A sagging economy and a trip to Vegas keep money fresh in the minds of many on the NASCAR circuit. A flurry of teams around the Sprint Cup garage lack full sponsorship for the 2009 season, including Richard Petty Motorsports. Driver Reed Sorenson and the famed No. 43 team have sponsorship for the majority of races this year and have come closer to having a sponsor in each race, with the addition of Super 8 Motels as a primary sponsor for an undisclosed schedule of races this season. Super 8 may also sponsor the No. 44 of A.J. Allmendinger in some races; that team is not scheduled to run each race, unless sponsorship arises. Harrah’s colors will be on that entry this week in Las Vegas. Valvoline colors will appear on the No. 43 this weekend.
RPM’s marquee team, the No. 9 and driver Kasey Kahne is looking at least for some associate sponsorship help, according to a published report. That same report also says that multiple primary sponsorship slots are available for the Earnhardt Ganassi Racing No. 1 Bass Pro Shops Chevy and driver Martin Truex Jr. Within that team, the No. 8 of Aric Almirola has very few sponsors lined up for the season and will not run all of the races, unless more funding is found. Almirola sports the colors of Tom Tom this weekend on the No. 8 Chevy.
DuPont Automotive Finishes done with NASCAR soon? Maybe
The longest current sponsor-driver partnership in NASCAR could be on its last leg. A published report this week indicates that DuPont, Jeff Gordon’s only primary sponsor on the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy since his Sprint Cup debut in 1992, is heavily cutting back the money it spends on NASCAR hospitality for clients. The chemical and paint company is only buying suites at six races and is entertaining only a fraction of the thousands of guests it brings to races. This could be the writing on the wall for their partnership with Gordon.
DuPont is signed as primary sponsor of the No. 24 through the end of next season. The lucrative sponsorship deal already has proven to be slightly burdensome for DuPont, since more and more primary sponsorship slots have been sold off of the No. 24 in recent seasons. Gordon also is pondering life after being a driver, as he is also signed only through the end of next season, though he really has a lifetime contract with Hendrick.
Much of Vegas entry list remains the same as previous weeks
Only one startup team that has pledged to run the full season has backed away from its promise, that being the No. 27 of Kirk Schelmerdine, who did not appear in California. Several full-time teams have missed both races this year: Larry Gunselman’s No. 64 team driven this week by Todd Bodine, the No. 37 Front Row Motorsports Dodge and driver Tony Raines, the No. 51 Black Jack Racing Dodge driven this week by Dexter Bean, the No. 73 Dodge driven and owned by Georgia’s Mike Garvey, and the No. 09 Chevy driven this week by Sterling Marlin.
A couple of teams that missed the Daytona 500 made the field at Auto Club Speedway and are rolling the dice again in Vegas: the No. 87 Toyota owned and driven by Joe Nemechek and the No. 71 TRG Chevy and driver David Gilliland.
Still several other teams have made both races and are trying hard to nurse their under-funded entries into the Top 35, to lock themselves into starting positions after race five: the No. 36 Tommy Baldwin Racing Toyota and driver Scott Riggs, the No. 41 Toyota owned and driven by Jeremy Mayfield, the No. 66 Prism Motorsports Toyota and driver Dave Blaney, the No. 28 Yates Racing Ford and driver Travis Kvapil, and the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports/EGR Chevy of John Andretti (which is locked into the field and may run the whole year, pending sponsorship). A.J. Allmendinger is still slated to run a part-time schedule in the RPM No. 44, but could run more races if the team gets locked into the Top 35 and secures more sponsorship.
This week, Max Papis makes his 2009 Sprint Cup debut in the No. 13 Geico Toyota for Germain Racing; the team will attempt approximately half of the 2009 schedule. Regan Smith and the now part-time Furniture Row No. 78 team will attempt this week’s Las Vegas race. The team skipped California, after racing in the Daytona 500. Brad Keselowski, who attempted the Daytona 500 in the No. 09, will pair with a fifth Hendrick team, the No. 25 to try and make his 2009 Sprint Cup debut this weekend.
McDowell and Papis now proud papas
Youngster Michael McDowell, who ended last Saturday’s Nationwide Series race in a blaze of glory, after blowing a motor, is a new father. On Wednesday morning, his wife Jami delivered a baby boy named Trace. Coincidentally, McDowell heads to Vegas, the father of a baby that weighed in a seven pounds, seven ounces and was born at 7 a.m. Maybe McDowell will spend some extra time at the slot machines in Vegas this week.
Max Papis has more on his mind than making his 2009 Sprint Cup debut this week. On Valentine’s Day, his wife Tatiana delivered their second son, Matteo, who weighed in at six pounds, 18 ounces.
New US F1 team may by looking at Busch and Allmendinger
Is Kyle Busch leaving NASCAR to join F1? Not so fast. After the unveiling of a new Charlotte-based F1 team that is still looking for a driver and an engine affiliation, Kyle Busch’s agent said that the driver surely would be interested. The agent went further to explain that an interest does not mean that NASCAR’s arguably hottest driver would leave the sport immediately to embark upon that endeavor. The new team is also looking at A.J. Allmendinger, who still does not have a full-time Cup ride. Allmendinger says that he has learned to never say never and would consider the team, if approached. He also says that he loves where he is at in NASCAR. Former Formula 1 driver Scott Speed says that he is done with F1 for now and is focused on NASCAR.
The new team is also looking at Indy Racing league stars Marco Andretti and Danica Patrick for the ride.
Georgia drivers not as successful in Cali as in Daytona
David Ragan had a Top 10 run foiled during Sunday’s race at Auto Club Speedway, because he brushed the wall with his No. 6 UPS Ford. He faded back to 17th. His teammate Matt Kenseth won the race. His No. 6 Discount Tire Ford ran better in the Nationwide Series race, finishing 5th. Kyle Busch won that race.
Reed Sorenson had to move to backup No. 43 Dodge, after a parts failure forced him into the wall. He rebounded from early struggles in Sunday’s race to finish 21st.
Northeast Georgia natives John Wes Townley and Ken Butler III do not have much to pout about. Butler made his debut last Saturday in the Nationwide Series race, placing the No. 23 Aaron’s Chevy 20th. Townley’s Zaxby’s Ford finished 22nd.
In the Camping World Truck Series, Tucker’s Shane Sieg finished 16th in the No. 15 Toyota, a race also won by Kyle Busch.
You can hear Doug on Captain Herb’s Racing show on News/Talk 750 WSB in Atlanta and online at wsbradio.com, this Saturday from 2-4 p.m.
