Tweet

On Monday night, Brian France and several drivers publically endorsed Donald Trump ahead of the Super Tuesday primaries. This was pretty shocking considering the believed fall-out between the two parties resulting in NASCAR moving the Xfinity and Truck Banquet from Trump's Miami hotel. Looking back, that was really the result of Marcus Lemonis having a fit and saying Camping World doesn't want any part of Trump. He did the same Monday night. To be fair, Lemonis is from Lebanon and would rightly not look kindly on someone making any negative comments on immigrants. It will be interesting to see if there is any long-term fallout from this endorsement sponsorship-wise. But regardless of politics or corporate partners, NASCAR and Trump have had an interesting friendship over the years.

Trump's association with auto racing began all the way back in August 1989 when it was reported he was interested in having his casinos sponsor an IndyCar for 1990. He was still a huge celebrity back then and his book "The Art of the Deal" was a huge hit two years prior. Several teams wanted to have his casinos adorn the side of their cars but no sponsorship deal came to fruition. Years later, Trump and his wife Marla Maples attended the first ever IRL race, held at Walt Disney World Speedway in 1996.

In 1999, Donald was mentioned frequently in the NASCAR world. He attended the 1999 Daytona 500, mingling with dignitaries such as Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. He watched the race from a suite and like we just saw at this year's Daytona 500, NASCAR had some added credibility because a big celebrity attended the Daytona 500. A few weeks later, it was revealed why he was really there. Trump wanted to build a NASCAR track on Riverhead, Long Island.


Trump and Clarence Thomas before the 1999 Daytona 500

The track would be owned by International Speedway Corporation but built by the Trump Organization. In February 1999, Trump made a $55 million dollar offer on a 2,900 acre piece of land in Riverhead. The site was previously used by Northrup-Grumman as a test flight facility and at the time of Trump's proposal, was notable for holding the reconstructed remains of the infamous TWA Flight 800 which crashed near Long Island in 1996, killing 230. A golf resort and industrial park were also slated to be built on the property. By the time the partnership was announced in mid-March 1999, the Riverhead site was dropped because of traffic concerns. Another 10 or so sites were being considered in the New York, New Jersey, Connecticut area.


TWA Flight 800 in the hangar at the proposed race track.

Trump mingled around NASCAR for most of 1999. He was involved in one of the biggest screw ups by an announcer when he attended the fall Dover race. TNN cameras showed Donald walking near the flagstand during a caution flag. Eli Gold came back from commercial saying, "I'm the Eli. That's the Donald. You just heard from the Buddy" Then the broadcasters broke into laughter as the third man in the booth had to be left out of the name game. "I think I'll leave Mr. Berggren out of that. I thought I had a great idea 'til I started saying it and I said 'now where do I go?'"

https://youtu.be/SwOHWDbUR_E?t=1h3m30s

Shortly after the Dover race, Trump announced his first campaign for president in October 1999. He was running for the nomination with the Reform Party, a reasonably strong third party. Trump was the favorite to get the nomination but dropped out in February 2000. The plans for a NY track faded off the radar for the next few years.

Plans again for a track surfaced in August 2002. Trump submitted a proposal to replace the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands Complex. When the New Jersey Nets and New Jersey Devils planned to move, the arena would be torn down and Trump wanted to replace it with a speedway. Along with the track would be an interactive racing park which was jokingly referred to at the time as "NASCAR Disneyland." The arena still hasn't been torn down although it will be within the next few years.

And then in 2011, Donald Trump was announced as the pace car driver for the Indianapolis 500. Again, this was in the middle of his consideration of a 2012 Presidential campaign. A backlash ensued as people felt the 100th anniversary of the Indy 500 should be a celebration of the race's past and the pace car driver should be a former champion. Trump was also calling for President Obama's birth certificate at the time and there was controversy related to that. In the end, Trump backed out to focus on his presidential campaign and A.J. Foyt drove the pace car.



It's not surprising that Brian France would endorse Donald Trump considering the business relationship they have had for nearly 20 years. That's why Trump is a successful businessman. Apparently he treats people fairly and doesn't burn bridges. It's easy to forget how well he got along with businessmen after the past nine months.

So has this been a pro Donald Trump article, or an anti-Trump one? I tried to make it as un-biased as I could. I don't have enough readers of my articles for me to get away with alienating any one of them, haha.