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fastfordfan
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NASCAR is still basking in the glory of a scintillating conclusion to the 2011 season, and will be for quite some time.
But just as there is a silver lining with every bit of bad news, there’s often a black cloud hovering on the horizon as well.
The black cloud NASCAR is facing going into the offseason is not new. It’s one it has faced before and will again.
While NASCAR fans celebrate Tony Stewart’s improbable championship and a thrilling 2011 season, Sprint Cup teams are shutting down, crewmen are looking for work and talented drivers are pondering their futures.
It is a common theme these days in the topsy-turvy world of sports, especially among industries that rely so heavily on corporate sponsors.
At least four Sprint Cup teams are shutting down due to a lack of sponsorship – Richard Childress Racing’s No. 33, Roush Fenway Racing’s No. 6 and the two Red Bull Racing teams.
What is particularly frightening is that two of those organizations – RCR and Roush – field elite teams that are consistently among the best in the sport. Both are championship-caliber groups that win races and feature high profile, all-star drivers, yet they are being forced to cut back from the maximum of four Cup teams to three.
RCR’s No. 33 is going away because driver Clint Bowyer left for Michael Waltrip Racing and it has not been able to find sponsors to replace General Mills, which is moving to Jeff Burton’s RCR team and cutting back its involvement.
Roush is in a similar situation. UPS, which had sponsored David Ragan’s No. 6 team the past three years, also is cutting back its sponsorship commitment, becoming an associate on Carl Edwards’ Roush team.
Red Bull, which owns Red Bull Racing, is leaving the sport entirely, making its two-car team extinct unless a last-minute investor and sponsors can be found.
Those are four full-time, formerly well-funded Cup teams that are going away, possibly leaving the series short of a full 43-car field next year.
And so far, only one new full-time team has emerged – Bowyer at MWR – and the part-time team that will feature Danica Patrick in a handful of Cup races for Stewart-Haas Racing next year.
The loss of teams and sponsors is a harsh reality the sport faces each year.
But this year’s cutbacks bring even more bad news.
With the loss of those teams, coupled with other driver shuffling, three former Sprint Cup winners are currently without rides for next season.
Ragan (Roush), Brian Vickers (Red Bull) and David Reutimann (MWR) have each won races in recent years. Vickers and Reutimann both have two career victories while the 25-year-old Ragan won his first Cup race this year.
Yet Ragan lost his ride when UPS decided not to return. Though he might have been released anyway given his struggles in five years with Roush, the lack of sponsors certainly doomed him. His first career victory this season did little to save his job.
Vickers, who won a race and made the Chase in 2009, likely would still be with the Red Bull organization if it could find investors and sponsors to keep the operation running. Instead, the former Nationwide Series champion, still just 28, is looking for a ride.
And Reutimann might be the saddest case. He landed his first Cup ride at age 37 in 2007 and won a race in both 2009 and 2010, finishing in the top 20 in points both seasons.
But Reutimann and his MWR team struggled this season, and Reutimann was released to make room for Bowyer, who signed with the team instead of returning to RCR.
Three recent winners, and three drivers with the talent and potential to win again, yet all three are looking for work and have few prospects, particularly at the Sprint Cup level.
But it doesn’t end there.
Two of the top young stars in the sport – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Trevor Bayne – also don’t have confirmed rides yet for next season.
Bayne shocked the racing world by winning the Daytona 400 at age 20 this year. Stenhouse, 24, won the Nationwide Series championship. Yet neither have full-time commitments for next year.
Roush has promised Stenhouse that he will have some sort of ride next season – probably in the Nationwide Series – but nothing is certain yet.
Bayne may have a Nationwide ride, or he may not. He will likely run a partial Cup schedule with Wood Brothers Racing again next year, perhaps sharing that ride with Stenhouse.
Both young drivers showed tremendous potential this year. Edwards predicts that Stenhouse will be a Sprint Cup star, and possibly a Cup champion, one day. Bayne already has won NASCAR’s biggest race.
Together, they could give NASCAR two new, young, rising stars. Yet, due to a lack of sponsorship, their futures also are uncertain.
After winning the Nationwide championship, Stenhouse should have sponsors lining up to back him as he defends his title next season, or to follow him to Cup.
And that the 2011 Daytona 500 winner – one with the character and youthful exuberance to attract a legion of fans – can’t find sponsors is a significant black mark against the sport and its marketing prowess right now.
NASCAR has a lot of positive momentum right now and a lot of good things going on.
But until the economy turns around and sponsors start flocking to the sport again, there will continue to be a dark cloud hanging over some of its drivers and teams.
http://www.scenedaily.com/blogs/jef...-a-sign-that-NASCAR-still-faces-problems.html
But just as there is a silver lining with every bit of bad news, there’s often a black cloud hovering on the horizon as well.
The black cloud NASCAR is facing going into the offseason is not new. It’s one it has faced before and will again.
While NASCAR fans celebrate Tony Stewart’s improbable championship and a thrilling 2011 season, Sprint Cup teams are shutting down, crewmen are looking for work and talented drivers are pondering their futures.
It is a common theme these days in the topsy-turvy world of sports, especially among industries that rely so heavily on corporate sponsors.
At least four Sprint Cup teams are shutting down due to a lack of sponsorship – Richard Childress Racing’s No. 33, Roush Fenway Racing’s No. 6 and the two Red Bull Racing teams.
What is particularly frightening is that two of those organizations – RCR and Roush – field elite teams that are consistently among the best in the sport. Both are championship-caliber groups that win races and feature high profile, all-star drivers, yet they are being forced to cut back from the maximum of four Cup teams to three.
RCR’s No. 33 is going away because driver Clint Bowyer left for Michael Waltrip Racing and it has not been able to find sponsors to replace General Mills, which is moving to Jeff Burton’s RCR team and cutting back its involvement.
Roush is in a similar situation. UPS, which had sponsored David Ragan’s No. 6 team the past three years, also is cutting back its sponsorship commitment, becoming an associate on Carl Edwards’ Roush team.
Red Bull, which owns Red Bull Racing, is leaving the sport entirely, making its two-car team extinct unless a last-minute investor and sponsors can be found.
Those are four full-time, formerly well-funded Cup teams that are going away, possibly leaving the series short of a full 43-car field next year.
And so far, only one new full-time team has emerged – Bowyer at MWR – and the part-time team that will feature Danica Patrick in a handful of Cup races for Stewart-Haas Racing next year.
The loss of teams and sponsors is a harsh reality the sport faces each year.
But this year’s cutbacks bring even more bad news.
With the loss of those teams, coupled with other driver shuffling, three former Sprint Cup winners are currently without rides for next season.
Ragan (Roush), Brian Vickers (Red Bull) and David Reutimann (MWR) have each won races in recent years. Vickers and Reutimann both have two career victories while the 25-year-old Ragan won his first Cup race this year.
Yet Ragan lost his ride when UPS decided not to return. Though he might have been released anyway given his struggles in five years with Roush, the lack of sponsors certainly doomed him. His first career victory this season did little to save his job.
Vickers, who won a race and made the Chase in 2009, likely would still be with the Red Bull organization if it could find investors and sponsors to keep the operation running. Instead, the former Nationwide Series champion, still just 28, is looking for a ride.
And Reutimann might be the saddest case. He landed his first Cup ride at age 37 in 2007 and won a race in both 2009 and 2010, finishing in the top 20 in points both seasons.
But Reutimann and his MWR team struggled this season, and Reutimann was released to make room for Bowyer, who signed with the team instead of returning to RCR.
Three recent winners, and three drivers with the talent and potential to win again, yet all three are looking for work and have few prospects, particularly at the Sprint Cup level.
But it doesn’t end there.
Two of the top young stars in the sport – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Trevor Bayne – also don’t have confirmed rides yet for next season.
Bayne shocked the racing world by winning the Daytona 400 at age 20 this year. Stenhouse, 24, won the Nationwide Series championship. Yet neither have full-time commitments for next year.
Roush has promised Stenhouse that he will have some sort of ride next season – probably in the Nationwide Series – but nothing is certain yet.
Bayne may have a Nationwide ride, or he may not. He will likely run a partial Cup schedule with Wood Brothers Racing again next year, perhaps sharing that ride with Stenhouse.
Both young drivers showed tremendous potential this year. Edwards predicts that Stenhouse will be a Sprint Cup star, and possibly a Cup champion, one day. Bayne already has won NASCAR’s biggest race.
Together, they could give NASCAR two new, young, rising stars. Yet, due to a lack of sponsorship, their futures also are uncertain.
After winning the Nationwide championship, Stenhouse should have sponsors lining up to back him as he defends his title next season, or to follow him to Cup.
And that the 2011 Daytona 500 winner – one with the character and youthful exuberance to attract a legion of fans – can’t find sponsors is a significant black mark against the sport and its marketing prowess right now.
NASCAR has a lot of positive momentum right now and a lot of good things going on.
But until the economy turns around and sponsors start flocking to the sport again, there will continue to be a dark cloud hanging over some of its drivers and teams.
http://www.scenedaily.com/blogs/jef...-a-sign-that-NASCAR-still-faces-problems.html
