Sponsors will drive how dominoes fall for 2018 Cup season
Hendrick Motorsports divesting itself of the final season of Kasey Kahne’s contract Monday adds another facet to an alreadystrange free agency period for NASCAR drivers and teams.
It’s strange in that there is a bounty of drivers — of various levels of experience and accomplishment — and race cars in limbo. The common thread for both is sponsorship. So there’s something normal, at least.
Some of the other unplaced puzzle pieces for the 2018 season.
Monster Energy:
The beverage company is crucial in two ways. It has a deadline this year on enacting an option for 201920 to continue as the top series’ title sponsor, which has apparently also impacted whether or in what level it would return to sponsor the No. 41 Ford of 2004 series champ Kurt Busch at Stewart-Haas Racing. Last week, SHR opted to not renew Busch’s 2018 option, making him a free agent. Team executives strongly assert their expectation that he will return, but Busch said this weekend that he was considering other options in a process that’s becoming public and feels awkward, especially since these types of contract maneuvers are made by teams to re-sign an athlete at a reduced rate. In the broader landscape, Monster not returning as series title sponsor after one year would be troubling for the sport.
No. 5 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports:
It’s an unexploited resource at a team with 12 Cup titles. Kahne has six wins at Hendrick since 2012. Earning a 2017 playoff berth didn’t save his job, and expectations will — and should — be high for his successor, even with Hendrick in transition with seventime and defending series champ Jimmie Johnson — who is responsible for all the team’s titles and 83 of 146 wins since 2002 — 41 and 24-year-old Alex Bowman replacing Dale Earnhardt Jr. Greatness has been predicted by many for Chase Elliott, 21, but, in his second season as four-time champ Jeff Gordon’s replacement, he has not won a Cup race. Sponsorship must be secured to replace Farmers Insurance and Great Clips on the No. 5, which will likely dictate the salary and experience level of Kahne’s replacement. Either way, it’s a prized ride with a power team.
Matt Kenseth:
The 45-yearold 2003 series champion has improved statistically as the Toyota contingent has swelled, finishing a game second Sunday to Martin Truex Jr. at Watkins Glen International. He followed consecutive finishes of fourth, fifth and ninth with his best result of the season to reinforce the current-andsoon-to-be-former driver of the No. 20 Toyota at Joe Gibbs Racing as the most immediate reliable contributor on the market. Assuming all situations are sponsor-driven, his future landing spot — he has not expressed concern about landing one in recent interviews — would likely be contingent on dollars and duration of a deal. He would have fit well as Earnhardt’s replacement, and he might be an even better fit to replace, allowing touted William Byron, 19, to race a formative second Xfinity Series season in 2018.
William Byron:
Second in Xfinity points and the top winner (three) among series regulars, he told USA TODAY Sports last week that he expected a Cup chance “sooner rather than later.” Many feel he — like most — could benefit from another season in a developmental series. Opportunity and need might preclude that. Hendrick’s first job opening of the season figured to be the domino to trigger the market but wasn’t. Perhaps its second will be.