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CONCORD -- The economy's impact is evident throughout NASCAR by what you can see: Empty seats, unsponsored cars and fewer teams.

It's what you can't see that might have the greatest impact.

The lack of sponsorship money trickles down to lower series in racing, where many families spend their money to fund teams. With money tight, some families might not be able to support those teams, leaving future Jeff Gordons, Tony Stewarts or Kyle Buschs lost, never to reach the spotlight of NASCAR Sprint Cup racing.

"It very well could happen that way,'' Stewart said. "It's a big concern &ellipses; for sure.''

Gordon notes that some good drivers already don't make it to Cup because of bad timing or not meeting the right person. In this economy, fewer drivers could make the climb.

Also hurting those future stars is that as Cup and Nationwide teams struggle, it makes it more challenging to keep development teams going or employ younger, inexperienced drivers who can be more prone to wreck.

"You look for guys that No. 1 are going to take care of your car because that is how you go broke more often,'' Dale Earnhardt Jr. said. "You can't put a hot shoe in there. Even if he is going to be good one day, you can't afford to go through that whole season of him wadding up cars and bending ball joints.''

Car owner Jack Roush, who has funded many development programs, says he doesn't plan to start any rookie programs next year, although he'll continue development programs for Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., and Colin Braun.

Kevin Harvick, who owns a Nationwide and Craftsman Truck series team, says that the economy plays havoc with teams.

"As the economy turns worse here, everybody kind of goes into panic mode, so everything that you want to take forward, everybody kinds of stops and really wants to see who the president is going to be, how the banks are going to work and how things are going,'' he said. "It's as hard as it has ever been.''

DRIVERS WARNED: NASCAR President Mike Helton warned drivers about restarts after issues in Friday night's Nationwide race.

Some drivers blamed a slow restart for a late incident. At least three drivers asked series officials about restarts in the pre-race meeting Saturday.

The leader can accelerate a few hundred yards from the start/finish line in an area near double red lines that are painted on the outside wall.

"Restarting the race is no rocket-science effort,'' Helton said. "You're supposed to maintain a constant speed after the pace vehicle has left you until you reach the area of those double lines on the wall.''

PHOTOS EMERGE: Five pictures of the Kevin Harvick-Carl Edwards incident in the garage from Thursday emerged with one photo showing Edwards with his right hand on Harvick's throat as Edwards appears to fall backward.

PIT STOPS: Goodyear will conduct another tire test Monday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It will be Goodyear's third tire test at that track since the July race where teams had so many tire problems. &ellipses; Robert Niblock, CEO of Lowe's, says that talks continue with track officials on a contract to maintain naming rights of Lowe's Motor Speedway. The 10-year contract ends after this year.

Contact Dustin Long at 373-7062 or dustin.long@news-record.com