Ambrose signs with RPM for next year, Stanley will sponsor
Concord, N.C. (August 17, 2010) – In preparation for the 2011 season, Richard Petty Motorsports announced today that driver Marcos Ambrose has signed a multiyear agreement with the organization to drive the No. 9 Ford Fusion in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Long-time RPM sponsor Stanley Black & Decker will be the primary sponsor of the No. 9 team.
“I’m very excited to join Richard Petty Motorsports,” said Ambrose. “It’s an incredible honor to be able to race for a legend like The King and be a part of this organization. I’m also happy to be back with Ford Racing. The No. 9 team has been a very successful team in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. With the support of Ford and everyone at RPM, I believe we can continue that tradition of success. I’m also excited to join forces with Stanley.”
“We are very happy to have Marcos Ambrose join our team,” said NASCAR Hall of Famer and team owner Richard Petty. “He’s a very talented and passionate driver and will be a great addition to our team.”
“We knew once Marcos became available that we wanted him to be a part of the RPM family,” said Foster Gillett, managing partner and team owner. “He’s a fan favorite and he’s proven to be a tough competitor on track. We’re thrilled to have Stanley continue their partnership with our team and believe that Marcos is a great fit for the Stanley Racing program.”
“Stanley is pleased to partner with Marcos,” said Scott Bannell, Vice President Brand Management and Licensing, Stanley Black & Decker. “We look forward to carrying the winning tradition of the No. 9 car into the 2011 season.”
The Tasmanian-born driver cut his racing teeth in V8 Supercar competition before making the shift to NASCAR in 2006. Through a partnership with Ford Racing, Ambrose made his American racing debut in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. In 2007, the driver made the jump to the NASCAR Nationwide Series where he competed for two seasons before his first full season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2009.
“All of us at Ford are very happy to have Marcos ‘back home,’” said Jamie Allison, director, Ford North America Motorsport. “We helped Marcos come to America and become a NASCAR driver because we believed in his talent, and loved the way he connected with Ford fans here and in Australia. Already a Ford champion in Supercars, we believe his move to RPM will give him the car and equipment to win races and contend for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup going forward.”
Ambrose, 33, is in his second season in NASCAR’s premier racing series. He collected a third straight win at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International in the NASCAR Nationwide Series in July.
RPM to announce 2011 drivers, sponsors Tuesday
Richard Petty Motorsports has called a Tuesday teleconference to announce the specifics of the organization’s 2010 Sprint Cup Series drivers and sponsor lineups.
The organization announced Aug. 6 that they had re-signed AJ Allmendinger to a multi-year deal to stay with the team. However, two drivers have confirmed that they will be leaving next year and another driver is on the fence.
Kasey Kahne announced earlier in the year that he would part-ways with RPM after this season. He announced last weekend that he would join Red Bull Racing in 2011 before he moved into his multi-year ride with Hendrick Motorsports in 2012.
Kahne’s sponsor Budweiser is also on the move next season, according to sources. Multiple internet reports say Budweiser will head to Kevin Harvick next season, with an announcement of the new sponsorship deal expected to come Tuesday.
Paul Menard also announced last weekend that he would join Richard Childress Racing next year as RCR gives a second attempt at a four car team. Menard will also take his primary sponsorship from his father’s company, Menard’s, with him.
Elliott Sadler was quoted earlier in the year as saying the team did not have him in their plans for the future. However, a team spokesperson has since denied those comments saying Sadler is one of about three drivers the team was looking at for next season.
Sadler said last weekend that he has had little talks with the organization and that he is even considering moving down to the Nationwide Series or Camping World Truck Series next season.
“If I have to go back to Nationwide or go back to the Truck (series) and get my chance and opportunity to win races, you’ll see Elliott Sadler do that instead of go somewhere where there’s a start-and-park (car) or ride around,” Sadler said. “That’s not me. I’m way too competitive for that. I don’t have a big enough ego to where I have to be labeled a Cup driver. I want to be a driver that’s competitive.”
Marcos Ambrose, who recently announced he would be leaving his Sprint Cup Series ride with JTG Daugherty Racing after this season, is rumored to be headed to RPM. This would give the RPM two drivers next season if Sadler does indeed leave.
Drivers are not the only issue for the team, however. Sponsorship is also a problem with the departure of Budweiser and Menard’s. Although, when the team announced a new deal with Allmendinger a few weeks ago, they also said they had some another announcements in their pocket.
“We have some announcements in our pocket,” team co-owner Richard Petty said. “We like to have press conferences, so we wanted to spread it out a little bit.”
Kahne is currently the highest RPM driver in the Sprint Cup Series driver points standings thru last weekend at Michigan International Speedway. He is 16th and trails the 12th place Chase for the Sprint Cup cutoff by 126 points.
Allmendinger is 22nd, Menard is 23rd and Sadler is 29th.
AJ Allmendinger Extends Contract With Richard Petty Motorsports
Concord, N.C. (August 6, 2010) – Richard Petty Motorsports announced today that driver AJ Allmendinger has signed a multiyear contract extension with the organization. Allmendinger will remain behind the wheel of the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford Fusion in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
“I am really excited about my future here with Richard Petty Motorsports,” said Allmendinger. “It’s been such an honor to be behind the wheel of The King’s No. 43 car. I am happy to be able to continue to be his driver and feel for the first time in my NASCAR career I have the chance to build on something. Everyone at RPM and Ford Racing has worked hard to be successful this year and I know we’re right on the verge of big things.”
“We are very pleased to have AJ as a part of the RPM family,” said team owner Richard Petty. “He has proven without a doubt that he is a very talented racer. His passion for the sport is second to none and his desire to be at the top is clear each and every week. I believe in him and what he can do and everyone at Richard Petty Motorsports is thrilled to be able to continue the relationship.”
The 28-year-old, California native is in his fourth full season in the sport’s top level of racing. Allmendinger, who joined RPM for the final five races of the 2008 season, is in the midst of his most successful season to date. In 21 races this season, he has collected his first career pole award, three top-10 and 10 top-15 finishes.
Sadler to part with RPM after 2010 season
JOLIET, Ill.—Elliott Sadler said Friday he has no plans to return to Richard Petty Motorsports after the 2010 season and is open to other options.
Sadler indicated he was not a part of RPM’s plans going forward, saying he has “no future plans with this race team.”
Sadler joins Kasey Kahne in his decision to leave RPM at the end of the season. Kahne will drive the No. 5 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports in 2012 after a year in a ride to be determined.
Sadler joined Evernham Motorsports for 14 races in 2006 after the firing of Jeremy Mayfield. Sadler has remained with the organization through a series of mergers and acquisitions that have installed George Gillett as majority owner and seven-time Cup champion Richard Petty as a partner in the operation.
Sadler signed a two-year contract extension in the spring of 2008. He has three Sprint Cup victories, the last coming in Fontana, Calif., in 2004. Sadler’s best finish so far this season was 17th at Sonoma, though he was running consistently in the top 10 last Saturday at Daytona before a late-race wreck involving Sam Hornish Jr. and Kurt Busch took him out.
Sadler acknowledged the importance of running well for the remainder of the season, both from a personal and a team standpoint.
“We need to run good,” said Sadler before qualifying for Saturday night’s Sprint Cup Series race at Chicagoland Speedway. “I need to run good to further my career next year. They need to run good because they have great sponsors that they’re trying to land and drivers that need to come back. Richard Petty needs to be a part of this sport, I think. So it benefits both of us for this car to run good the rest of this season.”
Sadler is trying to win $1 million for the Racing for a Miracle program created by Stanley Tools, Ace Hardware and the Children’s Miracle Network. If he wins Saturday’s LifeLock.com 400 , his sponsor, Stanley Tools, will donate $1 million to the charity, on top of the $100,000 Stanley donated during a check presentation on Friday.
Saturday’s race will be Sadler’s first since being reunited with crew chief Todd Parrott, who made the pit calls for his last two wins, at Yates Racing, in 2004.
Parrott named Sadler’s crew chief
Richard Petty Motorsports announced that Todd Parrott, who was replaced as the crew chief of Matt Kenseth two weeks ago, will become the crew chief for Elliott Sadler and the No. 19 Ford team.
The duo previously worked together in the 2004 Sprint Cup Series season. That season, Sadler finished the season ninth in Sprint Cup Series points — his best career points finish in the series. Two of Parrott’s 29 wins in the Sprint Cup Series as a crew chief came in the 2004 season with Sadler.
“We are happy to welcome Todd to our team and reunite him with Elliott,” Robbie Loomis, Vice President of Competition for RPM, said. “We appreciate all of Wally Rogers’ hard work with this team for the first half of the season. He will continue to be a valuable member of RPM.”
Parrott has 15 years of experience as a crew chief in a major, national touring NASCAR series.
Notebook: Keselowski welcomed day off
CONCORD, N.C.—In light of what happened during Thursday evening’s qualifying session for Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 Sprint Cup race, Brad Keselowski was thankful there was no on-track activity Friday at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
On his second qualifying lap at the 1.5-mile track, Keselowski slammed into the concrete wall at the start of the tri-oval. The impact was deceptively severe.
“After I took that hard hit in Cup qualifying, I’m still a little sore, so I was glad that I had a day away from the track,” Keselowski said Saturday, after qualifying third for the Tech-Net Auto Service 300 Nationwide Series race. “I could really tell where I took that hit, because I’m really sore where the seat wrapped around me. That’s part of racing.”
Keselowski went to a backup car after the crash and consequently will start from the rear of the field in Sunday’s race. His No. 12 Penske Dodge was 28th fastest in Saturday’s final Cup practice session.
KAHNE HAS A ROCKET SHIP
Two things you can count on at Charlotte are Ryan Newman qualifying well and Kasey Kahne racing well. This weekend isn’t likely to dispel either piece of conventional wisdom.
Newman won the pole for the 600 in Thursday’s qualifying session, and Kahne was first and third, respectively, in Saturday’s two practices.
“We just started off really good,” Kahne said of his No. 9 Ford’s performance in the early practice session. “The car was actually perfect that first run. You don’t get that situation too often. I think that’s the key to why we were the best car.”
If Kahne is to bring Ford its first victory in 2010, he’ll have to keep up with changing track conditions and make the car last for 600 miles.
“We just have to see what the track does,” Kahne said. “We know it’s going to change for tomorrow, and then it’s going to change throughout the entire 600 miles. We just have to prepare the best we can and look ahead and be ready for the last couple hundred miles.”
TRUEX STAYS HOT
Martin Truex Jr. continued his solid performance at Charlotte in Saturday’s practice. After posting the sixth fastest time in the first session, he was fastest in Happy Hour; Truex’s No. 56 Toyota was the only car to top 180 mph in the second session, as the racing surface got warmer and slicker.
Truex won last Saturday’s Sprint Showdown to qualify for the subsequent Sprint All-Star Race, in which he finished second to Kurt Busch.
Notebook: Earnhardt’s team wins Tissot Pit Road Award
The No. 88 Amp Energy/National Guard Chevrolet received high praise for their pit road performance in Monday’s race at Texas Motor Speedway. The team held driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. on pit road for the least amount of time during the event. In fact, eventual race winner Denny Hamlin was on pit road for ten more seconds than Earnhardt.
“I’m excited for the AMP Energy/National Guard team,” said crew chief Lance McGrew. “I’ve really seen how hard the guys have worked and they continue to improve week-by-week. It’s great to see the guys’ hard work be recognized.”
Earnhardt’s car was on pit road for a total of 275.470 seconds. Hamlin’s crew was second at 285.035 seconds and Kurt Busch’s team was third with 288.512 seconds on pit road.
This is the first time this season that Earnhardt’s crew has won the Tissot Pit Road Award. Martin Truex Jr.’s crew has won the award the most and holds the lead so far this season after winning it back-to-back at Las Vegas and Atlanta.
Roush Fenway Racing, Richard Petty Motorsports drivers to use “new” Ford engine
Ford Racing says that eight teams will use the somewhat new Ford FR9 engine this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway.
The engine hasn’t yet been used in large quantities in a single points weekend, like it is being used at Talladega, Ford Racing engineer David Simon says.
“We’re running the FR9 in all of the Roush Fenway and Richard Petty Motorsports cars. It’s really the first across-the-board running for the FR9,” Simon said. “We ran them at Daytona, of course, in the Shootout across-the-board, but this is really the first full race for it as the primary engine for us. The reason it’s a milestone is that we’ve gone through the validation process on the plate package, so, at this point, we’re ready to race the FR9 full-time in restrictor plate form. We’re going through the same process on the open engine. We ran it in the 21 car at Texas and we’ll be running it in the 43 car at Darlington, and then at the All-Star race we’ll have them in all the cars there as well. In the second half of the season, as the validation process gets completed, the FR9 will become the primary race engine for us in the open and plate races.”
Reutimann offered contract extension
According to FoxSports.com, Michael Waltrip Racing has offered David Reutimann a contract extension to remain with the team beyond this season.
Reutimann, who has went through three engine failures already this year, says he is more focused on turning his season around before discussing his future.
“This is my last year (of his contract at MWR),” Reutimann said. “I haven’t talked to anyone else. The only people I’ve talked to is our own team. I really haven’t put the focus on what’s happening next year like I should because we’ve had a terrible start to the season.”
RPM in default on $90 million loan
By Daniel Kaplan
Special to the Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
Richard Petty Motorsports, the NASCAR team owned by George Gillett, has been in default on a roughly $90 million loan since at least February but expects to soon restructure the obligation, sources said last week.
The default on the debt underscores the harm NASCAR suffered from the economic collapse of late 2008 and, in particular, the impact of contraction among Detroit’s Big Three automakers on race teams. Gillett, who last year sold the Montreal Canadiens and still owns half of Liverpool FC, lost Chrysler’s backing of his race team when that company filed for bankruptcy protection. Ford is now supporting the four-car team.
“This is a very positive story,” Gillett said. “To lose Chrysler but regain the revenue and not go into the red, and the company is very healthy, that is an amazing story.”
Wachovia, which leads a syndicate of about a dozen financial institutions that issued the loan, declined to comment.
Gillett declined to comment on specifics of the restructuring because of the ongoing creditor talks, but he emphasized the default is technical in nature, meaning he did not miss a payment but, rather, failed to meet terms of at least one covenant.
Loans commonly have covenants that might, for example, require the borrower to sustain a certain level of cash flow. Before the economic troubles of late 2008, lenders were relatively lenient with these kinds of defaults, but they since have become more stringent and less forgiving.
One finance source, which requested anonymity because of knowledge of the deal, denied Gillett’s characterization, insisting the default was payment-related.
No one would dispute, however, that Gillett had unfortunate timing in his summer 2007 purchase of the team.
“George bought right at the peak,” said motorsports consultant Tim Frost. “Manufacturer support has dried up, and it was really strong when he bought the team.”
Upon purchasing what was then known as Evernham Motorsports, Gillett renamed the team Gillett Evernham Motorsports. According to a Uniform Commercial Code document filed Aug. 3, 2007, with the state of Delaware, where the team is incorporated, Gillett Evernham Motorsports obtained the loan from Wachovia. The document lists the collateral as being all assets of the debtor, meaning the loan does not have recourse back to Gillett personally; the debtor is the race team.
That likely bestows Gillett some leverage in his talks with the creditors because at best they could take possession of the garage assets and, perhaps, some contractual revenue from sponsors. They do not have recourse to his personal assets.
The team filed an amendment to the UCC document on Feb. 17, 2009, to account for the team’s name change to Richard Petty Motorsports. Gillett merged with Petty Enterprises in January 2009, bringing the stock car legend’s single car to the team.
While the name of the team is Richard Petty Motorsports, it’s owned by Gillett. The company’s application to establish the new entity in January 2009 with the state of North Carolina, where it operates, lists for its principal address Booth Creek Holdings, a Gillett-owned entity based in Vail, Colo.
Richard Petty Motorsports late last year merged with Yates Racing, which brought the Ford relationship into the fold.
Daniel Kaplan is a reporter with SportsBusiness Journal.
A Potential Renaissance for the Blue Oval in 2010
After years of Roush Fenway Racing being its only reasonably competitive entry in the Sprint Cup Series, the Ford brand will see a renaissance come the start of the 2010 season.
With the merger of Yates Racing and Richard Petty Motorsports, and that new organization’s decision to campaign Fords, the make gained three cars on the grid, those of A.J. Allmendinger, Elliott Sadler, and former Ford development driver Kasey Kahne.
Combine that with the recent additions of Front Row Motorsports (two full-time cars, and potentially a third for John Andretti) and Furniture Row Racing (resuming full-time competition for 2010), and the Wood Brothers’ limited schedule, and there may be 13 Ford on the grid – the largest number of Fords that could run the Daytona 500 since the 2002 season, when there were 15.
In 2009, only seven Fords competed full-time – five in the Roush stable, one for Yates, and one for Hall of Fame Racing that ran out of the Yates shop. Another Yates car attempted the first five races of the year, and the Wood Brothers ran a limited schedule with former champion Bill Elliott.
With the states of General Motors and Chrysler (and thus their motorsports budgets) still somewhat in flux, however, Ford and its “open communication” strategy became most attractive to the fringe teams on the grid, teams that would in the past campaign Chevrolets or Toyotas because they were the most readily available. Given the opportunity to use information developed in Jack Roush’s shops, as opposed to working on their own and struggling to remain in the top 35, these teams are making the obvious choice to ally.
This “open communication” strategy came out of the fall of what used to be one of the sport’s most powerful teams. Over the past few years, the once-mighty Robert Yates Racing evolved into Yates Racing, which became, in effect, a satellite team for Roush. Former Roush employee Max Jones joined Doug Yates to run the team, which relied on Roush sponsorship contacts to campaign former Roush driver Travis Kvapil in its No. 28 car.
Roush and Yates had already merged their engine departments, which were two of the best in the sport, and began supplying to the Wood Brothers early in the decade. While NASCAR had set a team cap, this system in effect allowed Jack Roush to run nearly ten cars.
Now, by attracting teams that would not have received any support at all from Chevrolet, which has been cutting back on its motorsports spending, and plucking one of the only two major Dodge teams, Roush can effectively run nearly a dozen on any given weekend.
The biggest question that comes from this near-doubling of Ford’s presence, however, is whether or not the right drivers are in place to win the brand a manufacturer’s championship. Most of the teams have solid personnel – Front Row and Furniture Row have benefitted from the big teams downsizing, adding personnel that would not have been available to them in a better economy, but the men behind the wheel are just as important.
The three new drivers joining the brand are Kvapil, Kevin Conway, and Regan Smith. Kvapil and Smith only competed in limited schedules in 2009, and Conway is a rookie with less than 30 combined starts in Nationwide and the Truck Series. As solid as Kvapil was in 2008, and Smith’s near-win at Talladega of that year and no-DNF streak notwithstanding, none of the three will likely contend to win races.
By running a limited schedule, the Wood Brothers are reasonably competitive in the 13 or so races a year that they attempt, but 1985 champion Bill Elliott can’t race forever.
At Petty, Allmendinger is improving, but Sadler is no longer the same driver who made the Chase in 2004. Paul Menard regressed last season, with no strong finishes to show for his efforts. And the reunification of Kahne and Richard Petty with the Ford brand feels awkward and forced, given Petty’s history with Dodge and Ford’s lawsuit against Kahne when he left the brand to go Cup racing.
Even Roush has its questions. Which David Ragan will we see in 2010 – the near-Chase driver of 2008, or the “arrow without feathers” that returned in 2009? Will Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth return to victory lane after struggling last season? What the heck happened to Carl Edwards last year, and will he be fully recovered from the broken ankle he suffered playing Frisbee?
This is an important season for the Ford brand in the Sprint Cup Series. It’s been years since this many Fords have showed up on the grid with plans for full-time schedules, and these teams want to establish Ford as the top make in the series. They’re finally on par with Chevrolet and Toyota in terms of car count. The goal is to establish the new teams as contenders. If the new Ford teams can even knock on the top 20, we may see an end to the run of Chevrolet dominance.
Kahne: RPM’s switch to Ford “a needed change”
While at first Kasey Kahne was a bit skeptical of Richard Petty Motorsports change from Dodge to Ford, he said that after seeing the performance his teammates Elliott Sadler and AJ Allmendinger had in the Yates Ford powered machines, he thinks the change was “a needed change.”
While the merger has not yet been made official by the team, Kahne will be at Auto Club Speedway in California next week to participate in a Goodyear tire test with a Ford from RPM.
“Just seeing what Elliott and AJ did, and knowing where they were before that, it’s gonna be a nice benefit,” Kahne said. “I get to go drive with it (a Ford car) in a few days at Fontana during a tire test there, so I’m looking forward to working with some of that new group and our guys as well. I’m excited because it’s a change and it’s a change that needed to be done in that area.”
With Daytona now less than 70 days away, Kahne and his team is already hard at work preparing for Daytona in February and the No. 9 team’s competitive debut with Ford.
“I’m already serious about it (returning to Daytona),” Kahne said. “I’m already working hard on being prepared and going through things and trying to figure out how I can be a better driver as far as communication goes and feel better after the races and work better with my team. Hopefully, it all pays off and we work really hard and we’re ready to go when we get to the 500.”
The manufacturer change for next season breaks up a career long, 216-race relationship between Kahne and Dodge. The Enumclaw, Wash. native is coming off a two-win season, which included a somewhat emotional victory lane return for RPM team owner Richard Petty at Sonoma.
Kahne recorded the only two wins for Richard Petty Motorsports this year and finished tenth in the final Sprint Cup Series points standings. Despite the changes that have been made at RPM over the last year, Kahne and the No. 9 Budweiser Dodge continue to be the best team from within the stable, something that Kahne attributes to the team’s ability to adapt to the many changes the team has placed on them throughout the past season.
“Yeah, I think it shows that we’re used to changes and used to them always throwing something new at us and just kind of taking care of our business and taking care of the things that we can control,” Kahne said. “As a driver, I try to do the best job I can with things I can control, and I know Kenny Francis and all the guys on our team do the same thing. So it’s nice to have that type of a team that realizes, ‘Let’s do the best we can at what we can control,’ and, other than that, we’ll get what we get.”
Kasey Kahne exploring other options for 2011
Richard Petty Motorsports’s Kasey Kahne, who has been quite verbal about the disorganization of the team before and throughout the entire merger process, said on Friday at Homestead that he is on the fence on whether or not he will return with the team after next season.
While he has not yet made a decision, he is starting to ponder the possibility, he confirmed on Friday during his media availability session. The driver says that decision won’t be made until he can see if the team can become more consistent. After the up and down season he has experience in 2009, he was leery to commit to anything yet.
“That’s hard to say,” Kahne said. “Come January, I can start looking around; I can talk to other people. I would imagine the Gillett’s are going to talk to me at that point. But as of right now, the Gillett’s haven’t talked to me and I’m just kind of doing my job, doing the best that I can through the end of the season. The ups and downs of the team has made it difficult for me to really say, ‘Man, I’m going to be here for 10 more years.’ I really don’t know what’s going to happen. Truthfully, I don’t know what’s going to happen right now.”
With one year left on his contract at RPM, Kahne says next season will play a large role in his final decision on the teams.
“I use to try and stay in the loop and then things don’t happen that they say will,” Kahne said. “At this point, I have one year left (on my RPM contract). I want to do the best job for Richard Petty Motorsports in my final year. It’s up to them what happens. They do their thing and I’ll do mine. All I can do is make myself better at driving race cars and communicating with Kenny Francis. If I do that, I’ll be happy next season.”
As Kahne and the rest of the RPM team get set for the final race of the season, there is limited time before February rolls around next season.
While RPM and Yates Racing have announced a letter of intent to merge operations for the 2010 Sprint Cup Series season, no official merger has taken place as of yet. This makes Kahne feel uneasy as to what next season will be like.
“It’s definitely different because things aren’t done,” Kahne said. “Because we don’t have a ‘for sure’ yet (agreement between RPM and Yates Racing). I think the season needs to get over with for the management side of things and just figure out exactly what we’re doing; get us pointed in the right direction so that the teams can start working and preparing for 2010. As far as the 9 team, I think we’ve done a pretty good job throughout the year. I don’t feel like I need to be done racing for the year. I’m still pretty excited at where we’re at right now. I think the company needs to be done. (The company) needs be able to focus on getting things straightened out and pointed in the right direction. There are too many unknowns.”
The merger between the two teams won’t be an easy one either, as RPM is making the switch to Dodge as well. Therefore, new cars will have to be built in just a few months to get ready to compete for next year.
Kahne will also end the relationship that he has had with Dodge since he came into the series with the manufacturer at what used to be Evernham Motorsports in 2004. That relationship, which the driver said was a positive one, will be tough for him to leave at the end of the season.
“It’s been really good (his relationship with Dodge),” Kahne said. “Dodge has treated me awesome. Coming into Cup racing in 2004 with Ray (Evernham) and Bill Elliott and Dodge and all the Dodge dealers, there’s been so many great times over the last six years. It’s hard to leave a company that you’ve been strong with and felt comfortable with. There are a lot of people that I’ve made friendships with and it’s tough to leave that. At the same time, we have to go where the company feels that it’s a better spot. That’s what (RPM) is doing and I’m behind RPM because that’s who I need to be behind and I want to race well for them wherever we go.”
The Enumclaw, Wash. native has had a good six-year start to his Sprint Cup Series career. After recording his first career win in 2005 at Richmond, he has went on to post 11 total wins, 42 top-five and 77 top-ten finishes for an average finish of 18.3.
Sprint Cup teams struggle to sustain sponsorship dollars
NASCAR’s elite teams are desperately trying to hold the line on sponsorship prices despite a glut of valuable 2010 inventory that remains unsold late in the year. To resist the temptation to slash rates, teams are beefing up their offerings with media, track assets and other elements not typically found in a car sponsorship package.
Top teams have found that merely selling space on the car for $20 million or more doesn’t cut it for most sponsors in this economic environment. Just look at all the space on highly competitive cars that’s available for 2010, cars that feature drivers such as four-time Sprint Cup champion Jeff Gordon, 2003 champion Matt Kenseth and Ryan Newman, the 2008 Daytona 500 winner.
“It’s amazing. There’s unbelievable inventory available that we haven’t seen in 10 years or longer with major teams,” said Stephen Moffitt, director of corporate development for MCG Sports, a Charlotte-based motorsports agency that represents top teams Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing among others.
At the top teams—Hendrick, Gibbs, Roush Fenway Racing—full-season sponsorship can run $22 million to $25 million. The going rate per race is anywhere from $500,000 to $750,000.
Lower-rung teams sell sponsorships for $8 million to $10 million for the season, just enough to cover the cost of operating the team. The bigger teams put more resources into the car, which drives up the cost, plus they typically add on a value component to the price because of the team’s history of success.
Getting deals done at those higher levels in this economy, though, is next to impossible. It’s hard to believe that just 18 months ago companies were lining up to write a check of more than $20 million for the rights to Carl Edwards’ No. 99 car, a bidding exhibition that Aflac won for $26 million a year over three years.
Now, sponsors want single-year deals. These days, a six-race package for $3 million qualifies as a “big deal” in Sprint Cup circles. The marquee free agent among sponsors is Ask.com, which spent about $4 million on its team deal with Hall of Fame Racing for the 2009 season and likely won’t spend more than that on the next deal, if the search engine decides to stay in the sport.
High-profile sponsors Allstate, DeWalt, Jack Daniel’s and Jim Beam will exit after this year, choosing to save that money or spend it elsewhere. In Allstate’s case, it not only dropped its association with driver Kasey Kahne, but also chose not to renew its title sponsorship of the Brickyard race. The shift in marketing, the insurance giant said, will put more resources against college football.
While some attrition is normal each year, there’s usually a row of sponsors lined up to step in. Not this year.
“I’ve never seen such late-buying decisions by marketers,” said Brian Corcoran, executive vice president of Fenway Sports Group, which sells the inventory at Roush Fenway Racing. “There’s inventory out there that no one ever expected to be available.”
Among the inventory that’s still available: a half-season on Kenseth’s No. 17 Roush Fenway car, a full season on Richard Childress Racing’s No. 07 car and a prominent associate position on Kahne’s No. 9. Industry insiders say that as much as half of the season on Gordon’s No. 24 is being shopped as DuPont scales back and that a handful of races can be had on JGR’s No. 11 (FedEx) and No. 20 (Home Depot) cars of Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano, respectively.
To better entice brands, teams are looking for innovative ways to add value to the sponsorship package, rather than slashing prices, although there’s plenty of that going on as well, industry sources said.
That added value could come in the form of space in industry magazines, websites or radio broadcasts, as well as track assets such as time on the SprintVision video board. Teams are sometimes buying that inventory to enhance the package of assets for prospective sponsors.
“In the past, you wouldn’t have those conversations with other people in the industry because you feared that someone would steal your sponsor,” said Steve Lauletta, president of Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. “Now everyone realizes that you’re better off at least getting a percentage of a sponsor’s dollars instead of trying to get all of the sponsor’s dollars.
“What you’re seeing is a greater collaboration between teams and other parts of the industry to be creative and make these packages more valuable.”
The fractured nature of NASCAR assets has sometimes been a turnoff to brands. There’s practically no one-stop shopping—talk to the track for a track deal, talk to the team for a car deal, talk to the broadcaster for a media deal, talk to NASCAR for a league deal.
Teams think they can offer a more well-rounded sponsorship package by bundling these assets into one package for the brand while holding the line on price.
“Keeping price integrity is hugely important,” Corcoran said. “Fire sales might get a team by in the short term, but it hurts the industry. And we see plenty of companies come through just looking for a bargain.”
There’s also the specter of a busy free agent class next year that includes Kahne, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch and Greg Biffle, among others. With so much anticipated driver movement, new sponsor opportunities will emerge and it might make sense for brands to sit on the sidelines and re-emerge next year.
“For the most part, teams are doing a good job holding steady on prices, but they are willing to negotiate,” said Moffitt of MCG Sports. “What you’re not going to see next year is a lot of new money in the sport. But for the companies that have suffered from sticker shock before, now is a good time to look at the opportunities that are out there.”
Michael Smith is a reporter with SportsBusiness Journal.
Notes: Earnhardt doesn’t get the finish again at Texas
It’s become an all to common occurrence for Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 88 Amp Energy/National Guard Chevrolet team. They once again appeared to be on the brink of starting to dig themselves out of a hole and they just get buried even deeper.
- FORT WORTH, TX – NOVEMBER 08: Kasey Kahne, driver of the #9 Budweiser Dodge, and Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 National Guard/AMP Energy Chevrolet, lead a line of cars during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on November 8, 2009 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images for Texas Motor Speedway)
This was yet again the case at Texas Motor Speedway for the Dickies 500 on Sunday. After running much of the race’s 501 miles in the top-ten, the team finished 25th after their fuel strategy was missed by just a few drops of the high-octane Sunoco fuel.
As the field came around to take seven to go, Earnhardt Jr. continued the strategy set forth by crew chief Lance McGrew and came in for a splash of gas so he could make it to the end. However, the Kannapolis, N.C. native ran out of fuel moments before crossing the pit road commitment line. He was able to coast into his pit box but stalled as he tried to make his way off of pit road.
After three laps had passed, Earnhardt Jr. was finally able to merge back onto the 1.5-mile speedway.
Richard Petty Motorsports gets second top-ten in a Ford
The transition to Ford from Dodge has gotten off to a good start for Richard Petty Motorsports, a team that plans to switch to Ford before next season’s Daytona 500.
For the second week in a row, one of their driver’s strapped into a Ford powered RPM car. Last weekend it was Elliott Sadler and this weekend, as well as for the rest of the season, it was AJ Allmendinger.
The second time out brought the team it’s second top-ten finish after Allmendinger finished tenth at Texas this weekend.
“I feel tired,” Allmendinger said. “That’s longer than you think out there, but I’m proud of everybody on the 44 team. Obviously, the end result of a top 10 is good, but we were top 12 to top 15 all day and got a little lucky on fuel mileage. We stopped and a couple of guys ran out, so I’m just proud of everybody. We kept working hard on this car all weekend and it really showed. We started off and weren’t very good on Friday and just kept picking away at it. It still wasn’t perfect. We’ve still got to work on it, but for our first race I was just really proud of everybody.”
Kyle Busch falls short of weekend hat-trick yet again at Texas
- Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Toyota, races Kurt Busch, driver of the #2 Miller Lite Dodge, during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on November 8, 2009 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images for Texas Motor Speedway)
The second weekend of the year saw Kyle Busch miss NASCAR’s first trifecta at Auto Club Speedway. After coming off wins in the Camping World Truck Series race on Friday and the Nationwide Series race on Saturday, he couldn’t cap it off after he finished third on Sunday during the Cup Series race.
The same scenario was set up this weekend at Texas following Busch’s victories in the Camping World Truck and Nationwide Series races to start off the weekend. For a while, it appeared like the young Las Vegas, Nev. native was destined to become the first driver to win in all three of NASCAR’s major series at the same track in the same weekend since NASCAR began back in 1949.
However, it just wasn’t met to be.
With three laps to go, Busch reported to his crew that he was out of fuel. The crew struggled to get the car to start again once he made it to pit road. Busch and the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota finished 11th after leading a field-dominating 232 laps on Sunday.
Keselowski finishes 35th in Penske Racing debut
Getting a head start on next season’s full-time Sprint Cup Series opportunity, Brad Keslowski ran his first race with new employer Penske Racing at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday.
At the end of the 501-mile event staged in central Texas, Keselowski crossed the finish line in the 35th position.
Keselowski felt that it was a good start for their relationship, which included being involved in a lap 176 incident.
“I thought that we did a good job on our Penske Dodge,” Keselowski said. “We had some bad circumstances today, getting caught up in a wreck that took our right-front out. After we got the car fixed, we moved up positions all race. I think that we had a top-15 car, but just got caught up in the wrong spot at the wrong time. That’s racing. I’m proud of my guys. Congratulations to Kurt (Busch) and the Miller Lite guys. That’s a great win for those guys and I’m happy for my new teammate. They definitely had a great car all night.”
More drivers become mathematically eliminated after Texas
With just two races left remaining, everyone from the eighth points position on back is mathematically eliminated from a champion shot assuming that the top-seven drivers start the final races of the 2009 season.
Denny Hamlin, Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne and Carl Edwards join Brian Vickers, who was eliminated last weekend, as those who no longer with a title shot.
After next week’s race at Phoenix, any driver more than 161 points from the points leader will be mathematically eliminated.
Richard Petty Motorsports Further Solidifies 2010 Plans
An Associated Press report published today suggests that Best Buy, Elliott Sadler’s sponsor on the No. 19 Richard Petty Motorsports car for the past couple of years, will move to its teammate, the No. 43 car, which A.J. Allmendinger will drive for the 2010 season.
Best Buy began its relationship with Allmendinger this season at Darlington, when they sponsored his No. 44 car as he finished 17th. Allmendinger also finished 7th at Sonoma and 23rd two weeks ago at Charlotte with Best Buy on the hood.
Best Buy sponsored Sadler in 19 races this season, including the Sprint All-Star Challenge, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, and the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. Sadler’s best finish this season was a 5th place in the Daytona 500.
The move is one of marginal elevation for the Richfield, MN-based company: Allmendinger sits one spot ahead of Sadler in points, although their records this season are virtually identical: 32 starts, no wins, a top-5 and four top-10s apiece.
The move leaves the No. 19 with one primary sponsor, Stanley Tools, which has covered 22 races over the course of this season (19 with Sadler and 3 with Allmendinger).
However, the move also strengthens Richard Petty Motorsports as a whole; instead of putting together a multi-million dollar sponsorship package for Allmendinger, they only need to patch holes for both Sadler and Allmendinger, a much easier task. RPM also has experience with this method, having utilized it all year with Allmendinger’s car and the No. 43 of Reed Sorenson.
Thus far, the biggest supporters of those two teams have been McDonald’s and Valvoline, with 10 races apiece. Hunt Brothers Pizza sponsored eight races for Allmendinger this season, with the last one this weekend at Talladega. Charter Communications covered seven races, but none since Phoenix in April. Super 8 Motels, the Air Force, and PVA.org have also sponsored RPM cars this year.
Ideally, RPM will fill its sponsorship gaps with the companies that have already appeared on its cars this year, giving them three fully sponsored and factory supported teams for next year. Pending the potential addition of Paul Menard and his family sponsorship, RPM could finally have a financially stable four-car team for the 2010 season.
Elliott Sadler to drive Ford at Talladega for RPM
In the midst of finalizing a merger with Yates Racing, Richard Petty Motorsports will race a Ford-powered car at Talladega Superspeedway this weekend, the team announced Monday.
Elliott Sadler will become the first driver to ever drive a Ford in the history of Richard Petty Motorsports before he will switch back to Dodge, the team’s current manufacturer, for the final three races of the season at Texas, Phoenix and Miami.
Sadler drove in a Ford with Yates Racing in 2003-2005 before coming to what is now Richard Petty Motorsports and the No. 19 team. All of Sadler’s three Sprint Cup Series wins came in a Ford, with his last being in 2006 at California.
“Richard Petty Motorsports is working with Ford Racing as we get ready to make the full-time switch at Daytona in 2010,” Sadler said. “Since this is the final restrictor plate race of the season, we made the decision to run a Ford to get some work done in advance. This will be our first time to practice and work on a Fusion under real race conditions. It should help us get ready to make a strong showing at Daytona and put us in the best position to start next season. I’ll be back in a Dodge at Texas, Phoenix and Homestead, but since it’s important to start a season off on the right foot we thought we’d try to get a head start.”
Richard Petty Motorsports announced that they signed a letter of intent on Sept. 10 with Yates Racing to merge. While an official merger plan of the two teams has not been officially agreed upon, the team has confirmed that they will field the NASCAR-maximum of four cars next year. All of which will be Fords.
Upon the finalization of the merger, this will be the second consecutive year that a Richard Petty-owned team has merged. In January of this year, what was Petty Enterprises merged with Gillett Evernham Motorsports to form the current Richard Petty Motorsports.
April 14, 1985 was the last time a Ford owned by Petty hit the track. Morgan Sheppard drove it to an 18th-place finish at Darlington.
The last time Petty drove a Ford was Dec. 2, 1969 at the Texas World Speedway. Petty recorded nine wins, 29 top-five and 36 top-10 finishes in a Ford in 48 starts.
