WRAL Sports Fan

NASCAR

Riggs starts Daytona 500 with volunteers on pit crew

By Adam Harris

Feb 13, 2009

The sport that long represented the epitome of corporate pandering is finally feeling the effects of a declining American economy.  Many NASCAR teams are struggling to find sponsors; and in some cases teams are even unable to pay crew members.

"Right now all the guys on our crew and our team are volunteers," says Cup Series driver Scott Riggs.  "They're working because they love it, and they're working because they have a stake in what we're doing."

Riggs' No. 36 Toyota qualified a very impressive 17th for Sunday's Daytona 500.  The Bahama, N.C., native says the willingness of the Tommy Baldwin Racing crew to work in-kind was a selling point for him when joining TBR.

"That's really the thing that pushed me to make the decision to go into this battle with Tommy Baldwin," Riggs told 99.9 FM The Fan on Friday.  "When I looked at his race shop, and I saw all these guys working feverishly on these cars, trying to get them together to come down here, and knowing that not one single person in there was making one red cent.  I mean, that speaks volumes for what these guys are all about."

Despite more than 165 starts on NASCAR's Cup Series, Riggs does not have a full-time sponsorship for his number 36 stock car this season.  Riggs, however, has found a way to put a positive spin on a difficult situation.

"Because of the economy there are so many teams and sponsors that are leaving the sport, teams are having to shut down because of lack of funds, it makes it tough,"  Riggs told The Insiders.

"You can have sponsors come on board now, and the price has gone down so far.  You know, guys that would think about getting on a truck team or a Nationwide (Series) car in the past, can now get on a Cup car on Sunday for 500 miles and get great coverage for the same price."

To hear The Insiders entire interview with NASCAR driver Scott Riggs, follow the link on this page