NAPA Leaves MWR

dpkimmel2001

dpkimmel2001

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NAPA KNOW HOW
10 minutes ago near Atlanta, GA
Dear Facebook Fans and the NAPA Community:

After thorough consideration, NAPA has made the difficult decision to end its sponsorship arrangement with Michael Waltrip Racing effective December 31, 2013. NAPA believes in fair play and does not condone actions such as those that led to the penalties assessed by NASCAR. We remain supportive of the millions of NASCAR fans and will evaluate our future position in motorsports.

NAPA
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
NAPA KNOW HOW
10 minutes ago near Atlanta, GA
Dear Facebook Fans and the NAPA Community:

After thorough consideration, NAPA has made the difficult decision to end its sponsorship arrangement with Michael Waltrip Racing effective December 31, 2013. NAPA believes in fair play and does not condone actions such as those that led to the penalties assessed by NASCAR. We remain supportive of the millions of NASCAR fans and will evaluate our future position in motorsports.

NAPA
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I can't believe they referenced the reason for leaving. Is that a PR ploy ir what?
 
So do you think they will end up on another teams car or are the taking a break from NASCAR?
 
@nascarcasm
As we speak, countless other race teams are hastily filming audition tapes of their driver lip-syncing and overnighting them to #NAPA.
 
NAPA signed a multi-year extension in 2012, so I doubt it's a publicity ploy. Since NAPA hammered MWR on the way out, it puts 5 hour and Aarons in the bad position of telling everyone they aren't as honorable as NAPA.

It's sad that the one innocent guy in all this pays the highest price, but I doubt any teams will take the risk again. Could Truex be the new Furn row driver, or would NAPA sponsor him with another team? Who is sponsoring Kurt Busch?

What a cluster this turned out to be.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
The other part of the rumor this morning is that they've been in talks with SHR.
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That's what I was thinking. Kurt and Harvick have plenty of blank cars next year. Since MWR tried to screw Newman, why not take their sponsor in exchange?
 
FenderBumper said:
It's sad that the one innocent guy in all this pays the highest price, but I doubt any teams will take the risk again. Could Truex be the new Furn row driver, or would NAPA sponsor him with another team? Who is sponsoring Kurt Busch?

What a cluster this turned out to be.
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Yeah, Truex seemingly out of the loop on this seems to be paying the highest price. In the Chase then out of the Chase. Great sponsor then no sponsor. That's a tough deal.

Michael on the other hand..... Such a long association with him and one of the few sponsors that is signed up for a full season. That's a rarity these days.
 
Smoke14 said:
I can't believe they referenced the reason for leaving. Is that a PR ploy ir what?
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Pulling their sponsorship is bad enough, but their stated reason for it is a devastating kick in the teeth for MWR.

It's their call obviously if they want to leave MWR. Maybe it's just me, but to twist the knife like that seems unnecessary.
 
gordonite said:
Pulling their sponsorship is bad enough, but their stated reason for it is a devastating kick in the teeth for MWR.

It's their call obviously if they want to leave MWR. Maybe it's just me, but to twist the knife like that seems unnecessary.
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This may go all the way back to MWR making NAPA look bad at Daytona in 2007.
 
Here's a LINK to an article now @ USA Today on this.

Last August, the company renewed a multiyear extension that the Sports Business Journal estimated at $16 million annually. NAPA has been with MWR since the team entered Sprint Cup in 2007 and has been aligned with team owner Michael Waltrip since joining NASCAR's premier series in 2001 with Dale Earnhardt's team.
 
TexasRaceLady said:
I don't like Mikey, either --- but this is bad for the organization as a whole. It's going to hurt the little people in the shop.

And I really feel bad for Truex. He didn't do anything and gets the shaft.
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True, but that talent will be available to some smaller teams trying to move up. How cool would it be if all the 3 and 4 car teams were whittled down to 2? All those sponsors and shop talent would flow down hill, flattening that hill substantially.
 
Jeffrey00 said:
while it may be easy to think they will move aarons to the 56, my guess is Truex has his lawyers combing his contract for an out clause.
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If MWR can't get him a sponsor, they can't pay his contract or put him in a car and he's free to go.
 
Speed Racer said:
So do you think they will end up on another teams car or are the taking a break from NASCAR?
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NAPA has a massive advertising budget. I'd be very surprised if they weren't on another car when the green flag falls on the 2014 season.

Doesn't give MWR much time to secure sponsorship for 2014. And to have to do it with a devastating reference from NAPA won't help.
 
Jeffrey00 said:
lol, i was think more of that mile high furniture.
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Yep.

FenderBumper said:
NAPA signed a multi-year extension in 2012, so I doubt it's a publicity ploy. Since NAPA hammered MWR on the way out, it puts 5 hour and Aarons in the bad position of telling everyone they aren't as honorable as NAPA.

It's sad that the one innocent guy in all this pays the highest price, but I doubt any teams will take the risk again. Could Truex be the new Furn row driver, or would NAPA sponsor him with another team? Who is sponsoring Kurt Busch?

What a cluster this turned out to be.
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But Aarons dumping Vickers is now more likely. They sure like Mikey saying 'Aarons lucky dog' 60 times during every truck race, so they may look for a way to save face and stay onboard.
 
FenderBumper said:
Good point. Does Aarons dump Vickers for his actions, then pick up the innocent Truex instead?
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Also, I think it is kind of hard to fault Vickers for his actions. At first it seemed like he was truly puzzled why he had to pit, then when he figured out why I am sure it was one of those, "well I like my job so I better play it their way." He comments after also reeked of MWR PR wording.
 
Damn that's a huge blow to MWR. This could be the beginning of the end for MWR. Wasn't Aaron's on the fence about re-upping only a few weeks ago?

It's sad because as I've mentioned before, Mikey has made his millions already. There's people sweeping the floors, welding sheet metal and loading tools that could all be out of jobs by the end of the year. The rich and powerful will carry on doing other things, the people at the bottom will be hurt the most by this.

Tony would be a great front man for NAPA though.
 
FenderBumper said:
Yep.



But Aarons dumping Vickers is now more likely. They sure like Mikey saying 'Aarons lucky dog' 60 times during every truck race, so they may look for a way to save face and stay onboard.
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it could go either way, but If i am truex i am on the phone with the 78 telling them to hold out on their search for a bit.
 
Johali said:
I think maybe Aarons and 5 hour was waiting for Napa's response and now the rest of the dominoes will fall, just saying.
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That very well may be the case. Aarons always seemed like they were on the fence the whole time with sponsoring an MWR car, but Mikey always found a way to sign them up. This may be the final straw to break the camel's back.
 
I wonder if NAPA had a morality clause in that contract with MWR.

Thinking back, Mikey has had some shady deals in his past.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
I have to wonder if that same decision would have been made by NAPA if we had 14 drivers in the Chase?
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IDK. There wasn't a hint of criticism toward nascar's penalties. Bit Mikey did say earlier this year that his business model doesn't work without their drivers making the chase. Perhaps their is a clause in the contracts, and that led to the Richmond actions. There are some nice opportunities out there for NAPA, including Harvick, Kurt and Newman. I think Jr has a bunch of blank cars to fill next year too.
 
Bob Pockrass ‏@bobpockrass 1m
Most sponsor contracts have a morals or ethics clause. Even if vague, if MWR tried to sue, would hurt ability to land other sponsors
 
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