NASCAR: Dissecting Silly Season

This is turning into one of the stranger Silly Seasons I can recall. Of course, Silly Season is one of the more youthful NASCAR traditions, so I have a greater recollection of each and every one. When the term really burst onto the scene in the mid-'90s, Silly Season practically coincided with the offseason.

Most deals for new sponsors and drivers were reached between Atlanta in early November and Speedweeks in mid-February, with a little time off to celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's in between.

Over time, it has evolved into almost a year-round tradition, and 2009 deals were being talked about as early as March, when Cheerios announced they would not return to Petty Enterprises.

However, the 2009 Silly Season has been intriguing. We had the typical blockbuster deals that stole headlines during the late spring and summer months (i.e. Martin to Hendrick, Tony Stewart leaving Gibbs, Cheerios to RCR, etc.), but the sponsorship and driver contracts reserved for some of the lesser known teams, which usually come during the fall, have been noticeably absent.

Obviously, the economic situation is scaring a lot of potential partners away from sponsoring a team. When the stock market tanks the way it did in October indicating a bear market, it is probably pretty difficult to justify spending $20+ million on a car going around in circles to shareholders. As a result, we may be in for a blast from the past: a Silly Season that goes well into the new year.

This is going to be a situation that bares close observation. It appears as if the powers of the sport (JGR, RCR, Hendrick, and Roush-Fenway) are all set for the new season. Most of the second-tier teams (Penske, GEM, Red Bull) are getting there as well.

Where it really gets interesting is the so-called third tier teams, who in addition to having to find sponsors in a difficult market, are having to explain to them why they are performing so poorly. Desperation to keep racing may be starting to set in, as rumors of several mergers have surfaced.

Regardless, how these teams fare in the acquisition and/or sponsorship hunt will determine exactly how many cars run full-time in 2009 (hint: it will definitely be less than 43). Just for the heck of it, here is what I see when I look into my imaginary crystal ball for the teams on the fringe. Listed first, however, are the teams who are squared away on the driver and sponsor front:

Hendrick Motorsports:
Mark Martin (Kellogg's/Carquest/Cheez-It)
Jeff Gordon (DuPont/Pepsi)
Jimmie Johnson (Lowe's)
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Mountain Dew AMP/National Guard)

Roush-Fenway Racing:
David Ragan (UPS)
Greg Biffle (3M)
Matt Kenseth (DeWalt Tools/USG/Carhartt/R&L Carriers)
Jamie McMurray (Crown Royal/Irwin Tools)
Carl Edwards (Aflac)

Richard Childress Racing:
Casey Mears (Jack Daniel's)
Kevin Harvick (Shell/Pennzoil)
Jeff Burton (Caterpillar)
Clint Bowyer (Cheerios/Betty Crocker)

Joe Gibbs Racing:
Denny Hamlin (FedEx)
Kyle Busch (M&Ms/Mars/Interstate Batteries)
Joey Logano (Home Depot)

Penske Racing:
Kurt Busch (Miller Lite)
David Stremme (Alltel)
Sam Hornish Jr. (Mobil 1)

Stewart-Haas Racing:
Tony Stewart (Old Spice/Office Depot)
Ryan Newman (US Army/DirecTV?/Burger King?)

(Note on Newman: I read on another blog somewhere (unfortunately I forget which blog it was) that a picture of Stewart and Newman's 2009 die-casts showed DirecTV and Burger King stickers on the B post)

Gillett-Evernham Motorsports:
Kasey Kahne (Budweiser)
Reed Sorenson (TBA)
Elliott Sadler (Best Buy/Stanley Tools/Siemens)

(Note on Sorenson: I don't think GEM will have trouble piecing together sponsorship for the 10 car in 2009 like they did in 2008)

Red Bull Racing:
Scott Speed (Red Bull)
Brian Vickers (Red Bull)

Michael Waltrip Racing:
David Reutimann (Aaron's)
Marcos Ambrose (Little Debbie/Clorox/Kingsford)*technical alliance with MWR through JTG-Daugherty Racing
Michael Waltrip (NAPA)

Furniture Row Racing:
Joe Nemechek (Furniture Row)


Now the teams with uncertain futures:

Petty Enterprises
This is a sad situation. David Zucker and Boston Ventures were brought in as part-owners to take this team back to prominence, and they cannot even sell the Petty name or the 2000 series champion to obtain sponsorship for 2009.

Marathon Oil will likely be back with whoever drives the second car, while Kyle Petty takes Wells Fargo somewhere else after an apparent falling out with the new ownership. Talks of a merger with either Ganassi or TEI persist, but I think this team will tough it out as an independent entity at least for one more season. They just need to do a better job selling the association with the King.

Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates
Chip Ganassi obviously has no idea of what he is doing when it comes to his NASCAR teams. Either that, or he is just too busy taking care of his other racing enterprises. Texaco ends their long-standing sponsorship in NASCAR at the end of the year, leaving Target to sponsor one car and Wrigley for half on another.

You'd think Ganassi and Sabates could pull something together for half a season with a Hispanic-friendly sponsor on JPM's car, with a yet-to-be-named driver in the 41 (Allmendinger has to be the favorite, but don't count out Mayfield or Yeley just yet). As for a merger, there may be talks right now, but I fail to see anything materializing. Chip is a demanding fella after all.

Yates Racing
Doug Yates has to consider it a coup to land Paul Menard and his daddy's deep pockets, but sponsorship has still been hard to come by for Gilliland and Kvapil. Gilliland's stupidity in the closing laps at Texas last week was the latest in a long line of evidence that shows he does not belong in Cup, but if anybody doesn't return, it would be the unsigned Kvapil.

Still, I think Yates will be able to use this season's successes to pull in just enough money to run three full-time outfits in 2009.

Dale Earnhardt Inc.
On the day Teresa dies, I am sure Dale Sr. will greet her at the gates of Heaven with the one-finger salute he gave so many drivers in his days as a driver. She has royally screwed up her late husband's biggest dream. Junior is gone, Mark Martin was there (albeit for only a year) and is leaving, and Truex won't be far behind.

Right now, they have one fully sponsored car with Truex and three blank ones, which is a problem. I'd think Almirola would be an easy sell because he is young and Hispanic-American, but apparently people are not that high on him.

Losing Menard's money hurts, and Smith has yet to show much. TEI is struggling to hang on, and will probably be lucky to field two fully sponsored machines in 2009. Dale Earnhardt Sr.'s fans have always cherished the team he built for his son, but now that Dale Jr. has moved to Hendrick and Teresa has successfully run the place into the ground, I'm sure they won't mind if the team merges with Ganassi or someone else.

But pulling off a deal will be difficult, and I do not see it happening, at least yet.

Hall of Fame Racing
Surprisingly, this team is apparently not fully sponsored for 2009. I thought Texas Instruments was locked in for another year. Their performance indicates finding additional backing will be tough, and with the way the car has ran with everyone from J.J. Yeley to Joey Logano and Ken Schrader, I'm not sure of too many drivers who will be desperate enough to head there. This team may be on the chopping block before the end of '09.

The Wood Brothers
I'll echo what I said about Petty Enterprises: this is sad. A technical alliance with JTG went awry, and a year later, the team is losing longtime sponsor Little Debbie and a potential future driver in Marcos Ambrose. The Air Force may also not be returning. Motorcraft apparently will be back, but with Ford making budget cuts to their racing programs, I find them being able to foot the bill for a full season unlikely.

Driver-wise, Elliott is supposed to be retiring for good, but is now leaving the door open to run a few races with the team in '09. Jon Wood is simply over his head in Sprint Cup. I wonder if Scott Riggs and State Water Heaters would come as a package deal to the 21 team? State and Motorcraft would likely be enough to run a tightly budgeted full-time effort next season.

If something doesn't come together in a hurry, we may not be seeing one of the series' longest standing supporters at the track every week in 2009. What a freaking shame.

Bill Davis Racing
Caterpillar sponsored this team through thick and thin, including a 2002 win in the Daytona 500 with Ward Burton. Now, they will be leaving to sponsor his younger brother at RCR.

Dave Blaney is not yet re-signed, and a lot of what happens will depend on not only sponsorship, but also if Davis is able to sell the team as has been speculated. There was rumors of a GEM/BDR merger, with a four-car outfit under the Toyota banner, but nothing has evolved yet. If that were to happen, I could see Allmendinger sliding into the 22 car, or whatever number it would become.

Davis is planning on running four truck teams in 2009, but I think he may have to sell out to someone else if he wants to stick around on the Cup side.