The last several NASCAR offseasons have all shared an unsettling common theme: contraction. 2011 was no different. In the Cup Series alone, we lost both Red Bull cars, a team from both Childress and Roush Fenway, and the privateer TRG Motorsports. And there were several more losses from the Nationwide and Truck Series. For those [...]
Archive for the ‘The Business of NASCAR’ Category
Brace Yourself For The Off-Season Crew Members
November 18th, 2011 
Journo The next couple of weeks will be a time for celebration in NASCAR. We’ll crown three different champions this weekend and then head to the respective banquets. It was a season of improved ratings, competition and the first Cup champion not named Jimmie Johnson since 2005. As some celebrate next week, a lot of others [...]
Busch’s Sponsors Exercise Influence
November 15th, 2011 Journo Take note of this past week – it was one of the more interesting ones I think we’ve seen in a long time. Championship hopes dashed. A driver suspended. A championship team owner put in a bad spot. And sponsors very publicly exercising their influence. It was a strange mix of expectation and surprise. With [...]
Posted in The Business of NASCAR 
Tags: jgr, Joe Gibbs Racing, Kyle Busch, m&ms, mars, Sponsor, sponsorship 
15 Comments »What Does David Reutimann Do Now?
November 4th, 2011 Journo You’re 41. You’ve got four NASCAR wins. You’ve worked for the same people for the most of the last decade. And now you’re out of a job with just three weeks until the end of the season. What do you do? This is the question David Reutimann has to to answer right now. What does [...]
Oh, To Have Money And A Little Bit Of Talent
November 1st, 2011 Journo We got another stark reminder last week about how a weak economy and soft sponsorship market are affecting NASCAR teams. UPS announced they would be moving from full primary sponsorship at Roush Fenway to one race as a primary sponsor with a full season as an associate sponsorship. Ouch. The move likely means just three [...]
A Window On The Reality Of NASCAR
October 27th, 2011 Journo Superspeedway racing tends to bring out the worst in everyone and this weekend in Talladega was no different. We had accusations of team orders, then subsequent denials, crew chiefs telling drivers to wreck on purpose, blatant cheating and complaints from everyone on track about the driving. There has been shock and outrage from the NASCAR [...]
The NASCAR Week That Was: Oct. 16-22
October 22nd, 2011 Journo The death of IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon and questions about safety led the collective motorsports news this week. Wheldon was laid to rest Saturday in a private ceremony in St. Petersburg, Fla. NASCAR’s Jimmie Johnson drew ire this week after saying the IndyCar Series shouldn’t race on ovals. After criticism, Johnson clarified that he meant [...]
NASCAR’s Ongoing Drive For Diversity
October 20th, 2011 Journo This week NASCAR’s at Langley Speedway in Hampton, Virginia for the annual Drive for Diversity Combine. The event brings together some of motorsports best young female and minority drivers to compete for a small number of spots in NASCAR’s D4D program. This year the class includes 26 drivers from 10 states, Mexico and Puerto Rico. [...]
Dollar General Move Both Positive And Negative
October 14th, 2011 T.C. It was officially announced today at Charlotte Motor Speedway that Dollar General would move it’s sponsorship from Turner Motorsports and Sarah Fisher Racing (IndyCar team) to Joe Gibbs Racing for 2012. The retailer is upping it’s NASCAR spending from just a single, full time Nationwide Series car, to 12 Cup races as a primary on [...]
Making NASCAR More Affordable
October 13th, 2011 Journo For NASCAR it’s been three tough seasons. Ratings have fluctuated, mostly to the negative, sponsors have downsized and in some cases moved on and organizations at every level have pulled back or closed completely. Nowhere has the bad economy and changing sponsorship market hit harder than in the Nationwide and Truck Series. NASCAR Chairman Brian [...]
