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StumblePublished Thursday, July 24, 2008 | 10:26 p.m.
Updated Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2008 | 10:15 a.m.
I’m getting worried. Toyota has surpassed General Motors in auto sales. Ford just announced an $8.7 billion loss, its largest quarterly loss in history. Chrysler is having such a hard time selling its products that it’s had to resort to promising $2.99 a gallon gas with the purchase of a new vehicle. As these dark clouds get darker and larger over Detroit, I have to wonder how much longer the Big Three automakers can sustain their financial commitments to NASCAR.
Chevrolet has already announced that it is scaling back on its 12 track sponsorships. Could a reduction in funding for teams be next? When the clouds over the industry are this big, no area is off limits to potential belt-tightening.
Pretend for a minute that Chevrolet decided to pare back its commitment to racing teams. Which teams do you think would take the biggest hit? Not Hendrick. It’s the dominant team on the Chevy totem poll. Hopefully, Tony Stewart’s new team has a financial commitment from GM written in stone.
One has to wonder how much actual car sales are generated by the auto manufacturers’ involvement with NASCAR. How can the Car of Tomorrow, which outwardly doesn’t have much more in common with the production vehicles than the decals for the grilles and lights, help the automakers sell vehicles? Peter De Lorenzo, a consultant for the auto industry, recently commented in USA Today that promoting something so unrelated to the actual products GM sells doesn’t make sense. Sales of Chevrolet’s Impala are down 53 percent in June 2008 when compared to the same month for 2007. Frankly, I’d like to see production versions of the Impala, Fusion, Charger and Camry that had elements of the Sprint Cup car incorporated into their designs.
I hope it never comes to the point where the American car companies have to leave the sport. But don’t be surprised if at some point the economic realities result in smaller financial commitments to the race teams.
I've got it. Dump the Craftsman Truck Series for.. the Craftsman Green Series. Hybrids or Hydrogen, either works.
Oh no! Not the Hydrogen car again! Maybe they should just put big sails on the cars.
Craftsman Solar Series? Only day races, and teams are free to put as many solar collectors on the car as they want, so long as they are aerodynamically the same.
What would happen on days with a rain delay? Oars perhaps?
If the big three bow-out we NASCAR FANS will have the toyota world finals.But that is still racing. PETER B.
Na$car can smell a buck 500 miles away...while the automakers are dying, whose making record profits? Big oil! And since they are the ones profiting from our obsession, they are the logical ones to keep Na$car afloat. Expect Mobil, Citgo, Pennsoil, Quaker State, etc. to become primary sponsors of not only cars but tracks and races. They will then be joined by BP and other petro-giants to keep Na$car rolling for another ten years...
You know NASCAR as well as I do, Mike — if you make a rule, someone will figure out a way to take advantage of it.
And whatever team comes out that weekend with the best gray-sky solar setup will win. They may only be going 50 mph... but they'll win!
GMC will cease to exist in 9-15 months.
I can see GM filing for bankruptcy, but I doubt it will cease to exist in 9 to 15 months. GM is such a large part of our economy that Uncle Sam will come to the rescue with your tax dollars before the auto company completely crashes and burns. The other option would be for Toyota to buy it.
Unfortunately you are probably right Mike. But, Uncle Sam is getting to be a little like the Wizard of Oz and one of these days someone is going to pull back the curtain.....and there you'll see all us middle class taxpayers. We ARE Uncle Sam, and as much as I love Nascar.....do I really want my middle class taxes going to back up these industries so they can fund rich men's hobbies? Hmmmmmm....
That's a good observation and it's one that I hadn't considered. Nevertheless, NASCAR is not a hobby. Flying model airplanes is a hobby. Nascar is a sport that pumps millions of dollars into the economies it visits and it also creates a countless number of jobs in the racing, auto, promotions and service industries.