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BROOKLYN, Mich. -- Joe Nemechek winces, shakes his head and ponders the "awful'' dilemma he faces.

Chances are you won't notice Nemechek in today's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Michigan International Speedway. He'll likely park his car within the first 30 laps, one of a few teams that do not plan to complete this 400-mile race.

Nemechek wants to race, but this is the only way he can do it.

"I'm a racer,'' says Nemechek, who has four career Cup victories. "If we get the opportunity or get to the point where we think our budget is close &ellipses; then we'll go and try to race.''

He can't afford to do so now. He doesn't have a sponsor. Without one, there's no way to defray the costs of engines, tires, equipment, personnel and travel. Those costs, even on the cheap, can be $50,000 or more for a weekend.

Nemechek is not alone. At least Five of the 43 starting cars could park -- citing various ailments as transmission, engine, vibration, overheating or something else -- within the first 75 miles today.

Teams do this to limit their expenses while collecting a paycheck. They're called start-and-park teams since they pull into the garage shortly after the race begins. By doing this, they can afford to go to the next race, giving them more time to find a sponsor or earn more money.

It's easier for these teams to make races with the economy weak because there aren't as many cars attempting to make races. Only one car failed to qualify for today's race. Two years ago, five cars failed to qualify.

Some argue that starting and parking is not good for the sport.

"If you've got a guy that's running the whole series &ellipses; and he's got a week that he just can't afford it and he has to do a start and park, but 75, 80 percent of the time he's racing, you can deal with that,'' says ESPN analyst Ray Evernham, a former car owner and champion crew chief. "But I don't really care for the guys that come in there and they plan to do a start and park. I think those people are taking out of the sport rather than giving to it, and I just don't like it.'' 

PRISM Motorsports, co-owned by Phil Parsons, has collected $1.7 million in winnings this season with Dave Blaney finishing 40th or worse in 17 of his 19 starts.

Nemechek, who has finished as high as 14th this season, has earned $1.5 million, but has failed to qualify for two of the season's highest-paying races, the Daytona 500 and the spring Texas race. Had he made both those, he would have collected at least another $350,000.

Car owner Tommy Baldwin's team, which started in January, has collected $1.4 million. It has run races when it could and parked other times.

Earnings topping $1 million make it seem as if all these teams are doing well. Some can if it cuts enough expenses, but it's not easy.

Engines are expensive. Low-budget teams typically rent engines for varying rates. Run the engine the entire race and it costs a team about $75,000 or more. Run the engine less than 100 miles for the weekend and the rate is closer to $10,000. Run it 200 miles that weekend and the fee is about $20,000 and so on. That allows teams to use the same engine for five or more races if they don't put many miles on it each weekend.

Also, by not running a whole race, a team doesn't have to buy as many tires, which cost around $2,000 a set. Some low-budget teams run used tires from other teams to save money. Of course, there's cost for the various parts and pieces with the car. The more laps run, the more work that needs to be done to get ready for the next race. Should a low-budget team wreck a car, it could be too costly to repair. Some teams don't have more than four cars.

Then, there's personnel costs. Many are contracted but at least one team has an agreement that if it doesn't make the race, the crew doesn't get paid since there's no income from that race.

Suddenly, the $1 million or more some teams have earned disappears.

Few start-and-park teams ever break the financial cycle and become more competitive. Morgan Shepherd is an exception. He started-and-parked in Cup, then moved down to the Nationwide series to do it.

His break came when Kevin Harvick offered his assistance after Shepherd crashed his only car. Tony Stewart also offered assistance. Shepherd said Harvick helped prepare two cars this year, while Stewart bought three engines and all the tires Shepherd will use this season.

Shepherd acknowledges he's fortunate. He admits that if it wasn't about the racing, it would be "much smarter'' to start and park and collect the money.

"They're making money because they only run a few laps,'' Shepherd says of Cup or Nationwide teams that predominately start and park.

Baldwin says he'd like to run more often -- and does when he has a sponsor and can afford to do so -- but he also has to be smart.

"We're building for the future,'' says Baldwin, the crew chief for Ward Burton when Burton won the 2002 Daytona 500. "All this stuff takes time. You're not going to open your doors in today's world and have money. It's just not reality.

"My plan since the beginning &ellipses; I was going to run every single race until I ran out of money, and I was going to load up and go to the next one. That's what we've done.''

And will continue to do. Today, no matter how short, leads to tomorrow.

For Baldwin, Nemechek and the others, they can only hope it leads to better things.

Contact Dustin Long at 373-7062 or at dustin.long@news-record.com