The Boston Red Sox are close to finalizing a huge deal. I'm not talking about putting the final touches on J.D. Drew's contract, and Manny Ramirez isn't going anywhere anytime soon, but Red Sox fans need to start paying more attention to NASCAR because the team is working out a deal to partner with Roush Racing.  Exact terms of the deal haven't been revealed, but the Red Sox will back Roush Racing financially.  NASCAR is by far my favorite sport, so it's hard for me to say anything bad about it. Unfortunately, this MLB-NASCAR partnership is just the latest sign that NASCAR's reliance on sponsorship is getting out of control.

The average cost of fielding a competitive Nextel Cup car is between 20 and 25 million dollars. For team owners like Jack Roush – who owns five cars – sponsors are a necessity to handle the astronomical costs. To pay the bills, Roush has already been using multiple primary sponsors (the logo on the hood) for some of his cars, and his latest partnership with the Red Sox shows that even more money is needed.

There are only so many companies that are willing and able to sponsor Nextel Cup cars, and as expenses continue to rise, more teams are going to follow Roush's lead and pursue other ways to raise capital. Experts are predicting that Nextel Cup owners are going to begin selling stock in their race teams in the near future. As cool as it would be for fans to own part of their favorite driver's team, this policy could have serious negative effects on the competitiveness of the sport.

There are going to be a quite a few more people lining up to buy Dale Earnhardt Jr. stock than will to buy Jeremy Mayfield stock. The popular drivers will be able to raise more money and gain a clear financial advantage. Small teams can overcome the lack of a major company sponsor by signing deals with several smaller companies, but these teams have no way of winning a popularity contest. I'm not suggesting a salary cap in NASCAR, but I don't think this is what Bill France Sr. had in mind when he started the sport of stock car racing.

NASCAR has already made a number of changes to increase the money coming into the sport and cater to their sponsors. Starting in 2007, half of the Nextel Cup races and all of the Busch Series races will be shown on the ESPN family of networks after ESPN opened the checkbook to NASCAR after last season. Previously, NASCAR races were shown on Fox, NBC, FX and TNT, and the game of musical networks was confusing enough for hardcore fans let alone the casual viewer.

While the improved television coverage will benefit the sport, it comes at a cost. A new network means new announcers, which means experienced commentators like Darrell Waltrip, Larry McReynolds and Jeff Hammond will be replaced. I've seen SportsCenter anchors fumble through enough NASCAR highlights to be more than a little concerned about the quality of commentary that will be provided. Former driver Rusty Wallace should do just fine, but who knows how the rest of the announcers will do. I have a prewritten piece of hate e-mail waiting for ESPN for the first time I hear Stuart Scott say "BOOYA!" during a Nextel Cup or Busch Series highlight.