While it certainly left some serious bruises, the surprise announcement of a sponsorship hiatus for generous drag-racing donor Evan Knoll might not be as catastrophic as it first appeared.  
Knoll’s Torco Racing Fuels bombshell last week left no fewer than 14 drivers in the lurch less than a month before the start of the National Hot Rod Ass’n season and about two months before the International Hot Rod Ass’n opens.
Torco spokesman Latrell Preston blamed the company’s decision on Knoll’s health concerns that stemmed from a November 2004 auto accident, as well as what he called “a shaky oil market and world economy” and “our need to better strategize our teams.”
Preston always has been an honorable man. Just the same, it’s just a hunch that the catalyst for this sudden decision wasn’t simply Knoll’s 3-year-old injury. It’s an attractive bet that more to the story lurks behind Knoll’s legitimate health issues.
Because of Knoll’s reclusive nature, rumors spin easily. Plenty of alleged authorities have had a field day playing “telephone” like gossipy schoolkids for about a week now. The fact is that only a select few (and I am not one of them) know why some angles of this situation don’t make sense.
The Jan. 9 prepared Torco statement said the event sponsorships in NHRA and IHRA will remain in place. So why would Knoll be unable to sponsor individual teams, yet sponsor events and the entire IHRA pro series? And why would he abandon the drivers he has helped to develop or, in the case of Top Fuel rookies-to-be Dom Lagana and Jessie Harris, extended a huge hand up to the Pro ranks — and do it so abruptly?    
All Top Fuel team co-owner/driver Doug Foley knows is that “without Torco’s financial support, it’s going to be close to impossible to accomplish our goals.”
Foley said, “We’d like to thank Evan Knoll and Torco Race Fuels for all the support they’ve given us over the years, but the timing of his announcement couldn’t have come at a worse time.
“We had everything in place: a new car, new truck and trailer, parts, crew members, 13 engines, etc. — all set to leave Jan. 19th for the West Coast test sessions and to start the season at the Carquest Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals in Pomona at the beginning of February. With Evan’s support, this was to be our first chance to race the entire NHRA POWERade tour.”
Torco’s decision came on the heels of the Brut cologne brand’s conclusion that drag racing wasn’t giving it the proper return on its investment. Checker Schuck’s Kragen and U.S. Tobacco/Skoal also cut back from sponsorship of two cars to one.
Several drivers have worked out deals with new sponsors, but many still are scrambling. Nevertheless, IHRA President Aaron Polburn said he refused to believe the worst of Knoll or abandon him.
“The first thing we all should do is ask Evan how we could help, because I have asked him for help so many times over the last three years. He was the first one in line to give me that help, and he never would hesitate. With him being in this position health-wise that is the least we all owe the guy,” he said. “Just because things might get bad does not mean we are going to turn and run. This is not the time to back off. It’s a time to circle the wagons and act like a team.
“As long as we’ve had a relationship with Torco,” Poburn said, “they have kept every promise and paid every bill. They have over-delivered and done things that they didn’t have to do.”
A final thought, if and when Evan Knoll steps back into team-sponsorship mode and has a fistful of dollars to disperse again, plenty of drivers will get right in line, and it will be business as usual.