Setzer looking for 2007 truck ride
HAMPTON, Ga. - Chevrolet's decision to reduce its manufacturer's support in the Craftsman Truck Series has Dennis Setzer on the job market. At least temporarily, that is, as team co-owner David Dollar still hopes Chevrolet's marketing arm can broker a deal to place an ethanol-related sponsor on the truck.
Dollar, though, can't offer Setzer a contract until sponsorship is secured. And Setzer said Oct. 28 that he realizes Dollar could also secure sponsorship attached to a specific driver, increasing his urgency to get a deal done.
"I need to race, I don't know [where that will be]," said Setzer, whose name has been tied to Roush Racing. "I don't have any offers."
Both Dollar and Setzer say the goal is to stay together, as they've been the last six years. But Chevrolet's marketing arm, which stepped up in light of Toyota's entrance in 2004 by sponsoring trucks for Xpress Motorsports, Kevin Harvick Inc. and Morgan/Dollar, is ending that plan.
Its deals with Xpress and KHI ended after last year, while Morgan/Dollar's ends after this season. Dollar says he's seen the proposal for an ethanol-related deal to replace GM's FlexFuel sponsorship, but Dayne Pierantoni, GM's program manager for the truck series, doesn't expect GM to sponsor any teams.
"What Chevrolet is trying to do is get back to what we consider a manufacturer's role in this series, more of a technical support side, helping teams," Pierantoni said. "We never intended to be a hood sponsor for an extended period of time."
A bigger concern to teams is that GM's main support in terms of engine programs may just be limited to Spears Motorsports, which has an alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing, and KHI, which has full sponsorship for next season. Xpress owner Dave Fuge Sr. also foresees a cutback in wind-tunnel time provided by GM.
"There's been some word in the garage area that we're pulling out of this series, that's not in any way true," Pierantoni said. "We're gonna be truck racing. We've been truck racing from day one. We've got a very comprehensive technical support program [and] we plan on carrying that forward very similar to what we're doing this year."
