Smack: Looking for a road ringer this week in Sonoma (cont'd)

2. General Motors is pulling its funding of Nationwide and Truck teams. Ford and Dodge pulled out of Trucks last year. How will those departures affect the competitive balance of those series?

Dave Rodman: Not to downplay what's going on, because it illustrates greater challenges for much greater crowds of people; but like with anything else, Hendrick, Roush and Gibbs are still going to be out front. Everything will remain relative. Miracles, like James Finch's win at Talladega, might still happen. But while the look of things might change, the balance of power will not.

Duane Cross: There wasn't a lot of competitive balance in the Nationwide Series before; now there may be. The haves are always going to be in a better position, but maybe the have-nots will be able to somewhat close the gap.

Foreign influx?

As domestic manufacturers pull back on their racing programs because of bankruptcies and falling automotive sales, might NASCAR look to more foreign carmakers to fill the gap?

• Complete story
• GM talks Cup cutbacks
• GM cuts in N'wide, Truck
• Sound off: Reaction to GM

David Caraviello: Well, from a Truck perspective, it sure looks like the Toyota show now, doesn't it? And you have to wonder if that's the canary in the coal mine, and one day Cup is going to look the same way. Not impossible to envision, given the issues domestic manufacturers have going on these days.

Duane Cross: Jack Roush saw it coming, didn't he?

David Caraviello: Well, I don't think Jack saw Detroit going in the tank. Strange thing though, his trucks seem to be hanging in there, even without Ford funding. Shows it can be done, although Jack does have quite the empire to back it up.

Duane Cross: Thing is, carmakers can say all the right things. NASCAR can say all the right things. In the end, how about a return to the days when folks built engines and raced them, regardless of the emblem on the hood? After all, it's now just a decal. Certainly the manufacturers can talk about how racing has improved their products, but getting back to the roots can't be a bad thing.

Dave Rodman: The general ill health of the secondary series obviously is a big concern, and the Grand Canyon-like gap that already exists won't change much. Teams are going to find ways to stay as close to their same way of operating as they can.

David Caraviello: And we still don't know how much money we're talking about here. You have to assume Kevin Harvick's team received a substantial amount -- relatively speaking -- by the way he reacted. No "we stand by Chevrolet" in that statement at all. But others say the input is minimal, and the tech help won't go away.

Dave Rodman: Speaking of that, it'll be real interesting to see where, if anywhere, this new generation Nationwide car goes. Duane, to your point -- that would be a chance to get back to a more basic, more manufacturer-oriented piece. But it may be too late to keep the manufacturers real involved.

Duane Cross: Question is: If (when?) the car companies bounce back, will they continue to spend big bucks within racing series? For all the uproar over GM, Ford, Dodge spending money on sponsorship and naming rights, if the companies become profitable will the lessons of history be learned?

David Caraviello: Well, I'd have to think their racing interests are a relative drop in the bucket compared to what they're spending in other areas. These are companies overextended in a lot of ways, paying too many people to build too many cars that folks just don't buy. They're always going to have to market and advertise, and racing is a part -- a glamorous part, but a part nonetheless -- of that process. So yes, I think they'll be around, but not nearly in the capacity we've become used to.

Duane Cross: I agree, David -- this is a monumental time in the sport, and the future will look nothing like what many had envisioned. I don't think that's a bad thing, either. The car makers will still have a presence but it won't be as overwhelming.

Dave Rodman: The most interesting aspect of this is going to be how the manufacturers are going to be able to adjust, and how much hardware they'll be able to make available, and how much engineering support they'll be able to give. Everything has a price, and if a manufacturer was giving you time in a wind tunnel, someone was still paying. Since you still have to pay engineers, and assuming there'll be less money to pay fewer people, even something that seems priceless, like engineering support, isn't, and won't be as available. I'd have to think they couldn't spend the money they've been spending if it wasn't of value, and successful. So relatively speaking, I think they gradually might come back, but it will take a long time -- a real long time and maybe a whole another generation of bureaucrats.

David Caraviello: But all that said, this situation -- on the Cup side, at least -- still hasn't translated into a competitive advantage for anybody. Greg Biffle, a Ford driver, said last week he didn't think it ever would, given how people have cut back. So you have to wonder ultimately if all this is going to make much difference at all.

Dave Rodman: You'd have to compare relative line-item budgets from different teams, and we know that ain't gonna happen.

David Caraviello: Better chance of sneaking into the Pentagon, Dave! (Continued)