February 24, 2009
By Allen Madding
As suspected, the car count for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying at California was significantly down opposed to the prior week at Daytona. The Sprint Cup Series saw 48 cars attempt to qualify for the 43-car field. Of the 48 teams, five cars had no sponsorship: Joe Nemechek’s No. 87, David Gilliland in Kevin Buckler’s No. 71, Dave Blaney in Phil Parson’s No. 66, Todd Bodine in Larry Gunselman’s No. 64, and David Starr in David Bean’s No. 51. Three of the five unsponsored cars failed to qualify. Despite an impressive third place finish in last weekend’s Daytona 500* and qualifying eighth for the Auto Club 500, A. J. Allmendinger still does not have a full-time deal for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
47 cars attempted to qualify for the NASCAR Nationwide Series Stater Brothers 300 at California. Of the 47 teams, 8 were sponsor less: Andy Postein in Corrie Stott’s No. 02, Scott Wimmer in Curtis Key’s No. 40, Kenny Hendrick in Ganassi’s No. 42, Kertus Davis in Jay Robinson’s No. 49, Brandon Whitt in Charlie Shoffner’s No. 61, Mike Harmon’s No. 84, Joe Nemechek’s No. 87, and Morgan Shepherd’s No. 89.
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series had only 38 entries for the San Bernardino County 200 at California. 36 trucks qualified for the event. Three of the 38 entries did not have sponsorship and Todd Bodine, who won the season opener at Daytona, only has sponsorship for the weekend. Steve Germain, Bodine’s truck owner, has not been able to commit to a full season schedule without sponsorship. The team is relying on the race winnings from Daytona to carry them to a couple of events. Johnny Benson won the Truck Series Championship title in 2008 and has yet to secure sponsorship for this season.
Trying to qualify and race without sponsorship severely limits the teams in all three divisions. For the teams lacking sponsorship, showing up and failing to qualify for an event simply compounds their financial woes. Race winnings alone will not properly fund an unsponsored team through the full season schedule of competition. The decline in entries at California for only the second event of the season is indicative of the financial struggles race teams are facing with the reduction of corporate dollars in the sport. Many are beginning to employ a marketing strategy of years gone by – local sponsor deals for single events.
Additionally, many expect that unsponsored teams that actually make the field for events will be performing the “start and park” strategy. If a team does not have the funds to purchase tires for an event and cannot afford a competitive pit crew, they will buy one set of tires, qualify and start the event. When the first yellow flag come out or the first green flag pit stops begin, the team will take the car to the garage and park it. NASCAR typically reports these cars fell out due to a “vibration”. The team will collect the last place winnings and pay bills versus racking up more bills gambling for a better finishing position.
What is the answer? Local Businesses in communities near NASCAR racetracks need to be considering the advertising possibilities presented by the three series events this year and be poised at the track ready to negotiate a sponsorship deal with any unsponsored team that qualifies for a race. Several years ago, Hooters Restaurants made just such a deal with Alan Kulwicki for the NASCAR Winston Cup Series event at Atlanta. The company realized the amount of benefit they received in the one race advertisement opportunity and stayed on with the team. And today, some advertising bargains exist in all three series.
A. J. Allmendinger’s performance certainly merits a fulltime ride in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Johnny Benson and Todd Bodine both provide an abundance of television exposure for a potential sponsor/advertiser. Todd Bodine consumed a lion’s share of television time during the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event at Daytona with a blank hood and blank quarter panels. In the week following the win, the team has not received a single sponsor inquiry/offer. In an economy when sales are slumping, companies should be looking at bargains for getting their names in front of potential consumers. Advertising/sponsor bargains exist in the NASCAR ranks. Regional companies near NASCAR tracks should be making some inquiries.
* The race was actually only 380 miles.
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
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