Sponsorship in NASCAR is getting out of control. Look at the trend:

1. The machines look more like a 190mph billboard than a stock car or truck
2. Owners of tracks are forgoing tradition by accepting company specific names (i.e. Lowe's Motor Speedway)
3. Chaplains from various ministries giving thanks to God for the sponsorship of a race (see Watkins Glen in 2006).
4. Sunoco raising a fit over Kevin Harvick's new sponsorship with Shell
5. Jeff Burton having to gray-out the NEXTEL Cup Series patch on his uniform
6. Robby Gordon having to remove his newfound Motorola decals off his car before being allowed to qualify
7. The percentage of commercial breaks during a race as compared to 5 years ago.
... the list could go on and on.

The biggest sign that sponsorship is out of control is the sign that everyone seemed to miss.  In my opinion, when Brian France decided to add two more drivers to the Chase for the NEXTEL Cup he did it to stop a growning trend.  Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr missed the Chase in 2005, then Tony Stewart in 2006.  Those are a couple of NASCAR's marquis drivers with very large sponsorship funding power.  The loss of those three drivers in the Chase not only hurt sponsorship exposure, but it hurt the Nelson ratings of NASCAR itself.  Since those two seasons had top drivers miss the playoffs back-to-back, NASCAR thought it was a trend and changed how a champion is named yet again.

Now we have rival sponsors are bickering back and forth over who's allowed to provide company exposure of their products to potential customers . But I bet 99.9% of us don't give a damn because all we want to see is a stock car race, not a advertising convention that moves in fast circles.

Then again, we all have to look at it at another way.  Without sponsorship to all of the race teams, each team would have to fund millions of dollars each season out of their own pocket.  That, my friends, is just infeasible.  Sponsorship is a necessary evil that we all must endure in order to enjoy the sport that we love.  Somewhere there has to be a happy medium, and a clear line so that the sport may continute to thrive and expand.

So these are my questions for you.   Which do you think caused the change in the Chase?  Was it the top drivers missing the Chase?  Did it stem from sponsorship pressure?  Or are you like me and thought it was due to both issues in combination?  And do you think that the sport getting choked with sponsorship wars?

Express your take on the issue with a comment or two.