NASCAR 2009, will there be a series?

[cicopo]

With all 3 of our major manufacturers in deep financial trouble and only getting a bit of help from the US & Canadian taxpayers what are the chances we will have a real race schedule? I can't see any way the big 3 can afford to pour money into that sport without jepordizing the aid packages they need so badly. Are any insiders able to share some fact based news? Many of the biggest sponsors had already pulled the plug for next year but this looks like a real serious issue. It can't be good for the tracks or local businesses that serve all the race fans, etc, etc.

[robloeffel]

Why would they pour money into something unless they were making money off of it?

[speedypalomino]

how are the canadian tax payers affected??? these are U.S. automakers going to the U.S. government for money....

[cicopo]

They are doing it here too, but our government can't bail them out here (there are many plants in Ontario) unless it looks like your US divisions survive. The Canadian divisions have already laid off a lot of workers with more announced for the near future. If GM folds in the US it kills them here too.

[cicopo]

For perspective re bail out money. The US big 3 are asking for about $34 billion and might get $15 billion, from a population of 303 + million people. The Canadian arms of them are asking for $7 billion (amount that they might get hasn't been determined yet) from a population of 33 + million people. Canadains are being asked for a much bigger amount per person, but the entire thing will be usesless from our standpoint if they fail in the US. Right now that's a big possibility, or in a best case scenarion they will have to make major cut backs at every level and I strongly suspect the easiest one to drop is money for any form of racing help to the different teams etc. In the case of NASCAR there isn't any actual relationship between the cars raced and any production parts sold through showrooms. I really can't see how there could be any kind of season if the teams need to fully fund their operation without manufacturer help.

[smcclelland]

It's not really a question of the manufacturers survival because they generally just provide the parts, it all boils down to sponsors. The automotive/motorsports industry is extremely volatile right now in North America and as such sponsors are beginning to pull out and look to overseas/international racing rather than home grown. An example of this is DHL who sponsors Penske/Porsche for the ALMS who recently pulled their sponsorship deal with Penske to focus on their international sponsorship (DHL isn't interested in competing with Fedex/UPS in NA so they'll go overseas instead) which resulted in Penske pulling the Porsche Spyders from the P2 class ALMS.

The only example of a manufacturer's difficult times affecting racing was when Honda announced they would be pulling out of F1 which even though they are doing fairly well given the economic downturn they felt it better to cut the funding and put that money elsewhere in their production.

[cicopo]

I would think there's a bit more to it than just supplying parts. The engines used aren't from anything in production, and I'm pretty sure there is a lot of engineering help with the engine side of things. I would find it hard to believe that Gibbs switched to Toyota without a lot more incentive than parts.

[dinanm3atl]

They will race. They make money off it. I wouldn't worry about it.

I would be interested to see how much from Ford/Dodge/Chevy actually go into one of those cars. Maybe if GMAC has a car there is more but a Mountain Dew Dodge? How much does Dodge actually pony up? They don't built the chassis, they don't build the motor, they don't build the suspension...