Call our current economic state what you may, be it correction, downturn, recession, inflation, deflation, economic crisis or any other nomenclature, and the end result is the same; things aren’t too good right now for race teams looking for marketing partners.
Specifically, when you see teams like Doug Yates and his drivers Travis Kvapil and David Gilliland running around with little or no sponsors, or Nationwide Series veteran Jason Keller announcing, “it’s now or never,” or some of the most talented drag racers not even racing, it solidifies our impetus for this week’s column.
In Yates’s situation, the team has and is struggling. However, we must always remember that Doug Yates comes from the same DNA as Robert Yates, the horsepower legacy and a man highly respected in this industry.
When Robert walked into the PRI Trade Show “Smokey Yunick Roundtable” last December, you would have thought the President walked into the room. The Yates name is directly tied to Jack Roush in making horsepower since 2004, and we all know how well Yates/Roush engines have done for Roush Fenway Racing since that marriage.

... if the Yates team is struggling for monies, the lean sponsor competition is getting leaner. We hope it doesn’t end like the Bud Moore, Junie Donlavey, or famed drag racer Bruce Larson sagas, all of which couldn’t find sponsorship and ended up closing the doors on great careers.

Thus, if the Yates team is struggling for monies, the lean sponsor competition is getting leaner. We hope it doesn’t end like the Bud Moore, Junie Donlavey, or famed drag racer Bruce Larson sagas, all of which couldn’t find sponsorship and ended up closing the doors on great careers. In Larson’s case, he found himself on the outside looking just a year after winning the NHRA Funny Car championship. 
Speaking of the quarter-mile sport, Torco Race Fuels was the big news, and in some ways still is. Torco’s founder and owner, Evan Knoll, is taking a year off from drag racing for health reasons, a move that impacted all of the Torco-owned teams and numerous sponsored entities for 2008. This decision does not affect sponsorship of Torco-backed NHRA POWERade events at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill., and Virginia Motorsports Park in Dinwiddie, Va.
Knoll has been hospitalized since the announcement and we wish him all the best. According to a Torco news release, “concern for the long-term health of Torco President and founder Evan Knoll is foremost.” Knoll suffered major injuries in a motor-vehicle accident in November 2004, and although he remains at the helm of operations for Torco, he continues to have both in-patient and in-home, state-of-the-art medical care when treatment is necessary as it is currently. This situation leaves him unable to travel.
Dave Connolly, meanwhile is a prime “Torco-less” example of Evan Knoll money and influence. He was one of Knoll’s bright stars last year and nearly won the overall POWERade Pro Stock championship, driving as teammate for champ Jeg Coughlin in one of the two Victor Cagnazzi Racing  Chevrolets. He and second-place finishing Greg Anderson won a season-high sixevents each, with Connolly finishing third in the final tally. 
This season? Connolly hasn’t made one pass. Regardless of talent, no sponsors have come forward while Evan Knoll takes his “breather.” Ditto for upcoming Top Fuel racer Doug Foley, as he too, relied on Torco monies to make an impact in 2008. 
Thus the narrative of Yates and Knoll, although both come from different backgrounds. Yates is a team owner who makes horsepower like no other and relies on sponsorship monies to keep him afloat. Knoll, meanwhile, is a rich businessman that became a team owner and then a well-loved, multi-team-sponsor, until health and feeding the “sponsor monster” became paramount. Still, both have done much for moving our sport forward, bringing along drivers on the professional and sportsman levels. 
In summary, now may be a good time to re-introduce the phrase “it’s the economy stupid” expression, which came about during Bill Clinton’s successful 1992 Presidential campaign against George H.W. Bush. Coined by Clinton campaign strategist James Carville, it refers to the notion that Clinton was a better choice because Bush, who was spending a lot of time on foreign affairs, had not adequately addressed the economy, which was undergoing a recession at the time.
Talk about history repeating itself.
As for Yates, Knoll, Keller, Connolly, Foley and the countless other teams we didn’t mention due to space considerations, we wish them all well in their current plight.