Waid’s World: Multi-car Teams in NASCAR Aren’t New, But They Weren’t Always the Same

Multi-car teams are the norm in NASCAR today and are considered a relatively new phenomenon that was created in the 1980s.

True enough.

But single teams employing multiple drivers – and in some cases, multiple crewmen – is not a recent phenomenon by any means. It’s been a part of every decade of NASCAR’s existence. In other words, it is nothing new. You’ve heard me say that before, I’m sure.

There is a bit of a difference. Today’s multi-car teams are just that. They come complete with their own driver, management level employees, crew personnel, support staff, equipment and sponsors.

The only thing they really share is a single organization and a principal owner whose name is Hendrick, Childress, Gibbs, Penske et al.

For the first more than 30 years of NASCAR, a multi-car team was, for the most part, only temporary. It would last only as long as the number of races a second driver was enlisted to drive.

For example, Petty Enterprises, unquestionably the most successful racing organization over three decades of NASCAR’s existence, had no problem hiring drivers to compete alongside Hall of Famers Lee Petty and his son, Richard.

In 1957, such stalwarts as Ralph Earnhardt, Tiny Lund, Bobby Lutz, Johnny Dodson and Bobby Myers competed in 15 races for Petty Enterprises. Lee drove in 41 of the season’s 53, which should give you an idea of how massive the Grand National schedule was back then.

But the Pettys didn’t abandon the practice of hiring additional drivers, even when the schedule was more manageable. Pete Hamilton competed in 15 races for them in 1970, and Buddy Baker raced 28 times in 1971-72.

Hamilton won three races, including the Daytona 500. Baker claimed two wins, at Darlington and Charlotte.

There was one team owner who came into NASCAR with the intention of owning a multi-car team. Carl Kiekhaefer was a highly ambitious, no-nonsense businessman who plowed funds from his company, Mercury Outboard, into a fleet of Chryslers he hoped would be an instant success that would increase sales.

He started operations in 1955 with principal driver Tim Flock and four others of note – Fonty Flock, Bob Flock, Buck Baker and Speedy Thompson. Baker assumed the lead role in 1956 and Thompson took over in 1957.

During those three seasons, there was always more than one Kiekhaefer Chrysler in a race. Sometimes there were as many as three. And indeed, they were successful. During that time, they won an astounding 52 races. Tim Flock led the way in 1955 with 18 victories in 38 starts.

But after three seasons, Kiekhaefer was gone. Perhaps a multi-car operation was too costly and he decided to close his wallet.

Another unique multi-car team was created because someone opened his wallet and provided funds to an established team owner to make it happen.

In 1974, Junior Johnson was ready to begin his second season with driver Cale Yarborough, who displayed his skills in 1973 with four victories.

Yarborough didn’t expect to have a teammate and Johnson certainly had no plans to hire one. But shortly into the 1974 campaign, he was contacted by officials of the Carling Brewing Company of Canada.

Carling had established a presence in NASCAR and was sponsoring a car driven by Earl Ross, a Canadian competitor.

The team wasn’t operating at the level Carling expected. So, it decided to make a change. It offered Johnson enough sponsorship money to operate a second team and would fund it for the remainder of 1974 and all of 1975.

For Johnson, it was a “Godfather” deal. He couldn’t refuse it, likely because Carling’s money would not only pay to create a second team, it would also add a tidy sum to his company coffers.

So, Ross and Yarborough became unlikely teammates on Johnson’s unforeseen multi-car team. And the union was successful indeed.

Yarborough won 10 races – the most of his career – and finished second in the final point standings to champion Richard Petty.

Ross won the fall race at Martinsville and remains the only Canadian to win a Grand National race in the Cup Series. He also earned the Rookie of the Year title with 10 top-10 finishes in 21 races.

As promising as the 1974 season might have been, it wasn’t to be. Carling’s parent company, located in South Africa, announced it was ending all of its racing participation. Junior was offered a buyout, which he made at a very favorable rate. 

“I couldn’t be mad at Carling,” Johnson said years afterward. “They funded the team at a good price and I made more money on the buyout.”

As improbable as it sounds, Johnson got another financially profitable deal to form a second team in 1984 when maverick California businessman Warner Hodgdon purchased a share of Junior Johnson and Associates.

At the time, Hodgdon was spending money in NASCAR like a drunken sailor on a 48-hour pass. He bought up race sponsorship along with interests in speedways and teams.

His offer to Johnson, along with an ample sponsorship from Budweiser, paved the way for a second team, which Johnson willingly formed and established as equal to the original – which was considerable, by the way. Driver Darrell Waltrip had already won 30 races and two championships since his arrival in 1981.

While Waltrip might not have been overly enthused to have Neil Bonnett as his teammate, their association lasted three seasons.

But Johnson’s relationship with Hodgdon ended in January 1985. 

Hodgdon’s weakening financial status proved terminal when he was allegedly involved in a bid-rigging scheme that led to $53 million in lawsuits. He was forced into bankruptcy. Johnson was the first man on the courthouse steps the morning of foreclosure and he bought back Hodgdon’s share of the team for a paltry $200,000.

“Hodgdon was like Carling in that while he was with me, he did his share,” Johnson said. “And I was able to keep from losing anything when he left.”

Johnson ended the multi-car enterprise after the 1986 season with Waltrip’s departure to Hendrick Motorsports. Ironically, Waltrip joined the team owner, Rick Hendrick, who made the concept of two or more teams within a single organization a functional normality in NASCAR.

It began in 1986 when Tim Richmond became a partner to Geoff Bodine, Hendrick’s original driver in 1984. Waltrip joined Bodine in 1987.

And from that time, the reality of the multi-car team as we know it has grown to the point where it is clearly the norm and not the unusual.