Need Bargaining Help? Use the Media for Leverage

As the clock ticks ever closer towards Daytona, desparation is starting to set in.  Teams are scrambling to lock down deals, and drivers are trying to grab those last couple of chairs before the music stops.  But even with the desperation, all parties involved are still vying for the best possible agreement they can negotiate.  Need help with your deal?  Try the media.

An interesting article by Godwin Kelly appeared today in the Daytona Beach News Journal regarding Mike Skinner and his current ride search.  Skinner was recently released from what was formerly Bill Davis Racing when new owners Mike Held and Marty Gaunt decided to end their involvement in the Truck Series.  In the piece, Skinner gives all the usual quotes that would come from a guy that just lost his ride a month and half before Daytona.  I’ll paraphrase: “I lost my ride, I’m disappointed, the economy is hurting the sport, but I’m confident I’ll find something.”  You know, the usual.

But, normally when there is coverage of a guy trying to find a ride, especially somebody who is sought after, no real specifics are ever given.  The driver will acknowledge they are talking to teams, but won’t tell you which ones.  The teams won’t usually comment either.  The only thing we ever hear is rumor and speculation.  But in Kelly’s piece, Skinner mentions talking with several Truck Series teams, including Randy Moss Motorsports.  Whoa, wait a minute.

This immediately jumps out at me as a situation where a driver is trying to manipulate a situation through the media.  There is no reason to mention a specific team unless you are trying to do one of two things.  You are either attempting to put pressure on the team you named to get something done because time is running out and you are a hot commodity; or you are using the named team to get a better deal with one of those other, unnamed teams.

And why you ask, would a media outlet participate in such a situation?  Because it’s news.  Writers and media people are in the business of drawing attention to their organization.  Whether that means selling papers, getting TV viewers, or drawing website traffic.  Skinner uses the piece to try and gain leverage in the situation, and Godwin Kelly gets the inside scoop on Skinner’s situation.  It’s a win-win situation.

The recent Bobby Labonte EGR/Hall of Fame situation has some of the same characteristics.  But in that case, the proceedings happened like they normally do.  You never heard Labonte make one mention of who he was working with.  It was all those “anonymous sources” driving the story.  Right when all signs pointed to Labonte and Earnhardt-Ganassi, out of nowhere comes Hall of Fame/Yates.  Do you think those media reports of the EGR deal forced Hall of Fame’s hand?  You bet they did.

As this post is being written, they are just slightly less then 29 days remaining until the Truck Series kicks off its season at Daytona.  Even with his stout resume and Toyota backing him, Mike Skinner knows he needs to get a deal done now.  It takes time to get a team ready to race, and that time is running out.  We’ll wait and see if his posturing in the media works out for him.

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