Why the battle for the top 35 might not matter

It doesn't look like Bill Davis will have a Sprint Cup operation next year. That means the 7, 47, or the 84, whoever ends up out side the top 35, will bump up a spot to 35th for next year's Daytona 500. Here is the article.

AVONDALE, Ariz. - NASCAR team owner Bill Davis took a couple of weeks off to attend his cattle sale back home in Arkansas. When he returned to the track, the situation for his organization wasn't much better than before he left.

Although talks of a merger or sale of Davis' Sprint Cup operation, Bill Davis Racing, heated up in September, negotiations cooled with the economy.

"We don't know what we're doing next year," Davis said. "Pretty much we'll race trucks."

Davis doesn't want to see the company he started in 1983 become "piecemealed out." But when sponsor Caterpillar announced in July it was moving to Richard Childress Racing, Davis was put in a sponsorship bind. And Davis had been there before.

When he attempted to run two Cup programs with 360 OTC on the second car in 2007, the sponsorship never panned out. After a 10-year relationship that included wins in the Daytona 500 and Southern 500, he has experienced a similar situation with Caterpillar because of a performance clause in the contract that has cost him payment for the final five races. That's why Dave Blaney is currently carrying the Bad Boy Mowers sponsorship on the No. 22 Toyota.

"It's put us in a precarious financial situation," Davis said. "These are very uncertain times for all the teams on this side of the garage.

"We'll survive. We're survivors. It's hard times right now. There's a lot still up in the air right now. But you have to remember racing is a business and you have to make tough business decisions."

Davis, the owner of the championship leading team in the Craftsman Truck Series, expects to field four teams next season in that series. He added that his driver, Johnny Benson, told him two weeks ago that he was retiring at the end of the year. There have been reports that Benson, who leads Ron Hornaday Jr. by just three points, will drive for a different owner next year.

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Permalink Reply by Eric on November 13, 2008 at 11:04pm

there will still be 55 or more cars in daytona. make this weekend count

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Permalink Reply by Trooper Blue on November 13, 2008 at 11:54pm

Exactly... and I'm still standing by my theory that as teams continue to build new cars or shut down, there will be an availability of older COT's. The market for old COT's right now is limited to people interested in going Cup racing. I would not be surprised whatsoever to see folks like Morgan Shepherd pick up a COT or two and try to make some cup races. Same thing with a handful of other teams that were out there this year. I highly doubt that you will see less than 43 cars at any race next. Somebody will show up... even if it's just to S&P. And after watching Morgan out qualify Nationwide teams with cup support/funding on several occasions this season, you can't take a chance of being outside the top 35 because the unthinkable can happen.