It's official, Castrol out at JFR after 2014 (1 Viewer)

[john]

Castrol Out At John Force Racing After 2014 | rpm2night.com

that's the link to the story.

 

[Paul]

Well, things have gone from bad to worse for JFR. I am not a fan of this team, but this really sucks! We need JFR out there! Hopefully he can land on his feet. Much like when Budweiser left Bernstein, you have to be thankful the sponsor gave them plenty of notice. Castrol stayed around for 29 years when this deal is up, one short of Budweiser. Thank you Castrol for supporting NHRA for that long, not many of stayed around for that long.

 

[Mark]

So does this say more about JFR or the NHRA?

 

[SundayNiagara]

So does this say more about JFR or the NHRA?

A major house cleaning in Glendora is in order here. If John Force, "the best mouth in all of motorsports AND the public face of drag racing" loses major sponsors, who is to blame? N-H-R-A!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Further, Castrol/JFR was asked by NHRA to delay the announcement until the season ended and they declined, saying, "the sooner, the better.

 

[HEMI6point1]

This really blows! But if anyone can grab a primary sponsor, it's John. I'm sure he'll land on his feet.

 

[You!]

While this is certainly bad for JFR, it is equally traumatic for every team out there in every category. This will send shockwaves through the industry and people will be/are scrambling for $.

This is only the beginning...

 

[Just Paul]

I can only thank Ford and Castrol for giving almost a year and a half notice. If there is such thing as a good way to go out, this is it.


Some teams have had the rug pulled out from under them at the last second before the season starts, or right as the previous year is ending.

 

[legendman]

Don't care what team it is never like to see sponsors pull out.
Not good. Should be an interesting off season, gonna be like walking on broken glass around the Brownsburg shop

 

[legendman]

I can only thank Ford and Castrol for giving almost a year and a half notice. If there is such thing as a good way to go out, this is it.



Some teams have had the rug pulled out from under them at the last second before the season starts, or right as the previous year is ending.

True, if our employers would give a year heads up that would be cool

 

[Baron]

A major house cleaning in Glendora is in order here. If John Force, "the best mouth in all of motorsports AND the public face of drag racing" loses major sponsors, who is to blame? N-H-R-A!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Further, Castrol/JFR was asked by NHRA to delay the announcement until the season ended and they declined, saying, "the sooner, the better.

There has been a long standing need for the detached and disinterested management at NHRA to rethink the product, reduce the costs of competition, and relate better with the fans and the sponsors. It isn't easy to do and I am not going to pretend that I have a simple answer.
We do know the parameters of the changes needed.
Let's go Glendora.
Ed

 

[Sean D, shondoo]

A major house cleaning in Glendora is in order here. If John Force, "the best mouth in all of motorsports AND the public face of drag racing" loses major sponsors, who is to blame? N-H-R-A!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Further, Castrol/JFR was asked by NHRA to delay the announcement until the season ended and they declined, saying, "the sooner, the better.

There has been a long standing need for the detached and disinterested management at NHRA to rethink the product, reduce the costs of competition, and relate better with the fans and the sponsors. It isn't easy to do and I am not going to pretend that I have a simple answer.
We do know the parameters of the changes needed.
Let's go Glendora.
Ed

I'm interested to know why you guys think this particular issue is any fault of NHRA's? Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of things that have been let get out of hand by Glendora, but the publicity and facetime of everything John Force Racing isn't one of them. As a matter of fact, that particular subject is one of the many that have been beaten to death on this message board as far as the obscene amount of air time JFR gets over everyone else. NHRA and ESPN have went over the top.........WAY over the top, to ensure that the face of the NHRA gets more than his share of air time as far as I'm concerned.

When it comes to the difficulty of new sponsors coming in, or the short-lived stay of others, then yes, I agree there are plenty of things we can tie back to the practices of the sanctioning body. But this particular case doesn't apply for me. I'm not even sure that I can tie it to the "sign of the times" either. 29 years has been one he!! of a commitment in the grand scheme of things.

Sean D

 

[You!]

...reduce the costs of competition,...

My dad had this Dymo label he made on his tool box....from the late 50's..."There is no substitute for cubic money".

You will never ever be able to control how much money anyone spends on anything. So that's not gonna work...

 

[JB3]

A major house cleaning in Glendora is in order here. If John Force, "the best mouth in all of motorsports AND the public face of drag racing" loses major sponsors, who is to blame? N-H-R-A!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Further, Castrol/JFR was asked by NHRA to delay the announcement until the season ended and they declined, saying, "the sooner, the better.

Oh my God ... here we go. A company invests in a single entity (JFR ) for 29 consecutive years, they decide it is finally time to move on and this is NHRA's fault? I am sorry but you are tryng to connect 2 dots that aren't even in the same universe. Your obvious dislike for NHRA management is evident, but everything you perceive as a negative in the sport cannot be placed at the feet of NHRA. Did you really expect Castrol to stay forever? If you did, you are not paying attention to the world around you.

 

[SundayNiagara]

Oh my God ... here we go. A company invests in a single entity (JFR ) for 29 consecutive years, they decide it is finally time to move on and this is NHRA's fault? I am sorry but you are tryng to connect 2 dots that aren't even in the same universe. Your obvious dislike for NHRA management is evident, but everything you perceive as a negative in the sport cannot be placed at the feet of NHRA. Did you really expect Castrol to stay forever? If you did, you are not paying attention to the world around you.

Your knowledge of NHRA and its history is Quite limited!

 

[None]

There has been a long standing need for the detached and disinterested management at NHRA to rethink the product, reduce the costs of competition, and relate better with the fans and the sponsors. It isn't easy to do and I am not going to pretend that I have a simple answer.
We do know the parameters of the changes needed.
Let's go Glendora.
Ed

Never will happen with Compton and Light still there. Compton and Light will be there until there is a revolt by all the members (both Pro and Sportsman) to get their voting rights back.

 

[Paul]

Never will happen with Compton and Light still there. Compton and Light will be there until there is a revolt by all the members (both Pro and Sportsman) to get their voting rights back.

Even in companies that are doing well its very rare that the senior management team stays in place as long as the current Glendora squad has held the reins.

In a company that's not doing well its pretty much unheard of that the management stays in tact and we are seeing how quickly things go south when that does happen.

The only reason this is happening is that Glendora has the NHRA members snowed into thinking that there is no way to force a change in the board members.

This isn't true.

The NHRA is a business league non-profit with no private ownership. If its not doing a satisfactory job of furthering the business interests of it members, ie making NHRA drag racing grow and prosper, its members can force a management change in the organization.

It would take a majority of the NHRA members banding together to make this happen, hopefully that will happen before its too late.

 

[None]

Oh my God ... here we go. A company invests in a single entity (JFR ) for 29 consecutive years, they decide it is finally time to move on and this is NHRA's fault? I am sorry but you are tryng to connect 2 dots that aren't even in the same universe. Your obvious dislike for NHRA management is evident, but everything you perceive as a negative in the sport cannot be placed at the feet of NHRA. Did you really expect Castrol to stay forever? If you did, you are not paying attention to the world around you.

You are right. Sponsors come and go. But the decline of NHRA. Lower attendance, lower car counts, Sportsman and second tier Pro teams treated like dirt, poor television deal, and safety going down hill to save money can be placed right at the feet of Compton and Light. The more money they save, the more for their bonuses at the end of the year.

 

[None]

Even in companies that are doing well its very rare that the senior management team stays in place as long as the current Glendora squad has held the reins.

In a company that's not doing well its pretty much unheard of that the management stays in tact and we are seeing how quickly things go south when that does happen.

The only reason this is happening is that Glendora has the NHRA members snowed into thinking that there is no way to force a change in the board members.

This isn't true.

The NHRA is a business league non-profit with no private ownership. If its not doing a satisfactory job of furthering the business interests of it members, ie making NHRA drag racing grow and prosper, its members can force a management change in the organization.

It would take a majority of the NHRA members banding together to make this happen, hopefully that will happen before its too late.

All they have to do is park their cars.

 

[TooTall999]

You are right. Sponsors come and go. But the decline of NHRA. Lower attendance, lower car counts, Sportsman and second tier Pro teams treated like dirt, poor television deal, and safety going down hill to save money can be placed right at the feet of Compton and Light. The more money they save, the more for their bonuses at the end of the year.

Safety going downhill? Can you back up that unfounded allegation and it's relevancy?
The writing was on the wall as Castrol was bought out by BP. Much like Budweiser being bought out, bigger corporate entities see the costs of funding a team like this as an excessive expense for the return on investment. Castrol may have sponsored JFR for 29 years, BP did not. I'm really hoping JFR does land on it's feet with both Ford and Castrol pulling out, or the fuel classes will be primarily a DSR show.

 

[mw6789]

All they have to do is park their cars.

Exactly---If even the top 10 pro cars in each category sat idle for a national event, I would think it would get NHRA's attention. But in my opinion, NHRA is only one part of the problem. Dont forget our economy is still in the toilet---regardless of what government propaganda the media spews. We have also beat to death on this forum the fact that our demographic is greying and the younger folks have other things to do. It certainly hurts when the guy who is arguably the biggest star in the sport loses 2 major sponsors back to back. But before we toss NHRA under the bus, I think we need to recognize they are not totally the problem here.