Still no sponsors for Carter/Petree.

Two multi-car NASCAR Winston Cup teams are currently facing an uncertain future as they head into the Christmas season without a single confirmed primary sponsor between them.

Time is slowly ticking away for Andy Petree Racing and Haas-Carter Motorsports who now have a shade over two months to get a sponsor sorted in time for the 2003 Daytona 500.

Petree, who has been a Winston Cup team owner since 1996, entered only one of his two cars (#55) on a regular basis last year after losing Oakwood Homes from the hood of his original entry, the #33, at the end of 2001. However driver Bobby Hamilton could not repeat his lone victory from the 2001 without the aid of a regular teammate and finished a distant 32nd in points, missing five races through injury.

Worse for Petree, sponsors Schneider Electric decided not to return in 2003 and after lengthy negotiations, a potential partnership between Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and the team also fell through.

One potential shining light for Petree is the probable arrival of former APR driver Ken Schrader. The likeable, and sponsor friendly Schrader is poised to sign for Petree's #55 team with rumoured backing from Federated Auto Parts although additional funding would still be required in order to complete a full season.

Travis Carter's position appears even more perilous following Discover Card's decision not to continue their half-season deal into 2003. Discover Card seemed to have given Carter's #26 team a lifeline when they announced that an initial six-race deal starting at Dover in June would be extended to the end of the season. However despite a striking livery and some top five performances, DC will not be back with TC in 2003 leaving the veteran team boss back in pretty much the same position as he was when K-Mart bailed just before the 2002 Daytona 500.

Operating his secondary #66 team in much the same manner as Petree ran his #33 last year, Carter may find his shining light in the form of 47-year-old Japanese journeyman Hideo Fukuyama. Fukuyama, who started two races for the #66 team towards the end of the year, became the first Japanese driver to qualify for a NASCAR race and could return for more with backing from his native country.

At the moment Fukuyama's lack of speed in a stock car is almost as big a stumbling block as the search for $10-15 million in sponsorship dollars but with Toyota looking more and more likely to enter the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series within the next three or four years, Carter could be on to a winner by trying to make some early inroads into the Far East market.