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Here's what everyone will be talking about as the NASCAR haulers roll into Daytona International Speedway next month for the start of one the most unpredictable seasons in recent memory.No sport is more intrinsically affected by the economic slowdown than auto racing and, specifically, NASCAR. Corporate America is more cautious with the sponsorship money it had been throwing NASCAR's way for years and the average fan has to really consider if he and his family can afford a race weekend.
More than 1,000 people have lost jobs with NASCAR race teams and it's affected every team from the Mighty Hendrick organization to the little-engine-that-could Furniture Row Racing team.
America's struggling car manufacturers Dodge, General Motors and Ford are the lifeline of the sport and when things are rough for them.
But it's not time to panic yet.
Yes, all three makes – and even Toyota – are scaling back their cash commitments, but the effects on the sport will be more subtle.
They are re-thinking their title sponsorship at race tracks, spending less on marketing and promotion and doling out less cash to supplement their technology and parts.
There was a time, not so very long ago, when NASCAR operated without much factory support at all and the teams adopted and innovated. And the racing was still competitive. The sport's evolution has changed that game. And the current economic crisis has changed it again.
Time to adapt and innovate.
The product -- the racing -- won't suddenly be bad just because Dodge is spending 30 percent less on the sport or Ford is cutting its budget.
For the average fan, the cutbacks mean you won't see Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Chevrolet show car in front of 20 grocery stores in every town the circuit visits. And maybe those full page congratulatory post-race ads in USA Today run half size now (manufacturers still have to get the winning the word out – that's the whole point of participation).
There have been the easy, to-be-expected news reports of people out-raged over Ford, GM and Dodge spending taxpayer's bail-out money in NASCAR. But this sport is exactly how you energize potential customers and develop and show off technology. This is where the bailing out can begin.
All three makes – and Toyota too – will tell you that the NASCAR customer base is the most loyal and obvious way to go.
Want to start selling cars and trucks again? Billy Bob sitting in the backstretch grandstands is your man.
"The last thing that you'll see any of them (car manufacturers) reduce is cars on the race track,'' said Toyota Racing Development President Lee White.
"That is what it takes to gain the hearts and minds of the consumer and the hearts and minds of the fans.''
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