UPDATE: Yates Racing will suspend operations of the #28 Ford of Travis Kvapil due to lack of sponsorship following Sunday’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway. The team entered the race 40th in points. A decision on how many employees will be laid off has not been made. Geoff Smith, the president of Roush Fenway Racing that partners with Yates, said most of the #28 team members will be dispersed to other parts of the organization. “It’s difficult to be in a situation when you have to deal with the consequences of the economy,” Smith said. “We’re in a situation where there’s no extra cash to support running an unsponsored car for any period of time. If the economy picks up later in the season maybe we’ll be able to pick up something for that team.” The team suffered a major setback when Kvapil failed to make the third race at Las Vegas. That was compounded a week later when a blown engine left him 42nd at Atlanta. Smith wasn’t optimistic sponsorship for Kvapil will come this season. He’s having enough trouble with selling sponsorship for some of his other programs, such as Aflac on Carl Edwards’ car, that have asked for relief. Roush has sponsors for all of its drivers through at least 2010 except Matt Kenseth, whose deal with DeWalt expires after this year. Smith said he’s working with DeWalt to find a partner for next season. “There’s a lot of pressure internally and externally for sponsors to decrease participation and find a partner or pull back altogether,” Smith said. “There just aren’t enough sponsors on our side of the garage to go around right now.”(ESPN.com)(3-22-2009)
Bristol could be last race for #28 UPDATE – done:
UPDATE: Yates Racing will suspend operations of the #28 Ford of Travis Kvapil due to lack of sponsorship following Sunday’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway. The team entered the race 40th in points. A decision on how many employees will be laid off has not been made. Geoff Smith, the president of Roush Fenway Racing that partners with Yates, said most of the #28 team members will be dispersed to other parts of the organization. “It’s difficult to be in a situation when you have to deal with the consequences of the economy,” Smith said. “We’re in a situation where there’s no extra cash to support running an unsponsored car for any period of time. If the economy picks up later in the season maybe we’ll be able to pick up something for that team.” The team suffered a major setback when Kvapil failed to make the third race at Las Vegas. That was compounded a week later when a blown engine left him 42nd at Atlanta. Smith wasn’t optimistic sponsorship for Kvapil will come this season. He’s having enough trouble with selling sponsorship for some of his other programs, such as Aflac on Carl Edwards’ car, that have asked for relief. Roush has sponsors for all of its drivers through at least 2010 except Matt Kenseth, whose deal with DeWalt expires after this year. Smith said he’s working with DeWalt to find a partner for next season. “There’s a lot of pressure internally and externally for sponsors to decrease participation and find a partner or pull back altogether,” Smith said. “There just aren’t enough sponsors on our side of the garage to go around right now.”(ESPN.com)(3-22-2009)