43 car fileds in jeopardy for 2010

Nascar has seen as many as 60+ teams show up to attempt qualifying, but with the economy, sponsorship woes, increased costs and team number limits, Nascar is searching for teams to assure it's 43 car field next season.

Nascar recently approached the #09 team to ask if they run a full schedule next season. Start & Park teams might increase. Nascar is working to help teams secure sponsors or get race deals.

Nascar has seen as many as 4 teams inside the Top 35 looking to possibly dissolve. When RPM & Yates merged it eliminated a team. Roush will eleminate a team due to Nascar's team cap limit of (4). RCR could dissolve the #07 team if sponsorship isn't found to replace Jack Daniels. The #96 could move their driver Bobby Labonte and sponsors Ask.com & DLP to RCR, but that would still shorten a team. That puts 3 teams inside the Top 35 for sure being dissolved.

Currently 41 teams have attempted every race this season and 5 of those are start & park teams (that only race select races the full distance). That leaves currently 36 real Full Time teams. If 3 are dissolved, Nasacr could realisticly see only 33 or even 32 Full Time teams racing next season.

Nascar has restricted testing to help teams save money, and have had meetings with owners to seek ways to help improve the competition.

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Permalink Reply by vak7 on September 29, 2009 at 2:17pm

And yes, just last week Robby lost a sponsor because they're leaving the sport. Character is more important than wins. Yes, I'll say it... Sure helps to have your hood in victory lane but you gain sponsors through affiliations, not always who has the most exposure on race day. As such, the relationship becomes more personal, more likely to stick together through the tough times.

Kyle Petty always had a sponsor, even years after his last top ten finish. Sprint, Georgia Pacific, big enough names to pay big bucks to big teams. It's about who you know, not where you finish.

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Permalink Reply by Keith on September 29, 2009 at 3:05pm

Kyle lost his sponsors because of where he finished. Petty Enterprise lost their sponsors because of where they finished. It is a performance based business.

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Permalink Reply by vak7 on September 29, 2009 at 3:36pm

Kyle had sponsors when he lost his ride. It's performance based to a point but there will always be someone willing to stand behind character. You just gotta find them.

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Permalink Reply by kevin dinsmore on September 29, 2009 at 5:17pm

your right.....but performance sure makes life a bit easier when it comes right down to it.

Permalink Reply by Keith on September 30, 2009 at 9:09am

You don't find better character than Richard or Kyle Petty.
It didn't work for them when it mattered.

Permalink Reply by JoCo on September 27, 2009 at 11:32pm

There should be smaller fields anyway. Who the hell decided that 43 was the be-all, end-all number of cars to race with?

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Permalink Reply by Bigzoom on September 28, 2009 at 8:49am

I might be wrong, but I believe it was decided when Nascar couldn't fit enough pit stalls at most tracks. They planned on 42 + a Champions Provisional. That was the number of pit stalls they could accomodate at most tracks.

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Permalink Reply by Dave-O on September 28, 2009 at 9:29am

I think this bit with James Finch smells funny. He's a SnP like the others, unless he's running at a superspeedway or getting money and/or equipment from Hendrick to run Brad K. Either NASCAR asked everyone, or someone made this up to sell sponsorship on the 09.

In Reality, there will never be a field of less than 43 cars for two reasons. First, the parkers will continue to come as long as the money for finishing 43rd is enough to turn a profit (usually is). Secondly, there'll always be little guys who want to race, even if it's only half the race they can run- like TBR.

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Permalink Reply by Keith on September 28, 2009 at 1:18pm

Tommy Baldwin runs what they can based on the sponsorship for that particular race. He hates it. Is not scamming the system like others might be doing. They are working to make that team legitimate. Same with TRG.

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Permalink Reply by Dave-O on September 28, 2009 at 2:31pm

exactly my point- Baldwin, Furniture Row, and TRG are to be commended, they're here to race what they can for as long as they can, with an eye to the future. It might not always be pretty, but it's better than the parkers who show up just to collect purse money. It's those guys who do nothing for NASCAR, and I'll be glad to see 'em go.

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Permalink Reply by FlyHiFlyLo on September 28, 2009 at 12:23pm

Time to buy the #4 and add another team. Even if it is a start and park that will allow for better tire choices and also double the practice setups. No matter what there will be fake Hendrick, Roush and RCR teams showing up to the big purse races... Indy, Daytona and etc.