Trouble in Turn2

Sponsorship is playing a greater role in Silly Season than ever before. With increased costs to simply fund a team, let alone a successful team, it’s no wonder that drivers are loathe to sign a contract without firm sponsorship in place. Greg Biffle has still not signed a new deal with Roush. The last two seasons have seen the #16 car’s sponsorship in flux. Roush has a plethora of associate sponsors both at the Cup and Nationwide level that could fill in the cracks, but I’m sure Biffle would prefer a sponsor that is 100% dedicated to his ride.

Jeff Burton might be in a similar situation after this season. Although he has signed an extnesion with RCR, AT&T’s grandfather exemption expires after this season. That means either General Mills is destined for the #31 instead of RCR’s new 4th car or Burton will require a new sponsor. Burton, like Biffle, has both the results and personality to attract other sponsors, but nothing is a sure deal in today’s economy with limited dollars to go around.

Joining Biffle and Burton in the “show me the [sponsor] money” line is Ryan Newman. Newman’s deal is similar to Burton’s. Verizon is acquiring Newman’s current paint scheme, Alltel, which would exclude them from the Cup level. Like Roush, Penske Racing has several associate sponsors plus Penske’s own Truck Rental brand to cover Newman’s #12 car. The clowns at One Bad Wheel had some thoughts about Newman’s fate.

I expect all three to re-sign with their current teams, but the longer it drags on only muddies things. The other factor is they might be waiting to see what the big, orange domino named Tony Stewart does. That could greatly alter things.

Speaking of drivers re-signing with their teams, Bobby Labonte has done so with Petty Enterprises. It’s part of a large reorganization at PE. An investor, Boston Ventures, will bring additional capital to the team and deal with the business side of things. Kyle Petty will step aside as CEO to focus on driving a part-time schedule. Another part of the plan is the eventual goal of a 3rd Cup team. It’s good to have goals, I guess.

Probably the biggest piece to the Petty announcement is that they are no longer the small, independent team they have been for decades. Well, they could either shrivel up and die a slow death or try and prolong it as long as they could. Tradition is nice but just like the second Darlington race and Rockingham, it needs to make sense and money. Without the influx of cash, Petty was in danger of doing neither.

Today is Friday the 13th, which means Jason Leffler is a lock to win the Cup pole.

Based on the wayward direction of the company, it’s no surprise that Dodge is struggling in NASCAR. Witness their latest sales campaign based on Dodge paying for your gas for three years. It sounds like a great idea at first until you realize that Dodge’s fleet features some of the most fuel-inefficient cars available. They do not have a hybrid or economy-sized car. With gas prices expected to stay around $4.00 (not to mention the other benefits of using less petroleum), the point shouldn’t be to get someone else to pay for the gas but to find a way to use less gas. Dodge’s plan is kind of like Dunkin Donuts trying to appeal to dieters not by offering healthy alternatives, but instead featuring a donut with reduced fat.

Of all the lame car commercials, some of the stupidest come in the truck category. Building exceedingly elaborate courses just to show how strong an F-150 or Tundra is is silly. Spinning an F-150 by its towhooks, or having a Tundra accelerate through a guillotine contraption seems extremely silly. “If the towhooks are this strong, imagine the rest of the truck.” Does anyone sit at home, watch the ad and then think, “I gotta get me one of them trucks with military-strength towhooks!” If I ever get my struck stuck in a tornado or participate in a life-sized game of Mousetrap, then I’m in great shape.

In a fit of grandeur I entered a writing contest last week. I have no visions of winning, but it was something different to try. The rules were to write about a topic and what it would look like a year from now. And it had to be under 500 words in one day. Intelligence, speed and brevity, not exactly my strengths. I’d much rather take several days to compose unintelligent babble in 700-1000+ words. Anyway, have a look and see what you think.