Curt Cavin

curt.cavin@indystar.com

Graham Rahal's formal association with the Army National Guard will be short-lived.

Rahal and his Verizon IndyCar Series team, along with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team that employs Dale Earnhardt Jr., will lose the Guard sponsorship at season's end, various sources confirmed Wednesday.

Documents show that $32 million was spent with the NASCAR program, more than $12 million with the IndyCar team.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing secured the sponsorship for this season after it spent six years with Panther Racing. Earnhardt, who drives for Hendrick Motorsports, has been associated with the Guard since 2008.

RLLR co-owner Bobby Rahal called it "obviously very disappointing news."

The decision to have the Guard withdraw from all such motor sports sponsorship comes after an "intensive internal review," according to an announcement.

The Army National Guard fiscal budget is expected to be half what it was three years ago, the Military Times reported.

"Significantly constrained resources and the likelihood of further reductions in the future call for more innovative and cost-effective ways of doing business," Maj. Gen. Judd Lyons, acting director of the Army Guard, said in an announcement.

A recent USA Today investigation revealed that the Guard failed to sign up any new soldiers as a result of $26.2 million spent in NASCAR.

At the time, Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., criticized the Guard for "wasting a bunch of money on a very expensive sports sponsorship," the newspaper reported.

Rahal said the association with the National Guard ceases at year's end, although Hendrick Motorsports said in a statement to USA Today that its contract runs through 2015.