“My Career Will Be Over”—NASCAR’s Sponsor-Crisis Extends to Dale Earnhardt Jr’s CARS Tour as Veteran Driver Makes Desperate Plea

Another big fish swam away from the sponsorship sea, leaving a NASCAR driver’s dreams hanging by a thread. Recently, the shrinking pool of sponsors in motorsport has set off alarm bells. Take Aric Almirola‘s case for instance, whose main backer, Smithfield, is bowing out. And now, in a turn of events, Bobby McCarty finds himself in hot waters, grappling with a sponsorship drought, as he spilled the beans on social media.

Matt Weaver caught wind of this and took to Twitter. McCarty is seemingly casting a wide net, hoping to reel in some generous brands to keep the seasoned pro racing in the CARS Tour.

Even Dale Earnhardt Jr’s CARS Tour driver can hit a sponsorship snag

Bobby McCarty, who last burned rubber in the CARS Tour, co-owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr, earlier this month, might have had high hopes for the road ahead. But, as his latest tweet reveals, he’s hit a rough patch with a sponsorship crisis looming overhead. He’s lost a key partner and, without a new one, fears his racing days are numbered.

His tweet had a ring of urgency: “I’m not one to usually post stuff like this on here but desperate times call for desperate measures. Everyone knows racing is expensive and I’ve been very fortunate to have great partners throughout the years to keep going. At the end of this past season, I lost a major partner and if I don’t find any partners unfortunately my career will be over.

“I’m a mechanic at a small mom-and-pop shop so there is no backup plan for me. If you would please share and help me get the word out that I’m needing help. I have a lot of years left in me and I know next year we can compete for another championship. Thank you,” he wrote.

Matt Weaver from Sportsnaut picked up the baton, amplifying Bobby’s plight. He made a compelling case: “To me if pavement racing has any shot at being more than a NASCAR development platform, it has to involve veteran racers like Bobby McCarty. A step further, CARS Tour doesn’t work if it doesn’t have Bobby after losing Josh Berry to Cup. The discipline needs veteran stalwarts.”

Interestingly, McCarty also dipped his toes into NASCAR Xfinity in 2022 with JD Motorsports. Reports suggest that even this series might face sponsorship hurdles post-2024. Hence, the sponsorship drought isn’t just hitting NASCAR’s big leagues like Cup and Xfinity; it’s trickling down to the roots of stock car racing. Given Dale Earnhardt Jr’s own insights into the sponsorship game, as he mentioned in a recent podcast, perhaps he could throw McCarty a lifeline.

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Junior understands the inside scoop on sponsorship challenges

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In a recent spill-the-beans moment on his podcast, Dale Earnhardt Jr let on that clinching sponsorship deals in stock car racing today is like walking a tightrope. Sponsors are now asking for drivers to be everywhere—gracing events, starring in ad campaigns, you name it. Junior reminisced that back in his driving days, things were a bit more laid-back.

He struck gold with Budweiser as his main sponsor for most of the year, unlike today’s drivers, who juggle half a dozen sponsors, each demanding a chunk of their time. “You are gonna have to do X amount of appearances for this partner. We got a new partner coming in. Gotta do XYZ. […] I was kinda lucky with Budweiser; I had one primary for the majority of the year. And now the drivers today—Well, they got 6 or 7 partners that want dozens of appearances. When you look at the calendar year, your time just goes away. And when you are not doing that, you are working.”

With this newfound awareness of the sponsorship squeeze, especially the one gripping a CARS Tour driver, perhaps Dale Earnhardt Jr could talk more about the same while giving some solutions to overcome the crisis.

Read More: Amidst NASCAR’s Ongoing Sponsor Crisis, Insider Speculates Worsening Situations Post 2024 Calendar