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.

NASCAR also made a major change to the Chase for the Cup championship system that will take effect this season to appease the sport's major sponsors. The size of the Chase field was expanded from 10 to 12 drivers after Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon missed the Chase in 2005 while Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards missed the Chase in 2006.

These drivers are extremely popular, and sponsors aren't thrilled when fans don't tune in because these drivers aren't eligible for the title. Certain teams in every sport – even the popular ones – have to miss the playoffs each season or the sport lacks legitimate competition. I'm not a big fan of NASCAR compromising the sport's integrity to satisfy the sponsors, but as long as the Chase field doesn't get any bigger I can live with the change.

Sadly, I'd rather have NASCAR explore all available sponsorship options in order to raise the money needed to keep the sport up and running because I have seen the alternative, and I don't like it. The International Race of Champions series – commonly referred to as IROC – lost its primary sponsor, Crown Royal, after last season. As of now, series officials have been unable to find a suitable replacement sponsor, and IROC will not have any races this season and the future of the series is up in the air. Nextel Cup driver Tony Stewart once offered IROC a million dollars to run a race at his dirt track Eldora Speedway, but his offer was turned down. I imagine IROC officials would love to have the chance to reconsider that offer now.

I know money makes the world go around, so naturally it makes cars go around a track as well. Bills have to be paid and sponsors help pay these bills, but NASCAR could exercise some fiscal responsibility. After all, teams are already finding out that company sponsorship is hard to find, and it doesn't take an accounting major to realize that economic problems are going to develop if operating costs continue to rise. I just hope NASCAR finds a way to stabilize costs before teams have to close up shop. Until then, I'll take 100 shares of Tony Stewart stock.