NAPA Leaves MWR

KevinWI said:
Why would they take any heat? The guy driving the car with their name on the side was the only one who didn't do anything wrong.
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I am sure they take heat for sponsoring MWR. Same thing happens when people call the sponsor of radio personalities they dislike. They call the sponsor and say they won't use their product if they still sponsor the guys they dislike.
 
KevinWI said:
They key difference here is that people and NASCAR are treating the Richmond thing as if it were more serious than all the illegal car parts cheating that we've seen in NASCAR since its inception. I, for one, don't think that this whole "race manipulation" is any worse than all the illegal track bars or connecting rods that we've seen in NASCAR before. Why people are so outraged over this continues to escape me.
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Agreed Kev. If people think that all other drivers through the years have always driven 100% without letting teammates pass for points, Come into pits so teammates gain points, have a tire going down????? mysteriously. Then they don't live in the real world. Its been done many many times before. So in my book rules are rules are rules. If you don't want to be in spot then race better in the previous 25 races. There is a reason your in that spot to begin with.
Off the soap box.
 
So now I guess Mikey's commercials will say, "I'm at the wrong track, and don't have a sponsor".
 
MW has been an annoying personality for years, an overexposed pia. I figured NAPA was in his corner and for whatever reason had accepted his tackiness and diregard of the rules.

Kind of like two crack heads that are hopelesly in love, while no one can stand to be around them.:)

Among the two NAPA has the least amount of class. They should sponsor the nationwide wide series Nascar and Napa deserve each other.
 
I wonder how big of a scandal and how this would have developed if Michael Waltrip- Clint Bowyer- Brian Vickers- Ty Norris- and the two CCs held a press conference on Tuesday when they knew they had been busted but it hadn't been announced yet and owned up to everything, apologized, and vowed it was a really bad decision and they would be more diligent in the future blah blah blah. I think it would of been much better on the integrity of all involved, Nascar included.
 
I think the bigger picture is that not only does this really hurt MWR but this hurts NASCAR as a sport. NASCAR needs companies like NAPA to survive. To have them pull the plug will hurt a lot of people directly and indirectly. What they do in the future remains to be seen, but it sure looks like there will be people out of jobs as a result of this.

If MWR goes belly up because the sponsors run away it's not going to help anything in the garage. Very few people are looking to start teams in the Cup series these days, and of the few even fewer are able to do what MWR has done in such a short time. They have been successful in engaging fans and sponsors in new and unique ways.

Ultimately I'm of the opinion that the more stable and competitive teams there are, the better the racing will be. Do I like Mikey? Not one bit, as a matter of fact I think he's an assclown. However I respect what he's done with his team and I think the sport is better off with more teams that can contend and win races.
 
MRM said:
Most of those contracts (drivers, sponsors, etc.) typically end Dec. 31.
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Until today the NAPA sponsorship ended beyond the end of this year. I'm only saying if they really don't condone this behaviour why stick around at all?
 
I really hate to hear this. The punishments are really starting to exceed the crime in this whole situation. I hope this news isn't making anyone too happy. If this is the beginning of the end for MWR, then 3 more full time teams go bye-bye. Just since 2007, the number of full time non S&P teams has fallen from 44 to 34. So losing 3 more would not be good, unless you want more start and parks every week.
 
If MWR goes away I think the company and teams will continue under new management and probably new partial ownership. Remember that Michael Waltrip is not the only owner of MWR he and Robert "Rob" Kauffman are 50-50 owners and since everything is already in place it wouldn't too hard to find a partner or just buy out Michaels half himself and keep on racing.

Edit: Michaels half may go really reasonable.
 
NASCAR's not losing anything. NAPA is just reallocating their benjamins, and Truex will either get another company's reallocated benjamin, or will bring a new benjamin into the sport. Sponsoring the nationwide series with half-time at SHR could be a really big thing for them, probably get even better propogation. Like ND said, sponsorships are a bunch of hoops hanging in mid-air. If Aaron's jumps ship too, maybe they will pay for Kurt's ride while NAPA pays for Harvick's and nationwide title. NAPA has a thing for small business.
 
Johali said:
I wonder how big of a scandal and how this would have developed if Michael Waltrip- Clint Bowyer- Brian Vickers- Ty Norris- and the two CCs held a press conference on Tuesday when they knew they had been busted but it hadn't been announced yet and owned up to everything, apologized, and vowed it was a really bad decision and they would be more diligent in the future blah blah blah. I think it would of been much better on the integrity of all involved, Nascar included.
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LOOOOOL....What... Their going to admit they tried to DEFRAUD the NAPA corp of whatever the multi-million $ bonus amount was by trying to manipulate the outcome of the race and the final standings going into the chase...If NAPA wants to push the issue...They can ask for the State of Virginia to convene a Grand Jury and look into the situation. There are millions of $$$$ at stake here, and if they can prove there was a meeting within the MWR organization to attempt to alter the race in any way that's FRAUD....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraud
 
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Bowyer's non-denial apology tour at ESPN really hurt them. He was too cute by half. Bowyer, MWR, and Nascar didn't realize what was happening. Used to talking to the insular Nascar and motorsports media and being ignored by the mainstream. Used to living in a world where winking at cheating was acceptable, even celebrated as "if you ain't cheating, you ain't trying".

But Bowyer took that winking attitude that works in the Nascar media and took it to ESPN and it just bombed horribly. They asked him if he spun on purpose and he winked and said he's apologized and it's time to move forward. And they said, wait, did you do it on purpose or not? And Bowyer winked and said the past is past, what's important is the next race and he's sorry for anything that happened. He was like Clinton or Weiner or any politico caught with his pants down. It would have got a chuckle from a lifer motorsports journalist, but was off-putting and out of place on mainstream ESPN.

If Bowyer and MWR had just admitted what they'd done and apologized on Monday. This whole thing could have been nipped in the bud. Whoever let Bowyer do his media tour live on ESPN really screwed up. That should have been cancelled.
 
Magnethead said:
NASCAR's not losing anything. NAPA is just reallocating their benjamins, and Truex will either get another company's reallocated benjamin, or will bring a new benjamin into the sport. Sponsoring the nationwide series with half-time at SHR could be a really big thing for them, probably get even better propogation. Like ND said, sponsorships are a bunch of hoops hanging in mid-air. If Aaron's jumps ship too, maybe they will pay for Kurt's ride while NAPA pays for Harvick's and nationwide title. NAPA has a thing for small business.
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That's very presumptuous on your part. When drivers like Dale Jr and Tony Stewart have open races left on their cars, the idea that Truex will just pick up the phone and bring in a new sponsor is ludacris. If you hadn't noticed many companies are scaling back their commitments and dropping out completey. With the current landscape of the sport, teams like Roush are just scraping together enough sponsorship to get by. This is not just a "reallocation", this has the potential to put a team out of the sport or severly damage their ability to compete going forward. This exit by NAPA will have ripple effects felt by many.
 
MELROSEMAFIA said:
LOOOOOL....What... Their going to admit they tried to DEFRAUD the NAPA corp of whatever the multi-million $ bonus amount was by trying to manipulate the outcome of the race and the final standings going into the chase...If NAPA wants to push the issue...They can ask for the State of Virginia to convene a Grand Jury and look into the situation. There are millions of $$$$ at stake here, and if they can prove there was a meeting within the MWR organization to attempt to alter the race in any way that's FRAUD....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraud
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BURP.
 
3wideinturn1 said:
I think the bigger picture is that not only does this really hurt MWR but this hurts NASCAR as a sport. NASCAR needs companies like NAPA to survive. To have them pull the plug will hurt a lot of people directly and indirectly. What they do in the future remains to be seen, but it sure looks like there will be people out of jobs as a result of this.

If MWR goes belly up because the sponsors run away it's not going to help anything in the garage. Very few people are looking to start teams in the Cup series these days, and of the few even fewer are able to do what MWR has done in such a short time. They have been successful in engaging fans and sponsors in new and unique ways.

Ultimately I'm of the opinion that the more stable and competitive teams there are, the better the racing will be. Do I like Mikey? Not one bit, as a matter of fact I think he's an assclown. However I respect what he's done with his team and I think the sport is better off with more teams that can contend and win races.
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I agree with all that, but what choice did nascar have? They can't just look the other way when things like that happen so as not to upset a teams sponsor.

nascar has no choice but to penalize teams that stray outside the rules, or their credibility as a sanctioning body is in serious trouble.
 
MELROSEMAFIA said:
LOOOOOL....What... Their going to admit they tried to DEFRAUD the NAPA corp of whatever the multi-million $ bonus amount was by trying to manipulate the outcome of the race and the final standings going into the chase...If NAPA wants to push the issue...They can ask for the State of Virginia to convene a Grand Jury and look into the situation. There are millions of $$$$ at stake here, and if they can prove there was a meeting within the MWR organization to attempt to alter the race in any way that's FRAUD....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraud
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Right, that's a brilliant idea. Open up government intervention into sport. And the next time Chad Knaus puts a questionable sway bar into the #48, he can go to jail too.
 
Nitro Dude said:
Because NAPA didn't jump ship the first time MWR got a little egg on their face makes me wonder if NAPA jumped ship this time because of a little egg on their face, or because they don't get to run for the championship, or were they already looking for a way out and this fell in to their lap. If they take their money and run then I suspect they were already looking for a clean way out.
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I think this was a MUCH bigger deal than the incident with the jet fuel. Much, much more negative publicity this time, particularly in the mainstream media. I can see where a sponsor who stuck with Mikey the first time around would decide that this incident was too egregious to overlook.
 
Jeffrey00 said:
Bad team owners are part of the sport, and usually weed themselves out. Were you sad when Gin and Gillette left Nascar? Who knows maybe MWR losing sponsors will mean small teams like Scott can gain a decent sponsor.
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Who decides who is a "bad team owner"? People line up to call Roush, Hendrick and Gibbs that name.
 
If you wanna dance you have to pay the fiddler. This is exactly what the sport needs. The France mafia wont clean it up so let the sponsors do it.
 
Sponsors drive racing, just about everything in NASCAR has a sponsor name associated with it. NAPA made a decision that shakes the sport. I hope NAPA finds another team and stays in NASCAR. And I hope MWR survives their actions. It would be a shame if the work to produce a competitive team is lost.
 
I wonder where all those people are going to find jobs if MWR closes. Also, do you think Fox will dump Mikey from the truck races and the cup pre-race shows?
 
I'm sure Fox has already contacted him. Feel bad for Truex and the guys in the shop.
 
Surprise they actually took further action. After they announced they were investigating, the drama sort of died out.

Overall, good for NAPA.

This should put Mikey in his place.

The fact that he was acting like he did nothing wrong irked the crap out of me.
 
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I doubt MWR will close the doors over losing one major sponsor for 3 teams. But its still gotta sting. Now if several others pull out it will be all over but the crying. They are in full panic mode at MWR right this minute.
 
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