The Changes We've Seen in NASCAR in 2007

An observation by Bruce Simmons

Some Hello's and Some Goodbye's

If there is one thing that is constant, it's change. And anyone who gets acclimated to something hoping for no change, literally hopes for stagnation that can kill a sport. Without change, new fans are not generated, new advertising money is not attracted and TV coverage is added, or continued. That's just something we have to keep in mind.

With the 2007 season in the books, we saw some serious change this year.

We said GOODBYE to:

The 25 car being on the track.
The Hendrick 25 car was first seen in the 1986 Daytona 500 with Tim Richmond and has had 11 different drivers, including Rick Hendrick himself.

To the Chevy Monte Carlo.
It came into NASCAR Cup competition in 1971 and 2007 was it's final year in Cup. We will still see it in the secondary series.

To Anheuser-Busch as the secondary series sponsor of many years.

To Joe Gibbs Racing Association with Chevy as they move to Toyota.

RIP to Benny Parsons, Bobby Hamilton and Bill France, just to name a few.

To the name, NEXTEL Cup, and hello to their new parent company name, SPRINT.
Sprint Cup.. it's just doesn't have the right "ring" to it.. no pun intended.

To this era's body style as the 2008 Sprint Cup Series will be the first full year of the Car of Tomorrow. COT.
That name has got to change, because tomorrow is here.

To simple race team names and hello to corporate team names.
2007 saw teams needing help with the costs of doing business. Roush Racing became Roush Fenway Racing, Evernham Motorsports became Gillett Evernham Motorsports and several other teams are working on similar deals as NASCAR is slowly turning into corporate America battling on the tracks.

To the statement that NASCAR is the fastest growing sport in the U.S..
Ratings have stopped climbing and I think people are getting tired of 3 to 4 hour shows and the crazy costs of going to races, though attendance to the venues are still seeing numbers in the 100,000+ count.

To Ginn Racing with Mark Martin as they were absorbed by DEI and now Mark Martin will be driving for DEI.

To leaded fuel as NASCAR is now running unleaded fuel in all it's main series.


ON THE FLIP SIDE, we can say Hello to :

The 88 car changing teams and a new driver of some recognition.

To the Chevrolet Impala SS for 2008 Cup competition.

To Nationwide sponsoring the secondary series.
Busch stopped sponsoring the secondary series due to proposed fee increases which started the search for a new sponsor. Withno one biting at the fees that NASCAR wanted, and with a silent slap in the face, Nationwide is now paying less than Busch was.

To Toyota competing in Cup, who's infamous start with Michael Waltrip Racing definitely got it's name in the media.

To a new team, Michael Waltrip Racing. Again, got it's name in the media with the 2007 Daytona 500.

To new drivers from different series and countries.
Juan Montoya, Canadians Jacques Villeneuve and Patrick Carpentier, and next season Scotsman Dario Franchitti will be in a car.

To NASCAR meeting with General Motors to talk about alternative fuels for the sport. We just went unleaded, and now we talking ethanol fuels.


OTHER THINGS OF NOTE:
Petty Enterprises move to Mooresville, NC.

Kyle Busch leave HMS and move to Joe Gibbs Racing for 2008.

M&M's move to Joe Gibbs Racing to Sponsor Kyle Busch in 2008.

The legal battle of the sponsors within the Cup series but not goodbye to anyone...
NEXTEL vs AT&T. Sunoco vs Shell.

We saw Canada accept the Busch Series with open arms, while New York dissed us.


Was there something else?
Tap tap tap.. hmm, oh yea! A little bit of driver news that not only made NASCAR history, but sports history as a whole:

Dale Earnhardt Jr saying goodbye to DEI.
DEI was the company that many have said his father started for him and Jr is now saying hello to Hendrick Motorsports. Though there was "No room at the Inn" as Rick Hendrick put it, Kyle Busch created room in the Inn with his behavior, paving the way for one of the biggest stories of this year.

We can say hello to the 88 at HMS because DEI made it difficult for HMS to "procure" the car number, 8, because "it's an integral part of DEI"… Gimme a break! The 8 was Jr.. and Jr was the 8. That's ok, he'll be twice as good with the 88!

With Jr leaving DEI, we get to say hello to Mountain Dew Amp Energy Drink and The National Guard as his sponsors for 2008 and Budweiser left DEI.

We can say hello to massive irony, as Dale Jr. left DEI, DEI started creating an improved engine program (In theory, but don't ask Jr. about that.) buying new shop equipment, and buying other race teams.

With Jr going to HMS, he had to say goodbye to one of the most successful sponsor / athlete relationships we've ever seen, period, with Budweiser.

Yet, Budweiser can now say hello to Kasey Kahne... At least the colors shouldn't change too much for Kasey!

Side note: Someone once told me that Budweiser could stand for: But U Deserve What Every Individual Should Expect Regularly.

Recap:
Who'd a thunk: Unleaded fuel, Budweiser with Kahne, Jr. with Hendrick, Toyota in Cup, Frenchmen, Canadians, Corn fuel?
Now that's a chunk of change.