General Mills To Stay With RCR, Promote Wheaties On Jeff Burton's Cup Ride In '12

General Mills' Wheaties brand "will sponsor select races" next season for Richard Childress Racing's No. 31 NASCAR Sprint Cup entry driven by Jeff Burton, according to Bob Pockrass of SCENEDAILY.com. Wheaties will sponsor "select races, although the exact number of races wasn't announced." Burton will “have primary sponsorship from his current sponsor Caterpillar" for a majority of races. General Mills has been the "primary sponsor for Richard Childress Racing's Clint Bowyer for the last three years” and had primarily promoted its Cheerios brand through the deal. RCR has not “announced a replacement for Bowyer nor sponsorship for his No. 33 team next season.” Team Owner Richard Childress said that “the organization may field just three Cup cars in addition to multiple Nationwide Series teams” (SCENEDAILY.com, 10/5). YAHOO SPORTS’ Nick Bromberg reported General Mills' role with RCR “was unclear heading into 2012 given Clint Bowyer’s departure for Michael Waltrip Racing, a move that will be official on Friday.” Sponsorship had been touted “as a main factor in negotiations between Bowyer and Childress, and given that it’s been widely reported that Bowyer had partnered with 5 Hour Energy for his 2012 ride, General Mills’ return may mean that sponsorship difficulties were hardly a reason at all” (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 10/5).

HE SAID, SHE SAID: ESPN's Rusty Wallace disputed a report that he is contemplating shutting down his Nationwide Series team. Wallace said he never indicated he "was going to shut my team down.” Wallace: “What I did say is that if I can’t find a sponsorship in a timely matter, I might have to slowdown and maybe mothball some things. I never did say I’m going to shut the team down” (“NASCAR Now,” ESPN2, 10/5).