Earnhardt told NASCAR.com that his Nationwide (NWFS) Series funding had been cut, but that he’d try to help cover the shortfall: “We'll try to do the best we can to cover the void. Chevrolet is going through some very challenging times."

'I’ve had to make adjustments due to how the economy has turned. So it wouldn’t be any different for anybody else,” he said.

NASCAR-watcher Timothy Horrigan, writing on DailyKos.com, says the "problems [with sponsorship] were not quite as dire as feared during the pre-season" since smaller local sponsors have stepped up to the plate.

Take, for instance, the "Autism Speaks 400," at Dover, Delaware -- sponsored by Heluva Good dairy.

What exactly does this mean? Simply put, it means that sponsorship rates have dropped to the point where a charity and a small dairy outfit can afford to lay out enough cash to brand a major NASCAR race.

Jerry Bonkowski in Auto Racing Daily says that “pulling support from Sprint Cup-level [racing] is like George Steinbrenner pulling his financial support of the New York Yankees.”

Bonkowski points out that team owners “feel they’ll be able to make up the difference of the lost GM cash with new sponsorship from other companies." But he also notes that: "Rick Hendrick admits he’s having trouble getting Kellogg’s (K) and Carquest to sign on the [dotted] line for next season.”

The idea that Hendrick Motorsports can’t keep sponsors or attract new ones is deeply troubling, given that the team ain’t small potatoes -- they’ve won the past 3 Sprint Cup championships.

“Frankly, I’m willing to bet that the multi-car teams like Hendrick, Richard Childress Racing and Earnhardt Ganassi Racing are going to lose at least one car from their operations if things don’t improve by 2011,” says Bonkowski.

It was only a matter of time before the fate of stock cars were affected by the price of stocks.