Full Throttle

Over and above all the “regular” end-of-season changes NASCAR endures each year 2008 has brought many others as a result of the so called credit crunch and economic downturn.

The Ganassi/DEI merger resulted in a loss of approximately 100 jobs, give or take.

Today Hall of Fame Racing announced they were over-staffed for a one car team. How 41 people is “over-staffed” is beyond me, it takes at least a dozen to get to and from the track and man pit road during an event.

But hey, I don’t write the checks. Thankfully.

Oh, and as an aside, they are also unsure what manufacturer they will run in 2009. Yeah, that’s the ticket, shift to their third marquee in less than 18 months. Could that type of decision making help explain why the Arizona Diamondbacks continue to be perpetual losers?

But I digress.

The story is pretty much the same up and down pit road even for the largest well-funded teams and I suspect a few corners will be sliced in Daytona and Charlotte as well. (Sorry France, that personal 24hr on-call caddy must go!)

Then there are the rumors, and some facts, out of Detroit. The facts are both Dodge and Ford have cut out any financial support for the truck series.

The rumor mill had GM merging with Chrysler a couple weeks ago but that has been shelved as the Congressional Nitwits hammer out a deal to bailout Detroit while simultaneously picking the pockets of the taxpayers.

And now, it may come to this.

Reports are surfacing that China, by way of Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation and Dongfeng Motor Corporation, are seriously considering, and have every “intention to buy some assets” of both GM and Chrysler.

Think about that scenario for a hot second. I bet you thought the nutcases came unglued when Toyota entered Sprint Cup.

Just thank what would happen if Dale Jr. rode to Victory lane at the wheel of a Impala SS produced by Dongfeng Motor Corporation - a company founded by no less than of Mao Zedong himself.