NASCAR's prohibition means no liquor license

By Marty Smith, Turner Sports Interactive
April 26, 2001
9:08 AM EDT (1308 GMT)

Commentary

Oddly enough, the old drinking axiom “beer before liquor, never sicker,” is applicable when describing the current status of Eel River Racing.

Marty Smith

NASCAR chose beer before liquor, and Kenny Wallace and Barry Dodson have never been sicker because of it.

The Seagram Company was all set to hand Eel River Racing a multi-million dollar sponsorship package to place the Crown Royal Fishing Tour logo on the hood of Wallace’s No. 27 Pontiac for the remainder of the 2001 season, but NASCAR shot the deal down like a wounded horse, defenseless against its assault.

According to Wallace, NASCAR said since Crown Royal is “hard liquor,” they wouldn’t allow the deal to go through. Meanwhile, Eel River is so poor, they’re struggling just to keep the doors open.

“It’s just unfortunate that we had that big of a sponsor lined up and were told we couldn’t use it,” Wallace said. “We’ve been working our tails off with all of corporate America, but with the way the economy has been lately, so many ‘straight and narrow’ companies are laying off so many people. We’ve found it hard to get $7 or $8 million from a company that’s straight up because they’ve been suffering lately.

“So Crown Royal showed up in Atlanta, met with NASCAR. They knew what they were up against, so their stand on the sponsorship was the Crown Royal Fishing Tour. They sponsor the professional anglers' tour. So it would be no different than the Winston Cup Series sponsoring something, everybody knows it’s tobacco.

Kenny Wallace

“So that’s the way Crown Royal felt. They felt if Crown Royal Fishing Tours sponsored it, it would be fine, that it was all going to work. We thought everything was fine. Then, all the sudden NASCAR kinda got cold feet.”

Yeah, and an even colder heart. Wallace was adamant that he understood NASCAR’s side of the deal -- you don’t want to go peddling liquor to young kids. I agree that NASCAR’s outlook is of the utmost legitimacy, but what’s to say about the beer, cigarettes and medicine for erectile dysfunction we see zooming around the track every Friday, Saturday and Sunday?

I’m perplexed here. So is Wallace.

“I thought Crown Royal went about it great,” Wallace said. “They did a great job presenting it to NASCAR. I want to strongly emphasize that I understand where NASCAR is coming from. They rule, and I understand that. But when your back’s against the wall like ours is, and there’s only a couple things out there, it really hurts real bad.

“You know, you’ve got a $7 million sponsorship sitting there and they say, naw, it’s hard liquor. To me, what’s the difference between seeing a little 8-year-old boy wearing a Mark Martin Viagra T-shirt? Would you rather have a kid wearing a Mark Martin Viagra T-shirt, or a Kenny Wallace Crown Royal Fishing Tour shirt?

“You can’t even explain to a kid what Viagra is. You can’t even explain that. But you explain to a kid that Crown Royal is the liquor company that sponsors the Fishing Tour and Kenny’s car. I gotta go by what NASCAR says, though. I love racing, it’s just a bummer. We could take it if there were other sponsors out there. But with the economy how it is, there’s just not a bunch of sponsors lined up, knocking on the door ready to spend $10 million.”

Although it's strictly hearsay, rumor has it Penthouse Magazine was in waiting to grace the No. 27 car as well, but NASCAR booted them out the door, too.

I was excited to ask Wallace about this, but a new potential sponsor called in on his other line before I got the chance. If that rumor is true, at least the sanctioning body is consistent with their displeasure of sinful acts.

“They felt that they were opening up a can of worms, that they were going to feel a lot of backlash,” said Wallace, in reference to Crown Royal. “I’ve had some deep conversations. I think they were thinking that people like Mothers Against Drunk Driving would be upset and the fact that other professional sports don’t have hard liquor sponsors.

“My response to them was that I understand that, but this is a new millenium and things change. We felt that NASCAR was probably throwing away $40 million. The way I come up with that figure is that when you let Crown Royal in, Bacardi’s gonna come in, Jack Daniels will come in and you’re gonna sponsor three teams. And with hospitality, signage, it would only make the sport stronger.”

If I were Wallace, I’d have to carry my NASCAR license in a purple bag with yellow trim and “Crown Royal” scripted on the front, for no other reason than to get a rise out of NASCAR.

Marty Smith's column appears every Thursday on NASCAR.com. The opinions listed here are solely those of the writer.