NASCAR chairman Brian France was asked about a variety of topics during an appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio's "Tradin' Paint" on Wednesday, and he had some intriguing things to say about finding sponsors and manufacturers.
France was asked about drivers such as Bubba Wallace and Danica Patrick struggling to find sponsors for the 2018 season and whether NASCAR was helping them find sponsorship.
"We get involved all the time with sponsorship arrangements with individual teams," France said. "That's not inconsistent with what we do. As far as those two drivers, of course we would like to see both of them have a real good opportunity. We can't control all of that.
"At the end of the day, you've got to compete, and both of those drivers have shown that they can compete at some level. The question is, is it high enough to attract the right sponsorship and interest? We'll have to see how that plays out."
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A big topic in NASCAR lately is whether the sport will add another manufacturer in the future. There are just three manufacturers now with Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota, and there has been some speculation as to whether Dodge will return to the sport in the future.
"There's two that have shown a lot of interest and are examining just how you go about it," France said. "It's hard to do. It's hard to come in and get the right teams. They all want to come in and compete at a very high level as fast as they can, which makes the challenge even harder. There are two and we'll see how it plays out.
"Our preference would be to be able to add one more. Interestingly, the other car manufactures are open to that, too. They'd like to compete themselves with one another and take a lot of pride in that. My hope is that as soon as it can work out, we'll add a fourth. We'll have to see how that goes."
Dodge would be the most likely choice if another manufacturer was added, and it's very likely they are one of the two that have shown interest. It's unclear what the other one would be.
Most fans and teams would be a fan of adding another manufacturer, and it would only add to the competitiveness throughout the sport.
(h/t NBC Sports)