Copyright 2001, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Wrenchead.com has bailed out motorsports series sponsorship and will not be the title sponsor of the Formula USA National Road Racing Series or other motorsports series produced by SFX Motor Sports.

Despite assurances made by Wrenchead.com CEO Gus Conrades late last year, the company has not renewed its sponsorship deal with Formula USA, leaving the series scrambling for new sponsorship to make up the difference in revenue.

Last December 26, Conrades said that Wrenchead.com was renewing its sponsorship of the Formula USA Series. “That is the case. We are renewing the deal,” said Conrades in a telephone interview from his office in White Plains, New York. “There were rumors that we weren’t going to renew the series sponsorship, but that’s not true….We did look at a couple of proposals, and the rumor was kicking around that we weren’t going to be doing the series again. The reason is, the negotiations about how much money we were going to have to pay them (Formula USA) for the series sponsorship were going on. But it’s happening. We are doing the series again. That announcement should be coming out in the next couple of weeks.”

But the official announcement never came and the deal fell apart. In a January 20 phone call, Conrades said the Formula USA Road Racing Series “was the one thing we really wanted to keep, but it was just not in the cards for this year.” Conrades said that title sponsorship of the series was part of a larger promotional agreement his company had with SFX, which is also an investor in Wrenchead.com; that larger promotional agreement was being renegotiated for the 2001 season.

Besides the Formula USA Series, Wrenchead.com also sponsored Monster Jam monster truck events and Arenacrosses promoted by SFX Motor Sports.