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April 28, 2007
360OTC Dropped as World of Outlaws Title Sponsor
I've mentioned a few times in this space that something seems very off about 360OTC, the primary sponsor for Jeremy Mayfield's #36 team, and that they were removed as title sponsor by the World of Outlaws from their Late Model division makes me suspect even more that their sponsorship of the #36 team may not last long-term. The CEO of the World Racing Group, Tom Deery said,
“We enthusiastically promoted the 360OTC brand and were delivering, and even over delivering, on our obligations in the partnership. Unfortunately, Rockford-Montgomery Labs and its 360OTC brand were not able to live up to its responsibilities and obligations and we are effectively ending the sponsorship.
Of course I don't really know exactly how 360OTC didn't live up to their obligations, but I would guess that for one thing they likely stopped paying their bills. Nothing causes a partnership between a sponsor and an organization to be ended quicker than when the money stops coming in. It may also be that Rockford-Montgomery, the parent company of 360OTC made some promises about how they were going to market their World of Outlaws sponsorship that they failed to follow through on. In Nascar it also seems as if they also haven't made as much of a splash as they indicated they were going to do when they first signed on to sponsor the #36 car. However, they must be continuing to pay Bill Davis Racing for their sponsorship, since they're on Mayfield's #36 this weekend, and also the trucks of Johnny Benson and Tyler Walker. I just have to wonder how long that's going to continue, especially if they still struggle to get their product into stores as they have so far. I think BDR could have problems if 360OTC stops paying the bills. They've run trucks without sponsorship before, but a lack of outside funding coming in could interfere with their ability to be competitive on the Cup level where speed costs money. And speed is something they most definitely need to help the #36 qualify for races.
Posted by silverdsl at April 28, 2007 12:18 PM