Posted on 09/19/2013 4:25:45 PM PDT by EveningStar
NAPA Auto Parts said Thursday it will end its multimillion-dollar sponsorship of Michael Waltrip Racing at the end of the year, the latest fallout from the team's attempt to manipulate a race to get Martin Truex Jr. into NASCAR's version of the playoffs.
Napa is Truex's primary sponsor and in the first year of a three-year extension announced last August. The deal ran through the 2015 season and is believed to be worth at least $15 million a year.
"NAPA believes in fair play and does not condone actions such as those that led to the penalties assessed by NASCAR," NAPA said in a statement. "We remain supportive of the millions of NASCAR fans and will evaluate our future position in motorsports."
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THAT is a biggie....
Well deserved....
NASCAR deserves a lot of criticism for this. This kind of idiocy is pretty much inevitable in a “sport” where multiple competitors have the same management/ownership.
Truex is a big loser in this and he didn’t do a thing. Walrip might have to drop to two cars and Truex is losing his sponsorship.
NAPA has been with Michael Waltrip for many years, even prior to his owning his own team. This is huge for him this late in the season. It’s also huge for NAPA who wants to keep a presence in NASCAR. 5 Hour Energy, who sponsors Bowyer has said they won’t make any anouncements until the end of the year.
Are you confusing that with 5 Hour Energy?
Makes the $300k Nascar fine look like pocket change...
That will be all she wrote on that team.Hope you are well evening star.
-PJ
99% of the time in my case, very true. I like the way your definition.
“Sad to say since at one time I was a fan of Waltrip.”
As a corner worker on road courses, I’ve heard negative stories on both brothers from my cohorts. One involved Darrell; the person telling me the story says he was walking over to his car to find out whether he was staying in it and the first thing out of Darrell’s mouth was “Hey, this ain’t the time for *bleep*ing autographs!”
The other involved an incident where Michael spun out and looked at the flagger gesturing as if to say, “What?” The flagger in question began waving his flag more vigorously and Michael flipped him a double bird.
I’m caring less and less about NASCAR every season. They have grown far too corporate. I miss the days of fans on the infield (about half holding Rebel flags) and cars I could recognize.
They really started to lose me when “gas” was replaced by “sunoco race fuel.”
I would not be surprised that Michael Waltrip Racing closes its doors at the end of this season because of this controversy.
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