Grand Rapids native Johnny Benson Jr. and his Red Horse Racing team are either going to have to continue its sponsorship search or accept less television time. That’s what the defending NASCAR Camping World Trucks champion said when he visited Grand Rapids on Monday with Michigan International Speedway president Roger Curtis. It appears Benson has a company lined up, but the television networks that carry the races, including Speed, which airs the majority of the events, have Red Horse Racing putting the brakes on that plan for now. “We have somebody in the works to do it, but TV said they would avoid us if we had this sponsor, and it’s a gun manufacturer,” Benson said. “We are not sure why that would be the case, but that’s the information they are giving us. We have to choose whether we want to head down that road or not. We would hate to have good finishes and run in the top three and have TV avoid us for that reason. “Originally, I said NASCAR had revoked that, and it wasn’t. NASCAR called me Tuesday after I had said that they had shot it down,” Benson added. “Apparently it is the TV. It is a very interesting scenario. We have had other (gun) manufacturers in there, and why it is an issue today, I don’t know. I haven’t had a conversation with them yet to get to the bottom of it. “I think we are going to have to explore it. Money is money. That’s going to have to be one of the things we have to do. But it’s awful hard to sell a sponsorship if they know they are not going to show us. That’s a tough place to be in for both sides.”(MichiganLive.com)(4-1-2009)
UPDATE: In these crazy economic times, the last thing anyone needs is one more obstacle toward making a living. So it seemed ridiculous that defending NASCAR truck champion Johnny Benson and his team would be told that if their potential sponsorship deal came through – from an undisclosed gun manufacturer – they wouldn’t be shown on television. But that’s what happened, Benson told his hometown Grand Rapids (Mich.) Press. First he thought it was NASCAR’s call, but then he learned, “apparently it is the TV.” One problem. Not only was the representation of the situation untrue as it related to Speed TV, the series’ primary network, but no one in a position to make such a decision for Speed even knew about the sponsor, a spokesman said. Although Newscorp, Speed’s parent company, follows a common television practice in not accepting advertising for weapons and ammunition, the network “does not omit coverage” of a team or venue because of such a sponsor, the spokesman said. NASCAR has had firearm sponsors before; a shotgun manufacturer was prominent in the Cup series in the 1990s, and more recently an online dealer has become involved in the truck series.(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)(4-10-2009)
