| The titan of the United States auto industry has | | | | GM has already canceled its sponsorship for four |
| taken the smart and predictable path. On June 1, | | | | tracks, but has kept eight others. Even its |
| 2009, General Motors filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy | | | | sponsorship of mighty Daytona has been reduced to |
| protection to reorganize its finances. The question is | | | | a year-to-year deal. If the viability of a Daytona |
| what this means for NASCAR. | | | | sponsorship is being questioned, it doesn't portend |
| General Motors is the dominant manufacturer in | | | | well for the rest of the GM investment in NASCAR. |
| NASCAR. Chevrolet is the brand in question. Drivers | | | | So, what will happen? GM is going to stay in NASCAR |
| such as defending champion Jimmie Johnson, past | | | | under the Chevy brand. It is a major marketing |
| champions Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and popular | | | | vehicle for the company. Given the huge loyalty of |
| drivers such as Dale Earnhardt, Jr., all drive the car. | | | | consumers towards their favorite teams, even the |
| Those drivers and their teams have to be feeling a | | | | dimmest of marketing executives would realize that |
| bit unsettled today with the news that GM has finally | | | | ending the GM involvement in NASCAR would be a |
| stepped into the bankruptcy court. | | | | mistake. That doesn't mean that the involvement will |
| General Motors will come out of bankruptcy as a | | | | remain the same. Look for GM to perhaps cut a |
| functioning company. That being said, it will be a very | | | | team or two and definitely reduce its sponsorship of |
| different company. The government will own 72.5 | | | | non-team platforms such as the remaining eight |
| percent and will provide it with 60 billion dollars in | | | | tracks it still sponsors. People are loyal to teams and |
| financing. This means making the company profitable | | | | drivers, not tracks. |
| is going to be key. That means cutting expenses and | | | | Ah, but what if it all goes wrong? What if GM |
| maximizing revenues is going to be the focus of the | | | | decides or is ordered by a bankruptcy judge to get |
| new company. How NASCAR figures into that is | | | | out of NASCAR? Well, chaos would reign for a bit |
| going to be an interesting question. The initial signs | | | | and then things would settle down. The GM teams |
| are troubling. | | | | would migrate to Toyota and Ford. This would put |
| General Motors is looking to convert to greener cars. | | | | them far behind the teams already using those |
| NASCAR is not exactly green. This would appear to | | | | makes, but NASCAR would survive. |
| make it a bad match for the company. To this end, | | | | |