Sponsorship issues may reduce Rusty Wallace Racing to one Nationwide team

By Lee Montgomery - Associate Editor

Friday, November 20, 2009

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HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Rusty Wallace Racing owner Rusty Wallace said Friday at Homestead-Miami Speedway that he may have to cut back to one NASCAR Nationwide Series team car next season if more sponsorship isn’t found for his No. 62 entry driven by Brendan Gaughan.

Wallace said he has sold about 40 percent of the races for 2010, but that might not amount to enough to keep Gaughan in the car full time. Wallace said Michael Gaughan, Brendan’s father, subsidizes sponsorship on the No. 62, but that he wants the full season.

“Brendan definitely wants to come back, but we don’t have the finances put together for the 62 car right now,” Wallace said. “It’s very much so up in the air, and it’s coming down right to the last minute. The last thing I want to do is let guys go, but I might have to do that – but I don’t want to do that.

“I tell the guys, ‘Just work your [butt] off to the last minute,’ because the last race they see is one of the most important I’m going to have during the winter trying to sell. If we have a [bad] last race on the 62, it makes for a tough sell.”

Wallace said he would run the No. 62 car part time in 2010, but it appears Gaughan would not be the driver under that scenario.

“I would definitely run the car part time if the sponsorship’s there,” Wallace said. "Mr. Gaughan subsidizes a lot of the sponsorship on the 62, but Mr. Gaughan wants to come in and run all the races. That’s what we want to do, but right now we don’t have that done yet.”

Wallace’s team has full sponsorship for the No. 66 entry and driver Steve Wallace, and the team announced this week it would switch to Toyota from Chevrolet next season.

“I think it’s going to put us over the top, or else I wouldn’t have done it,” Wallace said. “The reason I’ve done it is all the support from Chevrolet is basically dried up because of the government bailout and Chevrolet’s decision just to do the Sprint Cup Series. I talked to the guys at Toyota and look at their resources, and it was more than I’ve ever seen in my life out of any manufacturer. The engineering support is what I think we really need to get these cars unloaded week after week fast.

“Right now, we’ve got kind of a shotgun approach at it right now. We take our best shot going into every single week. I feel like we spend all of the practice sessions just getting the cars close. Teams I’m running against unload right on. It seems like the Toyota teams always unload very, very close, and we don’t.”

Wallace is seventh in the Nationwide standings, with Gaughan ninth. The two drivers have combined for four top-five and 16 top-10 finishes.

Wallace said Triad Racing Development would build the team’s engines next year.

The move to Toyota could be a precursor of a move to Cup in 2011 or beyond, as Wallace has wanted to take his team a step up.

“No, it’s not too far off,” Wallace said. “I’ve had an eye on Cup for long time. I need to get my organization there. But it’s all about finances.”