Haas’ legal troubles drove away Best Buy
Quote selected text Published November 10th, 2007 in NASCAR News
A Best Buy official says the legal troubles of Haas CNC Racing owner Gene Haas were one of several factors in the company’s decision to move its sponsorship to Gillett Evernham Motorsports’ No. 19 for the 2008 Sprint Cup Series.
“It was a variable, no doubt [about] it,” said Brad Morrill, senior motorsports manager for Best Buy following the announcement that it would back the car driven by Elliott Sadler. “Any time you have something like that happen, you have to put that into your variable package.
“But it wasn’t the final variable at all. … Many athletes get in trouble and companies still sponsor them.”
“We were with Haas for three years, three really good years - they got us into this sport,” Morrill said. “We had a good learning experience with those guys. We got to a point where we were at the end of our contract this year with them.
“As any good sponsor should, we wanted to check the market and we looked around and found this opportunity. Having Elliott with our brand and Ray [Evernham] with the performance on the track and the Gillett guys from the [business-to-business] side was just a strong package that we just focused that way.”
Bookmark to:
- Haas not looking to sell team despite legal woes
- One Count Dismissed in Court Case for Gene Haas
- Nextel Cup Team Owner Haas Arrested on Tax Fraud
- Haas to plead guilty in tax plot, will serve prison time
- Haas CNC Racing names Mayfield’s number, crew chief
Are we supposed to be surprised by this tidbit? You can’t blame Green for this mess. It’s case of a greedy person and company thinking they’re smarter than the federal government. With all the watchdogs in place, Mean Gene thought he could fool them. Add on another 10 years for his handling of his race teams and chasing away of quality sponsors. Joe Custer, this is YOUR last stand. And Gene be careful. Don’t drop the soap!