December 10, 2008
By Chuck Abrams
I think we all saw that Dodge was going through some tough times.
Now with the banks lending less and less money and people getting laid off in pretty significant numbers, there are fewer cars being bought and everyone is in trouble in Detroit.
The numbers are as staggering as they are appalling. Somewhere between $25 and $35 billion is what the Big Three are asking for.
This from the folks that gave us the Pinto, Vega, K-car and more recently, the Hummer and Avalanche.
While gas prices have fallen nearly 50%, no one is buying. Not only are we hesitant to purchase an overpriced under-made US vehicle, we also don’t believe that the price of gas is going to stay down. We bought that once before and look where that got us.
Whatever you hate about the new fangled car, NASCAR is and always was about US stock cars. That means support from the Big Three in more ways that one. Money drives the sport more than ever in recent years and now more than ever.
With sponsors hard to come by, teams look to Detroit for financial help. That may be in real short supply in 2009. No other sport is as dependent on outside help as racing is. If the Big Three wind up being auctioned off to the lowest bidder, you can kiss NASCAR as we know it goodbye. Even if the loan/bail out goes through, I doubt very much if manufacturer help from Detroit will remain as it is now.
And if the Big Three go away from racing, there is only one manufacturer left standing at the highest level of racing in the US: Toyota.
While it may seem unthinkable, it is not beyond the realm of possibility that this could happen some day soon. We could very well wind up with a NASCAR that looks like a Toyota IROC series.
Back in the day, drivers run what they brung with local sponsors that helped them pay their way on tracks throughout the southeast. We could see the decline of major US auto manufacturer support that could set us back 40 years in terms of sponsorship and what we see on the track. Without major US manufacturer support, teams would have to turn to Toyota or NASCAR would have to get back to its roots in a sky is falling fashion.
Now more than likely, nothing as drastic as this would occur. Yes, there may be some significant changes in the way the Big Three support NASCAR. But I really don’t see it becoming a Toyota only series.
But what could happen that is not entirely out of the realm of the unthinkable?
- NASCAR could be forced to drop some of its “official” NASCAR licensing and let the teams have a shot at some of the sponsors who are otherwise wrapped up by the greedy corporation
- Fewer cars in the starting field
- Fewer teams but more “mega” teams
- A shortened season
- A return to actual “stock” cars
- Fewer tracks on the circuit
- The demise of some of the feeder series
- The demise of NASCAR as a major TV sport
Let’s face it, almost as long as there have been cars, people have raced. And this tough economic time is no different. Some may think that there is just too much money in the sport right now for it to come collapsing down tomorrow. But in my mind, we also thought that there were banks that were just too large to fail. And we know what happened there.
We will all come through this and NASCAR will too. The question that remains is what kind of NASCAR will we be watching in 2011? And where will we be watching it?
Keep the shiny side up!
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
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