In NASCAR, sponsors top the sport's power structure

JOLIET, Ill. -- He wins the races, earns the headlines, and attracts the adulation of thousands of fans. The entire Nextel Cup circuit is built around the driver, that unique combination of athlete and spokesperson, who saunters through the garage in a figure-flattering firesuit, trailing photographers and autograph-seekers in his wake.

They take home the big trophies and cash the big checks. They date pretty girlfriends and drive fast cars. But the events of this weekend once again remind everyone that they're ultimately expendable, and their relative importance pales in contrast to that held by another entity that's both obvious and unseen at the same time.

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Or, to put it simply: Rick Hendrick was able to tell Kyle Busch, an incredibly talented, winning racecar driver, that his services wouldn't be needed next season. But he couldn't say the same thing to David Mackay.

Mackay is the president of Kellogg's, the cereal company that sponsors the No. 5 car that Busch currently drives for the Hendrick organization. Dale Earnhardt Jr. may be making the move to NASCAR's best team, but longtime primary car sponsor Budweiser won't follow him. The sponsorship deals on each of Hendrick's four Nextel Cup entries extend through next season, leaving no room for even America's best-known beer brand. (read more)

"They've had a full plate," Earnhardt said at Chicagoland Speedway, site of Sunday's USG Sheetrock 400. "They have sponsors pretty much already signed and agreements through '08. There really wasn't an option for Rick to make room." (Garage Pass)

Of course, we heard the same thing two months ago about drivers. As recently as the May all-star event at Lowe's Motor Speedway, there was "no room at the inn" for Earnhardt at Hendrick, which at the time had four drivers all with contracts extending beyond next season. In the end, Hendrick was willing to jettison a driver to get Earnhardt. But he wasn't willing to jettison a sponsor for Budweiser, one of the most prominent sponsors in NASCAR, and a company that's appeared on Hendrick cars in the past.

That says volumes about where the power in NASCAR lies. The companies that back the cars ultimately are more important than drivers or owners in the hierarchy of a sport that demands sponsorship for its very survival. Sponsors get drivers hired and fired. Sponsors, or the lack of them, give birth to race teams or shut them down. Sponsors provide big breaks or end careers. Sponsors get race dates moved from places like Rockingham, N.C., to Southern California. Sponsors pay for influence as well as exposure, and in NASCAR they have plenty of both.

Sponsors led a late-arriving Denny Hamlin to replace a race-leading Aric Almirola in a Busch event three weeks ago at Milwaukee. Sponsors, wanting a young driver to match up with the likes of Ryan Newman and Matt Kenseth, led Chip Ganassi Racing to rush Jason Leffler to the Cup level before he was ready. After Tony Stewart had a physical altercation with a photographer at Indianapolis five years ago, his sponsor delivered a punishment more severe than anything handed out by NASCAR.

Sponsors are not to be trifled with. Without them, and the advertising dollars they bring, the cars sit still. Car owners know this. It would seem like a no-brainer for Hendrick to shove one of his sponsors aside for a company like Budweiser, which carries more name recognition among the general public than any of the other brands on his cars. But either those sponsors refused to budge, not wanting to divorce themselves of a powerhouse like Hendrick, or the team owner realized that it's bad business to turn away someone who wants to write you a check.

The end result is the impending conclusion of a long, profitable relationship between Earnhardt and Budweiser, two near-synonymous entities whose fates have become intertwined since they were first introduced seven years ago. Only one force in NASCAR is strong enough to engineer such a breakup. To find it, just look on the hood of the car.

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.