GM Cancels Contracts With NHRA Teams

[ROKTMAN]

DETROIT — General Motors filed papers last Tuesday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan canceling 30 of its sports sponsorship contracts, which include four team agreements it has with the National Hot Rod Association.

Specifically, the U.S. automaker pulled out of its agreements with Cagnazzi Racing, KB Racing LLC, Kurt Racing and Pedregon Racing — all NHRA teams it sponsored with funding, vehicles and parts.

After receiving a FedEx letter stating GM's notice of withdrawal, KB Racing owner Ken Black told Competition Plus , "I knew it was coming, I was forewarned. That's why [GM] filed bankruptcy...to get rid of all of this stuff. The biggest thing we are going to lose now are our support vehicles. We get four of them a year. We'll be turning those in as soon as they advise us to."

GM most likely will allow the owners to purchase the seized vehicles, if they want to.

In addition to ending its NHRA involvement, GM also terminated sponsorship agreements with the Charlotte Motor Speedway, Daytona International Speedway, Ryan Newman Motorsports, the Oakland Raiders and five-time British Open champion Tom Watson.

Inside Line says: Don't be surprised to see teams now look to Ford for sponsorship (since Chrysler is in the same boat as GM), although Toyota could be in the picture as well.