Originally Posted by Michael Beard
Who ever said that a contingency date requirement has anything to do with the life or quality of the product? Sales and coupons have expiration dates on them, too. This is basic math. It is not financially feasible for every company to pay for every product forever. Instead of demanding that a company "owes us something", I am grateful for the companies that do support our sport, however they are able! I would rather a company post with stipulations than not at all. If it's not worth keeping a receipt or making a phone call sometimes, that's a decision for an individual racer to make. The rules are clear up front.
Your missing the point Michael, expiration dates on products such as pistons and rods for limited stock eliminator racers makes no sense .. It also makes no sense for someone building a new car that takes several years to complete.
Yes, that would be exactly the reason, IF that's what the qualifications are for that particular company/product. If you don't want to replace the part, you don't have to. You also don't have to claim contingency on it.
...and we expect Turbo Action to pay someone thousands of dollars over a lifetime for a $300 shifter (multiplied by how many racers?) and stay in business HOW?
It was just an example, Turbo action does not pay for shifter anymore and if it did there is a SN associated with it and they could have paid up to $300 and then quit paying.
The first complaint was that a product was somehow 'no good' after 3 years, yet now it would be okay if a product was deemed 'no good' (by that same standard) after you won 'x' number of races with it? If that's what a company wanted to do, and the sanctioning bodies approved it, that's fine. It's a free market, and their choice on how to best market their products. This brings us back full circle to: Appreciate the sponsors for what they can do, play by the rules set by the sponsors and the sanctioning bodies, and if you don't want to play, then don't.
That's just it, no one is complaining ... a good set of pistons and rods should last well over 5 years for a limited racer.
Correct. Who are they advertising to, how many people do they reach, and something many seem to be forgetting: what is their expected return on investment? Realistically, making a program LESS accountable does not achieve that goal.
A sponsor's primary considerations of a contingency program are 1) Advertising/Branding and 2) Sales. There are four legs associated with these objectives: 1) The sanctioning body 2) the racer 3) the fans 4) and the sponsor itself.
The sponsor is obviously going to do everything it can to leverage its own program. They interact with the fans with midway displays, promotional contests, etc. The racers display the requested contingency decals, so they do their part (in most cases... some choose to not provide sponsors with their full value in a number of ways). Some racers go the further and display additional decals on their trailer, pit vehicle, or tow vehicle, or display banners, etc. (when permitted)
Promoters are the link between the sponsor and their intended audience , both racers and fans. Sponsors provide advertising dollars to the promoter and/or augments the event as a whole with product, gift certificates, or cash payments direct to the racers such as contingency programs. Ultimately, even the direct "racer benefits" are a direct aid to the promoter, as it subsidizes the purse and awards, thus attracting larger numbers through the back gate, while ticket programs and/or advertising in partnership with sponsors yields larger front gate numbers. The remaining question then is, what else can a promoter do to provide additional value to the sponsor?
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