Though nothing official has been announced, multiple sources are confirming that Boston Ventures and Petty Enterprises are terminating their deal and George Gillett, owner of Gillett Evernham Motorsports, is going to absorb the partially sponsored No. 43 Dodge and make it his fourth team.
Both Petty teams have been in search of sponsorship for months and there was talk that PE’s 2nd team, the No. 44 (formerly No. 45) would have to cut back its schedule or cease its operations. Chad McCumbee and team officials said this past week that McCumbee is under contract with Petty for 2009 and will run the No. 44 car if it is sponsored. The No. 43 has a mixture of several sponsors lined up to sponsor a good portion of the season, in wake of the departure of General Mills to Richard Childress Racing.
Gillett has been looking to add a fourth car for months and has been in talks with several teams, including Petty and Bill Davis Racing, to make that happen.
No official announcement has been made and the deal may fall through, but the ramifications of the move, if it does happen, are large in realm of NASCAR history. The No. 43 has been the flagship car of Petty Enterprises since the late 1950s and Petty Enterprises has been a part of NASCAR since its inception, when Lee Petty campaigned the No. 42.
PE has struggled for the last couple of decades and has not won a race since 1999, when John Andretti won at Martinsville in the No. 43. Last season, Bobby Labonte led the No. 43 Dodge to only two top 10 finishes and 21st in the drivers standings. The No. 45 team struggled mightily in 2008, missing multiple races and finishing well outside the Top 35. Kyle Petty, who began the season in the car, has essentially been forced from the team, and is looking to extend his career on a part-time basis elsewhere.
If the deal comes into fruition, GEM’s 2009 driver lineup will consist of Labonte in the No. 43 (assuming they number remains), Kasey Kahne in the No. 9 Dodge, Elliott Sadler in the No. 19, and Georgia driver Reed Sorenson in the No. 10. Stay tuned here for more info on this breaking story.
Crew chief musical chairs game leaves Hamlin sitting out
Drivers are not the only NASCAR personnel switching teams in mass year after year. Crew chiefs experience more turnover that a restless, sleeping child. When teams struggle, the crew chief is often the first to go. When better offers arise, crew chiefs pack their headsets and toolboxes and head to greener pastures. The transition from 2008 to 2009 has seen its share of crew chief changes, particularly in the last week.
Ryan Pemberton, who was hired away from David Reutimann’s team at Michael Waltrip Racing by Team Red Bull, has been announced as crew chief of Brian Vickers’ No. 83 team. Pemberton displaces Kevin Hamlin, who had led the team since late 2007. Hamlin will likely remain with the team in a management capacity. Both Hamlin and Pemberton led their 2008 teams to breakthrough seasons, guiding them from far outside the Top 35 in 2007 to nearly weekly contenders for Top 10s in 2008.
The position that Pemberton left open did not remain that way for very long, as MWR announced that Gillett Evernham crew chief Rodney Childers will be the head wrench of Reutimann’s No. 00 team next season. Childers vacates the No. 19 pit box and driver Elliott Sadler. Sadler’s team struggled in ’08, garnering only eight Top 10s and leaving Sadler 24th in the driver’s standings.
Todd Parrott, who either left or was let go from Yates Racing a couple of weeks ago, is rumored to be Childers’ replacement. Parrott and Sadler worked together when Sadler drove the Yates No. 38. Parrott, who has been in and out of Yates Racing for the past few seasons, led Travis Kvapil and the No. 28 Ford in 2008.
More Red Bull News: Speed officially No. 82 in ’09 and with MWR in N’wide Series
Another personnel announcement this past week was a foregone conclusion, as Team Red Bull announced officially that Scott Speed has been named A.J. Allmendinger’s replacement in the No. 84 Toyota, which will become the No. 82 in 2009. Crew chief Jimmy Elledge remains with the team for next year.
In addition to running for Rookie of the Year in the Sprint Cup Series, Speed will run a select number of races in MWR’s No. 00 Toyota in the Nationwide Series.
Speed ran five Cup races last season for Red Bull (four in the No. 84 and one in the No. 83), with a best finish of 16th in the finale at Homestead. Speed also won a Truck race last year and came just short of an ARCA championship.
Johnson worth the money for Lowe’s
Cup sponsorships can quickly become non-profitable for a company when the economy is sagging and a team is struggling. Jimmie Johnson’s lucrative sponsorship for Lowe’s has proven fruitful for the tool giant, as Johnson and the No. 48 team’s success garnered over $510,000,000 of exposure for the team. Figured into the number, though, are the values of the exposure of all of the associate and contingency sponsors that adorn the No. 48 Chevy.
Joyce Julius & Associates, Inc. determined the number by documenting how much time a sponsor spends on TV, whether mentioned by name or having their logo on camera, and then gauges a monetary value based on the sponsor’s amount and length of presence on the screen. The researchers determined that the 62 brands that adorned Johnson and his car were clearly visible on screen for a total of 59 hours, 28 minutes, and 38 seconds during Sprint Cup broadcasts. Additionally, Johnson or members of his team (like crew chief Chad Knaus or owner Rick Hendrick) mentioned sponsors’ names a total of 316 times. Of the over $500 million in exposure, nearly $200 million belonged to Lowe’s and over $65 million belonged to Chevy’s association with Johnson.
Carl Edwards and his sponsors received the most monetary exposure during the Chase races, despite garnering almost $15 million less in total exposure for the season than Johnson.
Tune-in to the Bellamy Strickland 120 this Saturday, from 3-5 p.m., on News/Talk 750 WSB in Atlanta and on wsbradio.com, to get an update on the latest racing news and to hear Captain Herb Emory’s annual Marines Toys for Tots broadcast. We will appear live from The BBQ House in Lithia Springs, GA, from noon to 5 p.m. Details on this event and a link to the FastCar Podcast are on captainherb.net.
Honda Civic for sale
Holy cow. No more Petty. That has got to be killing the King. Just one more thing to make fans turn away from NASCAR.
I just can’t comprehend NASCAR without a Petty.
But then I just can’t comprehend what NASCAR has become in the 20+ years that I’ve followed it, either.
We basically see IROC cars each week, and they might as well only run the top 15 guys, as we never see/hear anything about any of the rest of them, unless they crash and cause problems for one of the top 15.
Truck racing is the only really exciting series, and it looks to be a big victim of this economic downturn. I hope it survives, or there will not be much racing to watch anymore.
Maybe I can watch sports cars and/or touring cars?
If I can win that 300 million dollar powerball lotto then the 43 will be blue, the drivers last name would be Petty and even if I have to buy off the other 42 cars for one race then winners circle would be all smiles. And the world would be right for one Sunday afternoon.
This deal is not done, but it appears imminent. I am not as down on new NASCAR as others, but I sure will feel a void, if no Petty or Petty entry is in Sprint Cup races. There is another rumor floating around, by the way, that Bobby Labonte is doing to be moving to the No. 41 EGR car and that A.J. Allmendinger would become the 4th GEM driver. No wonder he hasn’t signed anywhere yet and the No. 41 remains open still. Thanks for the responses and for reading, guys!