Stewart-Haas Still Searching For Full Sponsorship On The 39

NEW YORK—Tony Stewart doesn’t necessarily equate America’s financial crisis with the fact that he hasn’t yet secured full sponsorship on teammate Ryan Newman’s No. 39 Chevy for next year’s launching of Stewart-Haas Racing.

He thinks the bigger problem was the delay in getting Newman in the fold.

“Obviously, we wished we could’ve announced Ryan coming on board two or three months earlier and got that little bit of a head start trying to secure sponsorship for it,” Stewart said Thursday during the NASCAR Myers Brothers Awards Luncheon at Cipriani’s.

That said, when Stewart announced in October the deal naming the U.S. Army as sponsor for 22 points races on the No. 39, he added that he was close to signing another company to fill out the schedule. Two months later, he’s still looking.

“This week we’ve got a meeting with a potential sponsor to fill the rest of those races,” Stewart said. “So, even with the economy the way it is, there are still companies out there that are—people aren’t going to stop advertising. They’re not going to shut down their marketing programs.”

At Homestead last month, Haas-CNC Racing ran a special paint scheme honoring Haas Automation for its support of the race team. The clear inference was that the days of the company essentially sponsoring itself were over.

Burger King, which last sponsored a car for David Reutimann at Michael Waltrip Racing in 2007, is a company initially rumored as a Stewart-Haas target that hasn’t yet affiliated with another team for 2009.

Knaus Skiddish About Car Ownership

NASCAR’s last three-time winning crew chief, Ray Evernham, was basically given carte blanche by Dodge to restart its NASCAR program. In today’s financial climate, Chad Knaus understands the same opportunity may not come his way if he decides to pursue a new career challenge. Therefore, he’s realistic about his upward mobility.

“It wasn’t that long ago that I wanted to be a car owner, as recently as five years ago I wanted that,” Knaus said Thursday. “Whether or not I want that now, we’ll just have to wait and see. Obviously, the situation would have to be ideal. But I know what we’ve got at Hendrick Motorsports, and to think that I could go out and start a team and race against the driver lineup and the brain power that they’ve got and the resources they’ve got at Hendrick Motorsports is just foolish at this point.”

Knaus said he still thinks he has several years in him as a crew chief. And then?

“The next challenge is going to be the thing,” Knaus said. “And figuring out what that challenge is, whether that aligns with taking on a new role with Hendrick Motorsports, my own team, or a family, or winning another championship, I don’t know. But there’s one right around the corner, somewhere.”

No Truckin’ For Junior—Yet

While Dale Earnhardt Jr. has struggled to find sponsorship for his JR Motorsports Nationwwide Series program, television ratings have spiked for the soon-to-be Camping World Truck Series. Between the Truck Series gaining in exposure and being cheaper, wouldn’t that be a good target for the future of JR Motorsports?

“Well, not necessarily,” Junior answered. “The Truck Series is very interesting and would be fun. But it would be expensive to begin from anew. Not having a Truck chassis, or any of the components that the Truck Series runs different from the Nationwide car. But, it would depend on the sponsor. If Chevrolet came and pushed us in that direction, and we had a sponsor willing, that would be just as exciting and we would be able to accomplish basically the same amount exposure-wise as we do from the [Nationwide Series]. From my understanding, the Truck Series was rewarded some high marks by the fans last year. So that bodes well for it over the Nationwide Series.”

Earnhardt added that he has never talked with his JR Motorsports partner, Rick Hendrick, about forming a Truck program.

Short Pitting

Regan Smith likely thought he had the quip of the Myers Brothers Luncheon, thanking “especially the people who draw the yellow line at Talladega” while accepting his Raybestos Rookie of the Year honor. He, of course, was referring to his Chase race win that was disallowed when he passed under Tony Stewart. But Smith was outdueled by NASCAR’s “Mayor,” Jeff Burton, while accepting the USG Improving the Finish Award. He referred to it as the “Jeff Burton/Matt Kenseth Who Can Qualify Worse Award.”…You might not know that the blonde helping hand out trophies at many a NASCAR formal event is Jordan Wood, the offspring of Wood Brothers Racing co-honcho Eddie. The team may be struggling for its very survival, but let’s just say the family—Jon and Keven’s recent results notwithstanding—isn’t lacking for “talent.”