Blue-Emu confirmed that it has dropped its sponsorship of NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace after the driver rage-quit Sunday's iRacing event, and an exec stated that the company "wouldn't be invoiced" by Richard Petty Motorsports for the race, according to Darren Rovell of THE ACTION NETWORK. Blue-Emu Exec VP Ben Blessing rhetorically asked, "Can you imagine if he did that in real life on a track?" The pain-relief company started sponsoring RPM drivers in '15 and had "done 10 real races over the past five years." Blue-Emu is "sponsoring the races on a week-by-week basis." It also is sponsoring driver Landon Cassill, and Blessing said, "Landon has been a real pro. He's practicing six to eight hours a day with our brand in the background" (ACTIONNETWORK.com, 4/5). ESPN's Tony Kornheiser said he was initially happy Wallace quit the race after getting into a crash early on, noting, "This isn't a real race. If you get hit in a real race, you hit the other guy in a real race." However, after learning Wallace was sponsored, Kornhesier said, "People put money up for him to do this thing on television. He agreed to do it on television. Once there's money involved and you say I am going to do it, then I don't think you can walk." ESPN's Michael Wilbon said if a driver has a sponsor, he has a "responsibility to that sponsor." Wilbon: "So, no, you can't just quit" (“PTI,” ESPN, 4/6).
TRYING NEW THINGS TO REACH FANS: Dale Earnhardt Jr. noted race teams are "trying everything they can to keep their sponsors and keep their employees," and iRacing offers an "opportunity for you to get engagement for the fans." Earnhardt: "It's also an opportunity for you to get your sponsors and partners, who are getting nothing right now, on TV, which leads to social engagement, either promoting the race or after the race talking about it. It's not as good as the real thing, there is not the at-track engagement or activation, but it's really the only thing we’ve got going." NBCSPORTS.com's Dustin Long notes Earnhardt is "using his virtual car in the Pro Invitational Series for JR Motorsports sponsors until racing returns." Earnhardt: "For example for (virtual) Texas we ran the Hellmann's car and when we run the Sunday race at Richmond, I'm going to run another JRM initiative" (NBCSPORTS.com, 4/7).
