GM’s and Ford’s NASCAR future cloudy

A reader writes, Dear AutoRacing1, What will the future hold for NASCAR if GM and Ford's marketshare continues to be eroded by the Asian automakers, (Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, etc…) and consequentially their profits continue to go south? Will the big $$ continue to be spent in support of NASCAR at the same level as it is now? I imagine that some teams currently get a lot of money from Detroit, and if that flow of cash diminishes, won't it affect what happens on the track? And what happens when Toyota and Honda get into NASCAR and start spending their war chest when the domestics start to reel in their support? Will GM and Ford eventually pull out of NASCAR like Chevrolet did in the IRL? Dan Wilk

Dear Dan, If the Asian car companies are eventually able to bankrupt and then put the American car companies out of business, GM, Ford and Dodge's participation in NASCAR would cease. Even if they do survive the onslaught (just wait until the Chinese cars hit these shores at 50% the price of American vehicles) we suspect they will stay in NASCAR for as long as they perceive the benefit outweighs the cost. In a free enterprise system, nothing is guaranteed and nothing is forever. Now that we are in a global economy, there are far more variables than ever before. Only the strong and most resourceful will survive. China is producing far more engineers through its education system than the USA. Hence, they will eventually out engineer us.

In addition, The United States faces a severe shortage of skilled workers if current employment and job training trends continue. By 2020, the shortage could be more than 10 million workers, according to a Washington trade group, which has more than 14,000 companies as members.

The emerging problem in manufacturing is not a shortage of jobs, but rather a shortage of qualified applicants. People applying for manufacturing jobs today simply do not have the math, science and technological aptitude they need to work in modern manufacturing. Mark C.