In tough times, NASCAR owners can't afford chances

Times are tough for NASCAR teams all the way around -- owners, drivers, crewmen and sponsors -- and those new to the Sprint Cup tour, such as promising rookie Regan Smith, have it rougher than usual. No matter how talented they are or how fast they're learning, it might not be fast enough to keep sponsors happy.

It's a corollary to the rich-get-richer theory -- those without a big name or a couple of splashy races to boast about might be about to fall through the cracks and vanish. Look at car owner Rick Hendrick, for example. He just hired Mark Martin, a legend who will soon turn 50, instead of a young and coming development driver. He could well afford to, because he has title contenders Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. already on his roster.

During the 14 years or so since NASCAR racing hit mainstream America, one of the good things about its marketing success was that it opened doors for new drivers, including men such as Tony Stewart, who once was -- hard as it might be to recall -- iffy in this branch of racing.

Lately, there have been drivers such as Smith, and veterans from other series, such as Juan Pablo Montoya, Dario Franchitti and Patrick Carpentier. NASCAR team owners have been able, willing, even eager to put them in top-flight equipment. And sponsors weren't that hard to sell on the game plan.

Now though there is increasing worry that that dynamic might be about to change, because of the unsettled economy and uncertain corporate sponsors.

Sponsors don't have the luxury right now to take many marketing chances. They want to go with what's proven. And even that -- if the now questionable Joe Gibbs-Home Depot sponsorship, for example, is suddenly as fragile as it appears -- might not be a given.

Franchitti, despite his stellar Indy-car credentials, wasn't attractive enough to potential sponsors, so owner Chip Ganassi had to shut down that team, laying off 71 people.

Even racing giant General Motors is moving its NASCAR money to focus on what provides the best return on investment. That means dropping track-owner programs like pace cars and putting that money to work at, say, bankrolling Tony Stewart's new venture.

If drivers like Regan Smith get lost in the shuffle, that's bad. He is a good kid who has been doing his best to learn the trade. Although he's up against more high-profile racers in the battle for NASCAR's rookie-of-the-year award, Smith is atop those standings at the season's midpoint.

Smith is 24, but he has been in NASCAR since his first Truck run six years ago. And he narrowly escaped last season's Bobby Ginn disaster, when that owner failed and shuffled his remaining assets, including Smith, over to DEI.

Now with rumors swirling around Dale Earnhardt Inc. and all of its drivers, with Mark Martin leaving, with Martin Truex Jr. trying to leave, with Paul Menard's future still up in the air, and with all the other driver moves in the garage, Smith realizes he is just a pawn in the game.

"I don't know what it will or won't unleash," Smith says of the current shuffle, highlighted by Tony Stewart's split from owner Joe Gibbs. "I would tend to think it's going to unleash quite a bit of stuff. But this time of year, this always happens. It seems right at about Chicago every year is when all this stuff starts getting announced and pieces to the puzzle start falling into place. "

What it all might mean for Smith is uncertain, even though he's running better, qualifying better and leading the rookie standings.

"We're not happy, still," Smith said. "Until we're finishing top-10 each week, we don't feel we're doing what we want to be doing. But we're making gains on it ... and that's all part of being a rookie."

(Contact Mike Mulhern at mmulhern@wsjournal.com.)

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)