In Too Deep

Yesterday’s departure of GM’s CEO Rick Wagoner at the White House’s (ahem) “suggestion” serves as a reminder to all how painfully fragile is much of NASCAR’s financial foundation.  I wrote about the move itself and its implications in Goldfish and Clowns yesterday, so there’s no need to repeat all that.  I didn’t touch on the NASCAR element, so please bear with.

GM and Chrysler are putting off the inevitable by refusing to declare bankruptcy in order to rid themselves of the labor costs (thank you, UAW) that will forever leave them incapable of competing with the likes of Toyota and Honda unless relief is found.  Given how the UAW is fundamentally short-sighted and the Democrats are in labor’s back pocket, it is difficult bordering on impossible to believe the current administration will exert much if any pressure on the union to embrace reality by accepting across the board slashing of its benefits to current and especially retired workers.  As I opined in GAC, it takes little imagination to envision the federal government assuming part or all of the cost for benefits enjoyed by UAW members.  In other words, making the taxpayer foot the bill for an erstwhile private entity’s self-created indebtedness.  Yet while this is taking place, how long before prefabricated outrage over taxpayer dollars already sent GM and Chrysler’s way going toward manufacturer support of NASCAR teams rears its head?

I do not see any possibility of the aforementioned not taking place even if GM and Chrysler survive.  Nor do I see any possible way for manufacturer support to not be either dramatically scaled back or eliminated altogether in the coming months if not weeks.  This will put extreme financial pressure on all Chevy and Dodge teams.  It will also create an immediate schism between these teams and the Ford along with Toyota teams should they continue to receive support.  NASCAR’s governing body will be faced with a dilemma it has thus far avoided: an inequitable level of support affecting not the second tier teams, which has always been the case due to sponsorship dollars and who ranks where on the manufacturers pecking order but the big guns of the sport such as Hendrick, Stewart-Haas and RCR.

Also, NASCAR may well face in the near future one or more of the manufacturers currently in the sport folding.  What would then happen to the teams running said manufacturer’s cars?  The sport’s foundation is stock cars.  Even today, with nothing of contemporary passenger vehicles in the car presently being run, the legacy remains.  How could there be acceptance of teams running without some kind of identifier?

Brian France’s assertion that NASCAR can survive without manufacturer support notwithstanding, the sport he runs is in it deep.  Perhaps too deep.  As developments with GM and Chrysler unfold, we’ll find out together.

P.S.  Speaking of in too deep, a little Genesis for you:

[video http://www.diecast-dude.com/gac/genesis_in_too_deep.flv nolink]