Roush wants to keep team intact, NASCAR says no (cont'd)

"I would say that if you are a clear-headed person taking a look at the sport and where the teams are and the difficulties that we're all going to have in 2009, going forward to 2010, that it's something that you'd think one would want to revisit," Smith said.

"I certainly would be hoping that people would be taking a look at what the impact of the economy is in the sport and how people survive in the sport. And frankly, the performance on the race track has so much to do with maintaining sponsorship. It always has been that way, but it's really very visible right now that the performers are the ones who are able to keep their money. And if you compared what we have now, where owners have multiple cars that know how to operate race teams, in general they perform better than other people. So there is a deeper, competitive field -- even though there are fewer owners. That gets jeopardized when you begin to shrink top owners."

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If they struggle this year to have full 43-car fields for the Sprint Cup Series and if it appears that by my going back to four teams rather than five a sponsor would leave the series, rather than accept an assignment to another team, then I think they would have something to think about.

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-- JACK ROUSH

Helton said he strongly disagrees. He said that despite the poor economic climate, 15 new Sprint Cup teams have applied for certification for the 2009 season. Series director John Darby admitted that NASCAR realizes many of the new teams are part-time operations that may run only a handful of races or so, but still he and Helton pointed to their emergence as a positive development.

"We've already had 15 new Sprint Cup owners come through to get chassis certified," Helton said. "That means there is hope out there. That means there is the belief that there might be opportunity to enter a car in the Sprint Cup division or a Sprint Cup event. And that's important.

"The policy that we created wasn't about limiting any individual from participating in the sport. It was a step to try and build a broader opportunity for owners to be able to participate in the sport. So we still very much believe in that."

Roush said he never really thought NASCAR planned to change its mind on the four-team limit. But a man can hope, can't he?

"I'd say that the jury is out on that," Roush said. "If they struggle this year to have full 43-car fields for the Sprint Cup Series and if it appears that by my going back to four teams rather than five a sponsor would leave the series, rather than accept an assignment to another team -- maybe the Wood Brothers [Racing] team or one of the Yates Racing teams or the Hall of Fame team [which are all Ford operations] -- then I think they would have something to think about.

"But I've gotten no encouragement at all that the issue is open. As far as I know, it's a closed issue and in 2010 I'll be back to four."

McMurray, likely the driver of the car on the cusp of getting cut based on recent performance, said he's not worried about it and insisted that the media is making more out of it than need be. He hinted that he expects one of the Roush Fenway teams simply will be shifted over to Yates Racing, which currently runs two teams and is aligned with Hall of Fame's single car team, with little fanfare.

If they must cut to four, Smith admitted shifting a team and sponsor to Yates is a strong possibility.

"That would be our preference," Smith said. "But just saying you're going to move something doesn't mean all the sponsors and everyone are going to go along with that scenario."

There also is the matter of owner points, as in whether or not that fifth team that will need to be moved will be permitted to take whatever it earns this season as a member of Roush Fenway's Big Five.

"The value of the team as it relates to the points relates to the fact that the crew is trained and the team has the right equipment and assets to be competitive," Smith said. "But it doesn't mean very much unless there is money around the team from sponsorships -- and a driver that's willing to work with everyone."

Roush added that he expects it all to work out.

"I would like to see all of our existing sponsors have a happy and solid relationship with Roush Fenway. If [that fifth car] stays in the Ford family, we'd be determined to build the cars for it and provide the engineering for it," Roush said. "The full faith and trust of Roush Fenway would follow one of our drivers and one of our sponsors if we could find a happy circumstance where the sponsor would be willing to go."

Meanwhile, NASCAR will be keeping a close eye on the situation as it develops. And they still insist they are doing the right thing by planning to enforce the four-team per organization limit.

"The path we were on, which was going to be [organizations forming] five, six, seven or even some who were on their way to eight teams, what that would have done would have made it virtually impossible for the news that we heard today -- where 15 new owners are trying to come in," France said. "If you're coming in with a one- or two-team approach and the super teams are the model of success, that would have been a huge deterrent for new owners."

Helton added: "If we had not done that, in today's environment with car owners moving around to try to survive and our interest in keeping the quality of racing at the race track to the fans' expectations, imagine what it would be like if an owner that had eight or 10 cars had financial problems and shut his garage down. Imagine how hard that would be to supplement the field of cars that come to the garage [if something like that happened]. Relate that to today's environment. That's not what we saw in the crystal ball four or five years ago, but that [concern] is part and parcel to the decision that we made."