Hitting The Gas Pedal

Total sponsorship for Hendrick's Cup program will be up compared to '10

A handful of NASCAR team execs, owners, officials and drivers believe that '11 "will be a year of recovery for NASCAR after two very taxing seasons of declining television ratings and attendance, plus truly trying economic times, especially for the teams," according to Tom Jensen of SPEEDTV.com. As the Sprint Cup Series kicks off Sunday with the Daytona 500, team officials are indicating that "sponsor interest is coming back after a couple of fallow seasons." Roush Fenway Racing President Steve Newmark said, "What we've seen in the last year is way more interest." Team Owner Rick Hendrick agreed, noting that "total sponsorship dollars for his four-car Sprint Cup team will be up slightly in 2011 compared with 2010." Hendrick: "I personally t ...