More than just a campaign slogan, "It's the economy, stupid" is a good way to sum up NASCAR's biggest story of the 2008 season. Forget about Jimmie Johnson's record tying third consecutive title, Chad Knaus becoming the only crew chief in the history of the sport to win three in a row and Jeff Gordon going winless; the poor economic conditions occurring these days throughout the United States has played the largest role in altering the state of NASCAR.

As the season came to an end, the focus usually centered on the top-35 in owner points quickly turned to a question of whether the Sprint Cup Series would have enough cars each week to run a full field. The sale of teams and closure of others hit the NASCAR garage like a dust storm as owners examined their books and searched for sponsors.

"I think that smaller teams are going to have trouble finding sponsorship because they've got trouble getting the results that get the attention the sponsors are looking for," team owner Jack Roush told HardcoreRaceFans.com. "That's unfortunate, but it's a reality that the bigger teams are being more successful and winning races and garnering up the limelight of the exposure on TV and the support of the fans and that reflects itself on sponsorship. There's a challenge there to how does NASCAR get teams started, how do you have a constant flow of new teams into the business, and I don't have an answer for that."

That being said, Ray Evernham has sold the majority stake in Gillett Evernham Motorsports, opting instead to invest in a local dirt track called East Lincoln Speedway in North Carolina.

Bill Davis recently announced he had sold majority stake in his operation after nearly twenty years of racing; and the Wood Brothers are committed to running only twelve of the thirty-six races next year.

Some of the sports biggest names fell victim to a lack of sponsorship money and were forced to cut their losses.

Dale Earnhardt Inc. was forced merged with Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sebates to become Earnhardt Ganassi Racing.  Both DEI and Chip Ganassi Racing laid off employees due to the merger.

The famed Petty Enterprises moved from Randleman, NC to Mooresville, NC prior to the start of the season, and then sold to Boston Ventures. General Mills left the team as the primary sponsor of the No. 43 Dodge and now driver Bobby Labonte has been released as the team's driver. Reports indicate the team is now talking with other organizations - most notably GEM - about a possible merger.

"It's the most serious it's ever been, as far as I can see," Richard Petty told HardcoreRaceFans.com. "We're so involved in the everyday market now. When we were independent and we didn't have sponsors and all that stuff, then the economy didn't affect us that much, now that we are the economy and involved in the economy it will affect us that much more."

In a sport literally driven in part by auto manufacturers, seeing the Big 3 auto makers - Ford, Chrysler and General Motors - appearing before the U.S. Senate pleading for an economic bailout is never good thing. NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France sent his support to Capitol Hill in support of the Big 3, while the annual season-ending awards banquet was at times a rally for the manufacturers.

For team owner Jack Roush, the solution to weathering this economic storm is performance and proper preparation on the owner's side.

"We are well sponsored," Roush said of his organization. "Ford Motor Co. has made a long term commitment to us. If the sponsorships are properly activated at times when sponsors have got challenges in their markets either for foreign competition or for price points or even household budgets. The idea of having a kind of brand loyalty that goes with the affiliation with teams is absolutely vital to sponsors. It is our intention - and we have been successful making compelling arguments with the metrics that the sponsors use - that they've made enough money off their sponsorship that they can't afford not to do it."

While Roush is one of the few lucky ones, not every team in the garage has had the same luck. Prior to the push for a bailout, Dodge announced it was pulling all of its support from the Truck Series for 2009, leaving teams like Bobby Hamilton Racing up a creek without a paddle. The team was forced to close its doors and cease operation.

With sponsorship dollars drying up and going, primarily, to only the top teams in the sport, layoffs and downsizing has become the unfortunate norm around Race Country USA. DEI let over 100 employees go prior to the end of the season; Furniture Row Racing did the same. Reports are most of the Bill Davis Racing employees have been let go, but will be able to reapply for their positions after the New Year. The number of layoffs are rising so rapidly, H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler, the North Carolina Motorsports Association and others joined together to form a Motorsports Employment Task Force to help those who find themselves now without work.

"The economy is in a dire situation," fan-favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. explained. "It is pretty severe and there is a good chance it is going to continue to get worse, I don't see how it can not affect every corner and every piece of the puzzle. Everyone who drags a race car to the track knows you don't do it to make money and you do it if you are lucky, you break even doing it. It is a severe issue for all of us as drivers, owners, every person walking in the garage needs to have a greater understanding of what their position is and a plan of action, I guess should we see the situation get even worse, which I think it possibly could. It doesn't look like there is any relief any time soon."

The tough times have not only affected crew members, but drivers as well. With teams closing shop and teams merging together, the number of available rides is going fast. Drivers like Elliott Sadler, who is reportedly out at Gillett Evernham Motorsports, may find himself without a secure ride by the time the series heads to Daytona in February. Owners now, perhaps more than ever, are able to pick and choose who they want in their cars, but anyone that can bring a sponsor is always a plus.

Perhaps the biggest anomaly of this entire situation is the case of Robby Gordon Motorsports. The lone single-car, owner-driver team left in the garage has weathered this storm for years now. Last year's failed switch to Dodge and the botched relationship with Gillett Evernham Motorsports left team owner and driver Robby Gordon out on his own and racing for his team's existence. Recently announcing his team's switch to Toyota for 2009 and the return of sponsor Jim Beam for a partial schedule is proof that small teams can still function in today's ever-growing monopolistic world of NASCAR.

"You know, too many people just want to talk about negative, and I'm just not interested in having a conversation like that," Gordon explained to HardcoreRaceFans.com prior to the end of the season. "You've got to have a positive attitude all of the time and if you sit there and watch the news everyday, all it is, is negative. We're not going to let it affect us any way. We're just going to keep doing what we do. Hopefully we do a good enough job for the sponsors we have and they want to come back with us.

"NASCAR is the sport that it is because of the fans we have. If you look at this year, yeah the economy has taken a little bit of a dive, but more people are watching our races," Gordon pointed out. "TV ratings are up, more people are having backyard parties and one of my sponsors, John Menards, had some of the best three months in business. So, it's a philosophy that if you believe the sky is falling, the sky is probably going to fall - but the sky isn't falling."

Whether the sky is falling or not has yet to be determined, but one thing is certain; the tough times are not over and very well might be just beginning. Regardless of how things turn out economically, NASCAR will remain NASCAR. Take away the sponsorship money and the luxurious lifestyle many drivers now enjoy and the sport remains the same.

Richard Petty concluded, "[The economy] is liable to change the sport for a short period of time because everybody sort of has to back up and say this is what we've got and this is what we can do, but as quick as everything breaks, we're going to break with it."

Regardless of how things change, fans will continue to show up - whether in person or by tuning into their television sets or radio dials - to see the sport that has weathered many storms before. NASCAR fans are Hardcore Race Fans for a reason and no economic condition will change that.