NAPA Leaves MWR

MWR statement.....

MWR "There is no doubt, the story of Michael Waltrip Racing begins with NAPA Auto Parts, but there are many more chapters yet to be written"
 
Boy, these sponsors are dropping like flies. not good. Sponsor less series, and it looks like soon to be sponsor less team in two days
 
Smoke14 said:
I wonder if NAPA had a morality clause in that contract with MWR.

Thinking back, Mikey has had some shady deals in his past.
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I am sure every sponsor has a morality clause. They are going on on a limb to put the face of their company on a race team. If the race team looks bad, they look bad. I am sure NAPA, as well as all the MWR sponsors, got many calls and emails from disgruntled Nascar fans over the past two weeks.
 
Could'nt happen to a nicer ARSECLOWN.....The MWR blood-letting isn't over....The day after the awards banquet, TOYOTA says C-YA to MWR.............Toyota would give anything for their first NSCS Championship...Even laying in bed with CHEATERS till the season officially ends...................
 
FenderBumper said:
...if MWR tried to sue, would hurt ability to land other sponsors
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Not only that, but MW really can't get into a war of words with NAPA about this in an effort to save face either.

What potential sponsors would want to get into a position with any team owner that would try to discredit them in the media if they chose to end their sponsorship for some reason?
 
StandOnIt said:
Boy, these sponsors are dropping like flies. not good. Sponsor less series, and it looks like soon to be sponsor less team in two days
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Who else has left MWR?
FenderBumper said:
NAPA Nationwide series. Sounds good to me.
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Nationwide is still going to co-sponsor the second-tier series?
FenderBumper said:
If Mark Martin were in the 55, that car would have done the right thing.
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Mark also has 31 seasons under his belt and 0 championships. Nice guys finish last, ask Dale Sr. and Chad Knaus.
 
Can you imagine what any team would go through to get a sponsor like Napa, full year sponsorships are all they are interested in and they are very hard to come by and $18,000,000.00 a year is a chunk o change.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
If that's true that's awful foolish of Furniture Row IMO.
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depends on how you look at it. Furniture Row uses the 78 as advertising. I wonder if it is cheaper on a sponsor to own the team then to say sponsor a team. Any sponsor can go to a Hendrick, Childress, Roush, and Gibbs and ask for pricing for a full time sponsorship of a team. I am sure the minimum they come back with is $15 million. I am wondering if FRR looked at that and said, "hell we can run a competitive team for around $10 million a year." Sure I just made these numbers up, but it would be interesting to see what FRR's running costs are compared to paying a full season sponsorship for another team.
 
Maybe like someone had mentioned, NAPA sponsors the now Nationwide Series. The opportunity presented itself rather well for them yesterday. Using Richmond may have been a convenient excuse to avoid legal action by MWR and swoops in to save the lower tiered series?
 
Jeffrey00 said:
depends on how you look at it. Furniture Row uses the 78 as advertising. I wonder if it is cheaper on a race team to own the team then to say sponsor a team. Any sponsor can go to a Hendrick, Childress, Roush, and Gibbs and ask for pricing for a full time sponsorship of a team. I am sure the minimum they come back with is $15 million. I am wondering if FRR looked at that and said, "hell we can run a competitive team for around $10 million a year." Sure I just made these numbers up, but it would be interesting to see what FRR's running costs are compared to paying a full season sponsorship for another team.
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Heck, throw Furniture Row on a quarter panel and take the dang money for the hood.
 
Jeffrey00 said:
depends on how you look at it. Furniture Row uses the 78 as advertising. I wonder if it is cheaper on a sponsor to own the team then to say sponsor a team. Any sponsor can go to a Hendrick, Childress, Roush, and Gibbs and ask for pricing for a full time sponsorship of a team. I am sure the minimum they come back with is $15 million. I am wondering if FRR looked at that and said, "hell we can run a competitive team for around $10 million a year." Sure I just made these numbers up, but it would be interesting to see what FRR's running costs are compared to paying a full season sponsorship for another team.
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Most of the stuff I've read says it costs about $20 mil to run a Cup team full season. I'm sure NAPA got some kind of discount because they've been with MWR since the beginning and are a full-season sponsor.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Maybe like someone had mentioned, NAPA sponsors the now Nationwide Series. The opportunity presented itself rather well for them yesterday. Using Richmond may have been a convenient excuse to avoid legal action by MWR and swoops in to save the lower tiered series?
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I could see this more than them signing on with another team. Sponsoring a series like the Nationwide is very good for a sponsor and very cheap compared to what they pay for a full time Cup gig.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Maybe like someone had mentioned, NAPA sponsors the now Nationwide Series. The opportunity presented itself rather well for them yesterday. Using Richmond may have been a convenient excuse to avoid legal action by MWR and swoops in to save the lower tiered series?
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heck yeah..sponsor silly season. drivers can't have all the fun
 
They say any publicity is good publicity, but after the last few weeks I doubt MW would agree.
 
gordonite said:
Not only that, but MW really can't get into a war of words with NAPA about this in an effort to save face either.

What potential sponsors would want to get into a position with any team owner that would try to discredit them in the media if they chose to end their sponsorship for some reason?
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Nascar would never allow MWR to sue NAPA. Too many private subjects, would then be public. The truth about the Richmond race would come out, especially if the spin was intentional, any conversation Nascar had with MWR about that night would probably be public too, and all of the cup team finances would come out to. Where all that 18 million from Napa goes. I don't think that is something Nascar would want made public.
 
Text of NAPA letter sent to all NAPA Auto Parts Stores on Thursday

September 19, 2013

To: All NAPA AUTO PARTS Stores

RE: NAPA Racing NASCAR Update

NAPA announced today that, after due consideration, it has decided to end its sponsorship arrangement with Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) effective December 31, 2013. As many of you are aware, NASCAR determined that MWR attempted to manipulate race results at Richmond, Virginia, on September 7, 2013. NASCAR assessed a large fine, deducted 50 points from each of the three MWR drivers in the race and suspended or banned other members of the MWR team.

NAPA believes in fair play and we are very disappointed in the actions that led to the NASCAR penalties. We have made NAPA’s decision known to MWR and posted a statement on our Facebook page. There has already been significant media coverage and discussion among racing fans and we expect that our decision to terminate our sponsorship will generate additional attention. We believe it is the right thing to do.

Many of our dealer customers are motorsports fans and may have strong feelings about this issue – one way or another. They have a right to their opinions and we will continue to treat all customers courteously. If asked about NAPA’s decision, we would suggest you refer to the company’s statement and its belief in fair play. If a customer wants to make their feelings known to the company, they may visit our Facebook page to post a comment.

We wanted to let you know about this situation and NAPA’s decision as soon as possible. Thank you for your business and your overall support of the NAPA brand.
 
If Truex loses his job the wrong guy is getting screwed. I applaud the decision by NAPA but hopefully MWR can find another solid sponsor for Martin or better yet he brings a solid sponsor to another team.
 
I posted the below post but deleted it because someone I respect privately thought it was way over the edge but it is how I feel so here it is.

I don't like Michael Waltrip because In My Opinion he has the morals and ethics of a pit viper and is a narcissistic a**hole but I sure as hell feel for him and wish this had not had to happen, maybe he will get himself together after this wakeup call.
 
Wow, terrible news for MWR and all the people that work there. But bad news for Nascar in general.
How many murderers, dog-torturers, and wife-beaters has the NFL had? But the NFL sponsors never leave.
NAPA's willingness to do this might be say more about the finances of Nascar than NAPA's morality.
The media storm had already blown over. And never really got that big. Reality is ESPN and mainstream news barely covered it. A few stories for a few days.

NBA had a ref busted for point-shaving and betting and ... no sponsors left. NBA had players leave the court and beat up fans and ... no sponsors left. A few % of NFL players get arrested every single year, like clockwork, for something violent or reckless. Every season has the same story of, guess how many players got arrested for drugs, DUI, fighting, wife-beating, etc in the off-season.

MLB has had huge steroids and PED cheating scandals for the past 15 years. Sponsors stayed.
UFC has a guy get caught cheating every couple fights it seems. Sponsors stayed.
NFL has players admitting half the league is on HGH, which NFL doesn't test for.Sponsors stayed.

I understand the sponsor is more central in Nascar. But other sports have put up with media storms 10-100x greater than what Nascar just endured. It was a lot for Nascar, but nothing compared to what the NFL, MLB, or NBA deals with.
 
Good. Could not happen to a better person and I hope this move really puts the pressure on MWR. Aarons has to be second guessing their decision now. Do you really want to pour money into a team that cheats? This all may not be over with yet. The nascar penalties were pretty severe but napa pulling the plug really hits hard.
 
StoneTown said:
Wow, terrible news for MWR and all the people that work there. But bad news for Nascar in general.
How many murderers, dog-torturers, and wife-beaters has the NFL had? But the NFL sponsors never leave.
NAPA's willingness to do this might be say more about the finances of Nascar than NAPA's morality.
The media storm had already blown over. And never really got that big. Reality is ESPN and mainstream news barely covered it. A few stories for a few days.

NBA had a ref busted for point-shaving and betting and ... no sponsors left. NBA had players leave the court and beat up fans and ... no sponsors left. A few % of NFL players get arrested every single year, like clockwork, for something violent or reckless. Every season has the same story of, guess how many players got arrested for drugs, DUI, fighting, wife-beating, etc in the off-season.

MLB has had huge steroids and PED cheating scandals for the past 15 years. Sponsors stayed.
UFC has a guy get caught cheating every couple fights it seems. Sponsors stayed.
NFL has players admitting half the league is on HGH, which NFL doesn't test for.Sponsors stayed.

I understand the sponsor is more central in Nascar. But other sports have put up with media storms 10-100x greater than what Nascar just endured. It was a lot for Nascar, but nothing compared to what the NFL, MLB, or NBA deals with.
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Like dpk said, I'm thinking it has more to do with NAPA missing the chase than some morality issue.
 
Apples and oranges, night and day, however you want to put it. Nascar team sponsors put their money on the integrity and results of one team, all out in the middle of the spotlight. I use Napa and will continue to do so, it has nothing to do with who they sponsor.
 
3wideinturn1 said:
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?
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They sure were iffy on Vickers for a while. When they re-upped for two years it was mentioned they didn't make an offer until the Kentucky race weekend.
 
MWR Statement: Michael Waltrip Racing respects the decision NAPA announced today following the events at Richmond. There is no doubt, the story of Michael Waltrip Racing begins with NAPA Auto Parts, but there are many more chapters yet to be written. MWR has the infrastructure and support of Toyota for three teams plus three Chase-caliber, race-winning drivers. With the support of our corporate partners we are preparing to field three teams in 2014. MWR is a resilient organization capable of winning races and competing for the championship and that remains our sole focus.

http://www.jayski.com/cupnews.htm#20130919c
 
What is Aarons thinking about now? Do we really want to pour 15-20 million into a team that are known cheats? Are we that desperate or do we have other choices if we want to be at the cup level?
 
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