Wondering what might have been for Smith, DEI (cont'd)

"I think of all the other people who have won races [at DEI], the fact that it's been over a year since the company's had a win," Smith said. "You look at how well we all ran Sunday, and that hurts that we all ran so good and still didn't get it. Just Talladega, what it means to Dale Earnhardt Inc. as a whole and to the Earnhardt family, it's a big deal. And to me personally, I grew up a Dale Earnhardt fan. I watched him win races there, I watched him do some incredible things there, and if I could have pulled off one and said, 'Yeah, I was in a Dale Earnhardt Inc. car when I did that,' that would have been really cool."

Instead, it quickly changed to, in Smith's words, "Oh, crap, what happened?" And now the No. 01 team comes to Charlotte, and it's back to reality. Smith is essentially a free-agent driver without a deal for next year. DEI has only one full-time sponsor booked for 2009 after losing Menards to Yates Racing and the U.S. Army to Stewart-Haas. Like a number of other teams, it's working the phones, trying to pull together deals for next season. How might a race victory have helped?

Disallowed dash

• Watch the dramatic finish
• Menzer: Issue is perception
• Cross: NASCAR got it right
• Smack: The 'Dega dilemma
• NASCAR's official statement

"It would have potentially put them into a spotlight of a couple of sponsors. No telling what would have happened past that point," said Dale Earnhardt Jr., who won 17 races at DEI before leaving the team after last season. "It definitely would have impressed a lot of people for Regan's sake, because I think he's a really good guy, and I think he's got a lot of talent. There are a lot of drivers in the sport with jobs that he probably deserves. So there's also the chance it would help DEI nail down some money next year for that team."

John Story, DEI's vice president for motorsports, prefers not to dwell on what might have been. Of course, it would have been nice to notch the team's first race victory since Martin Truex Jr. won at Dover last June. Of course, it would have been nice to extend DEI's mark of winning at least one race every year since 2000, the season the organization expanded beyond a single full-time car. But in this economy, where corporations fearful over market instability have become stingy with marketing dollars, even a victory might not have prompted an outpouring of the kind of money DEI needs.

"I don't think that there are a lot of sponsors out there right now that are looking to spend discretionary dollars in this sport," Story said. "We're at a time of year, every year, where dollars are tough. People typically put together their budgets for the following year. So I don't know if even with a win we'd have seen any miracles. For sure, our phone has rung this week. People are definitely interested in Regan and that team and DEI as a company. We've had some momentum this week, which is a great to see. We've had unsolicited phone calls, people calling congratulating us, other sponsors, people who are not sponsors in the sport, agencies. Even with the fact that we didn't win, we've still had some attention. It hasn't resulted in cashing a check just yet, or a new partnership."

This post-Junior transitional season has been a trying one for DEI, a proud organization that's won 24 times on NASCAR's premier circuit and believes it still belongs among the elite teams in the sport. Smith wants to come back, wants to run well enough the rest of the year to secure a sponsor for the No. 01 car, but as of right now there are no guarantees. The team points to performances of the past three weeks -- Mark Martin finishing fourth at Dover, Truex leading 27 laps at Kansas before suffering a transmission problem, Smith and Menard crossing the finish line first and third at Talladega, even though those results didn't stand -- as evidence that it's on the right track. What would DEI be capable of with full funding?

"I know for a fact that if we show up at Daytona next year with four fully funded cars, we are going to be a force," said Story, whose team shares an engine-building alliance with Richard Childress Racing, which placed all three of its cars in the Chase. "Our teams are as good as any teams in the garage, I am convinced of that. We need to get better. But man for man, I think we're as strong as anybody. ... I know for a fact that when we get this thing funded for next year, DEI will turn heads in 2009. I'm positive of that."

But a lot has to happen first. The team has to secure three primary car sponsors, quite a challenge in this schizophrenic economic climate. There's the matter of replacing Menard, and possibly Smith, if he decides to bolt for a better opportunity. One race victory wouldn't have instantly solved all those issues, which take on added urgency with next season's Daytona 500 looming just four months away.

But it sure would have made trying a little bit sweeter.

"Coming under the checkered flag, this is Regan Smith. If it's a guy who has won seven championships, maybe it's a different discussion," said Earnhardt, who still has many friends over at his old shop. "This guy ain't got a job next year as far as he knows. And he crossed the finish line thinking he might have won a race, and he ends up going home 18th. He's got to climb on a plane to go home finishing 18th. And you can tell them all day long that everybody in the garage knows who won that race, and this, that and the other and try to make him feel better. But it don't help. It's just tough. It was really tough."

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.