There were rumors circulating that Budweiser would not make its final payment to RPM because the 2010 contract called for Kasey Kahne to drive the Budweiser Ford, and when he left the team early to join Red Bull Racing, that contract became voided.

But, an Anheuser-Busch spokesman said:

The Budweiser car is a fixture in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and we look forward to finishing out the season.

Robbie Loomis, RPM’s competition director, said that things would remain status quo until the end of the season, despite the rumor. He added that the team will continue to field four Fords for the rest of the season.

Following the release of Kahne, there were rumors swirling that RPM was in financial trouble and was in danger of going under. Rumor had it that Roush Fenway Racing and Roush Yates engines, which supply chassis and engines to RPM respectively, stopped delivering equipment to RPM.

Shortly thereafter, Jack Roush, owner of RFR, insisted that RPM had been up-to-date on their payments and that cars and engines were being delivered. RPM was able to continue fielding RFR Fords.

Meanwhile, Richard Petty was working to line up investors to take majority interest away from George Gillett Jr, minority owner of RPM, Ray Evernham confirmed.  Gillett’s legal dispute over the recent sale of the Liverpool Football Club to New England Sport Ventures is said to have jeopardized the finances of RPM to the point that there was concern that the team would cease operations.

According to SPEEDtv.com, lenders have taken majority interest away from Gillett, and approved a plan for Petty to manage the daily operations of the team. But, that report hasn’t been confirmed or denied.

Lee Spencer writes:

The assembly line from Roush Fenway Racing and Roush Yates engines, which supply chassis and engines respectively, has stopped running to RPM. Engines have been picked up, cars have been repossessed, and sources on both sides — RPM and RFR — say no cars will be delivered beyond Martinsville this weekend.

RPM employees were told that they may not have jobs after the race at Martinsville.

The issue may stem from a lawsuit over the Liverpool Football Club of the Premier League. New England Sport Ventures, which was founded by RFR co-owner John W. Henry, bought the Liverpool team for $477 million. Shortly thereafter, RPM co-owner George Gillett threatened to sue.

About two months ago, Gillett and his business partner Tom Hicks put the Liverpool Football Club up for sale as the team was in its worst season in nearly 60 years, and bankruptcy loomed. Henry purchased the debt-ridden team earlier this month.

After day after the sale was negotiated and agreed upon, Gillett and Hicks, citing two higher bids for the team, tried to block Henry’s purchase of the team, calling the deal an “epic swindle.”

Right before the meeting to complete the sale started, a Dallas judge issued a temporary restraining order against three Liverpool board members, the Royal Bank of Scotland, and NESV.  Meanwhile, Hicks filed a $1.6 billion lawsuit, but later dropped it.

Hicks and Gillett were said to be scrambling to recapture the company, buying up the debt, and firing board members.

As a deadline to purchase the team rapidly approached, the Dallas court decided to hear the matter. If the sale was not completed by that evening, the team would’ve fallen into bankruptcy, meaning Henry wouldn’t be able to buy the team.

The British High Court ordered Hicks and Gillett to withdraw their claim or be held in contempt.

Henry tweeted:

We have a binding contract. Will fight Mill Hicks Gillett attempt to keep club today. Their last desperate attempt to entrench their regime.

The restraining order ended up being dropped, allowing Henry to purchase the team. To comply with the court order, Hicks and Gillett dropped the lawsuit, but it seems more legal action may be coming.

Many accounts of the sale described the situation as bitter, contentious, and heated. So, it’s likely that the business relationship between Henry and Gillett has been fractured to the point that the two could not continue their agreement in NASCAR, which could possibly explain why RFR repossessed engines and cars. This, however, is purely speculation.

Another possible reason for the repossession is that RPM is in financial trouble. Back in April, it was reported that RPM was in default on a $90 million loan. At the time, Gillett indicated that the default was technical, meaning that RPM did not fulfill one of the obligations of the loan, not that they missed payments

But an anonymous source told the Sports Business Journal that Gillett’s explanation was false. The source said that the default was indeed payment-related. If that’s the case, the team could still be in financial trouble.

The news that RPM is in financial trouble is interesting, given that Richard Petty came out and said the team was considering a third team in 2011. Petty said:

We’ve talked to a lot of people about a third car, but our main deal is make sure we’ve got two really good cars, and then we try to do a third deal. We’ve got until the end of the year [to make a decision]. If we’re downgrading from four teams to three teams, we’ve still got plenty of everything it would take to run that third car. It wouldn’t be like just having two, and then all of a sudden we’ve got to go out and get cars, people and trucks and all the equipment to run the third car. We can wait a pretty [long time], I think, as far as being able to get cars ready.

That quote leads me to believe that whatever caused the issue between RFR and RPM occurred recently because the team wouldn’t be planning to expand if they were that close to going under. Unless, of course, this was posturing.

Earlier this year, RPM had no drivers under contract for next season.

Kasey Kahne announced he was leaving the team back in April, after signing a deal with Hendrick Motorsports to drive the No. 5 in 2012. He was slated to drive for Red Bull Racing next season; and he was taking his crew chief Kenny Francis with him. But, yesterday he was released from his contract, allowing him to go there five races early.

Budweiser, Kahne’s sponsor, decided to leave the team to join Richard Childress Racing’s No. 29 team and driver Kevin Harvick. Paul Menard is also leaving the team, taking his Menards sponsorship to RCR next season. And, Elliott Sadler announced in July that he was leaving the team.

Later that month, Marcos Ambrose was signed to replace Kahne in the No. 9 Ford with Stanley signing on to sponsor him. In August, AJ Allmendinger re-signed with the team.

Update: Jenna Fryer, of the AP, tweeted that RPM does have cars for next weekend’s Amp Energy 500 at Tallaedga Superspeedway. She wrote:

Free RPM! Free RPM! Hearing they have their Talladega cars, all is well in the world.

Update 2: There are rumors that RPM owes Kahne money, and that was part of the reason he asked for an early release. But, Kahne said that RPM met all of its financial obligations to him. He also defended his decision not to finish the race at Charlotte. He said that the decision to split was not the financial uncertainty surrounding RPM. He has agreed to honor his sponsorship commitments to Budweiser for the remainder of the year.

Ambrose will be sponsored by Stanley Black & Decker, which was rumored to be leaving to team to follow Elliott Sadler to another team. Sadler announced last month that he was leaving the team at season’s end. There have been reports that RPM is interested in bringing him back, though.

Kahne announced in April that he signed a deal with Hendrick Motorsports in 2012. But, because HMS has four drivers under contract for 2011, Kahne was left without a ride.

Speculation began that Mark Martin would be asked to step aside so that Kahne could drive the No. 5 in 2011. Martin maintained that he would be in the No. 5 next season, leading to speculation and rumors about where Kahne would end up. He signed a one-year deal with RBR last week.

Last month, Ambrose also announced that he was leaving  JTG Daugherty Racing at season’s end. At that time, he was instantly linked to RPM and the seat Kahne was vacating. Bobby Labonte was announced as Ambrose’s replacement at JTG.

With this news, RPM has two drivers under contract for 2011. Sadler is still looking to leave the team, and Paul Menard left the team to join Richard Childress Racing.

AJ Allmendinger signed a contract extension with RPM earlier this summer.

Team owner Richard Petty said:

Ambrose said:

Stanley Tools said:

He wrote:

Sources tell me Harvick will have a split sponsorship on the No. 29 in 2011, and Budweiser will be on the car in the majority of points races, as well as the two exhibition events. There are still some hurdles to jump to get the Bud deal done.

Of course, Richard Childress Racing has had no comment, and obviously won’t comment until a deal is official. But, an announcement is expected soon.

Harvick is losing his Shell Pennzoil sponsorship to Kurt Busch next season.

This rumor has been reported several times before, by ESPN, Frontstretch and AutoRacing1 (subscription required). It has also been reported that Budweiser spoke to Hendrick Motorsports about sponsoring one of its drivers.

Update: SceneDaily is reporting that sources said that officials from Anheuser Busch and Richard Childress Racing are near a deal that would put Budweiser on the No. 29 car for the 2011 season, with an announcement coming as early as next week.

Allmendinger will be the only driver RPM has under contract next season. Paul Menard, whose contract expires at the end of this season, could be headed to Richard Childress Racing. If he leaves, he will take his Menards sponsorship with him. 

Elliott Sadler has already announced that he is leaving the team at season’s end. Rumor has it that Stanley Tools would go with him if he leaves. There are also rumors circulating that Best Buy would also go with him. Both of these have not yet been confirmed.  

Kasey Kahne signed a deal with Hendrick Motorsports back in April. It’s unclear whether Budweiser would stay on, but rumors have that sponsorship moving to RCR and Kevin Harvick, who lost his Shell Pennzoil sponsorship to Penske Racing and driver Kurt Busch. 

Marcos Ambrose is rumored to be the likely candidate to replace Kahne in the No. 9 car. But, he also didn’t rule out returning to Australia, walking away from NASCAR altogether, according to FoxSports.com.

Ambrose said:

I’ve spoken to a few people down there, and all have been well received, and it’s actually been in the papers and on national television over the last few days, you know, obviously not ruling out the possibilities of me returning and where I would potentially go. But my heart is in NASCAR to be honest with you. I’ve got unfinished business at this level of racing. I feel like I’ve become part of the sport but I haven’t become a contender on a weekly basis, and I feel like I’m really — if I left now, I would feel like I’ve got unfinished business.

AutoRacing1.com (subscription required) reported the same rumor in June, but nothing has been confirmed or denied at this point.

I blogged about this yesterday.

He wrote:

[T]he one entity that DEI ultimately couldn’t afford to part with, the one missing ingredient that eventually sidelined the No. 8 car, wasn’t a driver at all. DEI could survive without Dale Jr. But losing a big-money sponsor like Budweiser turned out to be a punch to the solar plexus that left the organization gasping for air.

With all due respect, the loss of Dale Jr is the reason Budweiser left. Budweiser was happy to stick with Dale Earnhardt Jr even as he moved to Hendrick Motorsports. But, Hendrick had a contract that prevented Budweiser from sticking with NASCAR’s most popular driver.  Had Jr stayed, Budweiser would have stayed, as well.

Caraviello contends:

Drivers, even immensely popular ones, are all replaceable; there’s always someone else ready and willing to fill in behind the wheel. Not so with sponsors, whose marketing dollars are the very lifeblood of the sport. When they go away, teams suffer and fall.

While that’s true, sponsors seek out drivers that they can market and that can offer a good return. Budweiser did not leave the sport. They’re sponsoring Kasey Kahne, and would most likely have still been sponsoring Jr and DEI.

Caraviello continues:

Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson could both leave Hendrick Motorsports tomorrow, and the eight-time championship organization will still be as rock-solid — although maybe not quite as successful — as ever. Yet if DuPont and Lowe’s pick up stakes, the situation becomes much more tenuous.

The problem is that with Johnson and Gordon gone, Lowes and DuPont would most likely leave the team.

Looking at things the way Caraviello does makes little sense to me. If an event (A) occurs causing B, which then causes C, then one could argue that had A not happened, C would not have happened because B (which caused C) would not have had a chance to happen.

So, if Dale Jr doesn’t leave DEI, then Budweiser doesn’t, which means that the No. 8 would not have been shuttered.

DEI may have had to contract to a two-car team, but DEI would still exist under that banner. Instead, the team has merged and lost its staple, the No. 8, and now goes by Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. 

I’m not saying that Jr would have saved DEI, and I do agree with Caraviello on that point. But, DEI would have been in much better financial shape if Jr stayed, thus keeping Budweiser and their money there, as well.

And while I don’t know the reasons for some of the business decisions being made by Teresa Earnhardt, I suspect that pride and stubborness are leading to the mismanagement of the company that Dale Earnhardt Sr built.

Since Sr’s death, Teresa hasn’t had much interest in the sport, often skipping appearances at the track. She’s been called an absentee owner on several occasions.

She let pride get in the way when Dale Earnhardt Jr made his highly publicized bid for ownership in the company. Jr frequently complained that DEI was doing nothing to keep up with the competition. He contended that the team was not purchasing new technology that would help performance, and that the team was not expanding, despite being too big for its shop in N.C.

Teresa was so stubborn and arrogant that she let NASCAR’s most popular driver walk away, and expected the team to survive.

She wouldn’t even let Jr take with him the number he put back on the map. I can understand that the No. 8 has sentimental value to DEI, but it’s not like Jr and Rick Hendrick made an unreasonable offer. I think they also would have agreed to return the number, when Jr was finished with it. But, Teresa went out of her way to ensure that they would not get the number by seeking a percentage of licensing revenue.

Since Jr jumped ship, DEI has been a sinking ship. The team merged with Bobby Ginn Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing. It lost three sponsors in Budweiser, US Army, and Menards. It lost drivers Mark Martin and Paul Menard. And is rumored to be in danger of losing Martin Truex Jr and Bass Pro Shops.

Sadly, things will not improve until Teresa gives up control of the company, or she stops letting foolish pride and personal reason influence business decisions.