Sponsors Hold the Keys to NASCAR Teams and Attitudes

Sponsorship, it makes the sports world go round. In NASCAR, it means more than ever, with both car and driver literally covered in many different brands.

But do the sponsors control the driver and team a little too much?

Earlier this month, Kurt Busch left Penske after a mutual agreement of separation. Busch had had a tough Homestead race on the public relations front, first being caught on national television flipping off a Secret Service vehicle parked in front of his garage stall, then appearing in a YouTube video cussing out a reporter.

Soon after, Busch’s sponsor Shell-Pennzoil released a statement about the driver’s actions.

"Shell and Pennzoil are disappointed with recent actions by driver, Kurt Busch, at the final race of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race season. His actions are in no way consistent with the way we want our brands represented and we have expressed our disappointment and concerns directly to Penske Racing,” the statement posted on ESPN said.

While both Penske and Busch said they had separated due to reasons unrelated to the Homestead events, the Shell press release overshadowed any other reason for the separation.

The game of being a good public relations person in addition to an athlete has been perfected by certain drivers over the years. These drivers know how to play the game of keeping sponsors happy in order to keep a ride, even those on the big teams. Drivers and teams also know that if a sponsor isn't happy with the way their "spokesmen" are acting, there's a very real chance the money provided by the sponsor will go somewhere else.

Many of the bigger drivers are known as “sponsorship drivers” and too “vanilla” because of their tact at knowing the right thing to say to keep sponsors happy. Social media allowed the public to see that some of the drivers aren't as proper as portrayed on television, but the sponsors' wants still rein in a driver getting too out of control.

Even with the ability to connect with fans on a more personal level, drivers are still extremely careful about how they act and what they say. The same goes for any person on a team, from the pit crews to the team owners. While they are able to show fans some of their personality, there's little doubt that they also think about what may happen if they say or do something the sponsors don't like, causing them to censor themselves a bit.

So while those in the sport haven't been totally shut down, sponsors still have a ton of power over what drivers and teams do.

Obviously, some behaviors are wrong and deserve a harsh punishment, but when moves are made after a fan outcry and a statement from a sponsor, it makes one wonder just how much the sponsor had to do with team changes.