GM Renews Daytona International Speedway Sponsorship

General Motors has renewed its long-time sponsorship of Daytona International Speedway, according to a report Wednesday in the Detroit News.

The deal comes with a cheaper price tag than before and will be on a year-to-year basis, the report said. Financial terms were not released.

Economic woes are wearing on GM, and there was concern that the automaker would be forced to end its sponsorship of NASCAR's most prestigious event.

The new deal was finalized Dec. 19, the report said, the same day the U.S. government announced it would give GM up to $17.4 billion in short-term loans.

"It was a coincidence that the agreement was signed the same day we got the bridge loan," Chevrolet spokesman Terry Rhadigan said, according to the report. "It was in the works when we started discussions back in the fall. Let's just say it's a fraction of what it had been in previous years, dollar-wise."

GM has sponsored Daytona for over 40 years. The Daytona 500 drew 33.5 million television viewers a year ago, and the 2009 race is slated for Feb. 15 on FOX.

Source: Detroit News

Petty Closes Shop; Merges With Gillett Evernham

As 2008 comes to an end, so will the Petty Enterprises that NASCAR fans and racers came to admire.

Multiple sources have confirmed that after 60 seasons of stock car racing and 10 championships, America's first family of stock car racing will shut its doors and merge with the team currently known as Gillett Evernham Motorsports.

A deal was inked between Petty Enterprises and team owner George Gillett on Christmas Eve, but the terms of that agreement have yet to be divulged. A formal announcement is expected early next week.

The venerable No. 43 Dodge covered with the trademarked Petty blue glaze will become part of the Gillett stable with Reed Sorenson expected to be behind the wheel. Bobby Labonte, who finished 21st in the point standings, parted ways with the Pettys on Dec. 11 following a three-year stint in the No. 43 car.

Most of the remaining 39 employees at Petty Enterprises will conclude their duties at the Mooresville-based shop on Wednesday. The company moved from its original shop adjacent to the Petty homestead in Level Cross, N.C., in January to what was formerly the Yates Racing complex.

Robbie Loomis, Petty Executive VP of Racing Operations, is expected to assume a managerial role under the new partnership, which will likely be rebranded under the Petty banner. Former car chief Ray Fox Jr. will assume a similar role at JTG-Daugherty Racing with the No. 47 team.

David Zucker, who was named CEO of the team when private equity firm Boston Ventures purchased controlling interest in June, is expected to be reassigned to the Petty Driving Experience.

Source: FoxSports

Petty Enterprises Merging With Gillett-Evernham?

Petty Enterprises is in discussions to merge its storied franchise with Gillett Evernham Motorsports, The Associated Press has learned.

Multiple people familiar with the talks told the AP on Thursday that the two teams were discussing a deal that would merge Petty's famed No. 43 Dodge with GEM to become a four-car operation. They requested anonymity because the negotiations are ongoing.

Petty, the team founded by seven-time series champion Richard Petty, has no full-time sponsorship lined up for next season. The team fields its flagship No. 43 for 2000 NASCAR Cup champion Bobby Labonte and a second car that Chad McCumbee and Kyle Petty shared this season. Kyle Petty was expected to have a minimal role — if any — with the organization next season.

Drew Brown, a spokesman for Gillett Evernham, said the team would not comment on any potential merger with another team. But it's no secret that majority owner George Gillett Jr. has canvassed the industry looking for a partner that would help his team expand from three cars to the NASCAR maximum four cars.

Gillett is believed to have had earlier discussions with Toyota teams Bill Davis Racing and Michael Waltrip Racing, as well as Ganassi. Earlier this year he terminated an agreement with Robby Gordon that would have brought Gordon into his organization as a fourth car.

As potential deals failed to develop, Gillett turned his attention to struggling Petty Enterprises. Richard Petty in June sold majority interest of the family-run team to private equity firm Boston Ventures, which assumed day-to-day control of the 60-year-old operation.

But the new leadership has yet to put Petty Enterprises on solid footing, largely because the economic crisis has made sponsorship very difficult to secure. Numerous teams have reduced their staffs since the Nov. 18 season finale, and Petty laid off 30 employees last month.

Now, if a merger with Gillett goes through, a team that has been in NASCAR since 1949 may cease to exist as it has been known.

Source: Associated Press

REPORT: With economy hurting budgets, NASCAR bans testing to save money

NASCAR will implement a no-testing policy next season in order to save millions of dollars during a massive downturn in the U.S. economy.

NASCAR officials met with teams' crew chiefs Friday morning at Homestead-Miami Speedway to inform them of the change. The official announcement is expected later today.

All tracks that have NASCAR events in the top three series -- Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Craftsman Trucks, which will be renamed Camping World Trucks next season -- are expected to be included in the testing ban.

The change also is expected to include Daytona International Speedway and the traditional two weeks of test sessions in January before the '09 season begins.

"It has pluses and minuses," said Pat Tryson, crew chief for the No. 2 Dodge driven by Kurt Busch. "Times are tough right now, so it's probably not that bad a thing for most people. It's the same for everybody. It may make the racing better with nobody having the opportunity to test."

This is a dramatic change from the idea NASCAR officials proposed to the teams two months ago, when the plan was to increase testing to 24 sessions per team, with every Cup track included. But the faltering economy caused NASCAR to rethink that idea and take a major step to limit costs.

Many teams spend more than $3 million a season on testing. Each test day can run more than $100,000 per car in expenses.

Cup teams had lobbied for more testing at Cup tracks to gain valuable data on the new car at each Cup facility. Only a few tracks had open test sessions this year, so teams were forced to test at tracks where NASCAR doesn't have Cup races.

The new policy will not keep teams from testing at non-NASCAR tracks.