Independent teams feel economic pinch

2009 review

The economic problems that hit the NASCAR world in 2009 divided the garage area into more of a "Haves and Have Nots" lineup than the sport has seen in some time. The financial road was rough for many of the independent and one-car teams, with some not surviving the entire season. Others morphed into "Start and Parks," organizations that were forced to simply consider qualifying for races a moral victory and instructing drivers to pull off the track after only a handful of laps to collect whatever prize money possible. Running more laps and incurring additional expenses in tires, fuel and equipment wear and tear just wasn't possible.

Robby Gordon had a rough season thanks in part to sponsorship woes. (Getty Images)

The Hall of Fame Racing team began the season sporting an alliance with Roush Fenway Racing and was able to lure Bobby Labonte into the fold with a somewhat solid sponsorship deal from Ask.com. Labonte did what he could with the equipment he had to deal with in the still-underfunded No. 96 ride and posted a sixth-place run in his Gatorade Duel Daytona qualifying races, as well as a top five at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the second event of the season.

But it was all downhill from there. Labonte eventually left the organization in favor of Erik Darnell, a young driver from within RFR's truck series and Nationwide Series programs. Darnell too struggled and, with Roush closing up its truck effort and scaling back the Nationwide plan due to lack of sponsorship, the former short-track standout is currently without a ride for 2010.

Ironically, Labonte landed with the TRG Motorsports team by season's end, an upstart operation headed by Kevin Buckler, who had found success in the sports car world and was looking to extend his racing empire into NASCAR. Buckler fielded a Cup entry as well as several truck and Cup efforts in 2009 with the No. 71 Sprint Cup ride mainly driven by David Gilliland. With veteran crew chief Slugger Labbe calling the shots, TRG made 35 straight races and, despite several weeks of starting and parking, actually posted some impressive finishes before all was said and done, including a top 10 in November at Talladega.

Longtime independent driver Robby Gordon didn't fall into the "Start and Park" category in 2009, but the veteran driver suffered through a disappointing season that too was punctuated by the lack of sponsorship. Although Gordon carried Jim Beam colors for the bulk of the season, other races found the familiar No. 7 in a bare black paint scheme without any company backing. Gordon finished 34th in the point standings with a third-place finish in the Coca-Cola 600 the highlight of his long campaign.

2010 preview

Gordon announced at the season-ending Homestead weekend he only has sponsorship for the first eight races in 2010 with Jim Beam pulling back its support of the team. Although he's locked into the Daytona 500 and the next four races of the season by virtue of his finish within the top 35 in the point standings, the future of Gordon's one-car team is very much in doubt unless a new sponsorship can be found.

Sponsorship has been uncovered for the TRG Motorsports effort in 2010 with TaxSlayer.com coming on board for more than half the season. Team owner Buckler is confident the funding will come together for the rest of the schedule, and Labonte is set to return for a full-season assault. Labbe has left the crew chief position for a spot at the newly retooled Richard Petty Motorsports team where he'll call the shots for Paul Menard, so Labonte is still not sure who he'll work with in the 71 Car in 2010.

The sponsorship news is also better for Tommy Baldwin Racing, which hired veteran Mike Bliss to drive the No. 36 entry in 2010 thanks to a full-season commitment from Wave Energy Drink.

There's also good news for Furniture Row Racing, which scaled back to a limited schedule in 2009. The Denver-based team has intentions to run the entire slate this year with young Regan Smith, the 2008 Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year behind the wheel. Although crew chief Jay Guy left to take the spot at Penske Racing for the No. 12 Dodge driven by Brad Keselowski, the team expects to name a replacement soon.

One other small team plans to compete next year after making it through 2009 but complete details are still sketchy. Front Row Motorsports plans to field two NASCAR Sprint Cup cars full time in 2010, but who will drive them is still to be determined. Team owner Bob Jenkins ran John Andretti and Tony Rains in his No. 34 entry last season and hopes to possibly field a pair of cars with Travis Kvapil and David Stremme potential candidates to drive.

It won't be much easier for any of these teams that were able to survive in 2009 and are looking ahead to the new year with some hope and optimism. If the economy continues to improve and more dollars flow into the sport, the independent stable can at least stay afloat. Until then most all are doing their best to simply tread water.