As I get the started this morning,  I fired up FeedDemon and started filtering through the overnight news. Little did I know I would be shaken to the core about a NASCAR story involving Dario Franchitti. I have been pulling for him to have some success this year. I like trying to find a rookie and rooting for him do do something special. The fact that he is Ashley Judd’s husband didn’t hurt his cause. I was casually scrolling though when I saw this:

This is very disturbing to me. I know that NASCAR is driven for the fans but by the sponsors. To think that the #40 is going to shut down is a little bit scary. The old Silver Bullet is being mothballed. I still have a hard time seeing that car without thinking Sterling Marling should be in it. One of the most recognizable cars in the series has gone the way of the Skoal Bandit. I hope that Franchitti finds a ride somewhere, he is a talent and deserves another shot. Ganassi might need to re-think his driver situation in it’s entirety. He is now stuck with JP  Montoya and Reed Sorenson. I can’t help but think that this may be the beginning of the end for Ganassi racing in NASCAR, but I just don’t know.

The fact that one of the most popular and lucrative sports in the US has issues with teams not being able to stay afloat speaks volumes. The fact that this is one from one of the “established” teams that was thought to be well funded has me questioning the desire of Chip Ganassi to stay in NASCAR. They have had moderate success but not really blown anybody’s doors off in a long time. I am getting the feeling that this is a sign of something bigger masked in lack of funding and/or performance. It could be a polite way of firing a classy driver or it could be the first stage of folding up the tent?

Tags: Chip Ganassi, DarioFranchitti, NASCAR