Chevy teams facing a crucial day at Indy Speedway

With Kyle Busch (18) leading the way, Toyota has been building a formidable lead over GM for the manufacturer's championship. John Harrelson/Getty Images Tom Bowles's Mailbag Submit a comment or question for Tom. Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND

During the 14 years since Indianapolis Motor Speedway opened its doors to stock cars, July and August have belonged to Chevrolet. Beginning with Jeff Gordon taking the first checkered flag in 1994, Lumina and Monte Carlo drivers have guzzled more milk in Victory Lane than anyone else, winning nine races including the last five in a row. Local legend Gordon has led the way, leading 433 laps at the Brickyard while taking home a series-high four trophies (1994, '98, '01, and '04).

But as NASCAR heads towards Sunday's running of its 15th race at Indy, Gordon is still winless on the season. His situation is a microcosm of what's shaping up to be a nightmare 2008 for General Motors.

Nineteen races into the season, the new Impala model has won just four while notable drivers like Gordon and Kevin Harvick have continued to get shut out. The last time Chevy slumped that bad, I hadn't even learned to walk and talk -- not since 1982 has the brand gone this late into the season with so few wins. Sure, Most Popular Driver Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has settled in well with Hendrick Motorsports, but for the rest of the Bowtie Brigade, there's plenty more questions than answers.

In the midst of the slump a surprising challenger to Chevrolet dominance has emerged. Led by new partner Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota Camrys have burst onto the scene in their second year on the circuit, exploding for eight wins and a healthy 19-point lead in the yearly manufacturer's championship. It's a "foreign" invasion that's benefited points leader Kyle Busch, 23, who's won seven times en route to building a 262-point lead over rival Earnhardt, Jr.

Busch's aggressive on-track persona has matched his brand's spending, with its "win-at-all-costs" mentality putting Chevy on the ropes and threatening to keep it from grabbing the title it has won more often (31 times) than any other automaker.

What's the difference? Besides the money, there are the engines. Over in the "AAA" Nationwide Series, a dynamometer test of 10 engines this month showed that Toyota has about a 15-20 horsepower advantage over everyone else. Whether that edge extends to the Cup Series is unknown, but let's put it this way: JGR chief engine builder Mark Cronquist is certainly no slouch. This week, NASCAR put in a rule change in that series to bring down the horsepower and level the playing field because Toyota had won 14 times in 21 starts.

With its back to the wall, GM has wasted no time in mounting a counterattack: plucking former superstar Tony Stewart from Gibbs to both own and drive a two-car team in '09. GM still owns the talent of Earnhardt, Jr. and Gordon, as well as Jimmie Johnson, who is going for his third straight championship under the Hendrick banner. But the trouble for Chevy runs deeper than talent and trips to Victory Lane.

These are tough economic times, and the losses for parent company GM point toward an ominous future. Four years ago, GM stock stood at 44.64 and now it's trading at slightly under 14, with losses totaling $3.3 billion in the first quarter of '08. It's not just on the track where Toyota's beating the American automaker -- it's in the real world of car sales on Monday morning.

Those losses have left GM in perhaps the least comfortable spot of the Big Three automakers. Every possible avenue has been used to cut costs in recent years, with the exception of the motorsports program -- and as Toyota swims in unlimited cash, GM can't up the ante in NASCAR. In fact, there are questions as to whether they'll be able to keep going at all.

A reported $120- to $140 million expenditure in NASCAR per year could easily be termed an unnecessary expense by stockholders who are losing money by the bucket each month -- and if the teams don't win on Sunday, what's the advantage for the showroom on Monday?

With CNN already reporting GM's sponsorship cuts at both New Hampshire and Bristol Motor Speedway, those severed ties could be just the tip of an iceberg in which nothing is guaranteed a future. And that's why this weekend is so important for GM.

Indianapolis is GM's house, the place where stars like Gordon, Earnhardt, Johnson and Stewart have produced a lifetime of enduring images with wins at one of the most historic race tracks in America. Stock car racing at Indy may not produce the most exciting action you'll see each year, but the pride and public visibility from a win there outweighs anything except, perhaps, the Daytona 500.

So in a year in which the very future of Chevrolet's involvement in NASCAR could be at stake, there's only one sure way to convince shareholders that staying in the sport is worthwhile.

Win.