NASCAR mailbag: Will Richard Petty Motorsports close down due to lack of sponsorship?

Each week SB Nation’s NASCAR reporter Jordan Bianchi answers your questions about the latest news and happenings within the sport. If you have a future mailbag question, email jordanmbianchi@gmail.com.

Richard Petty Motorsports doesn’t have a sponsor or driver for next year. Shouldn’t the team have both by now and is it a bad sign that the team has neither? It feels like this may be the end for the 43 car.

--Tim

Ideally by this point in the season teams have solidified their driver-sponsor lineup for the next year, or are at least closing to doing so. That RPM has not is concerning, as the departure of Smithfield Foods to Stewart-Haas Racing is an unquestionable setback.

If a sponsor can be found, RPM would like to sign Darrell Wallace Jr. to drive the No. 43 Ford. That’s a big if at this juncture, however. Finding a company willing and able to spend the necessary millions is a challenge considering most companies already have finalized their marketing plans set for the following year.

Working in RPM’s favor is Richard Petty is the public face of the team and Wallace is one of NASCAR’s more charismatic and talented rising stars. They offer a potential sponsor two excellent and recognizable spokesmen.

But as Smithfield pointedly stated in announcing its decision to join SHR, companies desire more than just personalities. Results are also required. And on this front, RPM doesn’t have much to offer with the single-car team perpetually engulfed in mediocrity. The team’s lone victory since 2013 came in a rain-shortened restrictor-plate race, and its current 25th-place ranking in owner points is an accurate representation of its standing within the team hierarchy.

Maybe with the right partner, RPM can change its fortunes. Such a turnaround is not improbable. More than likely, RPM will have to piecemeal sponsorship next season while trying to land something bigger for 2019. And if that fails, the sustainability of the team looks bleak.

Why doesn’t NASCAR do something to help Richard Petty Motorsports out? The No. 43 needs to be on the track and it would be a disgrace and a sad day if the team closed. It would say a lot about NASCAR if this happened. You don’t see the New York Yankees shutting down.

--Craig

NASCAR will lend RPM support in hunting sponsorship, though there are limits to what the sanctioning body can do in ensuring one of its iconic teams doesn’t fold. Ultimately, each organization is responsible for devising a business plan that allows it to remain viable. Unlike stick-and-ball sports, NASCAR teams are not franchises utilizing revenue sharing to stay afloat.

What RPM’s current predicament does is further underscore the difficult economic climate within NASCAR. Organizations are struggling to find needed funding, leading to significant budget slashing. Since the end of the 2016 season, RPM, Roush Fenway Racing, HScott Racing, and Tommy Baldwin Racing have all either downsized or shut down. That championship-caliber Furniture Row Racing is all but certain to eliminate its second car, which was just added over the offseason, speaks volumes about a business model needing complete revamping.

Under normal circumstances FRR would be able to find adequate sponsorship to offset the pending defection of driver Erik Jones to Joe Gibbs Racing. Except companies see NASCAR’s continued issues with television ratings and attendance and are choosing to invest elsewhere. Instead of remaining associated with Kyle Larson, a 25-year-old future superstar (if he’s not already), Target is withdrawing its sponsorship of Chip Ganassi Racing at the end of the season to focus its marketing efforts on soccer.

Whether RPM can find a way continue to exist in NASCAR’s new era is unknown. What’s not up for debate is that the sport is better when its historic teams can remain both operational and competitive.

Is Danica finally giving up and realizing this NASCAR thing isn’t for her? It was obvious she wasn’t getting any better and it was time for a change.

--Jon

It’s not so much Danica Patrick is “giving up,” more so she lacks a sponsor willing to foot the bill allowing her to stay with a top team. A situation not all that different from Matt Kenseth, who would also like to continue racing in the Cup Series yet lacks opportunities because of similar issues Patrick is facing.

There is no argument Patrick didn’t evolve into a consistently competitive driver, especially when taking into account she drove for an upper-echelon organization where her teammates regularly won races and contended for championships. The results are undeniable.

But Patrick also deserves credit for what she did in bringing additional attention to NASCAR and serving as an inspiration to young girls, even if this can sometimes be overstated. Her departure — and barring something developing at the last-minute, she is done racing in Cup full-time — is a loss beyond what transpires on the track. Compounded by the reality that NASCAR doesn’t have a female racer even close to assuming the position Patrick occupied.