NASCAR hopes to keep Big Three

NASCAR chairman Brian France said Sunday he’s not certain the Big Three automakers will be able to continue their involvement in NASCAR as they battle to stay viable during the current economic crisis.

Should funding of race teams suffer because of the nation’s credit crunch, France is confident NASCAR will remain a viable, healthy sport.

“We’re also not going to live or die if one manufacturer or another has a pullback or pullout,” France said before Sunday’s race at Phoenix International Raceway. “I hope it doesn’t happen. We’re working like mad to make sure it doesn’t happen, but the sport is on very solid ground that transcends one manufacturer or another.”

U.S. auto sales have plummeted this year, and Chrysler, Ford and General Motors are crumbling amid the crisis. The three Detroit manufacturers – along with recent addition Toyota – are the cornerstones of NASCAR and France acknowledged they “play a very important role in lots of ways with supporting teams, the branding and heritage.”

“I’ve been told directly by each of companies having challenging times that one of the things that works best for them is NASCAR,” France said. “Each went out of their way to tell me that while there are pullbacks and cuts to meet these challenges, the last thing would be to abandon something that works so well.”

Formula One to cut engine costs

Formula One teams have unanimously agreed to reduce engine costs by nearly $20 million by 2011, Ferrari chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo said.

Montezemolo recently presided over a meeting of the newly founded Formula One Teams Association, or FOTA.

“We are working with all the teams to reduce costs even more for 2010 and 2011,” Montezemolo said at Ferrari’s end-of-season celebration. “We unanimously decided that by 2011 an engine will cost $6.4 million, compared to the more than $25.5 million they used to cost.”