As we all know, the auto makers have been going
through a brutal period. Japanese, German, American, French - it
doesn\'t matter where they are from. All indications are GM is going to
file bankruptcy. From a motorsports perspective, the question is what
happens to NASCAR?

GM lost over 30 billion dollars in 2006. It
just lost another 30 billion in 2008. The company is in horrific shape
and it appears there is no way it can hold off filing bankruptcy. The
powers that be at GM, the unions and the government have been trying to
find a solution, but the business model appears to simply be a dud in
these modern times.

There are many questions about what a
bankruptcy filing would mean. What about all the retired GM workers who
are living off of pensions and a health plan that can no longer be
supported? What about the current workers? These are serious questions
that have no nice and clean answers. Bankruptcy is going to be brutal.

Motorsports
are just that...sports. They are obviously not as serious as real life
issues like people losing their jobs. Still, one has to consider what
will happen to the NASCAR series when GM files. If health plans are
being canceled, you can be a bankruptcy judge is not going to look
positive on spending money on auto racing. This could lead to a massive
amount of turmoil in NASCAR.

Consider the Sprint Cup, the top
series in NASCAR. The big GM brand is Chevrolet. Teams like Hendrick,
Earnhardt Ganassi, Stewart Haas, and Richard Childress Racing all drive
Chevrolets. These teams include such notable drivers as Jimmie Johnson,
Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Ryan
Newman, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, and Martin Truex. All could be
thrown into turmoil.

If GM were to file bankruptcy tomorrow, the
fallout would be tremendous. All contracts GM has agreed to suddenly
are frozen. The bankruptcy court can cancel them if it so desires. This
effectively means any supplier to GM or these teams is going to be
worried about not being paid. In such a situation, all the Chevrolet
teams will face a credit crisis. The hope would be that NASCAR would
step in and provide a guarantee of payment, but there are no clear
indications NASCAR is in a position to do that.

Most people can\'t
picture GM actually being liquidated, but you should open your eyes.
The company is not going through a bump in the road, it is going
through a major bloodletting. A company that loses $30 billion dollars
a year before the current recession hit [2006] doesn\'t need a \"little
help\". It has fatal flaws.

A more reasonable guess of the outcome
of any GM bankruptcy would be the company would be broken up into
smaller pieces and sold off - a great American institution put out of
its misery. If this comes to be, the NASCAR season is going to be a
disaster with half the teams suddenly having no cars and parts. What a
mess.