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Richard Childress Racing Usurps Another Sponsor

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by Steve Wronkowicz

I am co-host of the syndicated radio show: ON PIT ROW. Charlie likes to call me an "idiot". I'm not an "idiot"; I just prefer not to let the facts get in the way of my opinions.

June 20, 2008 10:55 am CDT 2 Comments

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In NASCAR its easy to know who the haves and the have-nots are.

Untitled PostIt was announced this week that Dave Blaney’s #22 Bill Davis Racing Toyota was losing Caterpillar as its primary sponsor. Cat has been the primary sponsor with BDR for the past ten years of its seventeen in the sport. The team remains in the 29th spot in the Sprint Cup Series Owners’ points. Veteran crew chief Tommy Baldwin has the team moving in the right direction, picking up 10 championship point positions over the course of five events and has posted two top-10 finishes and six finishes of 22nd or better in the past eight races.

“Caterpillar and Bill Davis Racing have enjoyed a long and successful partnership throughout the last 10 seasons, and we are proud of everything we’ve accomplished together, including wins in both the Daytona 500 and Southern 500,” stated Team Owner Bill Davis. “This is an exciting time for our team, and we are looking forward to the future.”

In a much publicized coup earlier RCR was able to wrangle the General Mills sponsorship away from long time partner Petty Enterprises. That General Mills deal will adorn the new 4th team at RCR with an, as yet, un-named driver. Now securing Caterpillar to replace AT&T on the #31 Jeff Burton ride, puts RCR on solid financial footing. NASCAR mandated that AT&T would only be allowed to remain on the 31 car through the end of the 2008 season.

“To represent a well-known global brand like Caterpillar is an honor,” said Richard Childress, president and CEO of RCR. “Cat products have played a big part over the decades in construction projects at RCR, Childress Vineyards and Yadkin River Angus. Jeff and I look forward to meeting the Cat dealers and customers who loyally follow NASCAR racing.”

With dollars harder and harder to come by, RCR has moved into as solid of a financial situation as any major player in motorsports. Other big name owners have had challenges securing primary sponsorship for the 2008 season. Yates Racing has had trouble filling the hood and quarter panels of its race cars this season. The #38 of David Gilliland has had backing from freecreditreport.com for much of the recent schedule, but didn’t start the season as primary sponsor and most likely is not the biggest benefactor in the garage area. Teammate, Travis Kvapil’s #28 has been void of sponsorship much of the season. These are high profile, storied history, race teams and money is tough to come by.

Robby Gordon will race at Infineon Speedway this weekend with no sponsorship at all. Gordon is no slouch on a road course. The probability of him running well and near the front all day are high. And running near the front means TV time. TV time translates into payback for a sponsor; yet RGM cannot find anyone to invest.

Good luck to Bill Davis Racing trying to replace Cat on the #22, all the while trying to find cash to expand to a full-time two car team in 2009. Could we be seeing the start of more outside investment in a long time NASCAR team, or could team mergers be on the horizon?

Photo credit: BethAnne Heisler/On Pit Row/Bench Racing Productions

Filed under: Dave Blaney, Jeff Burton, NASCAR, NASCAR Rumors, Richard Childress Racing, Robby Gordon, Robert Yates Racing 

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Comments

2 Responses to “Richard Childress Racing Usurps Another Sponsor”

  1. User Avatar Matt Mercer on June 20th, 2008 12:59 pm

    Quite frankly, I’m surprised team mergers haven’t happened already. I think they’re taking place on a gradual level, with “alliances” built among different teams like Petty/Evernham, RGM/Evernham, Yates/Roush, Hendrick/Haas, etc. Sponsors want performance for their dollars and if the opportunity comes to move to a team that’s second in points, you’d be crazy not to take it.

  2. User Avatar Steve Wronkowicz on June 21st, 2008 9:57 pm

    One of Charlie’s favorite sayings, that he stole from somewhere, is, “It’s not about the money–it’s about how much.” Matt-you’re right sooner or later these “satellite teams” may well have to form an allegiance to survive.

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