[Don]

Remember that Gibbs started with Pontiacs and then they all vanished.

Pontiac leaving NASCAR was a GM Finance/Marketing decision based upon GM's declining resources/profits to fund sponsorships. Had it been back to GM's peaks as in the 50s, 60s. etc, Pontiac might still be active

Now that none of the cars are even close to any name brand, I don't think they should be called Chevy, Ford, & etc. Just call them the NASCAR Car and forget it.

If the cars were nameless, factory support to the Teams would be of no value to the auto manufacturers

More sponsors are leaving all the time. Bush has sponsored that series since it begin and he is pulling out.

Busch was a sponsor for 25 years + or -, not bad when other types of sponsorships in other sports last only a few years

Next year Nationwide Insurance will sponsor the Bush series and they will most likely drop it in a year or so.

I thought the contract was for either 5 or 8 years ?

The Nextel Cup will be the Sprint Cup.

The Cup series name change was a result of the merger of the two companies, with the Nextel name as a brand to disappear

There is no doubt that NASCAR has it's challenges to regain TV viewers and fill the stadium for every race. As compared to other racing series, it still over the years has been the most successful. Just think of the economic impact along with the jobs and careers created outside of the NASCAR organization for all the support businesses.

The term " stock car " can also be viewed as a carryover from days past and has become a generic reference. In the same way as at Indy, the garage area is still referred to as " Gasoline Alley " and the final adjustments are done on " Carburetor Day "

Even DW has mentioned the need to stabilize the Cup series. But, having only two drivers from the same Team at the end in contention for the Cup title and also winning the majority of the races did not help. Will be interesting as to what Toyota does in 2008 with the Joe Gibbs drivers and hopefully the other Teams will be stronger, i.e. better racing