5/24/05

Contingency Letters, part 2.

To read the Contigency Letters from May 12th, click here

CONTINGENCY #1

Jok, I agree with some of (what you said), but I think IHRA is trying to show the contingency sponsors that they have their back by making the racers have the decals on to start with. If this policing of the decals will make the sponsors happy and maybe bring more to the sport then I like the idea. 

If not then it is ridiculous to do it. Is it fair to the poor guy who they busted? No. I hope the sponsors still pay him. But do I have my decals right because of it? YES. It is not that hard to do. They do not care over in NORA so you can slap decals.

Steve Furr

CONTINGENCY #2

Mr. Nicholson, First I want to say that I enjoy reading your columns and opinions. Drag Racing Online is a great news forum and you and your colleagues do a great job keeping your readers up on what is going on in the sport.

I just read your Dead On column from May 5th, and wanted to comment from a manufacturer's point of view on slapping decals.

I served as Holley's drag race motorsport manager from 2002-2003. Prior to my tenure in this position, I worked in our tech dept. for several years and worked many NHRA and IHRA races. I have a lot to say about contingency programs, but I will limit my comments to the issue you wrote about in your column.

Contingency policing by the sanctioning bodies has been an issue for many of the major contingency sponsors, including Comp Cams, Moroso, Auto Meter, Edelbrock, Barry Grant, and Mickey Thompson. These manufacturers, along with Holley and others, have been pressuring the sanctioning bodies for several years to tighten up on policing contingency program violations. It became a huge issue for Holley a few years back when we were posting more than 10M dollars in drag racing contingency through all our combined brands (Holley, Hooker, Lunati, Earl's, Weiand, and NOS).

Slapping decals is an issue, and I can assure you that Holley as well as the manufacturers listed above all DO care if a racer has our decals on for the duration of the event. I have personally worked the staging lanes between rounds with reps from all of the above companies watching for cars going rounds and checking to see who is slapping decals. We have even noted if we spotted someone slapping decals from other manufacturers, including competing companies! So, even though you weren't specifically asked if you had them on the whole race when you won or runnered up, someone was probably watching you.

So, why is it such a big deal for sponsors to want their decals on your car throughout the event? Because that is what we are paying for. When we post contingency for a product for a race, it is for the entire event, not just one round. You stated that all the other rounds except the final round are worthless, that no one purchasing race products is watching anyway. Then why the hell are all of us manufacturers spending hundreds of thousands of dollars every season to advertise on your car if no one is watching? I agree that at an IHRA points race in Cedar

Falls, IA, no one is watching, but there are other racers participating who are potential customers. At a national event, with thousands of spectators walking the pits, there are thousands of opportunities for consumers with street rods, bracket cars, or even a 4WD to see a Holley carb or Comp Cam decal on a participant's car. This is the exposure that we are paying for.

How many winners circle photos of race cars from events appear in magazines or on websites? Just check out the event photo section from the NHRA Bristol race on DRO; none of the photos taken were from the winners circle. A photographer can snap a picture of your dragster at any time during the event, and that photo can end up in a magazine or online. We want to see our decals on your car in that photo. We want Joe Blow consumer to see those decals on your car. That is what we are paying for. If contingency sponsors only required their decals on for final rounds, we would be missing out on the largest percentage of the media exposure.

What if a picture snapped of "Project 4-Link" from an early round of a race showed up in one of the drag mags without a Demon sticker on it? Would it be fair to Barry to pay you winner or r/u contingency for that same race? If the picture was part of race coverage for the same event?