knightrider
Nitro Member
Don't think we will ever get a real answer to this, but I will stand by what I have heard. The Army is the only one allowed to have displays and all the other stuff that pertains to it.
Military Sponsorship... (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Gordon
- Start date
mick
Nitro Member
http://www.competitionplus.com/drag...change-comes-schumacher-has-plenty-of-choices
well, there you have it, all the other branches really ARE involved
after reading that, i'm going open my cold beer with my matco beer
opening tool.....maybe play a little beer pong.
well, there you have it, all the other branches really ARE involved
after reading that, i'm going open my cold beer with my matco beer
opening tool.....maybe play a little beer pong.
TooTall999
Nitro Member
Holy Thread Resurrection Batman !!!
vegasnitro
Nitro Member
Holy Thread Resurrection Batman !!!
Not that impressive ... was only 7 years!!!
I have tremendous respect for Jim Jannard for many reasons, from his invention and development of the “Red” camera for professional movie-making to the manner in which he managed Oakley to the way in which he managed his sponsorships in drag racing.
With that said I must also agree with Mr. Jannard in that there is no exclusivity in terms of keeping other branches of the service out. BUT – and this is a very big “but” – there is an area of exclusivity, and that’s what’s keeping other branches of the military out of drag racing.
The exclusivity is that only the Army is allowed to gather names for future recruiting efforts. Rather that reiterate it all over again, here’s a portion of what I wrote for CompetitionPlus.com last fall:
The second sellout came when NHRA granted the Army the exclusive right to gather names of potential recruits in exchange for sponsorship of the Youth & Education Services program. I’ve written extensively on this topic for both RACER Magazine and CompetitionPlus.com, so won’t go through it again. Here are the hard, cold facts: The NHRA is correct in stating they aren’t keeping any branch of the military out of team sponsorships. However, despite the best efforts of a number of very sharp racing and marketing people, every branch of the military that’s been approached has declined to become involved because without the ability to gather names for later home recruiting visits, all they’d be doing is spending money to have their name on a car. No branch of the military is going to sign up a recruit in the pits. It takes the all-important home visit to seal the deal, and if you can’t gather names, there’s no way to do the critical follow-up. And that’s the way the Army wanted it (and I’ve long since outlined, in detail, how beneficial to the Army the sponsorship of the YES program is).
Just for confirmation, two legendary racers, Kenny Bernstein and Shirley Muldowney, each got close to major military sponsorships, but were turned down at the last step of the process because of the name-gathering restrictions. Bernstein was involved with the Air Force, while Shirley was working with the National Guard. The Guard people told Ms. Muldowney they thought they could make the program happen because the Army is a sister service. Uh-uh. The Army saw the Guard as a recruiting rival, so refused to allow the name-gathering. Instead of going drag racing the Guard went Nationwide Series racing.
The complete editorial can be found here: Competition Plus - Drag Racing Magazine - UP FRONT: THE SELLOUT TIMES THREE
So, what this amounts to is a de facto exclusion of other branches of the military. It’s just not in their best interests to be involved under the current “rules.”
It’s obvious that NHRA Drag Racing would benefit from a major influx of sponsorship dollars from the military, but it’s not likely to happen.
It’s also obvious that NHRA isn’t going to give up the financial gains they make because of the Army program, so it’s unlikely that we’ll see a change – until the Army decides to do something else or NHRA itself somehow forces them to voluntarily allow their military rivals to name gather.
I don’t see that happening.
Jon Asher
Senior Editor
CompetitionPlus.com
With that said I must also agree with Mr. Jannard in that there is no exclusivity in terms of keeping other branches of the service out. BUT – and this is a very big “but” – there is an area of exclusivity, and that’s what’s keeping other branches of the military out of drag racing.
The exclusivity is that only the Army is allowed to gather names for future recruiting efforts. Rather that reiterate it all over again, here’s a portion of what I wrote for CompetitionPlus.com last fall:
The second sellout came when NHRA granted the Army the exclusive right to gather names of potential recruits in exchange for sponsorship of the Youth & Education Services program. I’ve written extensively on this topic for both RACER Magazine and CompetitionPlus.com, so won’t go through it again. Here are the hard, cold facts: The NHRA is correct in stating they aren’t keeping any branch of the military out of team sponsorships. However, despite the best efforts of a number of very sharp racing and marketing people, every branch of the military that’s been approached has declined to become involved because without the ability to gather names for later home recruiting visits, all they’d be doing is spending money to have their name on a car. No branch of the military is going to sign up a recruit in the pits. It takes the all-important home visit to seal the deal, and if you can’t gather names, there’s no way to do the critical follow-up. And that’s the way the Army wanted it (and I’ve long since outlined, in detail, how beneficial to the Army the sponsorship of the YES program is).
Just for confirmation, two legendary racers, Kenny Bernstein and Shirley Muldowney, each got close to major military sponsorships, but were turned down at the last step of the process because of the name-gathering restrictions. Bernstein was involved with the Air Force, while Shirley was working with the National Guard. The Guard people told Ms. Muldowney they thought they could make the program happen because the Army is a sister service. Uh-uh. The Army saw the Guard as a recruiting rival, so refused to allow the name-gathering. Instead of going drag racing the Guard went Nationwide Series racing.
The complete editorial can be found here: Competition Plus - Drag Racing Magazine - UP FRONT: THE SELLOUT TIMES THREE
So, what this amounts to is a de facto exclusion of other branches of the military. It’s just not in their best interests to be involved under the current “rules.”
It’s obvious that NHRA Drag Racing would benefit from a major influx of sponsorship dollars from the military, but it’s not likely to happen.
It’s also obvious that NHRA isn’t going to give up the financial gains they make because of the Army program, so it’s unlikely that we’ll see a change – until the Army decides to do something else or NHRA itself somehow forces them to voluntarily allow their military rivals to name gather.
I don’t see that happening.
Jon Asher
Senior Editor
CompetitionPlus.com
G'ginna
Nitro Member
Someone will correct me if I'm wrong I'm sure, but when my youngest stepson enlisted, they took him in for testing. They have to make certain scores and only after testing and achieving those scores do they choose a branch and job, so it really wouldn't matter who is collecting names, would it?
d'kid
Nitro Member
You enlist in a Branch, USN, USMC, Army, USAF, or Coast Guard(may come under DHS now). so Yes, it matters very much who signs you up. Think of it as Ford vs Chevy, vs Mopar vs Honda. AFTER Boot Camp, Depending of your test results, you go to school for your specialty....
mick
Nitro Member
geez, the only reason i resurrected this thread was it fit with tony's
all encompassing comment about driving for united states....all the branches....
tongue and cheek folks......along with his plethora of other talents
he must be the smartest guy out there
am well aware of the army's exclusivity w/nhra and the air force
and guard almost deals.
all encompassing comment about driving for united states....all the branches....
tongue and cheek folks......along with his plethora of other talents
he must be the smartest guy out there
am well aware of the army's exclusivity w/nhra and the air force
and guard almost deals.
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Ms. Sams, the name-gathering is exactly the point. Because real recruiting involves a lot more than getting someone to sign up at the track, the name-gathering is all-important. Without the in-home follow-up there is no recruit, period.
How is any branch of the service going to get that potential recruit in for testing if they can’t collect his or her name at the track? That’s why the Army is going to fight tooth and nail to keep that exclusive name-gathering “right.” Without it they’d have to fight every other branch of the military for those names and recruits.
Mike, while you’re aware of those deals an awful lot of other people weren’t, just as a lot of people had swallowed the baloney from Glendora that they aren’t keeping out any other branch of the service. They aren’t – but in some respects they really are, whether they’re willing to admit it or not,
Jon Asher
How is any branch of the service going to get that potential recruit in for testing if they can’t collect his or her name at the track? That’s why the Army is going to fight tooth and nail to keep that exclusive name-gathering “right.” Without it they’d have to fight every other branch of the military for those names and recruits.
Mike, while you’re aware of those deals an awful lot of other people weren’t, just as a lot of people had swallowed the baloney from Glendora that they aren’t keeping out any other branch of the service. They aren’t – but in some respects they really are, whether they’re willing to admit it or not,
Jon Asher
G'ginna
Nitro Member
Thanks, I guess I was confused because before his MEPS (I think that's the name of it) he was trying to decide Air Force or Navy.
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