A MOMENT WITH MIKE: Big wins or bad attitudes?

0 Aug. 14, 2017, 11:07 a.m.

Main Photo: A MOMENT WITH MIKE: Big wins or bad attitudes?

By Mike Garrison
LiveRC.com

As a young kid growing up racing, my dad used to always tell me, “There is always someone watching.” What he meant by this, is that no matter how fast or slow you are going, no matter whether you are at a local track or a pro national, there is always someone looking, listening, and logging away what they see and hear. Sometimes those people are just ordinary spectators that have no bearing on your racing, other times it could very well be the team manager for the biggest team in racing whose looking for their next future superstar.

We all have our moments in racing, when the emotion gets the best of us and we speak out of place. For example, this past weekend I spoke out of place when I seemed to have a magnet in my car to one specific driver, in which we didn’t pass one another once without some sort of catastrophic collision. Did I tell the guy to “F*** off”, call him any number of derogatory names, or launch my car off the track screaming in anger? No. Did I say a number of things on the drivers stand including; “What was that!?”, “Are you serious dude?”, and following our third encounter in one 8-minute race “Watch out guys, yellow car will take you out too!”? Yes, I sure did. I admit that I was in the wrong, and probably should have kept my mouth shut. On the flip side, while I did let emotion get the best of me, I did not do anything that would warrant me to be banned from the track, endanger anyone’s physical safety, or be taken as blatant disrespect for that individual as a person.

Over the past several years, there has been a number of cases when a sponsored driver has made more than a scene at some very high-profile races. These cases have resulted in suspensions, threats of being banned by sanctioning bodies, public written apologies, and everything in between. The issue stirring conversation around the web lately is the question, “Why are these companies still standing behind these drivers?

The most basic answer is simple, and that is because sponsors are businesses doing what successful businesses do. Wal-Mart wouldn’t put up a sign that says Mary May stole a 55” flat screen from the back room or smokes a pack of cigarettes a day in the women’s bathroom, but if Mary May still works there in 40 years, has saved three children from the claw machine, and checked out 10,000 people with a smile - you better believe she’s getting her picture on the wall with gold star around it. It only makes sense as a business to find people with successful results, spotlight those results as your own, and hope those shining moments will do more for the company in terms of sales than the negative actions of the past (and possibly the future).

From a business stand point I get it. As I said, we all have our moments in racing where emotion takes the best of us, however, when it becomes a habit, begins to take aim at actual individuals instead of just the race taking place on the track, spectators recognize it and gather just to watch for the next blowout, and/or it puts someone’s physical safety in jeopardy – that is when as a human being with some morals and a conscience I too begin to ask when will sponsors realize it’s time to separate themselves?

The argument I have is that sponsorship is supposed to be based upon building good representation for a brand in hopes that it generates more sales. Results are obviously important, but overall representation throughout the pits, on the track, and even in day to day public activity is also very important. As a small business owner in the industry, the bad behavior and actions that I have seen first hand by some drivers is not worth any race win to have them represent my company. On that same note, if they were representing my company at the time they acted out to the extremes I’ve seen, regardless of their resume, that would instantly mark the end of our relationship.

I must admit, that I have personally lost a little respect for some companies over past few years who have continued to stand behind drivers who take the emotion of racing to the extreme time and time again with little to no discipline and/or the sponsors sweeping it under the rug and hoping it is all forgotten with a few good results while using their products.

I love R/C car racing, and when you love something you want the very best for it. The best thing for R/C is for the companies and manufacturer’s that make it all possible to flourish. As long as the companies behind R/C continue to exist and grow, the sport will continue to exist and grow. I’m not a rocket scientist by any means, but I think it’s pretty clear that someone’s appearance on paper can be very different than the actual appearance of their actions at the track.

Whether it’s R/C racing or life in general, I believe that you deserve to get what you work the hardest for. Once you get it, you have to work even harder to keep it. A mistake here or there is understandable, but the idea behind a mistake is to learn from it and better yourself. The drivers I look up to most in our sport are those who carry a smile, a good attitude, and those who learn and handle themselves the best possible when they do make a mistake – not the number of championships they’ve won. A truly good person with a good head on their shoulders is far more impressive to me, and far more likely to earn my business than any number of wins.

In my opinion, there is a lot of great talent on the racetrack today, but that talent will only go so far if the driver's personality can’t support it. Likewise, there are a lot of great companies in our industry, but race wins will only sell so many products before bad behavior from drivers begin to bring it all down.