Just a couple days ago, BAM Racing owner Beth Ann Morgenthau released a statement
saying that her team, the No. 49 Toyota driven by Ken Schrader, would be pulling back their schedule even more due to sponsorship
hardships. Their troubles with sponsorship and making the Top 35 in owner points is a prime example of how single-car operations
are becoming more and more endangered.
It was about a month ago when rumors started swirling about BAM Racing's possible
merger with a multi-car organization. While they kept their role in NASCAR as a one-car operation, they said they would be
switching manufacturers, from Dodge to Toyota, with engines from Bill Davis Racing, last year's lone bright spot for the Japanese
manufacturer.
Along with a change in car make, they also said they found sponsorship with Microsoft Small Business
prior to the Martinsville race. Required to qualify on-time at Martinsville because of their point’s position, driver
Ken Schrader qualified seventh. A couple of setbacks during the race relegated him to a 37th place finish.
A few days later, Morgenthau withdrew
the team's entry from the Samsung 500 at Texas,
and also last week at Phoenix. Their reason was the changing from Dodge equipment
to Toyota and the effect it was having, but they had intended on running in the
Aaron's 499 on April 27th.
On Tuesday, the news came that the sponsorship deal had fallen through and that they will
only be able to run a few races, most likely in the fall during the Chase for the Championship.
It's a known fact
that NASCAR is becoming more and more mainstream, and with that comes the decline of single-car teams. Most of this is due
to the stiff competition of a four-car team like Hendrick Motorsports (HMS). HMS has over 400 employees, while a single-car
team like BAM Racing or Robby Gordon Motorsports (RGM) has at most 40 or 50.
Sponsorships are becoming harder and harder
to find. In the past few years teams have had to combine two or three companies to help fund the primary sponsorship on their
vehicles. Take Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s move to HMS. You'd think that it would only take one company to want to sponsor the sport's
most popular driver, wrong. Earnhardt has two primary sponsors, which can not only confuse new fans, but make it harder to
see the blue No. 88 on the track.... or is it, the green No. 88?
A positive of this is the souvenir trailers at the
track have twice as many diecast cars to sell, twice as many hats and shirts since Earnhardt has two primary sponsors.
Yates Racing
fields two race cars, driven by David Gilliland and Travis Kvapil, the 2003 Craftsman Truck Series (CTS) Champion. Both have
had some great runs, and in Gilliland's case, two top 15 finishes in the past two events. But how long will they be able to
run either car if no primary sponsor is found? It's not like they're even getting one-race deals anymore (like Kvapil had
at Daytona, and Gilliland the first few races of '08).
But going back to single car teams -- what company wants to
sponsor a single-car team, a team that is most likely under funded and struggling to make races, when they can form a partnership
with a team of a multi-car organization for about the same price.
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Sponsorship costs have risen
to over $20 million per year, and it's becoming more apparent that companies are less willing to shell out that much -- and
that’s for a top-tier team like a HMS car or a Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) car.
Petty Enterprises is not a single-car
operation, but it is a two-car team that is struggling, and has been for awhile now. The fact that their primary sponsor of
eight years, General Mills, is leaving at seasons' end to go to Richard Childress Racing (RCR), a three-car elite team, shows
that sponsors are less willing to go to under funded teams, but also less patient to see their investments pay off.
Let's
face it. If elite teams are having difficulty finding sponsors, then why would potential sponsors even consider an under funded,
single car team? It doesn't make sense.
NOTE: I am not bashing
any organization whatsoever. I always like to see underdogs do well in our sport, and hope that BAM Racing, Petty Enterprises,
and any other smaller organization finds success in the very near future. In the meantime, enjoy the Nationwide race at Mexico.
