Pep Boys says Labor Day weekend race sponsorship less valuable than Chase race

By Bob Pockrass - Associate Editor
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
The Pep Boys Auto logo adorns the pace car used in last year's Sprint Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. (Atlanta Motor Speedway / Courtesy)

The Pep Boys Auto logo adorns the pace car used in last year's Sprint Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Atlanta Motor Speedway
Courtesy

Sponsorship for a race in NASCAR's Chase For The Sprint Cup is worth more to a sponsor than a non-Chase race, Pep Boys argues in a court filing over a dispute in the sponsorship of Atlanta Motor Speedway’s Labor Day weekend race this year.

AMS sued Pep Boys for missing a payment on its $1.6 million sponsorship for this year’s event, which is scheduled for Sept. 6. Pep Boys sponsored the 2007 fall race at the track and then signed a two-year, $3 million deal to continue sponsoring the event. AMS moved the race from late October to Labor Day for the 2009 season.

Pep Boys has balked at sponsoring the race on the new date, and AMS filed suit in Georgia state court to enforce the sponsorship deal. Pep Boys has moved the case to federal court and filed a counterclaim last Thursday against the track.

Pep Boys claims that Chase races “command a powerful television audience and provide valuable exposure” and says, “[T]his move would deprive Pep Boys of the core benefit for which it had bargained – a fall race during the popular ‘Chase’ (i.e., playoff) portion of the NASCAR season.”

The switch in dates, talked about for months in the NASCAR community, was made official in August 2008. Pep Boys in its complaint, though, states that it was not told of the switch until around the time of the race last year.

“[AMS] destroyed the important fall marketing boost for which Pep Boys had bargained,” Pep Boys states in its complaint. “The date change was also significant because television viewership during the Labor Day weekend is, because of holiday travel and outdoor activities, typically substantially lower than the last Sunday in October in Pep Boys’ core markets. Indeed, that total viewership is often down as much as 20%.”

Pep Boys also claims that selling tickets was a problem for Labor Day weekend races at Auto Club Speedway in California and “was not a problem for the 2007 and 2008 Atlanta Motor Speedway races held in late October during the popular ‘Chase.’”

At the time the date change was announced, one of the primary reasons AMS officials said they moved the race was in hopes of boosting ticket sales.

In addition, the complaint says that marketing in the fall is important to Pep Boys following the typically strong summer season in the automotive aftermarket industry as hot temperatures cause automotive parts and tires to fail and consumers tend to work on their cars more in the nice weather.

Pep Boys’ complaint does not specify the amount of damages. AMS wants Pep Boys to pay it the $1.6 million it pledged in the contract.

Through a spokesman, AMS President Ed Clark declined to comment on the suit because it is a pending legal issue.

Comments

10 responses to "Pep Boys says Labor Day weekend race sponsorship less valuable than Chase race". Post a Comment.
  1. 1
    osbornk said:
    Jun 9, 2009 at 3:01 PM

    Pep Boys were taken by a bait and switch. They should be able to get out of the contract. They bought one thing and were given something else. NA$CAR deserves to lose this suit.

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  2. 2
    larisda said:
    Jun 9, 2009 at 3:37 PM

    It's not NASCAR they are suing, it's SMI.

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  3. 3
    motorman said:
    Jun 9, 2009 at 4:03 PM

    NASCAR had to approve the change so they should bear some of the liability

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  4. 4
    rmdgolfr said:
    Jun 9, 2009 at 6:25 PM

    Pep Boys is absoluytely correct. They were duped by NASCAR and SMI. Nascar seems hell-bent on destroying the empire that they built. Soon, we'll be watching Friday night racing at the local tracks instead of prime-time racing. The sad part is that I'm not sure thats not a bad idea.

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  5. 5
    Werner said:
    Jun 9, 2009 at 9:05 PM

    I'm with the Pep Boys on this one...

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  6. 6
    BILLFAN50 said:
    Jun 10, 2009 at 7:45 AM

    I agree with #4 comment. They should have never moved the Southern 500 from Darlington.

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  7. 7
    STP43FAN said:
    Jun 10, 2009 at 9:27 AM

    BILLFAN50 - Darlington is a weak racing demographic that's tenaciously hanging on to what it has left but in the long run is going nowhere. Darlington was dead and people need to accept that the Southern 500 had to go.

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  8. 8
    STP43FAN said:
    Jun 10, 2009 at 9:28 AM

    Pep Boys' premise - that a Chase race offers a stronger audience and more value to sponsorships - is wrong. The Chase has offered NOTHING.

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  9. 9
    jwm1955 said:
    Jun 10, 2009 at 10:53 AM

    Pep Boys signed a contract to sponsor a race at AMS,they were aware of the possible change of the date of the race therefore if it is anybodys fault it is Pep Boys resposibility to pay.
    In todays world it seems like to me that everybody wants to make an excuse up to why they don't have to pay.
    An with the race on Labor day weekend there would be more exposure.

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  10. 10
    Phoenix987 said:
    Jun 10, 2009 at 5:38 PM

    Unless the contract signed specifically says that the race will be part of the Chase, Pep Boys has little ground. They likely signed on to sponsor the "fall" race, which would still be likely to include the Labor Day weekend race. Pep Boys doesn't really have a case unless the wording in the contract is specific enough to state only a Chase race.

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