In that piece I mentioned "If the defending Champ can't keep his sponsor happy then it's hard to imagine anyone other than Dale Earnhardt Jr. keeping a sponsor."
As it turns out even Junior isn't immune from sponsor issues. Earnhardt's car owner Rick Hendrick mentioned during the recent NASCAR Media Tour that the #88 team is not currently fully funded for the 2013 season.
Pepsi Co. sponsored sixteen races in 2012 with its Diet Mountain Dew brand. It seems that 2013 will see that reduced to three races leaving thirteen unsponsored events for Rick Hendrick to fill.
Honestly, is it a concern? Does anyone believe that there aren't plenty of companies willing to step up to put their name on the hood of NASCAR's most popular driver? Of course not.
However it does continue to highlight the uncertain economic conditions that the sport finds itself in when one of the largest companies in the world is reducing its commitment to the sport's most marketable driver.