That leaves the $30 million for the naming rights. Compare that to, say, ALLTEL, which -- if they are spending what most of your other top-level sponsors are spending -- is dishing out around $15 million to sponsor the 12 car. That's one driver. His engine blows up and he's done after 14 laps? Sorry, ALLTEL, your day is over. But by buying the series, Nextel is getting something from all 43 cars, basically for the price of getting everything from two. No matter who wins, they're mentioning Nextel.

And then there's the length of the deal. Consider what primary sponsorships go for now compared to 10 years ago. It's entirely possible that in 2014 a top-line sponsorship will be $25 million. (Where'd I get that figure? Total guess. But assuming the economy ever recovers, it's not at all unreasonable.) That makes Nextel's position incredibly enviable. They could be paying just a hair more than Soylent Green (or some other future company) will be paying to sponsor Matt Martin.

That's why I'm a little surprised NASCAR didn't go harder at someone like McDonald's or Visa, a safe bet that's been around. I know Nextel is profitable and their market share wows analysts, but they're in an ever-changing, volatile and relatively new industry.

Robby Gordon -- Take that, Nextel. Cingular, baby. Cingular.

Matt Kenseth -- Finished behind Junior and lost a few points to him, but he might have bigger problems: Jeff Gordon is now his closest pursuer.

Hideo Fukuyama -- He’s never made a race on time -- in his five starts, he's started 42nd once and 43rd four times. As for finishes: 43, 39, 33, 43, 43.

Robby has a pretty good defense: He asked three times in the drivers' meeting if it was OK to race back to the flag, and was told yes three times. Jeff, on the other hand, said, "That's a bunch of crap right there. Anybody who races back under caution like that ... I don't know where his mind is. He [Gordon] did a great job. He won the race fair and square [Sunday], except for that move right there. I don't care if they call it a gentlemen's agreement or not -- what he did, especially to his teammate, is absolutely ridiculous. If he can be proud and satisfied with himself to go out there and do what he did [Sunday], and he's sitting over there in Victory Lane because he knows he passed his teammate under caution, then by all means have it." (Next man who says "gentlemen's agreement" should be banned from the sport for life.)

Asked if he and Jeff would have a discussion to clear the air, Robby said, "He's not big enough to have a discussion with me."

Apparently AT&T decided to go back on the No. 49 for an additional race to show NASCAR they weren't going away so easily. Now BAM Racing, which owns the 49, has asked NASCAR whether or not AT&T could serve as their primary sponsor next year, under the same grandfather exception Cingular and ALLTEL were granted.

You know, either you give Nextel exclusivity or you don't. That's my feeling.

Scott from Boardman, Ohio, takes issue with my stance on whether NASCAR was right to take a race from Darlington and move the Southern 500. "If NASCAR is so steeped in tradition, why can't they seem to put [people] in the seats anymore at The Rock and Darlington? I definitely see why Rockingham lost a race ... they had a race ... and no one came ... no one showed up at the spring race. (I do so love the racing at that place though.) The real question is why are they stamping out cookie cutter racetracks similar to B-O-R-I-N-G Michigan, like California, when they can be creating something a tad more challenging and exciting like Atlanta MS? That's the rub here."

Points taken -- if they built a track like Darlington in L.A., I wouldn't be arguing as much. Incidentally, the whole reason I used Scott's letter is that he's from Boardman, which is the home of Bernie Kosar, the greatest athlete there ever was.

Ricardo from Rio asks, "Mark, NASCAR has obviously put a great effort into turning its series internationally known, especially through TV transmissions. At least till the end of the 2003 season, Christian Fittipaldi, Brazilian driver, will have a seat on No. 43. I have heard stories about Mexican and Japanese drivers coming to NASCAR sooner or later. Do you think this is probable future for NASCAR or just a marketing fad?"

Ricardo, there is a Japanese driver, Hideo Fukuyama, who, as I pointed out above, isn't doing so hot. But I think the trend will continue, not so much because NASCAR wants it to or will try to make it happen, but because drivers will examine their options, see all the money to be made in NASCAR, and decide to give stock cars a chance. Granted, no one races stock cars in Brazil, so it might take a while. And Ricardo, might I add my congratulations on Brazil's 1-0 Confederations Cup win over the U.S. Ronaldinho is the man.

And finally, Andrew Davies wrote in to say that Kenny Wallace is his favorite underdog. (Tony Raines' sister also wrote in. Strangely, she also picked Kenny Wallace. No, I'm only kidding, Tony. Don't call your sister up and chew her out. She's pulling for you.)

Andrew is, of course, the guy in State 4, the Minneapolis band who sent me the band's latest CD, Less Than Happy. The band's logo is kind of reminiscent of the logo another Twin Cities guy, Prince, used when he lost his mind and starting going with the symbol, and they also really like to use purple. The similarities end there, though. Prince goes for the sex thing, State 4 goes for the somber thing. Now, to me, there's nothing worse than bad depressing music, or music that's comically over the top in its grimness. (Witness the Bauhaus song Bela Lugosi's Dead.)

It's a tough genre to pull off -- in my book, no one ever did it better than Joy Division. Anyways, one of my favorite tricks in music of any genre is when something in a band's sound completely contradicts what's going on with the big picture. For example: Summerteeth, by Wilco. Grim, grim lyrics set to great pop melodies. That's sort of what State 4 has to offer. Pretty morose lyrics and a Joy Division sound (maybe a little more electronica-esque), but instead of Ian Curtis' guttural voice (I always thought he was trying to sound like a crooner but he had heartburn), State 4's vocalist (Laura) has a mesmerizing voice that ranges from smoky to silky. It really works well. (So cheer up, already.) If you live in the Twin Cities area, check them out.

No racin', but the Winston-soon-to-be-Nextel Cup series returns the following weekend in Daytona. It doesn't take a genius to figure out who's going to be strong. Dale Jr. is due, and heaven knows he loves that track.

Mark Bechtel covers NASCAR for Sports Illustrated and SI.com.
Click here to send him a question.

 

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