I've been watching this thread, and i'm not sure, but i will probably meet with some disapprovel in my thinking, but it it only my opinion.
I've been racing longer than a lot of you guys have been alive, over 50 yrs. In all that time no one has ever given me anything, every part on my car/cars i had to pay for. Unless you run a professional cattagory, theres almost no contigency money paid to win. Sure if you run regional and Nat'l events in the sportsman class axle people give you 100.00 cams might give you 100.00 to win. But they didn't give me anything when i paid $600.00 for axles and related parts to put in the car. So i donot even run stickers on any car i run, even at a Nat'l event. (see pic below) I have friends that does grafics, i buy him a 12 pack and let him sign the grafics. The only people that have ever helped me on prices are BTE, Bullit, and PTC, for them i put a sticker on my trailer door. i have a friend Jimmy Smith who has 100's of stickers on his car, they don't make his car run faster, in fact i've never seen a sticker make a car run faster. I get the biggest kick out of 10 yrs. old kids walking thru the pits, looking at all the cars and stickers on the cars. They say MAN, look how fast that cars is just look at all those stickers. What a joke we give all the manufacturers bocoo's advertisment and get nothing in return. If i'm in Miss. i can drive 1 hr. and run 4 different tracks, and not a one of them pay contigency money for parts you may be running. In louisanna, i can drive 1 1/2 hrs. and run 3 NHRA tracks, and not one pays contigency money unless it's a regional or nat'l event, and then if you run sportsman class and win you might get $500.00. I will not cover up my paint for that amount of money.
To me a sponser is someone who sets up a bank account, give you a check book (with limits) that you use to run your car in major events, and makes you accountable for what you spend.
If you think i'm just blowning smoke take a look at the photo, AZ. Nationals, not one sticker.
Just my 2 cents,
Zipper
double click for enlarge
