Is Knoll done? (1 Viewer)

[Larry]

Correcto J Rod , Evan and Torco will still be the largest sponsor by a factor of 50 X rather than the 100X he was.

I hope his generosity has been rewarded for his investment in Drag Racing and I hope he buys a C6 with 2 keys when he buys his next road car !

Forest Lucas is another person who deserves Cudo's for supporting us addicts.
You can't watch any kind of engine driven sports without seeing the Torco and Lucas logos featured prominently all over the place.

Watched the Drag Boat Races on Speed yesterday with the big/tall Lucas bottle in the back of the interviewed drivers.

And Alan Reinhardt's part was right on too.
I knew his darning his own socks was paying off and he gave that secret to getting rich to the Maters for free!

Hope you get well soon Evan and just like the release says take it easy and come back with a vengeance!

 

[Nitrohelper]

John Menard, had IRS problems with his expenditure on his race cars in the past, IRS said you can't sponsor your own car, many millions involved there

That is almost correct ,you can spend your "after" tax money on your own car, but not an "excessive" amount of your companies pre-tax revenues. Uncle Sam looks at industry averages for advertising expenditures (10-25%) , spend double on your own deal ,and its audit time.
Menard had to pay back over a million to the Feds & State after several court cases, that is why he now "buys" advertising from DEI for his sons car.

 

[Jim]

wow you sure you read the right post before you posted?

I wasn't knocking Evan (per se) in my post. Certainly if I were racing on-my-own-dime and Evan or anybody else offered me $$s to help me out, I'd be THRILLED to accept.
HOWEVER, once you start hiring people and spending megabucks (for parts and pieces) in anticipation of adequate bucks to run a professional operation, you've GOT to have some "insurance" that your deal is solid.
I wouldn't want to be looking at my crew guys who've relocated to Brownsburg, IN (or otherwise) made real comittments to support my operation and tell 'em "I just can't pay" em.

PS: I've done stuff on-a-handshake (and gotten screwed) and I've done stuff with a contract (and gotten screwed too). Ask me which method is more reliable or likely to lead to a reasonable compromise when/if things go sour. pps- It's not even close!

 

[PJ]

Probably needs to suspend the sponsorships because he isn't the kind of person to leave it alone. I mean that in a good way. It may be too tempting for him to ignore the advice of the doctors and want to stay involved in some way. It sounds a little like that may have been the situation since the accident. Best wishes to him and to all of the teams.

Good point, its a shame all the way around. I hope he takes the time to heal right

 

[Rajunz]

.............Many people w/in the family that owned the burger chain had passed away in a relatively short amout of time and Guy was running the biz/racing while his health went sour...But he kept his deal intact....He TRULY loved racing and would have probably sunk the biz to keep actively involved in drag racing, even after audits proved that sponsoring anything in auto racing was a financial disaster......

There is alot to that sentance Terry, this rings true in this situation too,

 

[Bullard Anderson]

I seem to remember a thread around a year or so ago regarding the concerns of Torco sponsoring too many cars and races. The fear (then) was that if something ever happened to Torco's involvement in NHRA that the fallout could be devastating.

I love big sponsorships as much as anyone, but I've learned in 25 years of Radio sponsorship and advertising sales that the bigger they are, the harder they fall. Evidently our fears from a while back are coming true.

I think that rings a bell!

 

[blackbeard]

im having a hard time understanding this. why would evan's health be affecting the sponsorship dollars? are his accountants taking a sabbatical? does torco/knoll gas not have a team of marketing managers that could manage these sponsorship contracts? if the CEO of castrol was in a coma, does that mean that castrol would be incapable of keeping the business running? no, because i'm sure they have a team of executives that could step up and do the job.

i'm NOT, i repeat, NOT knocking knoll for this. i appreciate everything he's done just as much as any of you, and i pray for a full recovery. all's i'm saying is, business is business (and that's the reality of it)

 

[Jake]

im having a hard time understanding this. why would evan's health be affecting the sponsorship dollars? are his accountants taking a sabbatical? does torco/knoll gas not have a team of marketing managers that could manage these sponsorship contracts? if the CEO of castrol was in a coma, does that mean that castrol would be incapable of keeping the business running? no, because i'm sure they have a team of executives that could step up and do the job.

i'm NOT, i repeat, NOT knocking knoll for this. i appreciate everything he's done just as much as any of you, and i pray for a full recovery. all's i'm saying is, business is business (and that's the reality of it)

Lance, that is EXACTLY what I was thinking. Sure makes a lot of sense too.

 

[Prix-Mo]

Lance, that is EXACTLY what I was thinking. Sure makes a lot of sense too.

What part of the statement If Evan has a car/team sponsored running he will not stay away from the racing/business to heal himself DON'T YOU PEOPLE UNDERSTAND?

 

[willy]

That's kind of what I've been thinking, Phil.

Evan doesn't seem to be the type for smoke & mirror stuff..yet everyone wants to speculate..which I'm used to..but when it comes down to the health of one of the good people..WHY can't it be left alone?

 

[blackbeard]

That's kind of what I've been thinking, Phil.

Evan doesn't seem to be the type for smoke & mirror stuff..yet everyone wants to speculate..which I'm used to..but when it comes down to the health of one of the good people..WHY can't it be left alone?

because it's human nature to combat curiosity. i think people aren't "leaving it alone" because there seems to be more to the story. people, for the most part, don't like the 'ignorance is bliss' way of life....people want to know the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. i'm not saying that the story isn't true, but it's VERY un-orthodox, and doesn't seem make much business sense.

maybe some people are just left-brainers, some are right-brainers.

 

[Nitrohelper]

DON'T YOU PEOPLE UNDERSTAND?

I don't understand why he hasn't paid teams for the last quarter of 2007 ? What has that got to do with his going to the races.? He could have started dropping teams before people were hired, and parts purchased for 2008. Latrell writes the checks, is he brain damaged too?
Maybe the check book has a severe injury.

 

[none]

This situation is similiar to the Snyder family and the In-N-Out Burger sponsorships...

Many people w/in the family that owned the burger chain had passed away in a relatively short amout of time and Guy was running the biz/racing while his health went sour...But he kept his deal intact....He TRULY loved racing and would have probably sunk the biz to keep actively involved in drag racing, even after audits proved that sponsoring anything in auto racing was a financial disaster...Then after he passed his family honored all existing contracts til that season ended...
Remember Troxel was supposed to steer an In-N-Out T/F car but a contract was never finalized...

hmmmmm.........That is very interesting. My understanding was that there was a contract in place. A decision was made not to honor the contract and a subsequent decision was made that litigation was not the answer........

 

[None]

I saw this coming last year when a new sponsorship of some kind was announced nearly every day in January and there was no products on the retail shelf to support it all.

I disagree that a racing sponsorship is a financial disaster when a company spends 100 million on a sporting stadium. How you get close to half of that back in sales is beyond me. The fact is drag racing advertising is a good investment if it's done the right way. And was named best return on investment by the sports business journal.

Rich, I know how hard you work for your sponsors and drag racing in general. But I'm sorry to disagree with you that drag racing advertising is a good investment. If that was so, then the industry would be awash with money. A lot of these sponsorships like the Autolight deal that just went away were for a lot less than was insinuated and I'd bet a good dinner that there are far more out there that some owners are just a bit embarrassed about revealing.

If the company you're referring to is in Indianapolis and bought the naming rights to the big new stadium there, I'd bet their best sales are in the general automotive and trucking fields regardless of what one feels about their products. Just a comment.

I don't know any of the Knoll/ Torco people, but something just isn't right about this and I'm sure it will come out in the wash soon.

 

[paoldtimer]

maybe some people are just left-brainers, some are right-brainers.

and too many people are NO brainers.


Get well soon, Evan.

 

[Rajunz]

...................I don't know any of the Knoll/ Torco people, but something just isn't right about this and I'm sure it will come out in the wash soon.

Okay I'll try this again, because this is a delicate subject, and I am in no way knocking Evan, the man has a heart of gold, however............................................

.................He TRULY loved racing and would have probably sunk the biz to keep actively involved in drag racing, even after audits proved that sponsoring anything in auto racing was a financial disaster......

How long can you give away the farm before there is no farm left to give away???? I've always wondered how long it would last? Half the fields were Torco cars, and on the IHRA side damn near all of them were. I'm sure that the oil and gas industry is great to be in right now, but come on?

 

[rosco]

I don't know any of the Knoll/ Torco people, but something just isn't right about this and I'm sure it will come out in the wash soon.

My concern about this is, Why did Evan not come here and tell his side of the story, he always has in the past, as for his head injury, the guy did try to run an IHRA race last year, if the old injury was such an issue, why would he have tried to race a T F car, I agree something is not right here, I have been involved with auto racing the past 55 years, every time a big shot arrived on the scene placing his name on several cars or becomes an owner of a large team they disappear faster than a piece of cheese in a mouse trap, the last one I was around Andy Evans ran 5 cars in the Indy 500, also had Christen Powell in the NHRA, no one has heard Boo from him in many years. I told my youngest son several Months ago, just wait this guy Knoll will disappear from the scene soon, then the NHRA will find that they can't allow an owner too control so many teams, it's not just the cars that NHRA has lost, many family's were dependent on their income from Evan, being this late in the off season there are not a lot of jobs out there.

Jim Jannard, John Menard, are Billionaires, no one has ever seen these guys go on an ego trip and plaster their names all over a bunch of race cars, they do have their own teams and do some extra support for others, Connie Kallita is in the same mold, you don't see him getting involved outside of his own team.

 

[none]

This is not good for anybody. What happens when the 2008 season is over? Will the TORCO money be back or will this be just a bad deal getting worst by the hour.

I hope that Evan gets better, I just don't know what he will be coming back to.

 

[rocketman]

Mr. Groom, advertising in drag racing can and is a good investment if the team is a good marketing machine. If it's not then I agree with you. Force and Bernstien have two of the longest advertising deals in not only drag racing and motorsports but in sports period.

On a regional level, my car was seen live by nearly 300,000 people in 2007. my website CapRacing Home Page had over 450,000 hits in 2007. My car was in several newspaper stories in 2007, the documentary about my team was seen on local TV eight times over the holidays and by the feed back I know people watched it. The car was also in a televised parade. Our car also has generated more positive feedback then anything else Capitol sponsors according to the owner of the company. We give out thousands of pictures and posters. That's a good return on investment.

I have had other advertisers approach me wanting to sponsor me. To top it off I was in an ad for Toyota in Time Magazine. The sky is the limit you just got to look for the opportunities and make it happen.

 

[rosco]

Mr. Groom, advertising in drag racing can and is a good investment if the team is a good marketing machine. If it's not then I agree with you. Force and Bernstien have two of the longest advertising deals in not only drag racing and motorsports but in sports period.

On a regional level, my car was seen live by nearly 300,000 people in 2007. my website CapRacing Home Page had over 450,000 hits in 2007. My car was in several newspaper stories in 2007, the documentary about my team was seen on local TV eight times over the holidays and by the feed back I know people watched it. The car was also in a televised parade. Our car also has generated more positive feedback then anything else Capitol sponsors according to the owner of the company. We give out thousands of pictures and posters. That's a good return on investment.

I have had other advertisers approach me wanting to sponsor me. To top it off I was in an ad for Toyota in Time Magazine. The sky is the limit you just got to look for the opportunities and make it happen.

TV exposer is the best you can get, your sponsors are always looking for that exposer, however the NHRA is very selective on who and how long the name is mentioned and exposed to the TV market, just like NASCAR, you see Dupont, Budweiser, Office Depot, Home Depot, Lowes on the screen all the time, how much exposer did Interstate Battery get with JJ Yelly driving, 1/10 of what Home Depot received, same for all the back markers, they never get any TV exposer unless they are being lapped by the leaders.

IMO John Force and Kenny Bernstein have done more for their sponsors than any other drag racer, Just like Tony Stewart, Jimmy Johnson and Jeff Gordon have in NASCAR, Roger Penske with Marlboro and Chip Ganassi with Target in Indy cars