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Shotgun wedding season continued in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with the news that Bobby Labonte (a driver who lacked a team) will join Hall of Fame Racing (a team that lacked equipment, cars, a driver and employees) to run a Ford campaigned by Yates Racing (a team that lacked a sponsor).
This is good news for Labonte, the 2000 Sprint Cup Champion but likely bad news for David Gilliland, who is expected to be the odd man out as the team probably will run just three cars — the No. 28 for Travis Kvapil, the No. 96 for Labonte and the No. 98 for Paul Menard.
It’s also bad news for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, who had hoped to sign Labonte. The fact that EGR couldn’t get that deal done, combined with the departure of former Dale Earnhardt Inc. President of Global Operations Max Siegel, are not good omens for the team. Not devastating, mind you, but not good.
The big deal to me about all these odd mergers and last-minute deals is how much it will exacerbate the gap between the haves and the have nots. Labonte is a fine driver, one with an unquestioned pedigree, but I just don’t see any way that a deal put together in mid-January will result in a championship-contending team. By the same token, I would be well and truly shocked if EGR or the GEM-Petty Enterprises produces a serious championship contender in 2009.
So the real winners in this climate of economic upheaval likely will be NASCAR’s Big Four — Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, Richard Childress Racing and Roush Fenway Racing. They have stable personnel and sponsors and no issues with having to merge with other teams. It’s no coincidence that these are the only four teams to place cars in the Chase for the Sprint Cup last year.
Behind the Big Four, there are only two multi-car Sprint Cup teams that haven’t merged or otherwise taken on new partners this season — Penske Racing and Red Bull Racing.
I’ll have much more on this in the days and weeks ahead.
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