[vincesanity82]

Craftsman will be out as title sponsor of NASCAR's truck-racing series beginning with the 2009 season, The Star has learned. No new title sponsor has been found to replace Craftsman, but a search will soon be getting under way, said Steve Phelps, marketing director for NASCAR. He said he believes NASCAR will have little problem finding a new title sponsor because of the increasing popularity of the series. "We haven't started a search, per se," Phelps said. "But what we want to try to do is identify companies that we believe would be a great fit for the series and a great fit for the fan base. So we'll get out there in 2008, the new year, and start discussions with new companies. No real timelines on when it's going to get done. But it will obviously get done." Craftsman has been the title sponsor since 1995, the year NASCAR founded the series. -- KC Star

www.kansascity.com | 12/03/2007 | Craftsman dropping sponsorship of NASCAR truck series

[wingkey1]

No real surprise here. Sears financial performance has been pretty much ugly for a time now. Gets kinda tough for a firm to justify some investments / sponsorships when the proverbial roof is falling down.

November 29, 2007
Sears Holdings Corporation today reported net income of $2 million, or $0.01 per diluted share, for the third quarter ended November 3, 2007, compared with net income of $196 million, or $1.27 per diluted share, for the third quarter ended October 28, 2006.

See following that gets pretty detailed around the many weak spots within Sears Holdings.

Sears Holdings Corporation - Investor Information

Know back when we worked for Compaq/HP the F1 Team (let alone "series") sponsorship came pretty quick under heavy criticism from investors and employees as layoffs grew in to the 10's of thousands. Sponsorship was dropped.

[SteelPhoenyx]

Wow, that's a bummer!

[Quality88]

I'm curious as to who will pick up the series.

[LSC9901]

Dunno who but my bet is they'll have little trouble finding a sponsor. It is a very successful series right now ... until Brian & Co. figure out how to make it better.

[Phils20]

Originally Posted by LSC9901

Dunno who but my bet is they'll have little trouble finding a sponsor. It is a very successful series right now ... until Brian & Co. figure out how to make it better.

Isn't that the truth. The best racing in NASCAR takes place with Tail gates! (Damn, that almost sounded like a marketing slogan!)

I hope someone picks up the slack, I love the truck series.