After Shoe signed Valvoline to an associate contract, Evan Knoll made it clear that Valvoline signage was not allowed on the cars that he sponsored. That rule was ignored and Mr. Knoll took matters in his own hands by removing the Valvoline decals from Melanie's T/F and Mike's F/C- "in the staging lanes"! Power to ya Evan Knoll!

Did this happen today? I know I saw a Valvoline sticker last weekend and it appears the sticker is still on Mike Ashley's FC. Take a look at this picture from yesterday.

http://www.nhra.com/2006/events/race...ay/Photo11.htm

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Now that's a bold move!

Schumachers team looks like it's having a little trouble keeping all it's sponsors happy.

Hope they work it all out.

-85% jimmy

I'm glade to see Evan spread the wealth to other teams!
Sometimes in the art of getting extra funding, (sponsors), you forget your place I think Don has just found that out the hard way!
He is going to loose 2 teams and an associate sponsor for the rest of his camp because of the moves he made some times getting to big for your own good isn't a good thing.
Hell Matco pulled it's sponsorship also.
Why doesn't Don sponsor his own electric company on one of his cars that would speak volumes instead he plays with other peoples dollars and saves his own which is smart business really?
This is going to get very interesting to watch play out!
I want to say I do respect Don he is a damn good businessman and I hope he is around the sport for many more years so please don't take this out of context.

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a.k.a. Megadeth

I read a rumor either at comp plus or DRO that Knoll may be moving his both Troxel and Ashley to the Lucas Oil camp to be teammates with Lucas and Bartone.

Hmmm, like the man said Don't Mess With Mr. Knoll!

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No offense to Lucas/Bartone/Big Jim but if he does move it, then you can kiss the 4.69 he ran yesterday goodbye. That is unless Corradi goes with him. Who exactly does he work for? Shoe right?

Who didn't see a situation like this coming? Shoe and Knoll are probably the two "busiest", for lack of a better term, business people in drag racing right now. With all their goings on, it's not a surprise that a conflict of interest has finally come up. I don't wish any bad luck to either or anything like that, but maybe that "umbrella" is only made for one.

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StockersRock

You can still have 1/4 mile racing if you don't go get a hot dog after the fuel classes.

We share more that just our first names... My thought exactly. Is Brian wrapped up by Don? He should be. If he wants to build a brain trust like Force. I kinda see him like Jimmy Prock. Not the first name you hear on the team, but can win every time he goes out. While Brian is not yet at Prock's level, with proper funding and support way, there isn't a reason he can't be...

Money talks, and you know the rest. Right amount of $$$, Evan could get just about anyone.

Evan has the money to lure Brian away what would you think Brian would want to do? 1) Be retained and become a co-crew chief 2) Call the shots on his own and work for Knoll?
It's a no brainer as far as I'm concerned.
Remember Don uses the money he gets from the sponsors to sign these Crew Chiefs he spends very little out of pocket if any.
He is a damn good businessman that is why Beckman is in Whits old seat because he is bringing money to tha table that is what this sport is becoming it is what it is.
We will just have to wait till the dust settles to see how this all plays out.

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Have to wait for the dust to settle on this, but I think Evan is a sharp businessman who will do whatever is necessary to continue to move his teams in the right direction no matter what. Mike Ashley's performance since changes were made by Evan with his funny car team speaks for themself.

Evan loves the sport and hasn't swallowed the Kool-Aide in any camp. He has the ability (resources) to look out for his own, and I think he'll continue to do so.

Should be exciting to see what happens next.

Randy G.

Wow....long time no see, Randy!

I agree...things could get interesting in the near future. One has to wonder...is Evan building his own Empire? Ying needs a Yang...maybe the anti-Schu?

I don't understand why Evan would remove the decal from Melanie's car...he does sponsor it, but that team is owned by Don. If I owned a team, those sponsors who put up money would have their logo's displayed. No offense to Evan, but I personally don't think he has the right to decide what is displayed on Mel's car. Mike's car maybe yes, as he owns it, but Don manages it. And even then, it might be a bit of a gray area.

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Alan - I have no idea who owns what on those two teams (and who controls which employees), but I'm sure we all realize there are two very powerful business owners involved, both of whom probably have very different agendas.
I sponsored a sportman car for many years because I love racing. If the car owner had informed me that he had picked up Kinko's as an "Associate Sponsor", without consulting me, I would have been very unhappy!
Obviously, my business doesn't hold a candle to Don or Evan's empires,
but I can certainly understand why Evan might be upset. No one here will ever know what the agreements were between these two hitters, but it's going to be very interesting to see what shakes out as Evan adds another TF team this week! - JMO