Bumpy Ride As We Approach Speedweeks

It has been a tumultuous off season for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with the downturn in the economy weighing heavily. You could see the empty seats at many of the tracks last year as the economy started tanking on the heels of the housing crisis. NASCAR was not immune, as several college football stadiums felt the pinch as well.

There have been mergers and the shutdown of team operations, and many existing powerful teams downsized staff members as chronicled by Jayski in the following chart:

The Unofficial NASCAR related Layoff Count since end of the 2008 season:(exceptions noted)Dale Earnhardt Inc -- 116
Ganassi -- approx 100
Earnhardt-Ganassi -- 40 (1-19-2009)
Ganassi engine shop -- more than 20
Gillett Evernham Motorsports -- 65
Petty Enterprises -- 65
Bill Davis Racing -- 60
Richard Petty Driving Experience -- approx 45
Roush Fenway Racing -- 40-50
Hendrick Motorsports -- 19
Furniture Row -- 25 [approx]
Earnhardt-Childress Racing Technologies -- 25 [approx]
Yates-Roush Engines -- 25
Wood Brothers -- 22
Stewart-Haas -- 16
Richard Childress Racing -- 15
Red Bull Racing -- approx 15
JTG Daugherty Racing -- 12
Michael Waltrip Racing -- 12
Ernie Elliott Inc [Ganassi engines] -- 9
Joe Gibbs Engines -- approx 5
Hall of Fame -- heard many were let go over the winter, no number yet(as of 1-19-2009)

If you have been watching television coverage of Speedweeks, you did not hear much about the pink elephant in the room. During an interview on Speed TV, Darrell Waltrip began to discuss the economic issues and was immediately cut off. Popular blog The Daly Planet covered the whole situation. In short, Waltrip accurately noted that everyone, even those that are broke, will bring what they got to Daytona in hopes of making the show, but when we go to California, it may be a ghost town, particularly for the Truck series and the Nationwide Series. I think Waltrip is right, and he should have not had his voice shackled. Finally, Waltrip "cleared the air" on his blog. We get enough dancing around the issues in government, we sure don't need it at the High Banks.

It is difficult to note that Petty Enterprises is no longer, merging with Gillett Evernham. Bill Davis sold out the majority of his team, and who can even keep up with owner points as we set the field for the Great American Race. 2009 should prove to be a very interesting year.