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It is time for NASCAR to
wake up! As I sit and
watch week after week
cars that go unsponsored,
I can’t help but wonder
if NASCAR is paying
attention. With gas
prices slowly climbing
up, and the stock market
in a rapid descent,
there is no arguing we
are in a poor economy.
From the single mother
working hard to raise
her kids, to the
executive in a corner
office struggling with a
budget, we are all
feeling the effects. Or
are we? In NASCAR, there
is no doubt the economy
is being felt. Despite
team mergers and layoffs
NASCAR continues to stay
strong and move forward.
But what about the teams
that are struggling more
than others? Never in my
life did I think I would
ever see Dale Earnhardt
Inc. have another name
attached to it, unless
it was Earnhardt
related. Would Dale
Earnhardt Sr. approve of
it? We’ll never know,
but that is one
definitive sign of the
struggling economy in
NASCAR. Why are teams
having a hard time
finding full time
sponsors? Well it’s
obvious that even the
big corporations are
feeling the effects, by
not spending millions to
sponsor a NASCAR team.
What a great way for a
company to promote their
name or product with
NASCAR as the number one
spectator sport.
But is NASCAR being
stingy or political?
During the Goody’s Fast
Pain Relief 500 at
Martinsville on Sunday,
there were three teams
with no sponsor and one
with the team name.
Drivers Todd Bodine, Joe
Nemechek, and Robby
Gordon had sponsor less
cars, and David Stremme
had the Penske name on
the car. Now with
Stremme’s situation,
they are in fact
sponsored by Verizon but
due to Sprint being the
title sponsor for the
Cup Series, are not
allowed to use any
Verizon names or logos
on the car. Let’s not
forget the teams that
have multiple sponsors
for their cars just to
make it through the
season. And there are
those teams that can’t
continue due to lack of
sponsors. With the poor
economy and teams
struggling to survive,
NASCAR needs to swallow
their pride. Will it
really hurt NASCAR to
allow someone like
Verizon or AT&T to be on
a car? If anything it
will make NASCAR money
because those teams will
be able to race. I’m
sure it goes much deeper
than just that, and I’m
sure there are some
legal things that
prevent it, but why
can’t they take the
current state of the
economy into
consideration?
By allowing these teams
to have “conflicting”
sponsors, not only does
it allow these teams to
race but it opens up the
door to help improve the
economy. It could allow
teams to hire
out-of-work crew
members, help a company
advertise and promote,
and in turn fans may be
apt to buying a product
or supporting a company.
It’s not just at the
Sprint Cup level either.
There are teams at the
Nationwide and Camping
World Truck Series that
are struggling for
sponsors. Now I may
completely off on this
whole subject, and it
may go deeper that the
superficial things we
see, but from a fans
perspective it is those
superficial things that
can make a big impact. |
