Marty Roth, Jay Howard, Roth Racing, IndyCar Series, TEAM, Team Enhancement Allocation Matrix, Indy Pro Series, St. Vincent's Performance Center
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INDYCAR.COM@
Sitting out in 2007 was the most painful
thing in my career and my life. I was
wondering what I had to do to get a ride. I
didn’t lose focus. I tried to stay positive
and kept training and now I’m here.
“I got in the car and was strong
enough, fit enough and all that training
that I’ve done has paid off.”
Roth’s commitment to do a two-car
effort has been impressive considering
the amount of money he has invested
into the team, which still doesn’t have a
sponsor. But that hasn’t kept the team
owner from dramatically upgrading and
improving the operation for a full-scale
assault on the IndyCar Series.
“You can see what he’s done at the
shop; he had an open house a couple
Mondays ago and some guys from the
League came down and everyone was
shocked and impressed at what he has
done,” Howard explains. “He’s invested
millions of dollars of his own money
into making this happen. People will
see, there are still no stickers on the
cars, there are no sponsors at the
moment, nothing has come through;
ROTH RACING DOUBLES DOWN
Economies of scale hardly apply in this sport
When Marty Roth decided to
double his efforts and move up to
the IndyCar Series as a full-time
competitor, he began the
gargantuan task of adding
equipment, hiring personnel and
expanding the race shop.
But in Roth’s mind, increasing
to this level actually began several
seasons ago.
“We’ve been accumulating it
over the years,” Roth says of the
team’s equipment. “That’s why it
has taken us about three years to
get here. We’re just glad we did it
in time. With unification, I think
you have to have a program like
this to be competitive.
“We had to double up on
everything. We needed two cars,
Michael Levitt/LAT
Jay Howard, the 2006 Indy
Pro Series champion
(below), finally gets his shot
at the IndyCar Series
yet and he and Margaret are investing
their own money.
“I think that shows their belief in me and
it shows the League their commitment in
open-wheel racing and the IndyCar Series.”
Roth’s expansion takes full advantage of
the TEAM program – Team Enhancement
and Allocation Matrix – in the IndyCar
Series. With $1.2 million per car given to a
team that runs the entire schedule, Roth
Racing has $2.4 million in the budget for
2008 even before landing a sponsor.
“I consider it luck,” Roth says with a
smile. “I’ve been hoping for this day for a
another transporter and a complete
second crew. We had to expand the
premises. I haven’t seen the big
benefit yet of sharing. Very small
things you can share, but you have
to double up on everything. The
input that you have, the data that
you can gather and bounce back
between two drivers…the potential
benefits are huge.”
The shop expanded from
5000 square feet to 17,500
square feet and the team
members went from five fulltime
people and some “weekend
warriors” to 25 full-timers.
“It’s been a huge thrash for us at
Roth Racing because they built a
new shop and a lot of stuff has
been going on,” driver Jay Howard
says. “My guys have been working
some serious hours. The look on
their faces, it’s been a hard time.”
But there are other factors
that have gone into Roth
Racing’s development and that
includes keeping the crew in
race-ready shape.
Doubling the number of cars
means pretty much doubling
everything. Ask Marty Roth
UPWARD MOBILITY
long time. It’s all about timing. It just worked out well.”
It didn’t take long for Howard to become a believer in this
program and he was immediately impressed with the
personnel that Roth was able to add to the team.
“Marty has never had an engineer until now,” Howard says.
“No one realizes that. Wait and see when Cripps is here and
we get on the track, you’ll see a different Marty Roth. Now,
we are working together and working as a team. Before he
was on his own without an engineer. Now, we have a
teammate and we’re bouncing some ideas off each other.
He’s got a great engineer and a great team of mechanics and
everything is moving forward.
“Marty Roth Racing and myself, we hope to open
everyone’s eyes and go, ‘Hold on, Roth Racing is here.’”
“Three times a week the crew
goes up to St. Vincent’s
Performance Center and they
work out for an hour doing their
routines and stuff and then we
come back and practice pit stops,”
Roth says. “It’s what you have to
do to be competitive.”
INDYCAR SERIES 2008 FAN GUIDE 67
Paul Webb/LAT
Paul Webb/LAT
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