SONOMA, Calif. -- For a decade now, the black and gold colors of the sponsor's logo have been nearly synonymous with the race team itself. Bill Davis Racing has been defined by that No. 22 car bearing a Caterpillar logo, a vehicle that won two of the biggest races the sport had to offer. Whether it was Victory Lane at Darlington, crossing the finish line in the Daytona 500, or just the transporter trundling down the highway, one glance at those hues and that insignia said it all.

But in NASCAR, where economic Darwinism is its most unforgiving, not even decades-old relationships are immune to the unrelenting pressure to find greener pastures. Which is why the team that since 1999 has been defined by Caterpillar is losing Caterpillar, to a Richard Childress Racing program that's won five times the past two seasons and is on the brink of once again placing all three of its cars in the Chase.

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There are so many companies that are looking at their position in the sport. They look at where they want to be. I know we were one of about three teams they looked at. It was kind of like General Mills, we were fortunate that they came to us.

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RICHARD CHILDRESS

"It's hard to have any hard feelings about someone who's been with you for 10 years," Mike Brown, chief financial officer of the Bill Davis team, said Friday at Infineon Raceway. "Obviously, we were looking for a sponsor when they came in, and they picked it up. We feel like we did a lot for them, and obviously they did a lot for us. You've got to respect what they want to do differently, and go with it. We hoped we'd have another 10 years with them. It just didn't work out."

It's another case of Sprint Cup's top teams benefiting at the expense of their smaller, less successful brethren, similar to what happened earlier this season when General Mills announced it was leaving Petty Enterprises to back a fourth car at RCR for next season. Although Davis' No. 22 car has moved safely inside the top 35 in owner points, thus ensuring driver Dave Blaney a berth in the starting field each week, it's led only eight laps and been unable to crack the top five. The company's new driver for next year, RCR's Jeff Burton, has a victory and four top-five finishes this season, and currently sits second in championship points.

"That deal there is something that even before we knew we got it, they did a lot of due diligence, just like all these companies today," said Childress, who said Caterpillar officials first contacted him about three months ago. "There are so many companies that are looking at their position in the sport. They look at where they want to be. I know we were one of about three teams they looked at. It was kind of like General Mills, we were fortunate that they came to us."

The Davis team believes it can rebound, even though the organization has such close ties with Caterpillar -- officials from the race team and the machine equipment company went out to dinner together Thursday night, as they always do -- and there's no replacement sponsor immediately lined up.

"It's not devastating news," Brown said. "It would be devastating news if we found out in December. Obviously now, we have to take it and make the most of it. We've made great friends and relationships with Caterpillar, and wish them nothing but the best."

Now Childress has all four of his planned Sprint Cup cars sponsored for next season, an enviable position in June. The addition of Caterpillar was necessary, because Burton's current primary sponsor, AT&T Mobile, will have to leave after this season under the terms of an agreement struck between RCR, NASCAR and series title sponsor Sprint, which has rights as the circuit's exclusive wireless carrier. The new sponsor has a natural tie -- Jeff's brother Ward drove the Caterpillar car from 1999-2003, scoring four of his five career race wins in the black and gold.

"It certainly is a factor," Burton said. "Ward and Cat was a great relationship. They won the Daytona 500 together, won the Southern 500, won some races together. That was a really neat relationship. I'm excited about continuing the Burton relationship with Cat. It's a really good fit for us; our family's been in the construction business forever, and it's a really neat fit. It is a unique situation that a brother drove for the sponsor and now another one is, but I think that's a positive thing."

Not necessarily for the Davis team, that now has to find a new sponsor for its flagship vehicle, a car that hasn't won since Ward Burton last went to Victory Lane at New Hampshire in the summer of 2002.

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[My brother] Ward and Cat was a great relationship. They won the Daytona 500 together, won the Southern 500, won some races together. That was a really neat relationship. I'm excited about continuing the Burton relationship with Cat. It's a really good fit for us.

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JEFF BURTON

"I guess as in any business, you hate to see those type of relationships end," Brown said. "But it is a business, and they're doing what they feel like is right for them now, and we have to respect that. We don't really have any regrets about it. We got to experience a lot together in winning races, the ups and downs. We just have to look at it as, we have to take the momentum we've had the last seven or eight weeks and keep that up. We feel like the future of the 22 will kind of take care of itself."

Both RCR and Bill Davis Racing have loose ends remaining. For Childress, the final piece of his picture for 2009 is a driver for that General Mills-sponsored fourth car, which will bear the No. 33. Childress said Friday that he has a "very short list" of two or three drivers in the running, both inside and outside of Sprint Cup, but wouldn't specify who. Ryan Newman, in the final year of his contract with Penske Racing and with an unsure sponsor situation for next season, is viewed as one possibility. RCR Nationwide Series driver Scott Wimmer is seen as a long shot.

"I wanted it done a couple of weeks ago," Childress said. "Being able to put a lot of things together this time of year is pretty hard. Some people can't talk yet, the ones that can can't sign contracts. We've been working on it. Hopefully by Aug. 15 we'll have a decision as to what we're going to do."

Bill Davis Racing has plans in the works, too. Brown said the team hopes to shortly announce a multi-year sponsorship deal for a second car for 2009, a program that would not affect the No. 22 car. A driver unveiling is not expected to be part of the forthcoming sponsor announcement. "You could say that's a work in progress," Brown said.

So is sponsorship for the No. 22 car. Meanwhile, despite the soft economy, RCR scores another coup.

"I think it's important that sponsors want to talk to us, and we're in their consideration," Burton said. "Certainly it's a tough market. There aren't as many sponsors out there as we'd like to have, and [there are] more teams than we'd like to have looking for sponsors. But we feel good about the amount of interest we have in our company, and that goes back to Richard.

"Richard's a very competitive person doing his best to put very competitive teams on the racetrack. More importantly, he's very honest, very straightforward, and I think sponsors recognize that and have an appreciation for that because they know what they're going to get. We do what we say we're going to do, when we're going to do it, and I think that goes a long way."