NASCAR racing doesn’t even start until next week and already Danica Patrick’s presence has helped the sport. The IndyCar star’s deal at JR Motorsports brought in sponsorship dollars that saved about a dozen jobs and helped the organization remain a two-car Nationwide Series team with the #5 and #88 Chevy running full seasons. Patrick’s deal wasn’t all that financially energized JR Motorsports. While other Nationwide Series teams struggled last season, Earnhardt made more money than expected. They’ll use that profit to keep the No. 88 team running throughout 2010, regardless of sponsorship issues. Earnhardt might race a few of those and have a developmental driver the rest. The team only has about one third of the season’s races sponsored for Kelly Bires [#88] Chevy at the moment, but will be able to keep that going, too. “We have two teams that we wanted to keep,” Earnhardt said. “Didn’t want to downsize the company any more like the year before. The Danica program really justified having two programs and keeping our employee count. That was awesome to have that.”(Orlando Sentinel)(1-27-2010)
