Racing loyalty often found in the eye of the beholder

A noble concept, loyalty, and one that in NASCAR circles gets bandied about quite a bit these days. Team owners profess loyalty to car manufacturers, even those that are in the middle of bankruptcy restructuring and forced to cut back on their financial commitments as a result. Drivers profess loyalty to team owners, even ones whose organizations aren't performing up to expectations. And fans profess loyalty to drivers, even those who struggle to win.

Eyes open

Richard Petty Motorsports will explore "all options" as to what type of car manufacturer the NASCAR organization will partner with in the future.

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At its core, loyalty is a wonderful thing. It helps us to overlook small faults, helps remind us what's important, helps focus us on the bigger picture. It's capable of enhancing love, patriotism, columnist readership or frequent-flier accounts. Ultimately, loyalty is an admirable trait that helps us all to become better people.

But in sports -- NASCAR racing included -- it's completely overrated.

Hey, it's great to think we live in a world where drivers, team owners, manufacturers and sponsors all hold hands and walk together in lock-step toward victory. But that's also a fantasy. No question, loyalty exists; we see it even now, as Chevrolet team owners stand behind a parent company, General Motors, that's hacking and slashing in an attempt to make itself solvent again. But in sports, loyalty is trumped by performance and cost. Everyone is on the lookout for someone who can do it a little bit better, or can help maximize value a little bit more. Loyalty makes people blind to the reality that no, this isn't one big family, but ultimately one big business.

Which brings us to the situation at Richard Petty Motorsports. Now, RPM officials have effectively squashed some speculative reports out of Sonoma last week that the team would begin fielding a Toyota for driver Kasey Kahne later this year. The organization has no plans to switch manufacturers anytime this season, as it turns out. But what if it did? Yes, Petty himself has a long personal history with an American brand like Dodge. Yes, there are some folks in the grandstand who would go apoplectic at the thought of "Petty" on the side of a vehicle whose parent company is based in Japan.

But ultimately, isn't the goal here to perform and to win? And if the Petty team doesn't think it can do that in a Dodge, whose parent company Chrysler recently emerged from bankruptcy after brokering an agreement with Italian carmaker Fiat, don't they owe it to everyone involved with their organization to find another way? And who are they obliged to be the most loyal to, anyway -- fans in the grandstand, a domestic manufacturer that isn't able to provide the financial support it was once able to, or the men and women who work there, want to keep their jobs, and ultimately field more competitive cars? (Continued)