Todd Bodine of Haas-Carter Motorsports Discover Card Ford

"We had high hopes with the K-Mart sponsorships and we were competitive. Things were looking great and I had a great relationship with my teammate Joe Nemechek and then K-Mart went bankrupt. That left us without a sponsor. Travis Carter didn't give up. A six race deal came together with Discover Card and hopefully we can show them that NASCAR Winston cup racing is a good marketing tool that they can use. We hope they decide to stay on longer and we're still actively pursuing sponsors."

"I get that question a lot. People think it was special or glamorous, but for me and Brett we grew up around racing. Our father owned a race track in upstate New York for 25 years. Racing is all we've ever done. I've only held one job outside racing and that was for a sponsor of my brother's modified car. It's all I've ever done and I grew up watching Geoff and Brett being successful in each division they ran. For me they were just my brothers, not celebrities, and it was no big deal. It was neat to watch and be a part of, and I was fortunate growing up helping them work on the cars. That's how I get started. When I was 13, I went to my first race as a crew member with Brett and he won the race. From that time on I understood what racing was about, and why these guys worked so hard to do this. From that point on racing was all I wanted to do."

"Right now Geoff's son Barry is trying to get something going with a sponsorship. He's the only Bodine left with the ability and drive to do it. We have a nephew Josh Richardson, son of Donnie Richardson, my crew chief for two years. Josh has been running Busch races this year and he is very good and has a future in front of him if we can secure a sponsorship."

"Discover Card has great plans for the future and we hope they include us. We've sat on the sidelines for a while and when you do that you lose a little bit. Honestly, we've run relatively well being in the situation we've been up until this point. You have to go full-bore every week like a good athlete."

"Our morale has improved a lot. It's all about people. If these guys see a future they're more motivated than in the past. When people don't know where they'll be next week or month from now, it takes a lot out them. It has taken a lot out of this team this year.

"I've been impressed with the preparation of Discover Card Company as any I've ever been associated with. It takes the right people to tailor a program to fit the company's needs, their method of getting their product on the shelf. It takes a year-round process to make a sponsorship successful and keep these sponsors in place. It has many different elements such as marketing strategy, merchandising, cross-promotions and other programs. It takes constant development, details and hard work to put a sponsorship deal together.

"First, win every race and a championship. (laughs) It would relieve a lot of that. The driver has to be personable and perform well on the racetrack, smile for the cameras and say the right things. People need to listen to him. He has to be a good representative. All the team members are part of that. From racing perspective that's what we can offer besides putting the most competitive car on the track. You're not going to win every race. The field has tightened up so much now that you don't have a guy that wins ten races in a season. We haven't and might not have such a winner in quite a while. Everybody has to do what they can to bring their name and their sponsor to the forefront every week."

Zoomster.com thanks Winston, Sports Marketing Enterprises, Todd Bodine, Travis Carter and Haas-Carter Motorsports.