The IndyCar star’s deal at JR Motorsports brought in sponsorship dollars that saved about a dozen jobs and helped the organization remain a two-car Nationwide Series team with the No. 5 and No. 88 Chevrolet running full seasons. As a company that knows the value of celebrity and knows how to market it, her progress might well align with JR Motorsports progress.
It would make perfect sense for Dale Earnhardt Jr. the owner and Patrick the driver to rise to Cup racing together.
“You win one race, you want the next one; it’s like a drug,” Earnhardt said. “…Once you get a taste of success, you want more of it. You need more success to match that feeling of the first success. You just gotta keep doubling the doses.
“Eventually we have to take our program to Cup to get that enjoyment and exhilaration out of the success part.”
Patrick’s deal wasn’t all that financially energized JR Motorsports. While other Nationwide Series teams struggled last season, Earnhardt made more money than expected. They’ll use that profit to keep the No. 88 team running throughout 2010, regardless of sponsorship issues. Earnhardt might race a few of those and have a developmental driver the rest.
The team only has about one third of the season’s races sponsored for Kelly Bires No. 5 Chevrolet at the moment, but will be able to keep that going, too.
“We have two teams that we wanted to keep,” Earnhardt said. “Didn’t want to downsize the company any more like the year before. The Danica program really justified having two programs and keeping our employee count. That was awesome to have that.”
Nationwide teams aren’t built to make money — in the first year of JR Motorsports’ existence, the team lost money. Breaking even means success.
“We started this team for reasons like Keselowski and Kelly Bires and guys like Mark McFarland and Shane Huffman that needed opportunities,” Earnhardt said.
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