Nascar Returns to Its Roots in 2009 by Bruce Cameron, The Racing Reporter

Economic downturns are leaving skid marks on America’s most popular spectator sport.

My visit to TMS in November at the last Texas NASCAR race showed evidence of a slowed economy. There were thousands of empty seats, drastic cuts in merchandise prices and extremely nervous ticket sellers by the start of the first race of the week. Coveted infield RV spots were vacant. Gas prices were high, but still, vacant infield spaces are the marks of a true beating.

The Daytona 500 scheduled for next week, still has thousands of tickets available. Television ratings dropped in 2008 compared to the 2007 season. Large banners will cover unattended grandstand sections at many tracks, despite deep price cuts.

Sprint Cup, Nationwide and the Camping World Truck series are all dealing with the distinct possibility that there might not be enough teams for a full field once the grind of the regular season begins.

Given these realities, NASCAR is not “re-inventing” itself, but will have to return to it’s roots to adapt to changing economic conditions.

Lots of Empty Space on the 34 Car of John Andretti. Photo by Bruce Cameron

Layoffs have happened for many teams. Petty Enterprises and others have had to merge with one-time competitors to maintain a presence in the sport. Richard Petty merges with Gillett Evernham Motorsports. This new partnership desperately seeks sponsorship with one or both of their teams having to run a partial schedule in 2009.

With the creation of new teams, new faces and new racing alliances will be formed. Perhaps some underdog stories will capture the attention of fans, even creating some new fans to this leaner-meaner field of teams and drivers.

In 2008 NASCAR was dominated by “super teams” that had the edge over the smaller or owner-driver teams. Three racers from such teams won 24 out of 36 races last season. New looks, new drivers with new teams will square off for victory.

Hendrick, Roush and Gibbs were the dominant forces producing the vast majority of the 2008 victories. They were able to achieve this without the assistance of Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth. Tony Stewart won only once last year. Joey Logano replaces Tony Stewart. David Ragan and Jamie McMurray are going to be good producers for Roush. These teams will likely continue to dominate this season.

Joe Gibbs at TMS 2008. Photo by Bruce Cameron

Here are just some of the changes for the 2009 season:

Jeff Gordon keeps the #24 and Dupont sponsorship but has a new color scheme. Other NASCAR writers have been referring to this new look in a Johnny Cash-like Man-In-Black.

Tony Stewart begins his first year as an owner-driver team. The team is a hybrid of Tony and Haas Racing. He’ll be sporting the #14 with forms of new sponsorship. Notably, Houstonian A.J. Foyt (ok, he’s really from Hockely but hey..) will be at the Daytona 500 supporting Stewart. Why? The #14 was his number back in the day. Ryan Newman, last years Daytona 500 winner, will also be a member of the Stewart team, driving the #39 Army car.

Dale Earnhardt Inc. And Chip Ganassi Racing merge to save their operations. This duo is searching to sustain Martin Truex Jr. and Juan Pablo Montoya. They are also straining for sponsors for a third team of Aric Almirola.

Martin Truex won the pole for this year’s Datona 500. This is a much-needed presence for DEI/Ganassi.

Mark Martin, who is no stranger to change is another defector from DEI to the Hendrick organization. He’ll be driving the #5, formerly the number of Casey Mears. Mark has threatened retirement over the years, but like many folks, probably can’t afford to NOT work.

Paul Menard, formerly #15 moves to #98 and will be driving a Ford instead of a Chevy.

Native Texan Bobby Labonte leaves team Petty and joins up with Hall of Fame Racing, which joined up with Yates Racing. The car is now a Ford (from a Toyota). Now that’s going back to the roots. Cowboy greats Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman are out of the ownership group.

Carl Edwards #99 goes from Men’s Health poster boy to married to a hot doctor. He’ll be cashing in from Office Depot red to wearing black and green with his Aflac insurance sponsor.

Spare driver John Andretti will drive in the 2009 Daytona 500 as he steps behind the wheel of the #34 Window World Chevy as part of a partnership between Front Row Motorsports (FRM) and Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. Don’t be fooled by the last name. His car last April looked like a Maaco failure with maybe 6 baby stickers on the entire car.

Another miracle is that Michael Waltrip Racing signed a full year deal with Aaron’s sponsoring the #00 now driven by former #44 UPS David Reutimann. Even Reutimann is going back to his roots as #00 was his original number. (His grandfather also raced with that number.)

Michael Waltrip Lands a Sweet Deal with Aaron's. Photo by Bruce Cameron

This is just a small sample of the changes. Months will have to pass to see who wins the first 5 races. Sponsorship for many drivers is not guaranteed for the entire year. Winning and performance in the first 5 races are critical for the survival of several teams and drivers.

Being a fan of NASCAR, I can’t wait to see the new faces, team dynamics, and even paint schemes for the cars. Strategy is the name of the game. Teams are going to have to come together hard and fast to secure scarce dollars from dwindling corporate sponsorship.

This year is going to be a great year to get good seats cheap. Real cheap. I’ll get to see how this plays out in April at the Samsung 500 at our own Texas Motor Speedway.

These cutbacks, mergers and dwindling sales will create a more competitive spirit on and off the track for many drivers. For now, fans will have to roll with the changes and witness a new era in NASCAR Cup Series Racing.

Gentlemen, start your engines.

Bruce Cameron, The Racing Reporter