Financial crunch can make for strange bedfellows (cont'd)

If a merger does happen, it won't happen in time for 2009, either on the financial side between the two automakers or on the NASCAR side, unless Dodge becomes a General Motors brand before Daytona.

The manufacturer side of the sport has been hit hard of late. According to Bloomberg News Service, sales in the United States dropped 32 percent last month to land as the lowest monthly total since 1991.

GM sales plunged 45 percent, Ford fell 30 percent and even Toyota slid 23 percent. Chrysler LLC was down 35 percent.

"If you adjust for population growth, it's the worst sales month in the post-World War II era'' for the industry, Mike DiGiovanni, GM's chief sales analyst, said on a conference call with investors and the media. "Clearly we're in a dire situation."

Analysts do not expect the industry to show signs of recovery in the first half of 2009, either, which can be taken two ways. Either GM and Chrysler merge to form one auto company, cutting overhead and redundancy in hopes of streamlining production, sales efforts and the like, or they stay separate and go it alone.

If the light hits it just right, you'll see that is the same philosophy being employed in the NASCAR garage these days.

Mergers and outside investors are the rage now in the Cup garage, with Michael Waltrip Racing, Gillett Evernham Motorsports, Petty Enterprises and Roush Fenway Racing all going the investor route in the past 18 months.

Merger talks among those who have not are commonplace; DEI has talked with Petty and others, while Ganassi has also talked with Petty and others.

The way the economy is, those are the lone safe havens for anyone not named Hendrick, Gibbs, Childress or Roush. They say on Wall Street that "the trend is your friend," and a whole lot of people in the garage are looking for a friend right now.

Sponsorship is a key factor as well. Should the Ganassi-DEI merger bear fruit in the form of a four-car team, there are just two full-time sponsors in the mix: Bass Pro Shops on Martin Truex Jr.'s No. 1 car and Target Stores on the No. 41 that Reed Sorenson will step out of at season's end. Ganassi has a half-season schedule set with Wrigley's for Juan Montoya and the No. 42, while DEI is seeking a backer for Aric Almirola's No. 8.

Whatever the future holds for this potential merger or the potential GM-Chrysler joining, the future of the NASCAR we know is going to change one way or another. Ford has already cut its factory support for all non-Sprint Cup applications, and Chevrolet is looking at its outlay in that regard as well.

The potential, down the road, is for very limited factory support at best, and no factory backing at the worst.