NASCAR 2009 Recap

Congratulations to Jimmie Johnson for recording his third consecutive Sprint Cup Championship in his Rick Hendrick owned Lowes Chevrolet Impala SS. This is a very impressive feat, for sure.

It was not such a good year for my favorite driver, 2000 Sprint Cup Champion Bobby Labonte, pilot of King Richard Petty's famed #43 Cherrios Dodge Charger. Labonte scored only 1 top ten finish in '08, which is performance they cannot be proud of. Petty Enterprises is underfunded when compared with the mega NASCAR teams from Richard Childress, Jack Roush, Joe Gibbs and Roger Penske. Even so, I had hoped to see some improvement in 2008, but it never materialized. For 2009, Petty has lost Cheerios as it's sponsor and as of now there has been no news of potential new sponsors, and given the current economic climate, the prognosis for one is not good.

In fact, the current economic conditions cast doubt about what the automobile industry, let alone NASCAR, may look like in 2009. At this time (see previous blog entry), the Big 3 automakers are fighting for survival begging for cash assistance on Capitol Hill. One or more of the Big 3 may not survive, and from a NASCAR perspective, this would not be good.

Currently, Dodge, Toyota (TM:NYSE), Ford (F:NYSE) and Chevrolet (division of GM:NYSE) are the manufacturers competing on the circuit. I cannot contemplate NASCAR without Ford and Chevy competing out there on the high banks. Can you? In addition, suppliers to the Big 3 and NASCAR, like Goodyear (GT:NYSE), could be severely impacted to the negative.

NASCAR is doing what it can to lobby for assistance for the Big 3 by seeking public commentary from owners and drivers alike. NASCAR's most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., commented
“All I ever raced is Chevrolet. They’ve been with me throughout my entire career and have supported everything I have done. Now I want to do everything I can to support them. I have awesome fans and I hope they will reach out to our leaders in Washington to help Chevy and our other domestic car makers. There is nothing more American than Chevrolet and we need to make sure it stays that way.” Contrary to public opinion, many of the drivers are politically astute and have a handle on current events taking place in America. Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson were recently guests on CNBC's Mad Money with Jim Cramer.

Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick, all Chevrolet drivers, have all issued public commentary on the subject, and many of the drivers and owners own car dealerships.

As the economic conditions in the country began to deteriorate, one could easily notice empty seats at tracks all along the circuit and television ratings were down significantly as well. International Speedway Corp., (ISCA:NASDAQ), owners of NASCAR, have seen their stock price cut in half over the last year, although they are in good company on the street. Thankfully, for once, I got out before the drop when I noticed the empty seats.

With the economic storm we are facing, there could be big changes in the NASCAR world by the time Speedweeks comes calling in February. I hear a meeting of NASCAR movers and shakers took place in Charlotte this week to discuss what may be on the horizon and how to deal with the changes. I am a stock market investor and I am astonished at the carnage we all are witnessing on Wall Street. This damage is one for the ages, and the unfortunate negative impact on things we all love, like NASCAR, may be lasting. Then again, I have no idea what I am having for lunch tomorrow, so things could turn around by next week.