Start and park

Start and park is a term used in auto racing, particularly in NASCAR-sanctioned races, to describe the practice of racing teams starting races but pulling the car off the track after just a few laps in order to collect prize money while avoiding expenses such as replacement tires, engine wear and tear, and hiring a pit crew. The practice has existed due to the relatively high purse for even a back-of-the-pack finish, as well as the high costs of fielding a car for an entire race. While start-and-park entries occasionally act as "field fillers" a term typically used outside of NASCAR when a small amount of teams show up to a racetrack, the practice is criticized in instances when they take spots away from teams intending to run the full race.

In some cases, a team will use a start-and-park car to help fund another competitive car in the same or a different series. This practice is prevalent in NASCAR's second-tier Xfinity Series, notably by The Motorsports Group, and TriStar Motorsports. However, there are some cases in which a small underfunded team does use this money to eventually run full races, or conserve the car. Teams like NEMCO Motorsports, Leavine Family Racing, and Phil Parsons Racing have done this in the past, before transitioning to running full races.

A visible increase in the presence of starting and parking in the 21st century has made it one of the more polarizing and controversial topics in the sport. In 2013 and 2014, changes in the structuring of prize money awards and qualifying procedures made starting and parking less attractive, encouraging (or forcing) low-budget teams to run full races.

A start and park occurs when a race team pulls out of an event early on, rather than completing the full race, and will be credited with a did not finish (DNF). The practice is the result of the high costs of running full-length races including hiring a pit crew, as well as the high payout from simply starting a race. For example, at a June 2009 Cup Series race, Joe Nemechek earned $64,725 after finishing 41st in a start and park effort, while Dexter Bean ran the entire race to a 36th-place finish and earned only $725 more ($65,450). New teams may start and park to gain funds, experience, and information to run future races competitively. Cup teams such as Germain Racing, Tommy Baldwin Racing, and Phil Parsons Racing have parked in many of their early starts, before finding sponsorship and success in later endeavors.

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