NASCAR sponsors looking to invest in safest names available

Tony Stewart had some of NASCAR's brightest news to share at the annual Media Tour. AP Tom Bowles's Mailbag Submit a comment or question for Tom. Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND

Haven't been following NASCAR's annual Media Tour down in North Carolina? Not to worry. I can fit a summary into one simple sentence:

Playing it safe.

Ironic for a sport whose drivers cheat death each weekend, right? But after sorting through the dozens of "special" announcements, it's easy to find a common theme of, well, conservatism. All week long, the media has been treated to the glitz and glamour of sponsorship deals at NASCAR's top level -- but these press conferences trumpet optimistic forecasts about the future of several already well-funded organizations. Leading the cavalry charge is revamped Stewart-Haas Racing, announcing Wednesday it had signed a deal with fast food chain Burger King. While the sponsorship is for just two events, it adds to the money already secured by both Office Depot and Old Spice on Tony Stewart's No. 14 Chevrolet.

"This sponsorship with Tony provides the perfect scenario to get back into NASCAR. His passion, both on and off the track, resonates very well with our core Burger King customers," marketing president Russ Klein said in a press release. "We've long understood the power of NASCAR and its millions of fans, and are looking forward to an exciting season."

BK has a Whopper of a history with the sport, a major player in sponsorship deals for well over a decade. Beginning with the backing of Joe Nemechek's independent team in the mid-90's, it is well-known for choosing operations with long-term future potential -- even taking a chance on DEI and its first Cup driver, Steve Park. But Burger King's risk-taking fizzled once it sponsored David Reutimann over at Michael Waltrip Racing in 2007. After enduring a handful of DNQ's and zero Top 10 finishes with a rookie, the company pulled out for a year before choosing to align with what it feels is a marketing "slam dunk": the two-time Sprint Cup Series champ.

Of course, Stewart's new team was also unimpressive last year, with the car he drives finishing 43rd in owner points. But "star power" is the name of the game in NASCAR these days, and the driver's past success provides the "sure thing" companies need during these tough economic times. A look down the length of the garage shows the trend is to align with others who have the past accomplishments in place to prove their future marketing potential.

Jeff Gordon will see his new DuPont scheme give way to specialized National Guard programs for eight races. Fellow Chaser Denny Hamlin will add Farm Bureau Insurance, replacing Fed Ex as primary sponsor of his Toyota for three events. And the biggest new-money sponsor in NASCAR these days -- Ask.com -- landed with 2000 Sprint Cup champion Bobby Labonte, who takes the wheel of Hall of Fame's No. 96 in a partnership agreement with Yates Racing.

If you didn't know better, you'd think NASCAR is starting to recover from the wounds of an economic crisis that threatened the sport's short-term future. But with these companies going to a handful of places, it's not exactly big-money expansion time over in the Sprint Cup garage. What's new is old ... and that means there's no one new to challenge the existing hierarchy. For every Tony Stewart signing ... there's a Reutimann, whose slow but steady improvement at MWR has been rewarded with only 18 races' worth of sponsorship. And then ... there's Travis Kvapil.

Travis Kvapil? Most casual fans might not know him, but he drove the once-legendary No. 28 Ford in 2008. A former Truck Series champ, Kvapil seemed to be growing a great program over at Yates Racing, pushing limited sponsorship to four Top 10 finishes and a pole at Talladega in the Fall. Taking the car to 23rd in the owner standings -- the best mark for the team in three years -- Kvapil looked to be on the rise. Patience, persistence and a little funding were all that was needed to take him rising towards the next level; and a couple of years ago, he would have gotten that chance.

But when companies failed to bite on a 32-year-old Wisconsinite with an unproven track record, owner Doug Yates' hand was forced in the offseason. On board came Labonte and Ask.com, as well as driver Paul Menard and his millions of sponsorship from Menards Home Improvement Stores. While Menard has just one Top Five finish in his career, you'd better believe his sponsorship is secure; after all, the company's owned by his father.

So, where does that leave Kvapil? He's still behind the wheel of the No. 28, but it now becomes a third, unsponsored Yates entry with no guarantee of survival past the first five races of the season. Even worse, his guaranteed starting spot went to the car with the money -- Menard's No. 98 -- meaning he'll have to scramble to make the Daytona 500 just four months after winning the pole in NASCAR's last restrictor plate race. And he'll do it all with a new crew chief, Ben Leslie. Team reorganization leaves the team with just bits and pieces to try and survive in the Cup Series in 2009. After all, patience is only a virtue if you're sitting there carrying a multimillion dollar check.

So, Kvapil and Reutimann join the growing conglomerate of drivers looking to make a name for themselves ... just without the financial support to back them up. Second-year driver Aric Almirola still does not have sponsorship announced at Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, despite assurances by EGR President Steve Lauletta the car will run a full season. Rookie Chad McCumbee was released after the Gillett-Petty merger, leaving just two first-year drivers with funding as 2009 begins: Joey Logano and Scott Speed.

That portion of the economic crisis trickles all the way down to NASCAR's development drivers and series. You've got the top two Nationwide Series rookies -- Bryan Clauson and Landon Cassill -- without a ride as 2009 begins. Kevin Harvick's protégé Cale Gale plans just a limited schedule, along with Brad Coleman (Joe Gibbs) and Kelly Bires (JTG Racing). For while sponsors are willing to spend $3-4 million on men like Stewart for just two races, they're no longer taking a chance on an unknown for a full schedule in one of the sport's two lower divisions. That's because for one race and a fraction of the $20 million cost to sponsor a full season, these companies can get a big name and a big piece of the national marketing pie they need to be a part of the sport.

A few years ago, it wasn't a major problem for the big teams to have three, four, five primary sponsors. But with the number of viable organizations dwindling, these companies are now taking away from allowing other teams and drivers to establish themselves on the circuit. It's a trend that needs one of two things to happen to get reversed: a cap on spending so that all these companies won't be needed for a fully competitive team, or an underdog beating the odds to prove to sponsors you don't have to play it safe these days to be successful.

Since a cap is all but impossible -- after all, these teams are private contractors -- those underdogs become the most important piece of the puzzle. And that's where the real news is being made this month. Realizing there's a chance to break into the 43-car field, several small-time operations are starting up this month to head to Daytona -- but none of them have even one-tenth of the sponsorship of the big teams. Tommy Baldwin Racing is the most notable of those; the former crew chief for Bill Davis Racing has bought some equipment, signed veteran Scott Riggs, and is attempting to run the full season as a single-car operation -- without a primary sponsor, no less. Hoping the Car of Tomorrow produces the parity NASCAR has always trumpeted, Baldwin believes he can be competitive without the multi-million dollar network four-car teams like Hendrick Motorsports bring to the track this week.

So, while the lights shine on Stewart, keep an eye on men like Kvapil, Reutimann, and new owner Tommy Baldwin -- for they'll be the key to NASCAR's long-term success. Whether they have enough success to keep showing up will prove the real key to the sport bouncing back towards a model of 47 or 48 cars attempting to qualify each week. Because in a year of uncertainty, you can only have the same old teams and drivers safely entrenched at the top before there's no one left to challenge them from below.