General Motors said on Tuesday, July 15, that it would reduce and consolidate its marketing and sales budget, including motorsports activity that would likely involve its sponsorship of NASCAR. GM has been involved with auto racing since the mid-1960s.

The automaker, whose stock dropped Monday to $9.38 -- its lowest in 50 years -- is seeking to boost liquidity by $15 billion through 2009 via cutbacks and job layoffs.

GM already started pulling back from some of its sports ties. In January, Cadillac opted out as a sponsor of the Masters golf tournament. GM also said it would not to renew its $1 billion sponsorship of the U.S. Olympic Committee when its contract ends after this year's games. And Chevrolet recently ended its primary sponsorship of the Richard Childress Racing team.

The predicted decrease in racing spend overall could account for 20 percent of an annual motorsports budget that was nearly $100 million. Peter DeLorenzo, a former auto ad executive and editor of the Autoextremist.com blog said that the NASCAR's "Cars of Tomorrow" initiative -- which GM took part in along with Chrysler, Ford and Toyota -- "reduced its brand recognition with the sport to the point that NASCAR is irrelevant."

And with truck sales plummeting for all brands, how long will the Craftsman Truck series be viable? GM has said they will reduce its truck production capacity by 300,000 units, double the number announced last month.

In addition to the cost-cutting measures already announced, GM will suspend its dividend for shareholders, sell off assets worth as much as $4 billion, lay off salaried workers and stop health-care benefits for salaried employees over 65. GM will also freeze salaries this year and next, halt 2008 executive bonuses, delay $1.7 billion in pension fund payment for unionized workers, and significantly reduce dealership inventories. (Dorsey Patrick photo)

The Chevrolet-sponsored event starts at 8 a.m. (ET) at various infield locations at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) on Friday, July 25.

Admission to Chevy Day is included in the price of admission to the IMS grounds for the day's Allstate 400 at the Brickyard activities. General admission tickets for Friday are $10 per person, free for children ages 5 and younger.

Chevrolet-sponsored NASCAR drivers appearing live on the Chevy stage located in the Hall of Fame Museum parking lot will participate in question-and-answer sessions with emcee, Riki Rachtman. Drivers expected to appear include Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and many more.

Autograph sessions with Team Chevy members will take place in the Pagoda Plaza.

Jan Magnussen and Johnny O'Connell didn't give up when they were a lap behind the GT1 leader in the July 13th American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park. That perseverance was rewarded when they scored a come-from-behind victory after a sudden reversal of fortune put their No. 3 Compuware Corvette C6.R in front with 25 minutes remaining in the race. The pair's fourth victory of the season was highlighted by a wheel-to-wheel battle between O'Connell and Olivier Beretta as they jockeyed for position as the No. 3 emerged from the pits after its final splash-and-go fuel stop.

O'Connell and Magnussen completed 157 laps on the reconfigured and repaved Lime Rock Park road course, finishing eighth overall. The No. 4 Compuware Corvette C6.R driven by Beretta and Oliver Gavin finished second with 146 laps after a gearbox problem sidelined the car with eight minutes remaining. The No. 009 Aston Martin DBR9 of Borcheller and Ducote was third in the GT1 class, completing 61 laps before retiring after an accident.

"Today's race was a perfect example of why you never give up," said Corvette Racing program manager Doug Fehan. "Coming off our second and third-place finishes in Le Mans, you might think that this team might be a little bit down. But take a look at what happened today: Nobody gave up when one of the cars was almost a lap down. That's what makes Corvette Racing a great team."

Magnussen started in the No. 3 Corvette and Gavin in the No. 4, and they completed their 57-minute stints without a caution period. The first full-course yellow began at the one-hour mark just after the Corvettes had pitted for fuel, tires and driver changes. When racing resumed 25 minutes later, the two Corvettes were nose-to-tail with O'Connell in the No. 3 and Beretta in the No. 4. The complexion of the race changed dramatically when a second safety car period began at 1:34 into the race. With the leading prototype between the two Corvettes, the No. 4 gained nearly a full lap on its sister car. Then a third yellow at 2:02 put the two cars back on the same lap.

"It was looking dark for a while, but No. 3 Corvette C6.R was a great race car today," Magnussen said. "I was unlucky with traffic in my stint, and then just after Johnny got into the car, the race leader was between the two Corvettes when the yellow flag came out. We lost nearly a full lap on the wave-by. It looked grim, but then we got back on the lead lap when the other car had to stop. Then they had a small problem and stopped again. We needed just a few gallons of ethanol to make it to the finish, and Johnny just pipped Olivier coming out of the pit lane. That was very exciting!"

O'Connell notched his 32nd career ALMS victory, but it was his first win ever at Lime Rock Park.

"There are so many races we could have won but for bad luck," said O'Connell. "I don't know if we should have won this one, but I'm going to take it!

"When I came out of the pits after the last stop, I saw Olivier coming," O'Connell continued. "I held the inside line, and the only way he was going to take me was on the outside – and that would have been impossible."

With their victory, O'Connell and Magnussen now hold a 12-point lead (106-94) over their teammates in the GT1 drivers championship with six races remaining.

Corvette Racing's next event is the Acura Sports Car Challenge at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, on Saturday, July 19. NBC will televise the race tape-delayed on Sunday, July 20, at 12 p.m. EDT. (photos courtesy GM Racing)

Canadian Jay Mageau sent in a photo of the new '78 Corvette body for his "Prospector" AA/FC to replace the heavy '57 Chevy fiberglass model he's been running. Army Armstrong's Funny Factory built the new body from a mold similar to the English Leather Corvette campaigned by Tom McEwen that won the '78 U.S. Nationals Funny Car title. Mageau's team is getting the flopper ready for paint at Joey's Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and will debut the new combination at Mission Raceway for the Nitro Nostalgia races in late July.