Let the Good Times Roll...

Well, it's not really a return to the good old days when sponsors were crawling all over themselves to get into NASCAR, but it's a start.

Tuesday's press conference to announce that Quicken Loans would be on Ryan Newman's No. 39 Chevrolet for nine races, beginning this weekend at Texas, was a breath of fresh air in a world where such things have slowed apace over the past several seasons.

It means that Stewart-Haas Racing will have new ink on its fenders for 2012, and that Newman's ride is, for the moment, in no danger of being cut back. The U.S. Army's sponsorship is year-to-year, and given the climate in Washington these days, it's no slam dunk to be renewed.

Tornados is a good sponsor for the team, as is WIX filters, but they needed a solid "trimary" to complete the deal. Half of the races Newman has run this season, or close to it, were in livery of Haas Automation, the parent company of the racing team.

As race fans, you know that the days of long-term, single-primary sponsors are long gone. The trend toward groups of primary backers has been good in certain ways, but there is some question as to its longevity as more companies fall away from NASCAR sponsorship.

It costs too much, for one thing. A $20 million bill means you're serious, and if you want to be the big dog, it's more like $30 million. Aflac is gone after the season, Crown Royal got out, Home Depot is on the slippery slope out of the sport...the list goes on.

Nobody, at least no public company, is going to pay that much money for the return on investment. If you're not in the Chase, you're pretty much invisible, so why write the big check? Why not write a smaller one and buy the quarterpanel instead of the hood?

That's what happens when you build your overhead to include 600-plus employees, a huge building, specialized employees and other stuff.

Congrats to SHR, Tony Stewart and Gene Haas, and here's hoping there's more to come.