SILLY SEASON IS UPON US!
Everyone who follows NASCAR, especially Sprint Cup, knows what is meant by the “silly season”—the time when owners, drivers, and sponsors consider what their options are for the coming year(s).
To date, we have Chip Ganassi closing one team, leaving Dario Franchitti (last year’s IndyCars champion) out in the cold (yes, he can drive in Nationwide but is that where he wants to be, especially given the “kiss-and-make-up” with the two open-wheel factions). Then we had Tony Stewart getting his release from JGR (a good move on JGR’s part given Tony’s unhappiness with his performance and the owner’s decision to move to Toyota). Recently, Ryan Newman announced he wouldn’t return to Penske next year (and forget Penske’s problem with ALLTEL since Verizon (soon to take over ALLTEL) isn’t grandfathered in the series).
What’s especially interesting from a business standpoint is how owners, drivers, and sponsors make their decisions — the criteria used. For example, why would Tony give up a great ride and team simply to have half-ownership in a third-tier team? When one makes that decision, there has to be more than ego involved.
And consider Ryan’s departure with, according to him, more options than simply joining his pal Tony.
And consider sponsors: Office Depot to Stewart-Haas, Kobalt possibly taking over the Truck series and Lowe’s perhaps becoming the “official home improvement store” as Home Depot’s contract with NASCAR expires this year.
So as Mike and I prepare for our upcoming “The Business of NASCAR” full-semester course, we have lots of interesting assignments for the students, not the least of which is determining how owners, drivers, and sponsors make multi-million dollar decisions. And that’s the view from here.
Jon