Going to hell in a hand basket

[Ed Fernandez]

They do seem to have a stranglehold on sponsors.Example,I dont think a pro car can have Pepsi for a major sponsor.The one that gets me is the fact that there is a list of approved fuels for S/SS yet only VP is allowed on the property at races.They also get their fingers in the pie on tee shirt sales.I guess that's the way business is done in the 21st century.

Ed F.

[BobOrme]

Originally Posted by Ed Fernandez

They do seem to have a stranglehold on sponsors.Example,I dont think a pro car can have Pepsi for a major sponsor.The one that gets me is the fact that there is a list of approved fuels for S/SS yet only VP is allowed on the property at races.They also get their fingers in the pie on tee shirt sales.I guess that's the way business is done in the 21st century.

Ed F.

From traveling all over the country and attending drag races at many different venues, my observation is Pepsi is spreading their money out at the local level rather than funding a Pro team. It's my understanding that the only prohibition concerning major Pro sponsorships or event presentation title rights are/have been limited to direct market competitors to POWERade. Gatorade sponsorship at any level has been a no no. I've seen many Pepsi scoreboard-named lanes and quite a few NHRA tracks that sell only Pepsi products in their concession stands. I've seen an alky Funny Car receive best appearing car at an NHRA National event with a prominent Pepsi decal on it. Not a major sponsor, not a Pro car, but it was there. Just my opinion (as is everything I might write here), Coke isn't worried about their domination of that particular market share enough to pressure either the sanctioning body or the tracks to try and force changes in them. The switch from POWERade to Full Throttle as the series title sponsor is a different animal. Coke doesn't own a dominating market share product in this particular arena. The influx of energy drink companies into this sport got their attention. I suspect the last thing they wanted to see was Red Bull pouring megabucks into this sport in direct competition with their own Full Throttle product line. Monster and Rockstar's presence also had to have raised a few eyebrows.

I'm not going to comment on the fuel deal, other than to say VP has National event racing fuel supplier rights, and Sunoco is still the "official" racing fuel supplier at a number of drag strips. ...even National event tracks. I'll leave it up to the lawyers to figure that stuff out.

[BobOrme]

Originally Posted by Ed Fernandez

They also get their fingers in the pie on tee shirt sales.I guess that's the way business is done in the 21st century.

Ed F.

Pushed the submit button before I was finished! It was Oakley sponsoring Scotty Cannon that actually changed the sales mode and method of team and sponsor related merchandise at National events. Before the rolling O store hit the vendor area, "official" NHRA souvenir vendors were the only places you could buy fan stuff. Cutting the pie into pieces is still there, even for the porkchop-on-a-stick and funnel cake sellers.