Cafeoutdoors.com: Article about NASCAR in the Post Disgrace

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NASCAR preview: Season opens on downbeat due to economy
By Gerry Fraley
SPECIAL TO THE POST-DISPATCH
Friday, Feb. 06 2009
The tone is decidedly downbeat as the NASCAR tribe gathers for the start of
another season, with the Daytona 500 on Feb. 15.

The Big Three automakers, lifeblood of the sport, fight to survive. Sponsors,
who make the teams go, flee in the face of bankruptcy.

Legendary teams wither.

Wood Brothers scaled down to a limited schedule. Petty Enterprises is no more,
gobbled up in a merger with Gillett Evernham that left patriarch Richard "The
King" Petty with no discernible role. Dale Earnhardt Inc. had to combine with
Ganassi Racing to continue, but that did not prevent hundreds of layoffs within
the new team.

"Over the last several years we sort of all were living oblivious to the perils
of what we were to face and what we're facing now," Dale Earnhardt Jr. said at
a preseason media gathering at Daytona International Speedway. "We quit cutting
corners and costs, and it's biting a bunch of people in the butt now."

At the same time, the fan base is restless, unhappy about prices and the
quality of racing with the "Car of Tomorrow" in the top-level Cup series.

Television ratings remained flat last season after two years of decline. Empty
seats popped up everywhere, prompting the rarest of events: price cuts. Even
the crown jewel, the Daytona 500, had not sold out as of Jan. 26.

NASCAR faces the daunting task of putting itself back together.

"In tough times like these, strong people tighten their belts, put a little
extra zip in their step and focus on the things they do best," chairman and
chief executive officer Brian France said during his annual state-of-NASCAR
address in January. "In our sport, that's racing, and no one does it better
than our drivers and our teams."

France predicted a season that "will deliver plenty to talk about."

NASCAR needs it.

A look at the other compelling story lines to the coming season:

CAN ANYONE STOP JIMMIE JOHNSON?

Johnson goes for a first in NASCAR: four consecutive Cup championships. Only
one other driver has won three consecutive titles: Cale Yarborough in 1976-78.

Carl Edwards of Columbia, Mo., who had a series-high nine wins last season, is
seen as the top candidate to unseat Johnson. Others are not so sure.

"I've got to see somebody beat Jimmie before I can say that,'' said Matt
Kenseth, who finished 11th last season. "They could have won five straight if
things would have (gone) a little better for them.''

WILL NO-TESTING CAUSE PROBLEMS?

To keep rich teams from getting an advantage, NASCAR prohibited costly testing
at tracks involved in its top three series. As always, enterprising teams found
loopholes. They ran testing sessions at non-NASCAR facilities.

Testing at out-of-the-way tracks concerns officials such as Texas Motor
Speedway general manager Eddie Gossage, who pointed out the lack of up-to-date
safety equipment. The no-testing edict has added an air of uncertainty.

"I don't know even after the first eight or 10 races that you can say how it's
going to go,'' Edwards said. "This thing is just unpredictable.''

IS GORDON SLIPPING?

A remarkable streak ended last season. Jeff Gordon did not win a race. Gordon,
a four-time Cup champion, had won at last two races in 14 consecutive seasons.
Gordon did contend. He had 13 top-five finishes and qualified for the Chase.

Gordon is also 37 years old, a time when many drivers begin to lose their edge.
Richard Petty, the seven-time champion, won his last race at age 37. Darrell
Waltrip, a three-time champion, was winless in the last 243 races of his career.

"I believe that I still have what it takes,'' Gordon said. "Last year was an
adjustment for me that I'm well-prepared for this year.''

CAN MARK MARTIN MAKE ONE MORE RUN?

Three seasons after "retiring,'' Mark Martin will take on a full-time schedule
with Hendrick Motorsports. Martin ran a part-time, 24-race schedule in each of
the last two seasons and performed well. He had 11 top-10 finishes in each
season.

The lure of Hendrick's powerhouse equipment brought Martin back. In 19 full
seasons, he has 16 top-10 points finishes but no Cup title. New teammate Jeff
Gordon called Martin "the best race-car driver there is.''

Said Martin: "It's unbelievable. I'm excited and humbled to have this
opportunity at this point of my career. We're capable of winning
championships.''

TONY STEWART: TEAM LEADER?

Of the 12 drivers who qualified for the Cup last season, only one switched
teams. Tony Stewart, often volatile and always entertaining, jumped from Joe
Gibbs Racing to join the new Stewart-Haas Racing team as a driver-owner.

Stewart, who will have 50 percent of the ownership, also brought Ryan Newman
into the team. Hendrick Motorsports will help Stewart Hass with its engines.

Stewart is expected to attracted sponsorship and fill the "elder statesman''
role on the team. Given Stewart's past misadventures, he could be facing a
transition period.

"I've checked in with Tony, and it sounds like he's been working his butt
off,'' Jimmie Johnson said. "In my mind, he's still Tony Stewart the driver to
me.''

WILL DIVERSITY FLOURISH?

In December NASCAR settled a racial- and sexual-discrimination suit filed by
Mauricia Grant, a former inspector with the Nationwide Series, but damage may
have been done.

NASCAR has tried to break the image of a sport dominated by redneck
good-old-boys. The suit by Grant, a black woman, opened old wounds.

Since 2004, NASCAR has pushed the development of female and minority drivers
with the "Drive for Diversity'' program, but it has not produced a competitor
at the top levels.

HOW MANY WILL BE TRUCKIN'?

The truck series, created as a proving ground for young drivers, will be an
increasingly lonely place.

The series, which will be at Gateway International Raceway on Sept. 12, had a
full 36-truck field for only 11 of its 25 races last season. With only 22 teams
expected to compete full time, that number could drop this season.

NASCAR is trying to help truck teams save money by lowering the number of
support personnel who can attend a race and the size of pit crews. Costly pit
stops could be limited to a determined mid-race window.

"Everybody is hurting right now,'' said Ron Hornaday, runner-up to Johnny
Benson in the series last year. "We're going to race as hard as we can and put
on a good show for the fans, but it's tough out there to get sponsors.''

THE OTHER TESTING

Aaron Fike has had a nondescript career in the truck series, but he could be
remembered as the driver who scared NASCAR straight.

Fike admitted to regular use of heroin, including on race days. That frightened
everyone in the sport.

An out-of-control driver can be deadly.

A similar situation arose with Tim Richmond in 1987, but NASCAR considered it
an isolated episode.

This time, NASCAR responded with testing for performance-enhancing substances
and strengthening its policy against illegal drugs and the abuse of
prescription medication.

A NEW CHAMPION

The Nationwide series will have a new champion. Clint Bowyer has said he will
cut back his Nationwide schedule, making it impossible for him to repeat.
Bowyer's decision adds interest to the Nationwide stop at Gateway International
Raceway on July 18.

Carl Edwards plans on trying to win the race for the third time in the last
four seasons. Edwards finished second, by 21 points, to Bowyer last season.

Joe Gibbs Racing has said Kyle Busch will be at GIR for the first time since
2006.

The GIR date was among five that Busch skipped last season, and he finished
sixth in the points race despite winning a series-high 10 races.

WILL THE BIG 4 MONOPOLY CONTINUE?

The 12 drivers who qualified for the Cup series Chase last season came from
only four teams: Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart of Joe Gibbs Racing;
Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson of Hendricks Motorsports;
Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth of Roush Fenway Racing and Clint
Bowyer, Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick of Richard Childress Racing.

Stewart Haas Racing has the talent — Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman — to break
the stranglehold, but that is a lot of ask of a start-up operation.

Penske Racing, with Kurt Busch, could crash the party. Busch, the 2004
champion, had a terrible time in his switch to Penske last season but should be
better this year.

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