What do the manufacturers think?
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Congress came to the manufacturers' rescue with a "Cash for Clunkers" program. Turn in your old gas guzzler and the government will give you up to $4,500 toward a new ride.
Too bad a similar deal wasn't offered to Sprint Cup teams.
Turn in that gas-guzzling box of sheet metal formerly known as the Car of Tomorrow and they'll give you $50,000 toward a new one. Relatively speaking, that's about the same value as was offered for the street model version.
Instead, Uncle Sam and Co. left the manufacturers to figure out for themselves how to resolve their financial woes in NASCAR. We know how that turned out. Chevrolet, Ford, Dodge and Toyota cut most of their financial support, forcing organizations to tighten their wallets like never before.
It has many wondering what the future holds for manufacturers in the premier series.
Or if there will be a future.
NASCAR chairman Brian France said earlier in the year he is confident the support will remain. He said discussions with other manufacturers abroad are taking place.
Does this mean manufacturers will resume financial support when the economy returns to normal? Does this mean Nissan, Honda, BMW or some another manufacturer one day will be alongside the existing four? Or replace them entirely?
I reached out to the manufacturers themselves, three of which are based in Detroit within a proverbial stone's throw of this weekend's race at Michigan International Speedway, to get their perspective. I asked them what their NASCAR landscape might look like five to 10 years from now.
Three responded. They looked into their crystal balls and saw the Cup series continuing to play a prominent role in selling their products. They also saw a more focused effort on containing costs, perhaps centralizing efforts so that one day there might be an engine builder for each manufacturer.
They saw shorter races, maybe even a shorter season, to help return fan interest to what it was before the economy went south. They saw NASCAR slowly tweaking the new car to look more like production cars and to handle well enough so there can be more passes for the lead.
They saw a possible move to the use of fuel injection instead of carburetors, obsolete on street cars, and an ethanol blend instead of unleaded gasoline.
They didn't see drastic changes such as a move to hybrid cars. There's not much thrilling about 43 hybrid cars whining down the front straightaway for the start of the race. Besides, that would kill the earplug business.
"It's going to be more evolutionary than revolutionary," said Pat Suhy, who oversees NASCAR's General Motors program. "With finances what they are and the investment it takes to build a new engine or new car design I don't see another Car of Tomorrow revolutionary change coming.
"It will be incremental steps, things to make racing better, to make the car look more like a street car."
Particularly to make the racing better.
"There are quite a few things that could be done to make the quality of racing more exciting," said Les Unger, the national motorsports marketing manager for Toyota Motorsports Sales USA. "But those recommendations lead to higher costs."
That's the dilemma. The manufacturers want to continue doing everything they can to enhance the quality of competition and maintain the entertainment value, but not by spending exorbitant amounts of money as they have in the past.
"Something people want to watch and enjoy on television and in person," said Brian Wolfe, Ford's director of North American Motorsports. "With that, just like everything else, as costs get tighter it's hard for teams to run from a [lesser] budget than they've been running.
"I don't see that going down from where it is today, but I don't see it escalating like it has."
That doesn't mean the manufacturers don't have wish lists. They'd all like the sport to be more diverse, from a driver and fan standpoint, to look more like the audience that purchases cars. They'd all like the cars to be more stock from an engine and body standpoint.
And yes, they'd like shorter races.
"I don't think it would hurt anybody's feelings to see them shorten them up," Suhy said. "When I'm forced to watch them on television I typically TiVo and fast-forward through the middle of the race."
The manufacturers share these thoughts on a regular basis with NASCAR. They say the governing body listens.
"If we have a concern, if you will, or a recommendation, we certainly find NASCAR open and willing to listen," Unger said. "I know dialogue goes on continuously, not only on the marketing PR side, but simultaneously on the competition side … [with] the Car of Tomorrow."
NASCAR had better listen to keep one of the hands that feed it happy.
"The steps manufacturers are taking now will serve them very well in the future," NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said. "We hope and expect to see the manufacturers back stronger than ever."
The manufacturers also are optimistic and maintain that NASCAR is a huge marketing value despite tough cutbacks. That's why they have continued full technical support despite pulling financial support.
They are excited for the most part about bringing the COT to the Nationwide Series. Ford already has announced it will use the Mustang. The other three haven't committed to muscle cars, but this opens the opportunity to introduce new products if they want.
Their main concern remains the Cup car, their bread and butter so to speak. They continue to work with NASCAR on graphics and sheet metal in the front and rear ends to give the car as much brand identity as possible.
"I really don't see that changing much the next five years," Wolfe said. "Ten years from now, my crystal ball is not good enough to know."
Deep down many would like the sport to return to the way it was in the '70s and '80s when the car on the track looked like the car in the showroom and every brand didn't look identical.
"But at the end of the day what we know is that in terms of what sparks fan interest, No. 1 is the driver," Unger said.
A close second is competition.
"Making the car easier to pull up and pass," Suhy said. "When you've got a guy that is faster than the leader and can't pull up and pass him, that's a bad deal."
Most of the manufacturers' concerns are the same as those of the fans. NASCAR is trying to address them with town hall-type meetings.
"At the end of the day, what we look at is fan attendance, fan viewing and if the fan base is still there," Unger said. "To a large extent, we're fairly satisfied."
That's important. Cup organizations such as Richard Petty Motorsports and Red Bull Racing want to know who is going to be around five to 10 years from now. That in part is why they are considering switches -- RPM from Dodge to Toyota and Red Bull from Toyota to General Motors.
Ford is hoping to take advantage of the woes of other manufacturers to pick up a few independent teams to go along with the programs at Roush Fenway Racing and Yates Racing.
"That's why we've been looking through different scenarios that might play out in the next four or five years and how we fit into that," Red Bull general manager Jay Frye said. "Toyota has been very good to us. We wouldn't be here without them.
"But we wouldn't be doing our job, our due diligence, if we didn't look at what's in the future."
Nobody knows for sure what the future holds, but the manufacturers are doing their best to make sure they are prepared for it. That's not easy when they're fighting the perception of being involved in motorsports amid bankruptcies and layoffs.
"There's been a market correction," Suhy said. "That's where we're at."
Where they'll be five years from now is anybody's guess. Maybe there'll be a "Cash for Clunkers" program for the COT by then.
David Newton covers NASCAR for ESPN.com. He can be reached at dnewtonespn@aol.com.
