes to make a 36-race season the entertaining circuit that it is.

"Sometimes," said Siegel, a sad look crossing his face, "it just comes with the territory."

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.