View Full Version : NASCAR Lowers Boom on “Drink Bottle War”
Steve99
07-28-04, 02:37 PM
I just find this amusing for some reason.
NASCAR has ordered its race winners to cease the practice of knocking promotional soft drink bottles off the roof of their cars in Victory Lane. NASCAR president Mike Helton told drivers in a pre-race briefing at New Hampshire last weekend, "You can move away from it or move around it to be polite and respectful to everyone involved."
While sponsorship conflicts are nothing new in racing, the issue has come to a head in Nextel Cup this year as soft drink giants Pepsi and Coca-Cola have waged a war of position in America’s most popular racing series. Some drivers have been noticeably eager to knock away bottles if, for example, Pepsi-owned Tropicana sponsors a race and their own winning car is backed by Coke.
NASCAR spokesman Mike Zizzo clarified Helton's comments on Monday: "It was just the representation on TV in terms of the professionalism of our athletes, in terms of knocking bottles off rather than just leave it alone. If they want to move out of the area where the bottle is – that's what Mike said to them – there are ways to work around it. But we need to co-exist."
speedtv.com link (http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/nascar/12233/)
But that's the best part of the victory lane celebration. Seeing which items get tossed from the roof.
I wonder why Helton didn't just ask one of the Frances why they sold the naming rights for victory lane at all the ISC tracks to Gatorade, and then turned around sold the rights to put drink bottles on the roof of the winning cars to Powerade. (Then add in the "Coke Racing Family" and Pepsi sponsored drivers.)
You can't burn the candle from both ends, and then be surprised when you get burned.
Sean O'Gorman
07-28-04, 02:58 PM
You can't burn the candle from both ends, and then be surprised when you get burned.
Indeed. Its going to be entertaining when that particular situation blows up in their faces.
nissan gtp
07-28-04, 07:51 PM
I'd like to see the Bacardi 500 with a win by a coke-a-cola guy (Stewart maybe)... he could hop out, mix up a nice rum 'n coke, and thank BOTH sponsors
:thumbup:
Skater_36
08-04-04, 02:37 PM
But that's the best part of the victory lane celebration. Seeing which items get tossed from the roof.
I wonder why Helton didn't just ask one of the Frances why they sold the naming rights for victory lane at all the ISC tracks to Gatorade, and then turned around sold the rights to put drink bottles on the roof of the winning cars to Powerade. (Then add in the "Coke Racing Family" and Pepsi sponsored drivers.)
You can't burn the candle from both ends, and then be surprised when you get burned.
Is it just me or are other people getting tired of the naked greed of NASCAR/The France Family? I honestly believe they would sell their mothers if the price was right. The Crown Royal deal they stole from Roush was pretty bad, but the latest fine for Johnson obscurring a competitors product is outright ridiculous.
I used to like NASCAR in the late 70's and 80's, it was not sanitized and the drivers were open and honest. The racing was real and "debris" flags flew less often. Now it's a made for TV commercial with corn pone slicksters for announcers (Fox- Waltrip and co. make the broadcasts unwatchable) and the driver interviews are boring and predictable.
Does NASCAR know, or care, how bad they look to the public these days or are they too busy selling merchandise deals?
Steve99
08-04-04, 06:04 PM
I don't understand why NASCAR is stealing sponsors from teams/drivers. What do they do with that money. Once NASCAR/ISC sucks all the sponsor money up who is going to be able to afford to race?
Audi_A4
08-04-04, 06:18 PM
I don't understand why NASCAR is stealing sponsors from teams/drivers. What do they do with that money. Once NASCAR/ISC sucks all the sponsor money up who is going to be able to afford to race?
easy its the $$$ and NASCAR is a business
TKGAngel
08-04-04, 07:04 PM
And what's amazing is that Jimmie Johnson got fined $10k this weekend for putting a Lowe's sign in front of the Powerade bottle. He didn't knock it down, he "worked around it" which is what Helton said they should do. Even funnier is that in the rulebook, it falls under the category of "actions detrimental to stock car racing."
Methanolandbrats
08-04-04, 07:27 PM
What's even more amazing is people think that high speed soap opera is motorsport.
Adding insult to injury is that apparently, at one point, the sign fell over, and a NASCAR official put it back up in front of the bottles.
Just when you thought the days of NASCAR being mocked for "The Hat Man" were finally behind us, they come full circle and bring us this stuff.
It's almost as if they're taking money from these guys with one hand, and slapping them on the back with the other.
Madmaxfan2
08-04-04, 09:53 PM
This proves NASCAR has turned into a hypocritical money whore machine. A parody of modern auto racing. The sweaky clean, christian family PR image that has an infield scene that rivals a Roman Empire Orgy. Drivers that don't do drugs or go on strike but knock each other out on the racetrack or punch journalists. Manipulated race outcomes but boy don't cover that NASCAR corporate sponsor drink, if even it is a competitor of your teams sponsor.
What a crock!
Brickman
08-05-04, 12:18 PM
First off I think the drivers have to grow up, tossing and throwing other sponsors products looks unprofessional and childish. Batteries, softdrinks, thirst quenchers, etc. Face the car with the camera's back to the car. Leave the products alone.
Simple solution.
Simple solution.
Unless you want the camera see the logos all over your car.
What will probably end up happening is Pepsi will pay the fine for any driver who knocks over a Powerade bottle. NASCAR will act upset, but secretly love all the press.
Brickman
08-05-04, 02:10 PM
Unless you want the camera see the logos all over your car.
What will probably end up happening is Pepsi will pay the fine for any driver who knocks over a Powerade bottle. NASCAR will act upset, but secretly love all the press.
They don't show much of the car on TV anyways, they interview the driver and you see the number on the roof. It's a big non-issue started by Jeff Gordon winning the Coca-Cola 600 and knocking over bottles... they should just pull their winnings if they act childish. Win the race and don your new and improved sponsors hat.
http://www.villagehatshop.com/media/beer-hardhat.gif
Madmaxfan2
08-05-04, 03:50 PM
Unless you want the camera see the logos all over your car.
What will probably end up happening is Pepsi will pay the fine for any driver who knocks over a Powerade bottle. NASCAR will act upset, but secretly love all the press.
The parody continues.
The whacking of sponsor bottles has been going on for a long time now. Before he got a job working for NASCAR and shut his site down, Mike McCarthy's motorsportstv.com used to do weekly reviews of the victory lane celebrations. The chucking of rival sponsor's bottles (and fake swigs of your own sponsor's product) got weekly reviews there.
But, when NASCAR paid him off... er... hired him, the site dissapeared from the Internet.
oddlycalm
08-06-04, 04:43 PM
I honestly believe they would sell their mothers if the price was right.
Interesting you should mention that. I purchased their mothers for $12.60, an old office chair and an paper shredder some time back. They don't eat much and the kids seem to like them ok. Apparently Helton goes through office chairs like you wounldn't believe, and they wore their shredder out after the Earnhardt/wall incident.
oc
Jeff didn't take the car to victory lane. :eek:
Jeff didn't take the car to victory lane. :eek:
Will there be fallout? Sponsors paid for victory circle product positioning. Will they get there money back?
George
I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought, "Now there's a good way to keep the Powerade bottles off the roof!"
What was really funny was when the NBC pit reporter went to interview him, Jeff turned his back to the camera, walked over to the car, reached in, got his sunglasses, put them on, and then did the interview.
:rofl:
Madmaxfan2
08-09-04, 09:51 AM
Gordon did not pay the whore this time. Nascar of course is publically saying it was an impromptu celbration, but who is kidding whom. NASCAR has gotten so greedy they are competing with the independent contractors know as teams. Talk about killing the goose that laid the golden eggs. Remember, the third generation of the France family is in charge, kinda like another third generation family member screwing things up.
Victory lane should belong to the sponsors of the team that won the race. Why else do they sponsor a team...to get the ultimate exposure. It's what makes teams, sponsors and drivers work harder. Over selling of sponsorship by NASCAR, is penny wise and pound foolish.
Skater_36
08-09-04, 01:39 PM
I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought, "Now there's a good way to keep the Powerade bottles off the roof!"
What was really funny was when the NBC pit reporter went to interview him, Jeff turned his back to the camera, walked over to the car, reached in, got his sunglasses, put them on, and then did the interview.
:rofl:
Look for a new rule to be put in place that will make " spontaneous" celebrations a fineable offense. NA$CAR doesn't want drivers bypassing victory lane after they sold the rights to it.
Look for a new rule to be put in place that will make " spontaneous" celebrations a fineable offense. NA$CAR doesn't want drivers bypassing victory lane after they sold the rights to it.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — NASCAR is expected to clarify its Victory Lane requirements this week after Jeff Gordon skipped the ceremony following his win at the Brickyard 400.
Gordon did not drive his car into Victory Lane at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday. Instead, he stopped his car on the track and got out, celebrating with his crew as they ran to join him.
By doing so, he avoided being seen with a large bottle of sports drink made by a NASCAR sponsor that conflicts with Gordon's sponsors.
``I'm sure I'm going to get in some kind of trouble over it,'' he said after the race. ``But, you know what? Right now I don't care.''
NASCAR spokesman Jim Hunter said it was undecided Monday if Gordon would be penalized for failing to drive into Victory Lane.
However, Hunter said the sanctioning body would likely issue clarifications this week for what is expected from winning drivers after the race.
The winner's circle flap has been brewing for some time because NASCAR has made PowerAde the official sponsor of Victory Lane. PowerAde is made by Coca-Cola, and several drivers have sponsorship deals with Pepsi.
The Pepsi-backed drivers have taken offense to being photographed or televised with a huge blue bottle of PowerAde on top of their car. Initially, they were knocking the bottle off of their cars as they climbed out.
But NASCAR president Mike Helton told them three weeks ago not to touch the bottles.
Jimmie Johnson, Gordon's teammate, circumvented the order two weeks ago by placing a sign in front of the bottle after his win at Pocono Raceway. He was then fined $10,000 for it.
Although there is nothing in the rule book addressing what drivers are required to do, the entire celebration is a made-for-TV choreographed moment in which a driver is told to sit inside his car until the cameras are live so viewers at home can see their reaction when they climb out.
Once given the go-ahead to get out of the car, the Pepsi-sponsored drivers can not prevent being seen with the blue bottle on top of the vehicle.
Gordon said it was not his intent to avoid the PowerAde bottle, but was disappointed that his desire to celebrate on the track is now being scrutinized.
``To me, we take away so much from these victories when we pull into Victory Lane and it's all about getting the interview and it's all about putting the hat on, it's all about mentioning the sponsor,'' he said. ``I want to just, you know, jump up and down and hang out with my guys.''
pineapple
08-09-04, 08:29 PM
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — ``To me, we take away so much from these victories when we pull into Victory Lane and it's all about getting the interview and it's all about putting the hat on, it's all about mentioning the sponsor,'' he said. ``I want to just, you know, jump up and down and hang out with my guys.''
Spontaneity and a real sense of celebration have to take a backseat to a scripted hokey "TV moment". It doesn't take very much logic for even the most brainwashed NASCAR viewer to start questioning the "reality" of the rest of the show.
Brickman
08-10-04, 03:11 AM
I don't know if Jeff parked it on the front straight because it was his fourth Brickyard win, or to escape the bottles. Frankly I don't care. He dominated, deserved the win, and I'm not even a Gordon fan.
Skater_36
08-10-04, 09:19 AM
Spontaneity and a real sense of celebration have to take a backseat to a scripted hokey "TV moment". It doesn't take very much logic for even the most brainwashed NASCAR viewer to start questioning the "reality" of the rest of the show.
NA$CAR is starting to look like a successful television series that hit major popularity, cashed in on merchandising and still has viewers but the story lines are getting old and the characters are too predictable.
Look for a new story (race) to have Dale Jr. driving through the pain of his injuries (Corvette fire) and winning an episode (race) soon. The writers should also try to create an episode that has a veteran driver winning a race so those fans don't get tired of watching.
NA$CAR is starting to look like a successful television series that hit major popularity, cashed in on merchandising and still has viewers but the story lines are getting old and the characters are too predictable.
Look for a new story (race) to have Dale Jr. driving through the pain of his injuries (Corvette fire) and winning an episode (race) soon. The writers should also try to create an episode that has a veteran driver winning a race so those fans don't get tired of watching.
Maybe Jeff or Dale Jr. will jump over a shark! :)
4wheeldrifter
08-10-04, 12:27 PM
I don't know if Jeff parked it on the front straight because it was his fourth Brickyard win, or to escape the bottles. Frankly I don't care. He dominated, deserved the win, and I'm not even a Gordon fan.
I'm thinking that, after Talladega, he figured one of the nice fans would toss him a free beer. I didn't see any come over the fence. He must have been a bit disappointed at that.
Madmaxfan2
08-10-04, 03:42 PM
You won't believe the interchange between the tower, particuliarly Tim Hoots and the spotters on the radio. I actually got to visit the tower at Watkins Glen one year during a Busch North race. I can say the drivers are made aware how many yellow flag laps there are soon after the yellow flag has been displayed. How much more manuipulation is possible boggles the mind.
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