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Now that we know Carl Edwards is returning to Roush Fenway Racing next season, expect the rest of the Silly Season dominoes to start falling quickly. But even though the Edwards drama is over, there is an aspect of the rumored move by Edwards to Joe Gibbs Racing that seems to have been overlooked by some folks. If Edwards did indeed end up taking over the #20 Home Depot ride, there was talk that JGR would start a fourth team with sponsorship from NAPA. That sounded a little unbelievable considering NAPA currently has a deal with Martin Truex Jr. and Michael Waltrip Racing through 2012. But in a recent article by Lee Spencer over at FOXSports.com, J.D. Gibbs admitted that NAPA had submitted an RFP to JGR regarding sponsorship. So while they may have a contract with MWR through 2012, it appears the auto parts retailer could have an out in their deal and are exploring their options.
A possible reason why NAPA could be looking at other teams to sponsor for 2012 and beyond is the performance of MWR and Truex’s #56 team. Since coming to MWR following the 2009 season, Truex’s results have been disappointing. In 56 races, the #56 car only has one top five and thirteen top ten finishes. This lack of performance led MWR to replace crew chief Pat Tryson in June (we questioned the move then), but a big turnaround has yet to happen. Truex’s average finish in the seven races with new crew chief Chad Johnston has improved from 19.7 to 18.4, but the team has actually dropped two spots in the points. And after nearly two seasons together, NAPA may have seen all they need to see.
Besides a possible fourth JGR entry, there are plenty of top tier teams in need of backing for 2012 and beyond. Of the four Roush Fenway cars, only one (Greg Biffle’s #16) has sponsorship for next season. Clint Bowyer appears to be on the cusp of re-signing with Richard Childress Racing, but sponsorship for his #33 has yet to be announced. We’ve heard RCR might be close to locking down funding for Bowyer, and it’s not unrealistic to think NAPA could be in play here. There could also be a million other possible combinations with Stewart-Haas needing more funding, drivers like Mark Martin and Brian Vickers available, or the possibility of a deal with a young driver (Trevor Bayne & Ricky Stenhouse Jr. come to mind). The point being that NAPA has plenty of options.
Whether NAPA actually makes a move remains to be seen, but their availability could add a new wrinkle to what’s left of the Silly Season. If they’ve already submitted an RFP to JGR, we’ve got to believe that they’ve inquired with other teams as well. And like we mentioned on Twitter earlier today, don’t believe anything (like denials in this case) until a deal is actually done.
The Indiana Business Journal reported this week that Crown Royal may be in negotiations with Indianapolis Motor Speedway to become the title sponsor of the Brickyard 400 weekend. According to their report the deal could be the richest title sponsorship in NASCAR at around $1.5 million annually. The multi-year deal could be announced in as soon as two weeks at the upcoming 400. If true, it would make the recent moves made by IMS make a lot more sense.
It was announced officially last week that the Nationwide Series would not return to Lucas Oil Raceway Park in 2012, and instead would shift over to IMS as part of the Brickyard 400 weekend. Also a part of the event, IMS has added a GRAND-AM Series race on the track’s road course. Both moves now appear to be an effort by IMS to sweeten the deal for Crown Royal. With waning attendance in recent years, the track had to do something to justify a price tag north of $1 million.
This report comes just two weeks after Crown Royal announced it would not return to Roush Fenway Racing next season as sponsor of Matt Kenseth’s #17 Ford. Along with their team sponsorship, Crown Royal had also been a title sponsor at Richmond with their “Your Name Here” 400 program. The announcement had some interesting phrasing regarding the future of this part of their NASCAR program:
The changes are made to allow Diageo to shift resources toward its annual “Your Name Here” program, in which Crown Royal awards naming rights to a Sprint Cup event to an adult fan, recently with a military background. “We look forward to elevating this program as well as continuing our presence in the sport through an experience that our fans have grown to love,” Briese said. Details about next year’s race sponsorship will be announced at a later date, she added. The “Your Name Here” event has traditionally been held at Richmond International Raceway, but there was no information immediately available Tuesday as to what track would host the race in 2012 and beyond.
The changes are made to allow Diageo to shift resources toward its annual “Your Name Here” program, in which Crown Royal awards naming rights to a Sprint Cup event to an adult fan, recently with a military background. “We look forward to elevating this program as well as continuing our presence in the sport through an experience that our fans have grown to love,” Briese said.
Details about next year’s race sponsorship will be announced at a later date, she added. The “Your Name Here” event has traditionally been held at Richmond International Raceway, but there was no information immediately available Tuesday as to what track would host the race in 2012 and beyond.
Knowing what we know now, it would appear that Crown Royal may be preparing to use the Brickyard sponsorship to escalate the “Your Name Here” program.
The loss of the NNS and Truck events from LORP has been an unpopular move (we wrote about it here and here). Initially, the move appeared to just be IMS attempting to boost fading ticket sales. But now, the changes make a lot more sense. While the track certainly hopes to see a boost at the gates, the added races make the sponsorship deal much more valuable for Crown Royal.
The business end of NASCAR is finally starting to turn around, and we saw proof of it this last week. On Tuesday, Farmers Insurance announced a three year deal to sponsor Kasey Kahne’s #5 Chevrolets at Hendrick Motorsports. Farmers will be the primary sponsor for 22 races each season, and will get “prominent brand placement” in all other events. While Hendrick still has races to fill for the #5, Farmers represents new money into NASCAR, and that’s a good sign for everyone.
It seems that over the last few seasons, we’ve seen many sponsors move from one team to another, but we haven’t seen a ton of new sponsors coming in. The downturn in the economy and NASCAR’s attendance and ratings struggles have been the main reasons. It’s certainly not a bad thing when sponsors move teams, just as long as they stay involved in the sport. But over time, it’s unrealistic to think that all current sponsors will stay involved. Agendas will change and companies will leave. It’s important to the future health of the sport that teams are able to attract sponsors that have never been involved in NASCAR before.
Farmers’ deal with Hendrick is part of a broader plan by the insurance provider to increase consumer awareness. They’ve also signed recent deals with the PGA Tour and the proposed NFL stadium in Los Angeles. (If you’re a Sports Business Journal subscriber, see recent article about Farmers here.)
Along with the good news from HMS, we heard from FOX this week that the overall TV ratings for their 13 events were up 9% over 2010. As NASCAR rights deals edge closer to expiring, numbers like this will be very important in the renegotiation process. They also help teams in selling sponsorship deals like Hendrick did with Farmers.
As the year progresses, hopefully we will see a few more deals like this one emerge. There are plenty of teams still looking to lock down sponsorship for 2012 and beyond, including RCR’s #33, and maybe Farmers will help open up a flow of new money.
You know that old saying, “money doesn’t grow on trees”? Well the same can be said for sponsorships. And in a tough economic environment that’s never been more true.
We get questions around here every now and then about why a team isn’t able to find sponsorship. This question has popped up recently with the difficulty the Wood Brothers have had securing All Star Race sponsorship for Trevor Bayne. People are asking, “he won the Daytona 500, why can’t they find sponsorship?”
There is often a sort of paradox on the business development side of motorsports where competitiveness (or even wins) doesn’t always lead to success in finding sponsorship. Look at RCR and Kevin Harvick – they were closing gaps in their sponsorship right up to the start of the season. Or how about Earnhardt Ganassi Racing and Jamie McMurray last season – they closed the gap with sponsorship from McDonalds the week after he won the 500.
The important lesson from the above cases though is that these deals came to fruition through months of effort and relationship building, not a few weeks of fleeting success and/or wishful thinking. Remember Cup Series sponsorships for a whole season run upwards of $20 million and beyond. Single races can run anywhere from $600,000 to $1 million. Neither figure is chump change and spending that kind of money, even for a Fortune 500 company, requires a vetting process that can take a considerable amount of time.
No real sponsorship deal (and I’m talking about those that are actually valuable, not a partnership with the Days Inn Martinsville) is born over night, or even over the course of just a few weeks.
In the case of Trevor Bayne consider that the Wood Brothers entered this season with the intention of running the young driver in just a handful of races. No one would have guessed he would pull a great upset and win the Daytona 500. They just weren’t prepared to find sponsorship to run Bayne in additional races, and didn’t have that nice lead time enjoyed by others doing the same thing.
The Wood Brothers and I would imagine their friends at Roush Fenway Racing are doing all they can to secure funding for Bayne. The fact is though, these things take time. And as much as we like instant gratification, it just doesn’t fit the reality here.
Justin Allgaier has had a solid season. In his second year in the Nationwide Series he has one win, two poles, 11 top-fives, 19 top-10s, 221 laps led (including 88 laps led this weekend) and a solid lock on fourth place in the points. He’s the leading Nationwide-only driver in the points and one of only four in the top-10. And yet he’s looking for a ride (I wrote about this a couple of weeks ago).
On the flip side is Brian Scott. He’s an OK driver and an affable guy. He lost his ride this season after the sale of Braun Racing to Steve Turner, owner of Turner Motorsports – it turns out Steve Turner only likes funded drivers when he’s doing the funding. Anyway, Scott, who has been driving for RAB Racing as of late, has had a mediocre season in which he’s posted one top-five and five top-10s. He sits 14th in the points.
Now both of these guys have talked to Joe Gibbs Racing about next year. One has money to fund a ride, the other doesn’t.
Last month JD Gibbs spoke glowingly about Scott and their potential relationship.
“I have a lot of respect for Brian…I met him several years ago and have followed him since he’s been in the sport. I think he’s gifted. We’re just going to go to work and see if something works out…We would love to have someone that could run for the full driver’s championship. Right now we can run (for) the owners championship but we can’t run the full drivers (title). I’d love to have someone that could run for the full driver’s championship and he’d be a good fit for that.”
On the other hand Allgaier spoke to ESPN’s David Newton a couple of weeks ago about where he stands.
Richard Petty Motorsports would be an ideal place for this budding star. Joe Gibbs Racing has been rumored to show interest. Allgaier admits he’s had casual talks with both of them, but not to the point he would say there is strong interest unless he has a sponsor promising to come with him.
Talking about how and why drivers have their rides these days has been a bit of a taboo subject. Consider this little back and forth between Kenny Wallace and Brian Scott on Twitter. Wallace, while talking about Trevor Bayne, said: “MY THOUGHTS..Trevor Bayne is a good driver, He will get a ride Imediately (sic) !..Brian Scotts dad is wealthy he will BUY a ride Imediately (sic)…”
Despite the bluntness of the statement, what Wallace said was true. Joe Scott’s the chairman of the JA & Kathryn Albertson Foundation, an Idaho real estate developer and the grandson of the founder of the grocery chain Albertson’s. The Scotts have money and are very able to help their son’s career.
Justin Allgaier too comes from a family who has been able financially to help his dream. Funding an ARCA team though is a little different than a Nationwide team. And the fact is, Allgaier got his job at Penske on his merits – not his family’s money.
Unfortunately, what we have today is a very expensive sport where winning and being competitive isn’t always the most important thing. There was a time not too long ago that rent-a-rides only existed at small organizations. Today, just about everybody has somebody paying for a ride.
I worry often that this practice is leaving us with a talent vacuum. The drivers are certainly out there, but if the only ones getting a chance are the ones with money, what does this mean for the future of competition?
It’s a tough situation we’re in, but one I hope doesn’t stand the test of time. It’s unfortunate a driver with all the talent in the world and strong record is no longer guaranteed a ride, but a driver with a thin record and all the money in the world is.
The economy still stinks. Sponsorship is scarce. And racing is expensive.
These are all lessons Kyle Busch is learning first hand in what has become his ill-timed foray into NASCAR team ownership. And boy did he let us all know how tough it was standing in his shoes this weekend.
“It’s hard to get anything and there really is nobody coming into it… It’s hard to sell. Right now, just going through all that, learning how to run the team, learning how to run the business has been stressful and strenuous and very impacting on my pocketbook as well… If we don’t find a sponsor for next year, I’m going to have shut it down. I’m not going to be able to do anything. That’s very unfortunate because I love all the guys working for me.”
I can’t blame Kyle for this – I can’t imagine the amount of money he’s spent on this effort. I don’t hear anybody faulting the guy for not committing to run a race team out of his pocket – it’s a very expensive thing to do – but I don’t understand the point of this ‘poor me’ game.
While this line of talk certainly draws attention and makes everyone aware of the situation, I’m not sure it’s the kind of attention someone in this situation wants or needs. The fact is, the takeaway from the press conference was that Kyle could very well shut down his operation. Chances are a good portion of the coverage is going to be less than positive or productive. Not what a team struggling to find a foothold wants potential sponsors to read on the front pages of the sport’s most popular websites and publications.
If this tactic is to attract sponsorship, this is not the right track to take. Companies want to sponsor stable teams – this is not the sign of a stable team.
Germain worked this for a while last season, and it was marginally successful. They were able to put together some small, one-off deals, but nothing sustainable. The caveat with Germain is the amount of media attention they got with their ‘plight.’ It was a constant source of conversation during Truck race broadcasts and in the other forms of media surrounding the series, and meant that those companies doing one-off deals got all the media they could handle.
The issue with KBM though is that they aren’t looking for small, one-off deals, they’re looking for long term, high-dollar sponsorships – sponsorships that run in the $1 million+ range. These aren’t easy to come by in the current environment as Kyle continued to point out:
“The series is, as we all know, is a lower-budgeted series, but there’s a lot of guys struggling to find funding… I know a couple guys out there that put sponsors on their trucks for almost a whole year for $250,000, $300,000. That’s flooding the market. That’s just killing the Truck Series. You can’t do that. They’ve gotta get something.”
I’m not sure a whole lot can be done on NASCAR’s part – it really takes a commitment from those selling the sponsorships not to undercut and erode the entire market – but I agree with Kyle and I know some of you that there are real issues with funding in the series. What can be done about that, I don’t know.
That said, I’m not sure complaining or feeling sorry for oneself is the way to find appropriate sponsorship. It makes those doing the complaining look desperate and petty – a stench no one wants associated with their operation.
I’m not sure if this is posturing, or a shot across the bow, but I can tell you I’d be a little nervous if I worked over at KBM.
With big announcements flying this week, the teams are getting geared up to head for Bristol for a little short track Saturday night action. Don’t forget, the Truck Series races tonight at the ”World’s Fastest Half Mile.” If you don’t know what this post is, we answer any and all reader questions every Wednesday, right here. So if you’ve got one, click on the ”Ask the Insiders” tab at the top of the page and send one to us. On to the questions…
1. From Michael in SoCal:
Following up on Franq’s question from last week about using the road course at Indy for the Cup Series race, what about using one of the road courses at Pocono? If the Cup Series is going there twice within a span of about seven weeks, it might be a nice change of pace, Your site is a daily read! Thanks.
Thanks Micheal! The Pocono road course is nowhere near ready to handle a NASCAR race – as we saw a couple of weeks ago the main track isn’t either. Even if Pocono were interested in upgrading their road course, I still don’t think NASCAR is all that interested in adding road courses to the schedule. I do agree though seven or eight weeks is a little ridiculous between races, and any change would be welcome. – Journo
2. From Dan:
Hey guys I know you all remain anonymous but what I wonder about is how you get info (outside the technical stuff) without raising suspicions. The answer you gave last week ( Ask the Insiders #87) about the Target sponsorship and the deal they have with EGR/ CGR I would think would be only privy to those associated with that team. Of course that’s not to say you all couldn’t find out. But couldn’t someone connect the dots after seeing an answer to a question? Like hey I was asked that last week by so and so. Hope what I’m saying makes sense. Anyway just curious.
Well we would never ask someone a question that appears on the site for the exact reason you suggest. If we ever don’t know an answer to a question or can’t easily find out through inconspicuous means we’ll tell you we don’t know. As far as last week’s question goes, Ganassi’s program is very well known to those who are familiar with sponsorship in the sport. On top of those at the team that are familiar with the program you’ve got to consider all the people connected with those individual sponsorship deals that are also familiar with it – literally hundreds of people currently and formerly associated with the team and sponsors. – Journo
3. From red8814:
I understand that Sadler’s helmet, seat & HANS were all scheduled to be scanned for fractures following his wreck at Pocono. If a driver is in a far less severe, “moderate” wreck that takes him to infield care b/c the car won’t start up, is there any automatic review of his safety equipment, including the belts/harness?
Not that I am aware of. All over the rule book in the section about safety gear, it is repeated that the drivers are responsible for their own safety equipment and it’s proper usage. NASCAR is in no way responsible for any of it. – T.C.
4. From Michael in SoCal:
Any thoughts on why Robby Gordon put PJ Jones in the # 7 and moved himself into the # 07 last week at Michigan? Thanks.
Robby put PJ in the #7 car because he knew they would be guaranteed to start the race (PJ qualified 41st) – he knew he would be much better positioned to get into the race on speed (he qualifed 35th). And then they both start-and-parked – the double start-and-park, always a classy move. – Journo
5. From Ryan:
T.C.-After reading that Casey Mears will take over the Germain #13 car starting at Atlanta and full-time next year, I’m wondering how well do you think he will do?
I wouldn’t expect much from this move. While Mears is certainly more experienced than Papis, his performances certainly haven’t been stellar over his career. Let’s remember that this is the same Mears who struggled at Ganassi, Hendrick, Childress, and Red Bull. He certainly won’t resurrect his career in an underfunded Cup car for Germain Racing. – T.C.
6. From Denny:
Have been reading a blog which mentions something about Reuti running a non-approved intake supplied by TRD on the engine which won at Chicago. Even one of the announcers stated Reuti showed-up with a different intake for this race. How could they possibly get away with this, with all of the inspections going on, both before and after the race in Chicago. Also, reading that NASCAR will be testing engines after MIS. Does anyone, other than NASCAR officials get to view the actual testing? Will these be a real dyno test…..on a stand-type engine dyno or just a chassis dyno? Thanks for the great info, as always!
Honestly, I don’t know anything about this. If it’s actually true, both MWR and TRD have done a remarkable job keeping it quiet. NASCAR’s inspection process is certainly extensive, and if any other team caught any wind of this, it would have been reported to NASCAR immediately. That fact alone makes me question the validity of what you’ve read. And after Michigan, NASCAR did take 16 engines from various teams. Since they only took the engines, the dyno tests will be done on a standard dyno, not a chassis dyno. Don’t expect NASCAR to make the results public unless a drastic rule change comes about because of the tests. – T.C.
7. From Allen:
Why doesn’t NASCAR consider doing the “side by side” coverage, commercials on the right and the race on the left? If IndyCar can pull it off we can.
It’s all got to do with the way the advertising is structured within NASCAR’s TV deals, and I’ll be honest I really don’t know all the specifics. It’s feasible, we’ve seen them do it with the Coke Zero 400 on TNT, but I don’t know that NASCAR and their broadcast partners are all that interested in doing it. Here is an article from 2006 that answers some of your questions. – Journo
8. From Justin:
I know questions about payouts have been asked before, but none of it really makes sense. Just a few examples from Michigan. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 19th $86,050, David Gilliland 36th $86,148. Brad Keselowski 34th $98, 535, Sam Hornish Jr 32nd $79,950. Clint Bowyer 13th $89,975, Jeff Burton 24th $111,565. The payouts don’t make any sense. Why would one team apart of the same organization take part in different contingency programs? What contingency program could David Gilliland be a part of that Dale Jr isn’t?
It’s not all about what contingency programs a team is involved in. The reason some drivers make more then others depends on what contingency programs a team is involved in AND in what payout plan a team is in. I believe NASCAR has four different plans setup, and each team fits into one of those plans. I don’t know specific details, but the plans award prize money based on not only where you finish, but also past performance and longevity. – T.C.
9. From Newracefan:
I heard several times on Nascar Now about the HMS cars not having speed. I know when I listened to the 48 scanner Sunday on more than one occasion JJ was sayong the car was good but Chad was saying it he wasn’t fast enough. Is there something to this?
It is certainly possible for a car to have a good balance with the chassis setup, but just not be very fast. I’m just speculating, but maybe they were missing something aerodynamically, or they were possibly down on horsepower a bit. Let’s not forget that Johnson still finished 12th, so it must not have been that bad. – T.C.
10. From Lost in Texas:
With Kahne and Ambrose settled for next year, does this make Sadler the top free agent on the market for this year and who is the top ride that will be looking for a driver?
Well, unless a team does something drastic, or a team like Gibbs finally starts a fourth team, there aren’t really any open rides left. If Scott Speed and/or Brian Vickers don’t return to Red Bull, there might be an opening there, but that’s about it. Besides that, RPM is realistically the only team left with openings. Childress, Hendrick, Roush, Gibbs, Stewart Haas, MWR, EGR, and Penske are all full up for 2011. So I guess you could make the argument that Sadler is the top free agent driver, but without any openings, I’m not sure that means much. – T.C.
And that brings yet another “Ask The Insiders Wednesday” to a close. Thanks to everyone who sent in questions. And remember, if you’d like to be a part of next week, click on the ”Ask the Insiders” tab at the top of the page and send your question in!
Before I really get into this post, I wanted to share a quote from Michael McDowell that he posted tonight on his Twitter page (@Mc_Driver). McDowell has been driving the #55 for Prism Motorsports this season, and is one of the start-and-park crowd’s usual suspects. There was some discussion about the reasons often given for why these teams fail to finish, which are usually bogus, and McDowell had a great response.
“They get mad at me when I tell them ‘I was going down the straight away and the funding fell off.’”
It was a bluntly honest comment from a good kid who is just trying to make it in racing, and I wanted to share. Keep fighting McD…
Over the last few seasons, starting and parking has become a regular part of the sport. Fewer teams and less available sponsorship dollars have contributed to the phenomenon. Lately though, it seems that the number of teams doing it has increased in the Nationwide and Truck Series. I believe it is a frightening trend, as most of these are victims of sponsorship losses.
Instead of trashing these teams though, I wanted to hopefully open up your eyes about the practice. While there are certainly those teams out there who are doing it for nothing but the profit, for many, this isn’t exactly the case.
Lets picture for a moment that you are a NASCAR car owner. Your team runs mid pack each week, but it’s a solid operation and it’s respectable. Then something unforeseen happens and you lose your sponsorship. Maybe you only had a partial deal, or maybe an agreement fell through. And now, no matter how hard you try, you just can’t find a replacement. What do you do? You really only have two choices: shut down completely because of lack of funding; or trim down your staff and begin starting and parking until something comes along.
This exact scenario is what many are now starting to face. Instead of putting entire shops of people out of work, owners are using the start-and-park startegy to weather the storm and keep the doors open until they can put money together. It buys the owners more time to find sponsorship, and it keeps the employees’ paychecks coming on time. Knowing that, it’s hard to really blame them for it.
Something else to consider is how this affects these owners and teams. Remember that people get involved in racing because they want to compete. They want to go out each weekend and try and be the best. Starting and parking though, goes against the very idea of competition. Pulling out of a race after only a few laps with a perfectly good race car is a very difficult thing to do. Add on top of that the fact that most fans and NASCAR itself severely disapprove of the practice, and you begin to see how demoralizing it can be.
In a perfect world, we’d have 43+ fully funded teams showing up to the track each weekend to race the full distance. But we don’t live in a perfect world. In reality, the world is a very tough place to try and race. I know for many of you, the simple mention of the phrase “start-and-park” gets your blood boiling. Trust me, I understand. It makes me sick to my stomach to watch these cars pull into the garage each weekend after a few laps.
Do me a favor though? Don’t forget that sometimes bad things happen to good people, and tough choices need to be made. Not all of the start and parkers are the enemy.
We’ve made it to the Scott Speed edition of Ask The Insiders Wednesday (get it? 82…). Upcoming this weekend is a NASCAR mid-west triple header, with the Nationwide and Cup cars at Chicago, and the Trucks at Iowa. While we work through a short week, here are more reader questions and answers for you. If you don’t know what this post is, we answer any and all reader questions every Wednesday, right here. So if you’ve got one, click on the ”Ask the Insiders” tab at the top of the page and send one to us. On to the questions…
1. From Woogeroo:
Howdy Insiders! The qualifying vs. race trim question from last week got me to wondering about what is allowed to be changed these days? I’ve read that Larry McReynolds had a some crazy number of things he would change back when he was a crew chief… but that was back when they could swap motors between racing/qualifying, no impounding and pre spoiler mobile. I’ve read of things like special oils/lubricants for various things just to run the two laps… then they drain it out and put the good stuff in for the race. Does NASCAR still allow all of these shenanigans? I guess what I am asking is… what all is being changed on the car?
Anything and everything is fair game. Like I said last week, whatever it takes to make the cars go as fast as possible for two laps. That means doing things like making the car as aerodynamic as possible (taping up openings), and doing whatever is necessary to move weight around (legally). Teams will also change chassis elements, put more air pressure in the tires, and use lighter lubricants. - T.C.
2. From Joseph:
Hey Guys, will Bobby L. race for the #09 for the rest of the year? Is there any other team your aware of for 2011 ? Do you think Bobby is done? I hope not I believe he still can drive he just needs that 2nd chance like Martin got. Thanks.
As of right now it’s only a two race deal – Chicago and Daytona. Certainly if they’re happy with him and money can be put together that could be extended. I don’t think Bobby’s done in NASCAR, but his Cup Series opportunities are dwindling. Could he have a resurgence? Its possible, but I don’t think it’s likely. – Journo
3. From Ryan:
Any word on sponsors for Smoke. I heard Maybe Stanley. Thanks.
To be honest, I haven’t heard even the slightest small rumor about who or what Stewart Haas is going after. I’m sure that Bass Pro Shops and Budweiser are in play, as is any other company that has an expiring contract. – T.C.
4. From Eddie:
What happened to Scott Lagassee Jr?
Lagassee started out the season with Baker Curb Racing in the #43 NNS car, but has been out of the car for a few weeks because of lack of funding. Unless he can find a sponsor or put more money together, you probably won’t see him back. – T.C.
5. From Dan:
Why didn’t Chevy use the Camaro in the NNS or even the Malibu. Did I miss something? People are referring to the new NNS cars as pony cars. My thinking is the Challenger and Mustang are true pony cars,but not the Impala and Camry.
You’d be correct in your assessment. I’m not sure why they didn’t use the Malibu – that’s not a bad idea – but they didn’t use the Camaro because the COT didn’t allow for them to do justice to the body lines of the car. GM’s Mark Kent said:
“At the end of the day, because of the quest for very close competition and the need to have templated bodies in that series, we felt that by forcing the Camaro into the Nationwide templates that we were compromising the body lines of an iconic car. So at the end of the day we just could not get the Camaro in the Nationwide series to satisfy our requirements.”
- Journo
6. From Billy:
What are your opinons of fan sponsored cars?
I don’t think there is anything wrong with fan sponsored cars. They though are not a sustainable way to run an operation. I’m assuming this question is coming up because of the ‘formation’ of that America’s Racing Team. I think I’m going to do my post on this for Thursday so I’ll elaborate then, but I hope no one opens their checkbook for it, I’ll say that. It’s one thing to send RAB Racing some money to get Scott Riggs on track – it’s a completely other thing to spend $500 on a ‘membership’ with some no-name start-up organization. – Journo
7. From Nancy:
How much do NASCAR spotters make?
Anywhere from $500 a race on up to a few thousand per race for the well known spotters with big name drivers. – T.C.
8. From Ric:
In the Coke Zero 400 why was Paul Menard given a “lucky dog” so late in the last caution? There was no way for him to make it around the track and reach the pack, not to mention get into the correct spot, for the restart.
What I believe you saw was Menard off and on pit road fixing damage. By the time he got back on track it was time for the restart – so the jump he got wasn’t a big one. They were already a lap down, so what mattered was that they get the damage fixed as best they could. They still got a lap back and a jump on the field with the lucky dog. It just wasn’t the advantage it could have been if his car was 100%. – Journo
9. From Kevin:
Can you guys comment on the sponsorship “issue” with the 29 car. I have been a Harvick fan since day 1, and he has always seemed like one of the more marketable drivers on the circuit. Granted the last couple of years were tough in the performance department, but he still got a lot of air time. Now that he is a legit title contender (yes, these exist outside of Henrick and Gibbs camp, depsite what the media thinks) why is is taking so long to solidify his 2011 sponsor? Do you think it is a case of having many options? Or a case of a sponsor from a current team *coughUPScough* leaving? Seems odd that a guy like Harvick leading the points, winning races, cant find a sponsor, even in these difficult times.
Shell Pennzoil is leaving RCR more for the business to business relationship with the Penske Automotive Group than they are for the competition end of things. A large number of sponsors are in the sport because of the opportunities they have to make money off the track. Take the Dupont, Hendrick Automotive Group relationship. I’m confident RCR won’t have a problem finding a sponsor or sponsors to fill the void being left by Shell. It’s not necessarily out of the ordinary that you aren’t hearing about anything. This is the time of the year that teams are waltzing sponsors, and the sponsors are looking for the most bang for their buck. Never fear, there is still a lot of time – things will be just fine. – Journo