Wood Bros. to only run 12 events in 2009

[Chris]

In a continuing discussion of just how many teams will be racing, and how many cars will show up each week to race in 2009.  I found this posted...
It's been announced that the Wood Bros. will only run 12 races in 2009, and Bill Elliott will drive those races.

Wood Brothers team to cut back to 12 races in 2009: The legendary #21-Wood Brothers organization will run only 12 Sprint Cup races next season. Eddie Wood, co-owner of Wood Brothers Racing, said tough economic times have forced the organization to enter only the season-opening Daytona 500 and mile-and-a-half tracks with Bill Elliott, the 1985 Cup champion. The mile-and-a-half tracks were picked because Ford's program is strongest there. "We could run up to 20 but we decided to do 12 and do it right," Wood said Saturday. "We're going back to doing it the way we did it years ago." The organization used to pick and choose races in the early years. It ran only 18 races in 1973, with David Pearson, who won 11 of them. Wood said the organization, which lost Air Force as a sponsor to Gillett Evernham Motorsports, had to let 22 employees go to reduce the team to about 40

It's getting more interesting as we go to see JUST how many cars / team will be showing up to fill the fields in the CUP events.  We know the lost twp teams with the DEI/Ganassi Merger (the #15 and #01 cars)... The also lost two cars with PE being folded into GEM (the #44, and #45)
We've heard the #22 is shut down for now,...
We've heard the #78 will only run part time,.. and now the #21.

As the domino's continue to fall I wonder who will be next to cut back to part time,.. of to close up completely.
We still have SEVERAL teams with no sponsor for 2009.  The #38, and #28 included in that group.  Remember we have the #8 (Almirola) with no sponsor... and the #41 with a "maybe" sponsor, but no driver.  The longer it goes, the more likely I see Aric driving the #41, and no one outside the team driving that car....
Also the #39 (Newman) still don't have a sponsor for more than just a hand full of races.,.. and the #00 of Reutimann has signed 'for sure' Aarons for 18 races.
The more "full time" teams that dwindle down and either run part time, or not at all... the more 'field fillers' there will have to be just to have 43 starters.

I would think that NASCAR "might" WANT to cut back fields to 36 cars,.... but that would "in effect" do them no good as far as their TV contracts go,.. we KNOW those contracts have been signed, and all those contracts will state the field size as 43 cars.  No way Brian was foresighted enough a year ago to see this coming.  SO even if NASCAR cut the fields back to 36 or 38 cars they'd still have to have 43 cars start to get the full amount of their TV contract money.
SO IMO thats why NASCAR announced a few months back that field sized would not be cut.  With contracts already signed it would gain them nothing.

[20forLogano]

Newman has 22 races right now.  They had a sponsor on the alter but it fell through with the economy.  They are saying BK is till an option to fill out the void.

[scott b]

If the Target/#41/Bobby Labonte rumor proves to be true, that will also leave Montoya with only partial sponsorship.

If someone told you 18 months ago that guys like Newman and JPM would be having trouble finding sponsors for 2009, would you have believed it?

[Chris]

Yeah... Montoyas deal with Wrigleys is only for about 1/2 a season...
Of course you have to take into account Wrigleys sold out to M&M / Mars candy company who is PRIVATELY owned.  That being the case they could decide to pull out of racing at any moment.  That would leave Montoya, and Kyle Busch both with no sponsor

Side bar###  Wrigleys gum plant is just a couple miles from my house... you can drive down the road and tell by the smell what kinda of gum they are making that day,.. Juicy Fruit has the strongest smell, also can smell spearment good... uummm, it's a pleasure just to drive by.
My new little lady friend works there, and she smells real good when she gets home too...   hehehe