Dirty Rotten and Low Down

The Car Guy of Benchfield

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Dirty, Rotten and Low Down

By Steve Wingate, TCGOB Publisher

Author's Note: This article is in no way aimed at the drivers or crew members of the Penske operation. This is instead an attack on the management of Team Penske for their inept handling of the #12 team shutdown. If anyone from Penske wishes to clear the air, feel free to contact me. If I am way off base, I want to be set straight. But with the information available through Jayski and NASCAR.com, it appears that there are much larger problems at Penske than a simple lack of sponsorship.

Keeping a Winston Cup team afloat is a massive undertaking these days. Sponsors are becoming increasingly scarce as the economy continues to struggle, and we're seeing more and more teams joining the list of extinction. We know that it has to be getting tough when well-established teams are having trouble securing sponsors. Even Jack Roush has had some trouble there, and now we're seeing Penske go though the same thing.

Such was the undoing of the Penske-owned #12 team. Despite Mike Wallace's valiant effort to bring the 12 back to prominence as the 2001 season wound down, Penske had no choice but to close the team after the final race at New Hampshire. This is understandable, albeit unfortunate. A race team is like any other business-- if it doesn't make money, or shows no promise of making money soon, it will close down. Businesses shut down for a myriad of reasons, the most common one being poor management. However, there are times when a business is forced out due to circumstances beyond its control, (such as no available sponsors) and the loss of the number 12 team seemed such a case. Yet, the more I read about the way Penske is treating their employees, I'm beginning to wonder if it really was beyond their control.

When I first read of the 12 team shutdown on Jayski's, I was flabbergasted. Sixty people could wind up getting pink-slipped. As it turned out, forty were terminated, with twenty going to other shops in the Penske camp. This was bad…. Forty people out of work, and right before Christmas, too. As bad as it was, however, it seemed as though Penske had spared as many as they could. After all, the 12 team was being shut down for a viable reason, and they really couldn't afford to keep anybody. So, it seemed that Penske was handling this unfortunate situation as gently as it could.

Or so I thought.

On Thursday, December 6th, Jayski updated us all on the Penske shutdown. Apparently, the remaining twenty or so employees from the #12 camp went to the #2 shop for a meeting, and upon their return, found that the locks on the #12 team shop had been changed, and that some got new keys, some didn't. What?!? Did I miss something? Since when has changing the locks on the office been an acceptable way to tell someone that they no longer have a job? What shiftless, underhanded and cowardly type of management is that? In my experience, the correct way to pass on news like that is to call the person or persons into the office and break the news as gently as possible. After all, the company shutting down is most certainly not any particular employee's fault, so why make any one feel that way by locking them out without so much as a word? Those poor folks must have felt like criminals. What is wrong with Penske management?

I get on my high horse about things like this for a number of reasons, the biggest one being that I myself run a business. Another reason is that I know what it feels like to be terminated and downsized. Four and a half years ago, I lost my job due to downsizing. This was unfortunate and very distressing for me and my family, but I fully understood their reasons. What I did not understand, however, was the way that the owner of the company chose to let me know about the layoff. He sent me a letter, with my COBRA papers attached. This is how I would have learned that I was unemployed if not for my immediate supervisor, who unlike the owner of the company, was a good and decent man. He called me ahead of time and told me about the letter because he "didn't think it was right" for me to fired by a letter.

Penske has treated their employees the same way, only nobody took the time to write a letter or call or meet anyone face to face. This is a cowardly and ineffective way to manage people. Everybody involved with the Penske operation has cause to be worried about their jobs right now. A company that will do to people what they have done is capable of even further injustices.

You can tell a lot about a business by the way they treat their employees, and I think Penske has now shown us all why no sponsor wants to do business with them.

2001 Car Guy of Benchfield

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	The Car Guy of Benchfield Home + TCGOB NASCAR! + Photo Garage + Links + Mad Mad Automotive World + Driving Songs + Humor Pages + Reader's Rides+ All About TCGOB + Contact Us Dirty, Rotten and Low Down By Steve Wingate, TCGOB Publisher Author's Note: This article is in no way aimed at the drivers or crew members of the Penske operation. This is instead an attack on the management of Team Penske for their inept handling of the #12 team shutdown. If anyone from Penske wishes to clear the air, feel free to contact me. If I am way off base, I want to be set straight. But with the information available through Jayski and NASCAR.com, it appears that there are much larger problems at Penske than a simple lack of sponsorship. Keeping a Winston Cup team afloat is a massive undertaking these days. Sponsors are becoming increasingly scarce as the economy continues to struggle, and we're seeing more and more teams joining the list of extinction. We know that it has to be getting tough when well-established teams are having trouble securing sponsors. Even Jack Roush has had some trouble there, and now we're seeing Penske go though the same thing. Such was the undoing of the Penske-owned #12 team. Despite Mike Wallace's valiant effort to bring the 12 back to prominence as the 2001 season wound down, Penske had no choice but to close the team after the final race at New Hampshire. This is understandable, albeit unfortunate. A race team is like any other business-- if it doesn't make money, or shows no promise of making money soon, it will close down. Businesses shut down for a myriad of reasons, the most common one being poor management. However, there are times when a business is forced out due to circumstances beyond its control, (such as no available sponsors) and the loss of the number 12 team seemed such a case. Yet, the more I read about the way Penske is treating their employees, I'm beginning to wonder if it really was beyond their control. When I first read of the 12 team shutdown on Jayski's, I was flabbergasted. Sixty people could wind up getting pink-slipped. As it turned out, forty were terminated, with twenty going to other shops in the Penske camp. This was bad…. Forty people out of work, and right before Christmas, too. As bad as it was, however, it seemed as though Penske had spared as many as they could. After all, the 12 team was being shut down for a viable reason, and they really couldn't afford to keep anybody. So, it seemed that Penske was handling this unfortunate situation as gently as it could. Or so I thought. On Thursday, December 6th, Jayski updated us all on the Penske shutdown. Apparently, the remaining twenty or so employees from the #12 camp went to the #2 shop for a meeting, and upon their return, found that the locks on the #12 team shop had been changed, and that some got new keys, some didn't. What?!? Did I miss something? Since when has changing the locks on the office been an acceptable way to tell someone that they no longer have a job? What shiftless, underhanded and cowardly type of management is that? In my experience, the correct way to pass on news like that is to call the person or persons into the office and break the news as gently as possible. After all, the company shutting down is most certainly not any particular employee's fault, so why make any one feel that way by locking them out without so much as a word? Those poor folks must have felt like criminals. What is wrong with Penske management? I get on my high horse about things like this for a number of reasons, the biggest one being that I myself run a business. Another reason is that I know what it feels like to be terminated and downsized. Four and a half years ago, I lost my job due to downsizing. This was unfortunate and very distressing for me and my family, but I fully understood their reasons. What I did not understand, however, was the way that the owner of the company chose to let me know about the layoff. He sent me a letter, with my COBRA papers attached. This is how I would have learned that I was unemployed if not for my immediate supervisor, who unlike the owner of the company, was a good and decent man. He called me ahead of time and told me about the letter because he "didn't think it was right" for me to fired by a letter. Penske has treated their employees the same way, only nobody took the time to write a letter or call or meet anyone face to face. This is a cowardly and ineffective way to manage people. Everybody involved with the Penske operation has cause to be worried about their jobs right now. A company that will do to people what they have done is capable of even further injustices. You can tell a lot about a business by the way they treat their employees, and I think Penske has now shown us all why no sponsor wants to do business with them. 2001 Car Guy of Benchfield Home + TCGOB NASCAR! + Photo Garage + Links + Mad Mad Automotive World + Driving Songs + Humor Pages + Reader's Rides+ All About TCGOB + Contact Us