Not only is Bowyer trying to race his way into the Chase, he is also trying to race his way to a sponsor for the 2012 season. Bowyer has been sponsored by General Mills the last three seasons at RCR but at the end of this season General Mills is leaving. I interviewed Bowyer for my radio show in May and he expressed great concern about sponsorship saying “I’m very happy where I’m at. This is where I want to be. Things are tough right now and it doesn’t matter how well you’re running or what your name is.”

CBS Sports is reporting that 5-Hour Energy is talking with RCR and continues to be in the mix as a potential replacement for General Mills.

5-Hour Energy currently sponsors Steven Wallace in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. It hasn’t been discussed whether or not Wallace would replace Bowyer or if 5-Hour Energy would sponsor RCR’s No. 33 car.

It, however, is unlikely that Wallace would replace Bowyer. When you compare Bowyer’s accomplishments to Wallace’s, its clear who the winner is. Bowyer’s been running at the Sprint Cup level for RCR since his rookie season in 2006. He has earned four wins, three Chase appearances and a Nationwide Championship in 2008. Steve Wallace has been running full-time in Nationwide since 2007. In 181 races, Wallace has accumulated 34 top 10’s and four top 5 finishes racing for Rusty Wallace Racing. He is coming off of a career best finish of fourth last weekend at circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Bowyer is a seasoned veteran in the Cup Series. Wallace’s lone start in the Cup Series came this year in the 2011 Daytona 500 finishing a respectable 20th.

Kvapil said:

It looks like we’ll have some better equipment and a better gameplan for next year. We probably won’t have three teams. I’m not 100 percent sure on that, but it looks like we’ll be able to focus our attention on two cars, two teams, and that should make us better. … We’ve got three cars on the track right now. We downsize to two, that frees up a lot of equipment and components to where it’d be easier to be better prepared.