Perfect Timing for a Chevrolet Victory

Mark Martin may have taken the checkered flag, but Chevrolet was the biggest winner at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday.

On the heels of GM's announcement that it plans to cut support for all levels of NASCAR, a win by Chevrolet couldn't have been better timed--or better placed. MIS is about an hour's drive from the headquarters of the Big Three, and the victory by Martin and his #5 Chevy Impala was a sorely needed bright spot on the dim landscape of American auto manufacturing.

Nobody knows how badly the General Motors re-organization will affect Sprint Cup racing, at least not yet. All we know for certain is that GM is eliminating funding for NASCAR's Camping World Trucks and Nationwide series completely. More details about GM's plans for Cup racing will likely be released this week.

Before Sunday's race, NASCAR Chairman Brian France made an unscheduled appearance in the MIS media center, saying that he's confident GM will be involved in NASCAR for many years to come, but he also intimated that NASCAR would consider opening its arms to more foreign makers.

The sport we love is changing, along with our nation and the once-great face of American manufacturing. It's too early to tell what the garage will look like in 2010 and what it will take for NASCAR to weather this storm.

But thanks to Martin, there's at least one headline in which the folks at Chevrolet can take some pride. Their engine beat out the rest of the pack ... and all in their own backyard.

Bad News: GM Cuts Support For Camping World/Nationwide Teams

You can shove your fingers in your ears, shut your eyes and refuse to acknowledge the inevitable for only so long. But that doesn't keep the inevitable from happening.

Word broke today that General Motors is cutting its factory support for Chevy teams in both NASCAR Camping World and Nationwide Series. This is depressing news for a sport which is also suffering from lower ticket sales, lack of sponsorship and still reeling from a round of 2008 layoffs.

Although some folks, like Rick Hendrick, have publicly said they think General Motors will be all right in the end, I've got to believe that anyone involved with a Chevy race team entertains private doubts.

With the stimulus money long spent and Chapter 11 underway, General Motors must save money where it can. And it would be difficult for the company to justify spending dollars it doesn't have on its NASCAR investment. Especially when it's laying off employees left and right, shutting down plants and operating on a wing and a prayer.

Early news is that the teams most likely to be affected by the cuts will be Kevin Harvick, Inc., JR Motorsports (owned by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Rick Hendrick) and Rusty Wallace Racing -- all three of which are owned by current or one-time Cup drivers.

What's not yet clear is how much less GM will be contributing to these race teams. Hopefully "cutting back" doesn't mean "cutting off."

So far, there's nothing to indicate that the cuts will affect Chevy teams in the Sprint Cup series.

But time, as always, will tell.