Obama, NASCAR In April Fools Prank "Gone Too Far"

Car and Driver magazine is now apologizing for a prank "gone too far," after they announced earlier Wednesday morning that President Obama had ordered Chevrolet and Dodge to pull NASCAR funding by the end of the season if the failing auto companies hope to receive further federal assistance. The Orlando Sentinel reports:

In a move sure to spark outrage, the White House announced today that GM and Chrysler must cease participation in NASCAR at the end of the 2009 season if they hope to receive any additional financial aid from the government ... A complete withdrawal from America's premier racing series is expected to save more than $250 million between GM and Chrysler, a substantial amount considering the drastic measures being implemented elsewhere.

Although the story was clearly labeled as an April Fool's prank, it was making rounds on the internet, and upset fans were all a-twitter.

The article has since been removed from the magazine's site, which notes that Car and Driver "has a proud tradition of April Fools' Day jokes stretching back 30 years."

Comments

[RacerChris]

To all of those who think its a good move to yank the plug on GM and Chrysler sponsorships in NASCAR......
ARE YOU NUTS!!!! Have you forgotten that these are business's???? There main priority is to make a profit, and to do that they have to sell cars. Extensive marketing research has shown that NASCAR fans are EXTREAMLY loyal to teams, drivers and sponsorship brands. This includes GM/Chrysler, in fact some drivers have switched teams in outrage over thier teams switching to a different manufacturer.
NASCAR is a media outlet (one of the biggest in America), and anyone in marketing will tell you that you would be missing the boat if you were in that market and didnt try to target that audience. Long story short, this is thier advertising, over 4 hours of it each race weekend! Compare that to the cost to run a single commercial for one single specific vehicle for a week and you will find that participating in NASCAR you are paying a fraction of the cost for airtime compared to commercials.
Want more proof that advertising in NASCAR works??? Chevrolet is GM's top selling brand, its also the label they use in NASCAR, and it has been that way since Chevrolet has been in any type of racing. Chevrolet is synominus with racing, take away that and I think you will loose a large portion of your clients when team drivers that they are loyal to have to switch to a different brand.

[outnabout]

Looks like coulter fell for this one!!

http://www.anncoulter.com/

[Skott1]

My loveable, redneck brother phoned me all up in arms about this. I told him that I hadn't heard anything about it. I also told him that he should start watching a REAL sport (that ALWAYS gets a rise) and then offered to drive him to the interstate with a lawn chair if he was that into watching traffic. :-)

[ObamAtomic]

What? NASCAR scaring the white folks, please nascar CEO's enough of scaring tactics.

[dfincher384]

It was a friggin' April Fools joke! In what way did they go too far?

[Bruupo]

Apparently the folks at Car and Driver went too far in that they forgot that you can't play pranks on the folks riding the short bus, it just isn't sporting.

[SouthernYankeeBelle]

Yeah, especially when the people of the republican base go to those races and believe in what they say and do.

[madcat007]

Have you seen Alexandra Pelosi's HBO documentary Right America Feeling Wronged? If not, it'll explain the uproar over this joke. I'm a lifetime Chevy driver and fan and I hope they succeed, but I actually thought it was a brilliant April's Fool Day Joke. Funny how thinned skinned the Drill Baby Drill, War Is The Only Answer crowd really are!

[Nommo]

Actually, its a pretty damn brilliant April Fool's prank. Says more about why people got all bent out of shape than the more easy answer. Might be a good move anyway until at least they get some actual personalities to drive in circles again.

[sodakhic]

The funny thing is, most people thought this was true because Obama is leading the country in that direction of telling people and groups what they can and can't do.We can't smoke unless its in a motel room.We can't drink unless we take a driver with us. We can't eat food that will make us fat. We can only buy green friendly cars You can;t make over $75,000 or your a criminal. You can't disagree with Bush or your unpatriotic. You can't disagree with Obama or your a racist.What the hell happened to America.Obama is only increasing the do's and don'ts. Good bye freedom.

[Raleigh Dave]

How ironic is it that NASCAR is a huge sponsor of the Republican Party and considers themselves as Christian organization.

Shame on you NASCAR

[motoGpifupleez]

If you believe anything you read or are told on April 1st, you should be slapped.....sharply.

[knshecht]

On a similar note, did you hear about the latest news in NASCAR and what Jeremiah Weed Southern Style Sweet Tea announced yesterday? They are entering into stock car racing with an offer to sponsor the air in the tires of the major racing teams. Yes that's right the air! Pretty ridiculous, but what a great idea! I wonder if it's real or just an April Fools joke? Let me know what you think...Check out this youtube video about it : www.youtube.com

[OkieIntellectual]

My question is why is this only a joke? I like NASCAR and will watch a race now & then, but seriously, any automaker who gets bailout money is clearly in bad enough shape that they don't need to be spending any money on frivilous stuff like NASCAR sponsorship.

[madcat007]

I do believe the manufacturers make money on Nascar sponsership. Nascar fans are the most product loyal people in the country so if Tony Stewart,Jeff Gordon or Dale Earnhardt Jr. do well, so does Chevy for instance. Not just with new cars, but with souvenirs. I love Chevrolet, I hope they make it, but I can't argue with changes at the top. 2008 was the first year ever that Toyota outsold GM worldwide so GM does build vehicles people want, but they compete against themselves meaning that shedding brands is the right thing to do and long overdue. If I was calling the shots, only Chevy, Cadillac and possibly Buick would survive. I love Pontiac's racy image and the new G8 is hot, but they just don't sell enough cars anymore. I would kill GMC trucks since Chevy sells an identical model. Saturn's already a gonner as is Hummer (worst acquisition ever, reason enough for firing Wagoner). I have a bigger problem with Citibank and the new NY Mets stadium sponsership!

[Vaas]

This was the magazine's prank...Guys, would like to share about any pranks or jokes (1st April) that you performed on your friends etc.

[gorideabike]

It was a joke already. Reset your BS-ometer if you fell for it.

[Mattyhorn]

LMAO!

Serves 'em right for such blind devotion to a pseudo-'sport' that is wasteful, boring and mostly pointless. Lay off those exhaust fumes, people!

[lawrenceatl]

FIRE ME, FORECLOSE ON MY TRAILER, EVEN MY WIFE CAN LEAVE.. BUT...........DON'T MESS WITH MY NASCAR....lol

[Voter1151]

With all of the problems in our economy why are we continuing to fund an "Army" Nascar and a "National Guard" Nascar. Seems frivolous to me.
Voter 1151

[crazylegssw]

As a fan of NASCAR, I can see why some people took this prank seriously. IF you follow the sport- the discussion about the viabilty of 3 of the 4 manufacturers and specifically GM and DODGE has been scrupulously discussed. Some teams have already lost financial assistance from the manufacturers (in the past Ford would give their teams some financial help, DODGE dealers even sponsored a couple cars). Unfortunatley the majority of NASCAR fans aren't the most progressive, but there are a lot of them who are- I would bet alot of money Dale Jr. voted for Obama. We are bracing ourselves to hear this type of news one way or the other. Whats bad is this non story will stick long after April Fools day and unfortunaltley- along with the Russian Jews who think Obama is going to take parts of Isreal away?- some people just want to be lied to about what the president is all about. NASCAR is a sport- its my way of getting away from all the talk we do at places like HuffPO, but we would be kidding ourselves if we didn't accept the fact that our sport is very much tied into this crisis.

BTW- The army and national guard sponsor cars b/c its the cheapest way to get exposure out to the most people. The tax payers get the most bang for their buck. Now- wether or not they should even have an advertising budget at all is for another day.

[Geshko]

More importantly, sponsoring a NASCAR vehicle brings the message to the right demographic: mostly male, little or no higher education, and mostly poor.
Same reason Sgt. Slaughter was a wrestler in the 80s.

I'm just saying.