NASCAR sponsorships drying up

Here's a good story about NASCAR's sponsorship issues for next year by Pete Pistone from CBSsports.com

By Pete Pistone
The calendar has turned to November and there are still three races left in the 2011 Sprint Cup Series season.
But the NASCAR world never slows down and while we still await the outcome of this year’s championship, plans for next year are finally coming into focus.
Unfortunately it’s not a very pretty picture.
Economic woes and the lack of sponsorship dollars are shrinking the Sprint Cup Series garage area at an alarming rate. The financial crunch is so strong it’s not just impacting mid-level and small teams but the superpowers of the sport as well.
Roush Fenway Racing, Richard Childress Racing and Michael Waltrip Racing will see their stables contract while an entire organization like Team Red Bull’s very existence remains in doubt.
“We’ve gone through a transition with our sponsors, going from a time when they wanted to compete for the top car to now where the sponsors want just enough of a car to be able to do their promotions," said Jack Roush, who faces shutting down his No. 6 Cup team unless last minute sponsorship for 2012 is found to replace UPS.
"It’s a really strange time. I’ve never seen anything like this. I’m not sure what we’ll have coming out of it. It will be different than it’s been in the past."
Seeking one sponsor to foot the estimated $20 million bill to keep a top flight Cup team on track is virtually impossible in today’s climate. But even splitting that cost over the course of 36 races between multiple corporate backers is also a tough task.
The merry-go-round of sponsors that now adorn Sprint Cup cars throughout the season makes for a variety of different color schemes and logos to associate with drivers and some argue that has taken away a great deal of NASCAR’s identity.
In the not too distant past colors and logos were indelibly attached to drivers who were immediately recognized on track by fans who made the instant connection between man and machine.
Jeff Gordon’s colorful DuPont paint scheme. Rusty Wallace and the iconic Miller Lite “Blue Deuce.” Mark Martin and the Valvoline logo. And the most famous of all Dale Earnhardt in the silver and black Goodwrench Chevrolet.
Today you can’t tell the drivers or their cars and colors without a scorecard on a weekly basis.
Current Chase point leader Carl Edwards rarely carries the same look two weeks in a row rotating the No. 99 through a maze of sponsors including Aflac, Scott’s, Subway and Kellogg’s.
Next year he’ll see Fastenal and UPS join the line-up all of which is just a necessary element of today’s NASCAR sponsorship game.
"You have to put the pieces together," RCR’s David Hart told PennLive.com. "It’s 20 races here, 10 races there and then getting someone for the last six races. You have to combo sponsorships together to run your race team.
"This wasn’t all of a sudden and the hammer came down. You started to see it in the mid-2000s and, when the economy went down in 2008, it continued on that path. You have to look at the possibilities if you don’t have your number. You have to cobble sponsors as you can. You are looking to get as few as possible, but you want to get that number by bringing people to the table."
Some teams like the Childress organization approach the sponsorship quest by bundling all its resources together and selling partners on a total experience rather than individual race cars.
“We at RCR do it a little different,” Childress said. “We try to sell our whole company and corporation. The driver is a huge part of it because he plays a large role in the marketing of the product but we also try to sell RCR and make sure that we get the return on the investment for all the companies that we’re associated with.
“At the end of the day I work for every one of these companies and I want to make sure I do a good job to get the return on their investment.”
The money squeeze is having a significant effect on next year’s landscape and forcing several well known names to the unemployment line.
Among those Sprint Cup drivers who appear to be on the outside looking in include David Ragan, Brian Vickers and the most recent addition David Reutimann, who won’t return to Michael Waltrip Racing next year in favor of the team running a limited schedule in the No. 00 car with veteran Mark Martin.
The story gets worse over at NASCAR’s number two and three divisions in the Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series. Several teams in both circuits are struggling to find the necessary funding to compete in 2012, meaning sleepless nights for the likes of Reed Sorenson, Jason Leffler, Todd Bodine and even four time truck series champion Ron Hornaday.
With current team owner Kevin Harvick deciding to sell his equipment to RCR, Hornaday has two races left with KHI before he finds himself out of work.
The news came as a bit of a shock to the veteran who says the environment in today’s NASCAR world makes it extremely difficult for even a driver of his talents to find a competitive ride.
“You sit there and you talk to people and they all want you to bring money,” Hornaday said of many team owners. “I’ve never done that. I got a phone call from Dale (Earnhardt, Sr.) in ’94 and I started driving for him. I got the same phone call from the Dr. Pepper team with Dave Carroll, and I got the same phone call from Richard Childress then Kevin Harvick called me.
“They know I don’t have three million bucks or two-and-a-half million dollars so I don’t hear my phone ringing but I keep winning races. There are some kids out there that are bringing some money and coming in here. I hate to say it, but that’s where this sport is going. You see Cup cars out there with no name on them and everything else.”
There could be more of that on display next season with some of the sport’s biggest names piloting cars carrying only numbers.
Because right now for many NASCAR organizations at all levels of the sport the most important numbers aren't adding up.

On Juan Pablo

While most of us have been focused on the Kevin Harvick-Kyle Busch controversy at Darlington last week, let's take a look at one more accident. That was the Juan Pablo Montoya-Jimmie Johnson wreck.
It's true Montoya is too aggressive at times, and there's no doubt he needs to be on good behavior. He's never been afraid to use his bumper in a bulldozer-like fashion to clear a path in front of him.
It's true that Montoya did bump and spin Johnson during Saturday night's race after Johnson had passed Montoya.
But when taking a look at the video, this wreck might not have been all on Montoya. As Johnson completed his pass and started to pull up in front of Montoya, the two cars behind Montoya went noticeably slower. What this tells us is that Montoya was slowing down to try and avoid a wreck.
Given Montoya's history, it's easy to assume this was all on him. Even the announcers just assumed that it was all Montoya's fault without really studying the video. Does he deserve part of the blame here? Probably. Was he trying to avoid an accident this time? Definitely.
Johnson, the five-time defending champion, is a great driver. But he's not perfect. Had he waited just a second or two to complete the pass, this accident probably would have been avoided.
So let's give Juan Pablo a little room on this one.

POT HOLES AND PICKS

Let's hope the track stays together for one more night at Daytona, as they have had to make some repairs to the track already this weekend. The track is scheduled to be resurfaced by the Daytona 500 in February, so problems with the track should be fixed by then.

Last week's picks
Kyle Busch - Finished 18th, led 46 laps but not around at the end due to some late race bumping.
Denny Hamlin - Finished 14th. One of the few recent times where he was not a threat to win the race.
Tony Stewart - Finished 2nd. He had a strong finish and wasn't far from pulling off his first win of the year.
Juan Pablo Montoya - Finished 34th. He started on the pole and led the majority of his 36 laps early on. Was not surpsinginly involved in some heavy bumping, so that sabotaged any chance of a good finish.
Kevin Harvick - Finished fifth to keep a solid hold on the top spot in the standings.

The picks
It's always tricky making picks for a restrictor race, so here goes.
Tony Stewart - He's had plenty of success in the July Daytona race and he's been very good in restrictor plate races. He has to go to the back in a backup car tonight, but it won't take long for him to get to the front.
Kevin Harvick - Starting the pole and the Neighborhood Bully has a knack for being around at the end of the race at Daytona
Kurt Busch - The Penske cars have been good at Daytona for the past couple of years. It would be no surprise to see him in Victory Lane.
Jeff Gordon - He's going to win a race sometime this year. Really.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. - If I'm going to pick this guy to win a race this year it's got to be here. The win in the Nationwide can't hurt his confidence.

The Best Day of the Year and picks

For auto racing fans, today is the best day of the year. If you can handle watching the Formula One cars play follow the leader after they get into the first turn, there's the Turkish Grand Prix this morning. Actually, I liked it better when this race was the Grand Prix of Monaco, a top event for the Formula One guys and actually a race worth watching for that circuit.
Then at 1 p.m. today there is the Indianapolis 500. The Indy Car leaders did all they could to ruin their series in the 1990s and early 2000s by having split series, but the Indy 500 is still the Indy 500 and the winner gets over a $1 million, so you know, that's nothing to sneeze at. And Danica is in the race, so when she gets mad at somebody for cutting her off, that's always entertaining, whether it's her radio chatter or confronting them in the pits during or after the race.
Look for a Penske or Ganassi car to win there. Ganassi is trying to win the Indy 500 and Daytona 500 in the same year, which would be quite an accomplishment. And Penske and Ganassi also have an outside chance to win the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 in the same day, which would also be quite a feat.
And speaking of the Coca-Cola 600, here's a look at my picks for tonight's endurance test.
Kyle Busch - Probably not patient enough, but he's just too good not to pick.
Jimmie Johnson - He's been so good at this place, it's stupid not to pick him.
Jeff Gordon - Got his first career win in this race and it would be sort of appropriate for him to win here as he is undergoing a bit of renaissance.
Kurt Busch - Looked good in the All-Star race and if Penske wins at Indy, this would give him the Daily Double.
Kasey Kahne - A Ford has got to win a race sometime this year.

I'm not gonna take it anymore

The fact that Fox 29 in Philadelphia is showing a political debate instead of the NASCAR race is outrageous. Would they do this for a Phillies game? No. A Flyers game? No. A Sixers game ... well maybe. An Eagles game? Never even a thought.
Since this was done locally, there is no other channel to watch the race at Richmond.
This is a disaster.
No Boogity, Boogity, Boogity!
The late Dale Earnhardt would have rattled these guys cages by now.
I'd rather listen to Larry and DW during a rain delay than this.