MA and the APBA....
 

Wasn't goin to say anything till it hit print in Powerboat Mag but...
MA stepping down might be too late for the APBA.
Fines for running Mercury power?
Has this guy gone mad?
Reggie and Fred are pretty close now $$.
Looks like SBI has a new big sponser.

show me more i would like to see some print or facts

I FIGURE THIS WOULD STAY AT THE TOP!!!
NEED DETAILS?????

we wount some proof

cat give me a link to the press link pleas i didn't wount to jump to fast to say something about it

Catmando let the cats out:D give me something to read!

Ya could see that one coming from a hundred miles away.

amen sbi may not have the show like apba but there people are so nice , and the racers give 200% of there time and wisdom that is un real .

what happend with apba and merc

F'in Allweiss sees $$$ with GM Vortec and back stabs Mercury.
There will never be Vortec Marine engines for pleasure use...it was a test bed.
Don't forget Mercury was paying the purses...why should they now.
Then the "Lawyer" throws in $penalties$ for running Mercury power!?!?!
Sad, very sad.
Can you say Oops?

Weren't the Merc powered boays winning most of the races? Maybe they want to "even the field"? again.

If I am wrong about Merc winning the majority of the races.... never mind.

Back4More, your clueless, Merc left APBA half way through the season, and their sponsorship dollars were
not much anyway for what they get. I believe about 100k for the season. That will buy 1/3 of 1 race

Yeah, Your right...I don't know chit.
But I do know the APBA has a major problem to fix.

From what I've seen at the Races just about ALL of the Racers, and teams are so nice, and give 200%. That goes for every local, APBA National, OPA, Great Lakes, SBI race that I've ever been to. I don't think you can quote that into one sanction vs. another.

Amen to that brother.

I Agree, but losing Merc is not it.
APBA has major problem(s) to fix

Back4more,
It's comments like yous which could falsely lead people to think Mercury was paying for anything associated to prize purse as well as other inaccurate speculations regarding Mercury's involvement that have been a big part of the downslide of offshore racing, whether it be APBA OR Sbi.
I do however agree with you and ScottB in that APBA has some fixing to do. Some of it has already begun, such as getting out from under the grasp and control of Mercury racing! The way I see it, if Mercury Racing had not been leading a select few by the nose, there would never have been a boycott, and APBA and the sport of offshore racing would be stronger than ever!

Mr. Offshore,
With all due respect, some of those "heated battles" were a long time comming. The sad part is, many don't realize that most of those "heated battles" were on behalf of us racers.

With all due respect....baloney! The only heated battles with any teeth were a lot more narrowly focused than for "the good of the racers".... Maybe for the "good af A racer or two"...

Bottom line, Mercury has been around and supportive for generations....... In spite of the relentless and naive propaganda to the contrary. So take your GMC pickup and enjoy racing it in the offshore 4 wheel drive class of your choice....and if you need a drive or a prop...call Mercury.

T2x

Ok Mr. Luhrs, Exactly WHAT has Mercury Racing done FOR the racers?

Mike,

Are you asking in relation to offshore category only or all of boat racing? And are you talking the last maybe 2 years or the last say 25? What other marine equipment company is giving ANY support, wether it be parts availible for sale at the races, test facilities, or prize money? GM is in this to sell trucks period and they make the best trucks available in my opinion. The reason you see Mercury so much in APBA is that they seem to be the only company willing to work with the racers for any lenth of time, yes they make money so could some other company if they would show some support in wanting to see the sport grow.
Before you say anything I don't own 1 item that Mercury Marine or Mercury Racing makes. But from what I have seen in my short 10 yrs of being involved in some way with boat racing is that Mercury is the only marine company that even cares, besides hull builders, that there are boats being raced at all.

Matt

Originally posted by Gordo
Ok Mr. Luhrs, Exactly WHAT has Mercury Racing done FOR the racers?


Umm let's see................

1. Provided a support truck with spare parts and helpful technicians at races for decades.

2. Designed and built the drive systems and engine packages that propel the boats. These motors replaced the "garage mechanic specials" that broke down all over the race course....for decades. How would racing be without #6 drives....or (as bad as they might be) Bravo drives?

3. Provided cooperative advertizing for performance boat manufacturers over the years, allowing them to better market their products and upgrade their image, while adding to the factory subsidies of racers.

4. Kept Fountain Powerboats alive, thereby letting Reggie piss even more money away on race sponsorship and racer assistance..

5. Provided Lake X, the finest performance rigging and testing facility in the World.....

6. Funded round the clock engineering in fresh and salt water environments which enabled many of the significant developments in marine propulsion over the past 50 years....much of which debuted on the race course.

7. Created most of the significant prop advancements of the past 50 years....... At one time all of the inboard and outboard classes of APBA relied on Mercury propellers.... and, by the way, Bobby Hering is an ex-Mercury employee.

8. Carl Kiekhaefer's factory teams put offshore racing on the map back in the early days, by providing the lion's share of the boats in the fleet.

9. Co-sponsored the TV programs for well over 10 years.

10. Marketed racing through their dealer outlets, catalogues, and press releases for decades.

11. Provided basically free advice to generations of new racers.

12. Provided various contingency purses for many years.

Gordo: The fact the Mercury has not automatically agreed to the demands of the LLC, does not mean that they are not racer friendly......... and the fact that GMC gives a discount on engines and passes out a few "official vehicles" does not mean that they are.

T2x

As I see it, there need to be a few specific distinctions made in discussing the situation:
1) Don't confuse Mercury (disposable Bravo drives and 496's) with Mercury Racing (#6 drives, HP 525's, etc.) One is a big company. The other one ain't.
2) Don't confuse sponsorship with support. While both are helpful, and often occur simultaneously, they are not one and the same. (For what it's worth, I don't think anyone will have a problem with Mercury Racing's support of offshore racers.)
3) That being said, there is a very good reason NASCAR doesn't run the "Chevrolet" Cup Series.

Look, most of the APBA naysayers have been blaming "it" all on MA for the last 5 years. MA has now (supposedly, at least) relenquished power. How come there is still such an anti-APBA (LLC) uproar? Can't this be seen as a positive opportunity instead?

"The one common aspect of all your disfunctional relationships is you." - Anonymous

:D (Rich - your #4 is a classic. LMAO!!)

Thanks........I try........................

T2x

Just in case any one has missed it, Allweiss is NOT out of the LLC or racing anymore then he was last year. Some think thats a good thing and some dont..

I suggest we all just cool it till after the elections..OR...if one really feels a specific action needs be taken, forward that suggestion to the person you are voting for.

At least go on record to your representative....Remember this thread does not get included into APBA minutes..

marc (just a fan)

Dan B.,

You are wrong. I am far more disengaged from the sport now than at the same time last year. And I am working on a daily basis to get completely out. I realize it is not fast enough for some but trust me, I want to get out as badly as many want to see me leave and I am making every reasonable effort to accomodate them, fast.

I have a multi-million doallr investment in this business which essentially has been destroyed. I spent a great deal of my own money to see that the racers had a place to race, had great sponsors and first class television.

In the future I will spend that money on my family and maybe my own race team. I did the best I could and in the end it was not good enough. I am proud of everything our team accomplished over the last five years and I wish the future leaders of the sport the best of luck. I will also be willing to help in any way possible including disappearing entirely from the sport if that will help.

It is simply time to move on.

Mike

amen ma

Well, there it is folks - straight from Mike himself.

Now all you guys that have had all the answers for the past five years are free to jump in there and show the rest if us how you will turn Offshore Racing into the Perfect World overnight. The door is open.

C'mon - put up or shut up.

Well said C Spray!

WOW! It went REAL quiet REAL quick around here, didn't it?

To ALL,

The LLC still has complete power in the Offshore Category, some like it some don't, we all have to live with it. If you what a say as a professional you can buy into it now and have your voice heard, don't know what that will cost yet. Let's see where that take's the Category. I don't think anyone believes it will change overnight. Mike A. took a step back and I think he is feeling less pressure now and can get back to enjoying the sport. The LLC lost allot of people's trust and it's harder to earn it back then to gain it the first time.

Matt