NASCAR: ‘Terrifying’ sponsor dropped ahead of Bristol Night Race

A “terrifying” NASCAR Cup Series sponsor has been dropped ahead of the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

J.J. Yeley is set to compete as Rick Ware Racing’s fourth driver in tonight’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway, the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race.

Yeley is set to drive the #54 Ford in this 500-lap race around the four-turn, 0.533-mile (0.858-kilometer) high-banked Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. He is set to start in 36th place out of 39 drivers.

However, he was initially slated to drive it with primary sponsorship from Slayer, an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California that were formed in 1981.

Slayer posted about this sponsorship on Instagram, sharing an image of Yeley’s #54 Ford.

However, that will not happen, both Slayer and Rick Ware Racing confirmed, and the reasoning for this development is somewhat bizarre.

Here is what a Slayer statement about the matter said, according to Deadspin.

"“Today, reportedly due to reactionary concerns from other long-time participating sponsors, Slayer has been pulled as the primary sponsor, and all Slayer signage has been removed from the car that was to be piloted by Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series veteran, JJ Yeley. The incontrovertible PODS Moving & Storage will now sponsor that car. After nearly 40 years, Slayer apparently remains as terrifying to some as ever.”"

As Slayer referenced in their statement and as you can see in the featured image for this article, PODS Moving & Storage is the sponsor on Yeley’s #54 Ford for this race. PODS is a Clearwater, Florida-based moving and storage company that  founded in 1998.

Here is what a Rick Ware Racing statement about the matter said.

"“Rick Ware Racing and Slayer announced a partnership for Bristol Motor Speedway several weeks ago. There were no contracts or monetary transactions between either parties. Unfortunately, Slayer’s brand image and beliefs, and Rick Ware Racing and our long-time partners’ image and beliefs do not align. As a team owner, we thought it would be best to forgo the partnership. RWR wishes nothing but the best to Slayer and their fans and wishes the band a successful Final World Tour.”"

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Interesting.

Did they just find out that their views don’t align, and they’re allowed to just abruptly end their sponsorship agreement because of it?

Of course not — because according to Rick Ware Racing, there was never a hard agreement to begin with.

“No contracts or monetary transactions”.

So one of the most underfunded teams in the Cup Series are running a series-high four cars for the first time this season, and one of their primary sponsors hadn’t paid a dime?

With all things considered, it really makes you wonder if the true reason Rick Ware Racing cut ties with Slayer was because the team and their “long-time partners’ image and beliefs do not align” with those of Slayer. Did it really have nothing to do with a financial element, or a lack thereof?

I won’t speculate. Those who are in positions where they need to know the answers to these questions, know the answers to these questions.

This isn’t quite as strange as the Rich Energy-Haas sponsorship debacle in Formula 1, in some part because it likely won’t last for more than this one night, but it will certainly go down as one of the major motorsports sponsorship blunders of 2019.

Tonight’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race, which is the 24th of 36 races on the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series schedule, is set to be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network from Bristol Motor Speedway beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET.