In a time of a sagging economy, not even a solid performance week-in and week-out can help salvage the fate of some NASCAR operations.
If an organization such as Joe Gibbs Racing – one of the most successful organizations in NASCAR – can’t come up with a primary sponsor for a high-profile team and driver in the Busch Series, well…
Joe Gibbs Racing has announced it may be forced to scale back its Busch Series operation from two cars to one following this weekend’s Sears DieHard 250 at The Milwaukee Mile.
The No. 20 Pontiac team, with driver Mike McLaughlin, is currently fifth in the Busch Series points standings after 16 races in 2001, but has been running without a primary sponsor all season.
Gibbs’ No. 18 MNBA Pontiac team, with Jeff Purvis, is seventh in points.
“We’ve been scrambling to try and find a Busch sponsor this entire year, but unfortunately we haven’t been as successful off the track as our guys have been on the track,” said Gibbs Racing President J.D. Gibbs. “A final decision on our plans will be made effective following the Busch Series race in Milwaukee on Sunday.”
Steve deSouza, vice president of Busch operations for JGR, said the decision will likely be made Monday morning, but that it’s not certain which of their drivers – McLaughlin or Gibbs – would be the odd man out. The final decision on that will be made this weekend.
“Obviously we can always hope for some type of miracle, and we’re trying diligently to get something going so we can keep both of our teams,” deSouza said. “This is one of those scenarios that’s kind of hard to understand.
“We have a lot to offer a sponsor here, and the fact that we have two drivers in the Top 10 in the points says an awful lot for this organization. We want to do the right thing by our people, but it’s going to be tough for someone to be sitting on the sidelines. We want to make this as painless as possible.”
Gibbs Racing officials aren’t necessarily blaming the slow economy on their sponsorship troubles, but it’s a big factor.
“What put us in this position, in reality, is that we got into the sponsorship search mode after the season began,” deSouza said. “That’s a pretty tough thing to overcome. We just haven’t been able to put together the right package.
“We’re still hoping we can put something together for this year, but we’ve got a lot of legwork done for next year. We feel like we’ve got a lot of great assets with this team, and the timing will be much more productive in the next couple of months for next year.”
The team that will ‘temporarily’ shut down will be kept intact as will the cars. No employees, deSouza said, will be let go by JGR, and “the hopes of finding a sponsor for even a five-or-10-race deal for the rest of the season are still high.”
However, deSouza said the driver who will be without a ride – whether it be McLaughlin or Purvis – will be free to pursue any other opportunities that might happen along in the next few weeks.
“I’m speculating that there are sponsors out there right now that are not very happy with their present situation,” deSouza said. “And some of those are high-profile sponsors. That could lead to some changes in their organizations, and that might lead to an opportunity for one of our drivers to step in. If that happens, we’ll do everything we can to help that driver and we’ll certainly wish him all the best.”
July and August is usually the time when sponsors begin to make plans for the following year, and deSouza said Gibbs Racing officials will continue to diligently seek sponsors for the full 2002 campaign.
“What we would eventually like to do is run two full-time teams in each of the three major series,” deSouza said. “We’d like to have two Winston Cup, two Busch and two Craftsman Truck Series teams. Right now, we have two, two and one. Even though we’ve encountered some stumbling blocks along the way, we’ll continue to work toward that goal.”
Gibbs Racing currently fields teams for Bobby Labonte and Tony Stewart in the Winston Cup Series, McLaughlin and Purvis in the Busch Series and Coy Gibbs in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Stewart and Labonte are fourth and eighth in the Winston Cup points standings, and Coy Gibbs is 11th in the NCTS standings.
McLaughlin joined the No. 20 Pontiac team weeks prior to the February season opener at Daytona. He has seven top-five finishes, including a victory at Talladega Superspeedway in April.
Purvis was to drive the No. 4 Pontiac for JGR this season, but his sponsor, Porter-Cable Tools, underwent restructuring within the company and announced in January it would not sponsor that car.
Jason Leffler, who piloted the No. 18 Pontiac to a 20th-place finish in the Busch Series points standings last season, left to move on to the Winston Cup ranks in January, and that allowed Purvis to move over to the 18 car and for JGR to bring McLaughlin on board.
