[Dylan]

Wow...

NAPA Auto Parts dumps Michael Waltrip Racing and Martin Truex Jr. for cheating!

NAPA Auto Parts today dropped its sponsorship of Michael Waltrip Racing and said it will evaluate its future in motorsports. The decision follows MWR’s effort to manipulate the end of NASCAR’s recent race in Richmond in order to get NAPA driver Martin Truex Jr. into the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship. NASCAR last week penalized MWR $300,000, removed Truex from the Chase and suspended MWR GM Ty Norris. In a posting on Facebook, NAPA said it “believes in fair play and does not condone actions such as those that led to the penalties assessed by NASCAR. We remain supportive of the millions of NASCAR fans and will evaluate our future position in motorsports.” NAPA had two years left on a three-year, 36-race, primary sponsorship agreement with MWR. The deal was valued at $16M a year and could be worth more than $18M a year with Chase incentives and performance bonuses. It was one of a handful of full-season primary sponsors left in NASCAR. NAPA had sponsored MWR since '07 and Michael Waltrip since '01.In a statement, MWR said it would field three teams again next year despite needing sponsorship for its No. 56 car after losing NAPA. It added, “MWR is a resilient organization capable of winning races and competing for the championship and that remains our sole focus.” Sources said that following the Richmond race, Norris and Waltrip went to NASCAR President Mike Helton and told him NAPA might leave the team and the sport if NASCAR assessed heavy penalties on the team. The company had exit clauses that allowed it to terminate its contract early, and it chose to exercise those. NAPA in a statement said, “We remain supportive of the millions of NASCAR fans and will evaluate our future position in motorsports.”

To its credit, NAPA made it very clear that it would not tolerate the shenanigans and race manipulation that MWR so clearly did two weeks ago at Richmond.

NAPA also made it clear that it has no space in its corporate heart—or budget—for cheaters.

That's integrity; something the folks at MWR didn't have at Richmond, where they blatantly and outright cheated.

When a driver makes the Chase, it typically means approximately $3 to $6 million dollars in incentive bonuses. But with MWR losing NAPA and it's yearly check, probably $15 to $20 million, something tells me that if MWR had it to do all over again, they'd have played everything fair and square.

Losing $15 to $20 million—and potentially as much as $60 million—as opposed to $3 to $6 million, by not making the Chase, is a terrible return on investment...

http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/D...ship/NAPA.aspx

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1...as-sponsorship