So, any takers? Okay, you’re asking, “What do you need that much money for?” Well, according to FoxSports.com, that is the cost of a primary sponsorship on a NASCAR Nextel Cup Car for one year. You can see their article here on FoxSports.com. But that’s not the focus of this article. The focus is how NASCAR is shutting out businesses that can actually afford these high priced stickers.

NASCAR filed a new lawsuit against telecommunications giant AT&T for $100 million dollars due to what they call a breach of contract. At the same time they are talking about rebranding the Nextel Cup Series to the Sprint Cup Series. Not only do I think they are talking out of both sides of their mouth, but they are really hurting themselves with future sponsorship dollars.

First of all, since when did competition become bad? Competition is what NASCAR racing is all about. Okay, they don’t want competitors to be able to sponsor a car. So why is it that they put everyone in the same car so they can keep the competition even closer. But when it comes to competition pumping the life blood into the sport…money, let’s make sure we close these people out. With this lawsuit, they are actually wanting to not only eliminate AT&T from the circut, but also Alltel (watch out Shell/Penzoil, you’re next). So what does this mean for those teams? If they are going to rob that money out of Childress Racing and Penske Racing, then they better be prepared to have two “NASCAR” sponsored cars. Let’s face it, there’s not too many companies that are large enough to take on such a financial obligation for a multi-year contract.

Use your competition as a marketing tool. Tell everyone you’re selling to that your car beat the competition at the last race, proving that you are the better company. Better yet, put Juan Pablo Montoya in your car and he’ll wreck your competition out of the race. What’s better than seeing your competition in a fiery crumpled mess at the bottom of the track? Well maybe this is all a little much, but consider the thread of truth that is being implied.

NASCAR, Little Bill made wonderful decisions to get this sport to where it is, and as it has continued to grow, so has the price tag. Make sure that you don’t burn your bridges with some of the few companies and corporations that can actually afford to sustain these cars and teams. If you push these guys out, you better be ready to pony up the money to replace these sponsors out of your own pocket.

That’s my opinion, if you disagree, let me know.