Budweiser Reportedly Won't Make Final Sponsor Payment To RPM

Kasey Kahne Left RPM Five Races Early

Anheuser-Busch has told Richard Petty Motorsports that the NASCAR team "will not receive the final payment on its 2010 sponsorship contract," according to sources cited by Dave Moody of Sirius NASCAR Radio. A-B's contract with RPM "called for Kasey Kahne to be the driver of the Budweiser Ford, and when Kahne left the team five races early to join Red Bull Racing, that contract became null and void." There has been "no confirmation from either the team or Budweiser, and no word on what the final installment of that sponsorship would have been worth to the team" (SIRIUS-SPEEDWAY.com, 10/29). Budweiser was on RPM's No. 9 car driven by Aric Almirola for yesterday's Sprint Cup Series Amp Energy Juice 500, but ESPN's Terry Blount noted it is unclear "whether they will be on the car the rest of the way and how that affects whether the 9 car will finish the season." RPM's future is in jeopardy due in part to co-Owner George Gillett's financial woes, but Blount said, "It does no one any good -- not Richard Petty if he hopes to take over the team, not Roush Fenway and not the creditors -- to shut things down with three races to go. I think they're going to do everything possible to have all four cars finish the season for the last three races" ("NASCAR Now," ESPN2, 10/31).

HOLDING OUT HOPE: Elliott Sadler, who drives RPM's No. 19 Sprint Cup entry, said, "We’ve got a lot of guys on our team working paycheck to paycheck. They’ve got families. They’ve got kids. They’ve got house payments. They’ve got a lot of stuff they have to take care of. I’m just praying and hoping everything works out for them. No matter what happens to me next year, I definitely hope Richard Petty Motorsports stays healthy, stays in the business. Richard Petty deserves it. There are a lot of guys on that team that deserve it" (SCENEDAILY.com, 10/30). Driver Brad Keselowski said, "It's a big deal to lose the King. ... But my perspective on that is Richard will find another position in this sport, and we won't lose him. I think we'll just lose his namesake on a team that isn't even his team to begin with" (SI.com, 10/29).