A question I had...

[labontefanboy]

So I was looking at Jayski's team chart, and it seems to me that there's a lot of uncertainty in NASCAR this close to Speedweeks. Since I've only been following NASCAR by way of jayski for a year, I was wondering if there's always this much uncertainty. Quite a few teams' status is up in the air still. The status of the #09, #7, #10, #12, #26, #36, #37, #55, #64 (except for Bodine @ Daytona), #66, #71, #76 and #77 are still up in the air. Not to mention drivers like Bill Elliott, Kevin Conway, Dave Blaney, Michael McDowell, and Scott Speed still have no announced, solid plans. Is it just the economy, or is there always a lot of this around this time of year?

 

[4WideRacing]

Last year was a little like this year. I think the economy has really changed how the teams finish deals. It seems like this year is a lot worse then the others.

 

[Cheeze]

Well, teams announce things when the deal is done. 3 years ago, a deal being "done" was when they signed a contract. With the economy nowadays a deal is "done" after they have the funding in their hands.

 

[Legacyofthe24]

well if i'm not mistaken, the 66 will be steven wallace who now has the points from the 77 so he's guaranteed in.

 

[pennst24]

I really wouldn't be surprised if there is a race with less than 43 cars.

 

[Fisha695]

I really wouldn't be surprised if there is a race with less than 43 cars.

Unless there is a team that destroys their 1 & only car that they have at the track during a practice it won't happen. NASCAR has to many contracts that say "There has to be 43 starters". Back in the day to fufill those contracts NASCAR used to pay ARCA & Sportsman drivers to enter their cars run 5 laps & park, with the differences between the cars now they can't do that so instead they'll write a check (or multiple checks) to get a full entry list.

 

[B.McKeever]

In the 90s they had multiple times where there were not 43 cars in the race.

 

[Fisha695]

In the 90s they had multiple times where there were not 43 cars in the race.

Prior to 1998 the amount of starters was determined by the amount of stalls on the track. With the 1998 season one of the rules/procedures that was homologized was that each Cup race would have 43 starters.

 

[canadienhits]

labontefanboy...yea, there's always been some of that...not as much, because a lot of teams gear up for the next year before the current season ends. You'll find the "field filler" teams looking to pick up a "free agent" driver at this point, someone who can get them into the top-35.

 

[Lap_Down]

It's kinda scary when even top teams with famous drivers have a hard time getting sponsors. I think even the 24 car was looking for a part-time sponsor for the year and he had to get the Food Drive sponsor thingy. Even Tony Stewart had to look for a new sponsor too I think. Sponsors seem to be leaving the sport more often than not. I wonder what it is going to be like in 5 years... probably worse I bet if Nascar's ratings are still slumping by then.

 

[canadienhits]

It's kinda scary when even top teams with famous drivers have a hard time getting sponsors. I think even the 24 car was looking for a part-time sponsor for the year and he had to get the Food Drive sponsor thingy. Even Tony Stewart had to look for a new sponsor too I think. Sponsors seem to be leaving the sport more often than not. I wonder what it is going to be like in 5 years... probably worse I bet if Nascar's ratings are still slumping by then.

That is why you are seeing all, if not almost all, teams have multi-sponsors. It's tough to get $30 million for a season from one sponsor, but easier to get lets $10 from 3. Problem is that where do you find the three sponsors. Sponsors leave the sport, and come back....and truth be told, NASCAR, even with their "screw-ups" is a better sponsorship than some sports, and is still in the top-5 sports in the states.

 

[Fisha695]

It's kinda scary when even top teams with famous drivers have a hard time getting sponsors. I think even the 24 car was looking for a part-time sponsor for the year and he had to get the Food Drive sponsor thingy. Even Tony Stewart had to look for a new sponsor too I think. Sponsors seem to be leaving the sport more often than not. I wonder what it is going to be like in 5 years... probably worse I bet if Nascar's ratings are still slumping by then.

That is why you are seeing all, if not almost all, teams have multi-sponsors. It's tough to get $30 million for a season from one sponsor, but easier to get lets $10 from 3. Problem is that where do you find the three sponsors. Sponsors leave the sport, and come back....and truth be told, NASCAR, even with their "screw-ups" is a better sponsorship than some sports, and is still in the top-5 sports in the states.

I think another big problem with finding sponsorship is that where at one time there was 3 companies now it's only 1.

Stanley Black & Decker
-- Stanley
-- Black & Decker
-- DeWalt
-- Porter-Cable
-- Kwikset
-- Bostitch
-- MAC Tools

Procter & Gamble
-- Bounty
-- Braun
-- Charmin
-- Crest
-- Dawn
-- Downy
-- Duracell
-- Gillette
-- Pampers
-- Pringles
-- Tide
-- Old Spice
-- Pepto-Bismol
-- Prilosec OTC
-- Vicks

Prestige Brands
-- Compound W
-- New-Skin
-- Comet
-- Spic and Span

The J.M. Smucker Co.
-- Jif
-- Smuckers
-- Magic Shell (icecream topping)
-- Crisco
-- Folgers
-- Millstone
-- Dunkin' Donuts (the branded coffee you can buy to make at home)
-- Pillsbury
-- PET Milk
-- Knott's Berry Farm
-- Carnation

Dr Pepper Snapple Group
-- 7up
-- A&W Root Beer
-- Canada Dry
-- Country Time
-- Crush
-- Diet Rite
-- Dr Pepper
-- Hawaiian Punch
-- IBC Root Beer
-- Mott's
-- Nantucket Nectars
-- RC Cola
-- Schweppes
-- Snapple
-- Stewart's Fountain Classics
-- Sun Drop
-- Sunkist
-- Venom Energy Drink
-- Welch's
-- Yoo-hoo

Kraft Foods
-- A1 Steak Sauce
-- Better Cheddars
-- Boca Burger
-- BullsEye BBQ Sauce
-- Cadbury
-- California Pizza Kitchen (the ones you buy at the store)
-- Capri Sun
-- Cheesybite
-- Cheese Nips
-- Cheese Wiz
-- Chips Ahoy!
-- Christie
-- Cool Whip
-- Corn Nuts
-- Country Time (Powerded mix)
-- Cracker Barrel
-- Crystal Light
-- DiGiorno
-- Fig Newton
-- Fudgee-O
-- Grape0Nuts
-- Grey Poupon
-- Jell-P
-- Kool-Aid
-- Kraft
-- Lunchables
-- Maxwell House
-- Miracle Whip
-- Nabisco
-- Nilla
-- Nutter Butter
-- Oreo
-- Oscar Mayer
-- Planters
-- Ritz
-- Shake 'n Bake
-- Starbucks (grocery store branded items)
-- Stove Top Stuffing
-- Tang
-- Tombstone Pizza
-- Triscuit


That's a huge list of brands (bigger then I honestly through it'd be when typing it up) that is all owned by just 6 companies, whereas at various points over the past few decades that would have been 15-20 companies owning those same brands. Realistically every company I listed up there could afford Full Season Sponsorship with at least 5 of their brands (so 30 cars) yet they would rather provide only a few race sponsorships to 2 or 3 cars each. As more and more of these few individual brands get eaten up by these huge corporations the sponsorship dollars go away, and that is what the biggest problem is.

 

[Markfan]

I'm surprised the list is that big aswell, especially for Kraft.

 

[Fisha695]

I'm surprised the list is that big aswell, especially for Kraft.

Yeah and there is more then what I have listed (especially for Kraft) I just picked the well-known brands.. l0l

 

[canadienhits]

I think another big problem with finding sponsorship is that where at one time there was 3 companies now it's only 1.

That's a huge list of brands (bigger then I honestly through it'd be when typing it up) that is all owned by just 6 companies, whereas at various points over the past few decades that would have been 15-20 companies owning those same brands. Realistically every company I listed up there could afford Full Season Sponsorship with at least 5 of their brands (so 30 cars) yet they would rather provide only a few race sponsorships to 2 or 3 cars each. As more and more of these few individual brands get eaten up by these huge corporations the sponsorship dollars go away, and that is what the biggest problem is.

Very good point Fisha...yea I found that trouble in running my "realistic" league...my cars are Proctor and Gamble, which gives me a bit of wiggle room...but finding another sponsor who isn't tied to someone else by another company under the parent umbrella is hard....

 

[Lap_Down]

I think another big problem with finding sponsorship is that where at one time there was 3 companies now it's only 1.

LOL. You are so right about that. Also companies keep merging too. Heck even the title sponsor of the Cup series had to deal with the same problem. LOL. Sprint bought Nextel and then became just Sprint... and by doing so I think they prevented other wireless communication companies like Alltel & AT&T from being able to sponsor cars in Cup too. So that's like 4 possible sponsors which are no longer available.

 

[Cheeze]

So what you're getting at is that essentially the bad economy caused mergers of major corporations, which caused monopolies, which is digging advertisement funded programs and associations deeper and deeper into a hole when trying to find non-conflicting sponsors. Am I right?

 

[canadienhits]

No, mergers have been happening before the economy went south....but the economy going bad didn't help sponsorship matters.

 

[Fisha695]

So what you're getting at is that essentially the bad economy caused mergers of major corporations, which caused monopolies, which is digging advertisement funded programs and associations deeper and deeper into a hole when trying to find non-conflicting sponsors. Am I right?

The mergers that've caused this situation started happening 10-15 years ago for the most part, actually now that I think of it the economy is probaly in the shape it is in large part because of all those mergers.

 

[Cheeze]

I guess that's what happens when you drive the local "Ma and Pa" Businesses out of town in favor of your Wal Mart's.