By Nate Ryan, USA TODAY

If you're a NASCAR fan worried that a host of recent seismic changes will wrap the sport in an exhaust cloud of extreme uncertainty throughout 2009, here's horsepower-tinged hope. Each Saturday or Sunday should bring solace for at least three hours or so.
Despite all of the sponsorship and budgetary upheaval that has engulfed stock car racing in conjunction with the financial crisis rippling through corporate America, the on-track product will seem very familiar this season. There have been no major rule changes and no tweaks to the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship format. For the first time in three years, the same rear-winged car will be raced at every track as in the previous season.

"As far as race cars, the bodies, the chassis, the engines … the nucleus of our sport, the racing on the track, hasn't been affected," says Larry McReynolds, a TV analyst for Fox and Speed. "But there's a lot of things affecting everything else behind the scenes."

Indeed, outside the ribbons of pavement the series circles for 10 months a year, consider all the turbulence that teams have grappled with as many scrambled to answer the bell this year:

A faltering economy has caused funding to dry up, forcing many teams to fold or reduce operations because they lack the millions needed to compete.

• A resultant series of mergers aimed at surviving the downturn has eliminated two of the sport's most indelible brands tied to its two seven-time champions: Dale Earnhardt Inc. (now part of Earnhardt Ganassi Racing) and Petty Enterprises (absorbed by Gillett Evernham Motorsports to form a new team that bears Richard Petty's name — Richard Petty Motorsports).

• A testing ban intended to help cut costs has crews working computer simulations around the clock and kicking their seven-post shaker rigs into overdrive, using 21st-century technology to overcome a lack of real-world data to hone setups.

• A pall hangs over the American auto industry that threatens to alter the competitive landscape in Sprint Cup. While they received a reprieve on Capitol Hill late last year to keep them afloat through the spring, General Motors and Chrysler are cutting back on their motor sports spending by as much as 30%, and Ford has shifted its resources out of the Camping World and Nationwide series into Cup.

The news is sobering even for NASCAR powerhouses such as Hendrick Motorsports, Roush Fenway Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing, all of which have had to trim budgets and employees during an offseason in which teams laid off hundreds of crewmembers.

"This is not a laughing matter," says four-time champ Jeff Gordon, whose 1993 entrance into NASCAR's top series coincided with a 15-year run of virtually unchecked growth and stability. "It's tough times. We have to find companies out there to spend money but watch our costs and not be exorbitant.

"It doesn't matter if you make millions or thousands, it's perspective. It's been escalating, and then you get to a year that it suddenly takes a dip, it gets your attention. The sport, my career and sponsorships have been on a pretty steep rise for a number of years. I came from very little and can survive on very little. I don't have to have jets and all those things, but it's been nice. I hope the sport and economy can get through this tough time."

There is a silver lining to the turmoil — blue, gold and silver, actually. Those are the colors of Jimmie Johnson's No. 48 Chevrolet, which has a chance to make history this year.

After becoming the first since Cale Yarborough (1976-78) to win three consecutive championships last year, Johnson could become the first to win four titles in a row in the 61-year history of NASCAR's elite division.

"It's great to be a part of history, but I'd certainly like to go out and make it," Johnson says. "It's going to be tough; it's amazing we've been able to do three and not be so focused on tomorrow. I feel we can stay on top of the change in the sport and stay competitive."

Besides the El Cajon, Calif., native's quest for unprecedented triumph, there will be other story lines that don't revolve around doom-and-gloom economic forecasts.

Four-time title runner-up Mark Martin is returning to a full-time role and one more grab at the brass ring with Hendrick Motorsports, and the teenager he once touted as a can't-miss star —Joey Logano— is making his much anticipated debut at Joe Gibbs Racing.

Tony Stewart, meanwhile, is embarking on the most ambitious undertaking of a career marked by steadfast determination and a single-minded fury that occasionally careens out of control. Bucking a trend of deep-pocketed owners buying their way into Cup, the two-time champion with a vast appreciation for the old school racing of heroes such as A.J. Foyt has become a driver-owner, lending his last name to the rechristened Stewart-Haas Racing.

But the focus figures to be dominated by the recession and its devastating effect on a business model that had seemed foolproof as NASCAR morphed into a multibillion-dollar annual industry during the last two decades.

There'll be a reminder every week that a stock car correction is occurring as racetracks trumpet slashed ticket prices to cushion the blow to NASCAR's middle-class fan base.

"The economy will be the elephant in the room wherever we go with the Cup series this year," Kyle Petty says. "Anybody that says it is not is full of (baloney). I think the days of the $15 (million) to $20 million sponsorship in this sport are a thing of the past. Speedways have already seen corporate sponsors begin to pull back. Some of the teams have seen some of their sponsors cut them 15(%) to 20% because it is all they can afford."

A closer look at the major story lines of what could become a watershed season for the financial and competition structure of NASCAR:

It's been a rough winter in the Charlotte area, where hundreds who make their living off NASCAR learned they were losing their jobs in the weeks before Christmas.

There's no way to put a positive spin on the negative impact on those crewmembers' lives and families, but there are those who think NASCAR needed to feel the pain.

"We were all kind of living beyond our means," Dale Earnhardt Jr. says. "We were employing more people than we necessarily needed to do the job. A lot of us in the sport lived in excess as far as that goes. It seems like it's all kind of coming back down to Earth."

In his final season as a crew chief in 2000, McReynolds estimates primary sponsorships were $7 million to $8 million. It's estimated every team in the Chase last season had at least a $20 million budget, with some stretching as high as $30 million.

"The sport had totally gotten out of control and needed a wake-up call," McReynolds says. "Unfortunately, it hit the wall with the economic crisis."

Banding together and pooling resources to survive has become an option for several teams. Among those who have undergone mergers or formed technical alliances are Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (Earnhardt Ganassi Racing); Gillett Evernham Motorsports and Petty Enterprises (Richard Petty Motorsports); Yates Racing and Hall of Fame Racing; and Michael Waltrip Racing and JTG Daugherty Racing.

Some teams also plan on fielding cars for a full season even with only partial sponsorship, as MWR does with David Reutimann's No. 00 Toyota, which has a half-season support with Aaron's.

"We continue to look at every dollar as closely we can," Waltrip says. "There might be some races that we drive to, sometimes we elect to go the morning of rather than the night before. Anything to make sure we're as responsible as we can.

"We've always spent more than we've taken in, so we're working hard to get to a point where we can at least self-sustain."

Besides a reduction in budgets, the lack of sponsorship figures to have an impact on the depth of fields. Two years ago, nearly 50 fully sponsored teams were attempting to qualify for 43 spots each week.

Only about 35 teams are expected to have sponsorship to contest a full season competitively in 2009. It's unlikely many race winners will come from outside the 16 drivers employed by Hendrick, Roush, Gibbs and Richard Childress Racing, and there's the possibility NASCAR could have fewer than 43 cars in a race for the first time since 1997.

"I still think we'll have great races and great finishes," McReynolds says. "We're probably not going to have 43 competitive race teams, but we'll still have good competition."

Says Toyota Racing Development President Lee White: "If there are 20 quality cars and drivers, there's going to be people in the grandstands watching them and pulling for their favorite guy. Certainly, 43 cars is the goal, and we'd like to all see that, but (this is) creating some opportunity for new blood to come in and see if they can figure it out. That's the American way."

Indeed, former crew chief Tommy Baldwin Jr. formed a Sprint Cup team in the offseason because the tough economic climate fostered a deep pool of laid-off mechanics to hire and a chance to race efficiently with low overhead.

Scott Riggs will be driving the No. 36 Toyota for Baldwin.

There also will be an increase in "field fillers," ragtag operations that show up to run a few laps and collect a hefty paycheck for making the race. In 2004, 37 fully sponsored teams started the season, leaving a bottom of the field that was "pretty suspect," according to Waltrip.

"The racing continued to be entertaining," says Waltrip, who expects 50 cars to attempt to qualify for the Daytona 500 and at least 45 for each of the first 10 races.

"People don't go to count cars; they go to watch competition."

The troubled auto industry also could have an impact on NASCAR, though not nearly as great as 10 years ago before the dawn of standardized cars, which reduced manufacturer identity.

With the advent of the next-generation car, there is little variation among manufacturers aside from bumper logos, and it has reduced manufacturer funding to about 5%-15% of team budgets — primarily through cash, parts and pieces for engines and technical and engineering support.

"It would definitely affect teams," Stewart says, "but the competition, no matter the budgets, will always be there. If someone gets a huge advantage financially, the rest of the teams have to find the sponsors and budget to do the research and development that team does. That's where it affects the most."

Detroit automakers GM, Ford and Chrysler (through its Dodge brand) made up roughly 75% of the field last season, and that support is expected to remain steady through at least 2009.

But if a manufacturer were to pull out, Toyota doesn't plan on picking up the slack by gobbling up wayward teams.

Toyota's White says the Japanese manufacturer, which also has suffered a slowdown in sales, has tried to reduce costs by 25%.

"Toyota isn't spending more money than others. And if we had more money, we wouldn't. It's not the culture of our company," White says. "We are under very strict orders to watch every penny. We're just like the race teams."

NASCAR has banned teams from testing at any tracks that sanction races in its top three divisions in a budget-cutting measure that should save everyone money but do little to alter the competitive landscape.

The powerhouse teams have more access to the high-tech tools (such as seven-post shaker rigs) that can simulate testing and the engineers who can maximize those machines' effectiveness by translating valuable data into efficient setups.

"The cream is still going to rise to the top," McReynolds says. "It's probably going to open the gap between Hendrick Motorsports and Robby Gordon Motorsports."

Toyota's White says outlawing testing is the season's biggest mystery, and "that's why it's fascinating to watch." He thinks allowing the bigger teams an edge actually could improve the quality of competition for drivers and fans who complain the next-generation car has limited side-by-side racing and passing opportunities.

"Maybe, just maybe, it'll mean there will be people who aren't all running the same speed, and there will be more lapped cars, people to pass and (use as) picks," White says.

For the drivers trying to prevent the No. 48 from making history, the most frightening part of derailing a record fourth consecutive title is this: At a point where most crew chief-driver relationships begin to fray, Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus seem to be strengthening their bond entering their eighth season. The longest-running tandem in the series has notched 19 pole positions, 40 victories, 101 top-five finishes and 156 top-10s in 255 starts.

"I don't foresee anything happening to them that isn't going to make them stronger," team owner Rick Hendrick says. "They're clicking the best they've ever been."

It's peaches and cream now, but the pairing seemingly was saved by milk and cookies, which Hendrick brought to a sit-down with Johnson and Knaus after a tumultuous end to the 2005 season. Hendrick drove home the point that his star driver and mechanic were acting akin to schoolchildren, and they've been virtually unbeatable ever since.

Perhaps the best example was the March 2 race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where Johnson finished two laps down in 29th with an Impala brutally off the pace on the first of 10 1.5-mile tracks that make up the bulk of the schedule.

By the Chase, Johnson's only equal on those intermediate ovals was points runner-up Carl Edwards.

"We've got a shot at it," Knaus says of a fourth title. "We're definitely on our game a little bit better than last year."

The three biggest driver moves of the offseason are interconnected. Logano, 18, is taking the wheel of the No. 20 Toyota from Tony Stewart, whose newly formed Stewart-Haas Racing will be supplied by a Hendrick Motorsports team that now includes Mark Martin.

Much attention will be paid to Logano, who is trying to live up to the expectations created by a two-time champion despite having only three Cup starts, and Martin, who at age 50 might have his best chance at finally winning a championship.

But the biggest story will be Stewart, who is traversing a path as a driver-owner that many others (Darrell Waltrip, Bill Elliott and Ricky Rudd among them) failed to navigate.

The Columbus, Ind., native, though, says he learned "how to hire the right people" during 10 seasons driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, and that might help accelerate his learning curve in transforming a team that didn't crack the top 30 with either of its cars in its final year as Haas CNC Racing.

"Nobody knows how vertical this mountain is more than Tony," McReynolds says. "But Tony took a lot away from JGR, especially the philosophy that a winning team is about people. Tony has done a good job of pollinating that organization with a lot of good people."