No Muppets At Nascar???

[Fozzie Bear]

OOOH! I'm so mad...here's what a friend of mine turned me onto at www.jayski.com (scroll halfway down the page):

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No Muppets at the track? UPDATE 2 Muppetgate (what a joke): now this makes no sense, seems there is some battle going on between ISC (who owns ChicagoLand Speedway) and the Muppet people and characters not being allowed on speedway property. ?? Tony Stewart mentioned during an interview how ridiculous it is after having the paint schemes on the track, selling the diecasts and making folks buy tickets for all the races. Dale Jarrett said the same thing and feels they are being 'jerks' about it. See my Muppet Paint Schemes/PR page for the car images and news.

UPDATE: FSN's Totally NASCAR reports that the muppets were not allowed in the track due to 'licensing issues'.(7-12-2002)

UPDATE 2: When Elliott came into the media center at Chicagoland Speedway to talk about his third-place qualifying run, he turned the tables and asked the media a question. "Isn't someone going to ask me about the Muppets being in jail?" Elliott asked. "Muppetgate" was on the minds of nearly everyone at the track Friday, and several teams put signs up in the garage that read "Free the Muppets." Images of the characters who first appeared on the children's show "Sesame Street" are on eight Winston Cup cars this week, but track officials wouldn't let the characters participate in the pre-race festivities. Track spokesman Brian Crichton said "Chicagoland Speedway is not part of the Muppet program," and therefore the characters won't be allowed inside the track. "We're not a partner in the program that has been put together with the Muppets," said Crichton, who was unable to say whether the Muppets were asked to pay a fee to be a part of the festivities.(Atlanta Journal Constitution)(7-13-2002)

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I don't like that Chicagoland Speedway. TheDude here at Muppet Central needs to go out there and DO SOMETHING!!! MATT!! GET BUSY!!!

FOZ

[tomahawk]

they showed some really short clips of amimal,pepe and rowlf on espn hanging out in what looked like a corn field asking for tickets.animal was holding a sign that said"NEED TICKETS".

[Zack the Dog]

So that's why I haven't seen any Muppets yet, I saw the rowlf car thought!

But this is totally discusting, they have known about this for months and now the day of the race, they are not allowed?!?! Piggy needs to do some pushing! The muppets could break in. They did at WDW. ;-)

grrrrrrr, this make this dog mad!

Zack)Rowlf the, what now the Muppets aren't allowed on MTV? j/k i saw the video on mtv2 today! that's an up! Dog.

[beaker]

i would have loved to have seen those espn clips, but i feel so...so *violated* after having wasted an hour of my life watching Nascar in futile hopes of seeing the muppets. I dont even think I heard a word about them uttered. Instead I get an endless sea of mullets, beer, and proud jerry springer americans.

I didnt like the idea of our beloved furry pals with nascar, other than the merchandise and perhaps wider exposure. Everyone knows Nascar races are just a 3 hour commerical for big tabacco ciggareete and beer commercial, with the occational athlete and audience deaths. perhaps instead of free beer helmets and jeff gordan bobbleheads they should give out some missing chromozones and tooth brushes.

and to further illustrate nascar's messy red tape (besides the fact there really is no set rules as seen by a recent nascar.com poll) they do this to the muppets? whats this about not letting em on the chicagoland speedway? doesnt surprise me one bit.

[frogboy4]

I'm just offended that once again the mainstream press can't tell the difference betwenn The Muppet Show and Sesame Street.

[Fozzie Bear]

I think it's the whole Kermit thing that throws them off.

I'm just offended that those idiots nixed having the Muppet Cars there.

FOZ

[frogboy4]

Yup, but it says Muppet Show right on the darn cars. This Nascar reporter doesn't seem to have first grade reading skills.:eek:

[SuperGrover]

Yeah, some Sesame Street would definitely do that Nascar reporter (& friends) some good, at least bring him up to speed on his reading skills.

I did see the Piggy, Kermit, Dale Jarrett commercial for UPS towards the end of the race.

Still, too bad no dogs (or Rats. I miss Rizzo too!) allowed. Eh, Zack?

Rats indeed.

[tomahawk]

kudos to bobby labonte for wearing a muppets 25th anniversary hat in his interview.

[sidcrowe]

Froggy's comment, "I'm just offended that once again the mainstream press can't tell the difference between The Muppet Show and Sesame Street," is perfect. I can't improve on it.

That says it all.

What a disappointment:(

[SuperGrover]

kudos to bobby labonte for wearing a muppets 25th anniversary hat in his interview.

And to Jimmy Spencer for racing with a big plush Animal strapped into his car.

That sounds almost funnier than it was.

[Fozzie Bear]

I didn't watch much of the race at all, but I'm happy to see the drivers supporting the Muppets regardless!!

LOL!! I bet that one guy even sent OUT for an Animal to put in his car.

So, if the Muppet cars HAD been on the race track, was one of "our" drivers likely the winner of the whole thing?

FOZ

[The Count]

I got home late and the 1 commercial I got to see was the one with Dale Jarrett. The 1 thing i like about was that Kermit finally took charge of the situation. I didn't know it was a UPS commercial though.

[AruggeRadio]

This really irritates me. As many of you may remember I broke the story here at Muppet Central back in February Muppet cars will zoom at NASCAR this summer (http://www.muppetcentral.com/news/2002/022102.shtml) of the Muppets being involved with this event. I have sense then spent allot of my hard earned money buying up these collectors’ cars just because i thought that it would be exciting the day of the race to see the Muppets and see them involved with this race. Now i get to find out that the event that i had been looking forward to for six months had no Muppet involvement even thought 8 cars had Muppets painted on the hood.

What in the wide world of sports is so dignified about NASCAR that the owners of the track could not allow the Muppets to be involved in this program? It makes no sense they knew there would be 8 cars painted why the heck they didn’t just say "Sure whatever it may be fun." I mean it wasn't like the Muppets just sponsored one car this was on 8 of the 40 cars that participated in the event. Maybe there was something going on there?

I watched the entire 3 plus hour broadcast to see Muppets and now I find out that the owners who were well aware this would be going on would not allow the Muppets to at least be seen in a box seat or something. How ridiculous, maybe that’s why I never watch NASCAR and probably will never again.

CW

[SuperGrover]

Originally posted by FOZZI3B3AR
So, if the Muppet cars HAD been on the race track, was one of "our" drivers likely the winner of the whole thing?
The Swedish Chef car came in 7th place
Kermit & Piggy's car came in 11th
Pepe's car took 18th place
Gonzo's 19th
Rowlf's was 28th
Animal's car was 32nd
Bunsen & Beaker's car came in 34

And.... (brace yourself, Kevin)

Fozzie Bear's car did not finish the race. :eek:

[SuperGrover]

By the way, I didn't even see The Muppet Show 25 Years Anniversary pace car at all. Did I miss it? :confused: Did anybody see it?

[Fozzie Bear]

Originally posted by SuperGrover
And.... (brace yourself, Kevin) Fozzie Bear's car did not finish the race. :eek:

Oh, well, good grief! Wouldn't that be the way of it. What happened to it? Did it slip on a banana peel???

I'm still VERY irritated by all this and am SO glad that I wasn't one of the few who spent the money on the collector cars...or, actually, because of what's gone on here the cars values may be MORE valuable! AW, GEE! Shot myself in the foot again! :(

I feel ArrugeRadio's pain. Somewhat.

It was my understanding that Chicagoland Speedway (Not NASCAR) was the fault behind all this, and that the Muppet cars were ZERO seen, not even the pace car.

Hmph! I'd say let's go pickett the Speedway, but it's too late now.

FOZ

[SuperGrover]

Originally posted by FOZZI3B3AR
What happened to it? Did it slip on a banana peel???
The heck with that Chicagoland Speedway. I'm hopin' Pepe, Gonzo & the gang made off with the pace car and dragged it all the way down the turnpike in protest! And that THAT's why we didn't see it.

I did see Fozzie's car when it was slipping on the banana peel LOL or whatever the matter with it was.

To quote Rowlf from the Muppet Movie, "Probably something broken about the engine I think."

We don't have turnpikes here in Utah. :( But then again, we got the Salt Flats. Muppets welcome anytime. So there, Chicagoland!

[uncleduke]

Originally posted by AruggeRadio
This really irritates me....
I have sense then spent allot of my hard earned money buying up these collectors’ cars just because i thought that it would be exciting the day of the race to see the Muppets and see them involved with this race. Now i get to find out that the event that i had been looking forward to for six months had no Muppet involvement even thought 8 cars had Muppets painted on the hood.

What in the wide world of sports is so dignified about NASCAR that the owners of the track could not allow the Muppets to be involved in this program?....

My friend, you have very high expectations, remember, we are talking about people who consider driving a car, and turning right for three hours a sport.

Sorry you feel you got gipped, the same thing happend to a couple of years ago with the Universal Monster Nascars... Now they are under $15.00 on ebay.

BTW, great Blazing Saddles reference.

[Cindy Chapman]

Kevin, either I'm confused or something... You said:

It was my understanding that Chicagoland Speedway (Not NASCAR) was the fault behind all this, and that the Muppet cars were ZERO seen, not even the pace car.

and

So, if the Muppet cars HAD been on the race track, was one of "our" drivers likely the winner of the whole thing?



The Muppet cars were there. They did race. The only thing missing I guess was the actual Muppets. And I'm not sure that they were supposed to be there. From your original post I gathered that the actual Muppets weren't allowed into Chicagoland. Also, from my understanding (I could be wrong) there was never a Muppet pace car. There was a Muppet event car which I never saw, but they're not meant to be raced, just for show. So it could have been placed in the parking lot for the fans or something. The pace car was the Tropicana car they used throughout the race.

On the same note, I was rather disappointed in the entire production. I'm not sure who's fault it was, but it was almost as if the camera crew was told not to focus in on the Muppet cars. It wasn't until well into the race that they even showed the hood of Dale Jarrett's car and then briefly mentioned Miss Piggy.

[Fozzie Bear]

Radio Nate will understand this, I betcha...

BUT!

If the Muppets need a good race track, we have I-240!

[Fozzie Bear]

Originally posted by Cindy Chapman
Kevin, either I'm confused or something... You said:The Muppet cars were there. They did race.

You think YOU'RE confused?!

I thought they were NOT allowed on the track at ALL...I mean the cars!! Grrr!! It's the fault of that jayski.com guy! :mad: Did you see his article above? I thought he meant the CARS! I didn't expect the actual Muppets there because they would have to get the performers and all that out there, so that's where MY confusion came in.

Where's that JaySki guy at? I'm gonna smack him one.

*Grabs rubber chicken and runs out the door.*
FOZ

[dlphntat]

Originally posted by uncleduke


My friend, you have very high expectations, remember, we are talking about people who consider driving a car, and turning right for three hours a sport.



Actually,
don't they turn LEFT?

[towels]

Apparently racing has the same PR firm as baseball...
There was a shot of the Animal car with the hood all dinged up after some sort of minor crash, and they did mention Fozzie when that car dropped out of the race. (Actually the one announcer had to ask another announcer who it was...)
There was a comment about Dale Jarrett driving a pig...
Still a missed opportunity. Somebody from NBC Entertainment should have talked to NBC Sports about the Christmas movie.
Ah, well...that'll be the last race I watch for another few years. I kept thinking back to how much fossil fuel and rubber was being used up for a couple of hours of "entertainment"

[Beaker 78]

The Muppets can come and race at the North Wilkesboro speedway near my house it's been closed now for around 5-6 years.

Kelly

[uncleduke]

Originally posted by dlphntat


Actually,
don't they turn LEFT?


Oh, I am sorry, the turn left....that is much more interesting.....
Regardless..... I never watch it, and am glad we did not make the effort, we were hangin' with the mouse all day.

[AruggeRadio]

Glad you liked the Blazing Saddles Reference. Sorry to say it wasn't intentional but I’m sure that’s where I got it from.

[mushmelon]

In this week's Winston Cup Scene (july 18) issue they have 3 photos of the Muppets holding up the "We need tickets" sign and a short article about their banishment.

[scott]

They also showed a clip of that "we need tickets" thing monday on sportscenter.

[Phillip Chapman]

Here's a little more info on the debacle from last weekend...

http://www.muppetcentral.com/news/2002/071802.shtml

[Luke]

Thats a cool pic that goes with the article - was it chopped or is there a version we can see anywhere with more Pepe and Rizzo ?

[Phillip Chapman]

The pic I was given had a headline under Pepe and Rizzo. There are several versions of that shot out there though that we're trying to track down.

[Luke]

Thanks for the info Phil, it's a lovely shot eitherway. I bet that must have been so frustrating for the puppeteers being all ready to go on a big appearance and then zip, poor guys, but at least they made something out of it.

[beaker]

>>>Thanks for the info Phil, it's a lovely shot eitherway. I bet that must have been so frustrating for the puppeteers being all ready to go on a big appearance and then zip, poor guys, but at least they made something out of it.<<<

Hey, so that we need tickets picture I saw, was that a stairical reponse to not being let on to chicagoland speedway? as I thought this aired a few days before the race on espn. There was a lot of mixup on the nascar news...its good to here the drivers were very supportive of the muppets and were pushing for em. It would have been great to see em on tv, but oh well. So Im curious...about that clip of Rivkin and the Muppet gang celebrating with NASCAR...all that was for nothing?

[towels]

Originally posted by beaker
So Im curious...about that clip of Rivkin and the Muppet gang celebrating with NASCAR...all that was for nothing?

Well, it seems to me that there is a difference between the powers that be at Nascar and the powers that be at the speedway. It would be like the NFL scheduling {insert favorite music group here} for a halftime Super Bowl show and the stadium not letting them in. A very stupid and greedy move on the part of the speedway.

[beaker]

>>>Well, it seems to me that there is a difference between the powers that be at Nascar and the powers that be at the speedway. It would be like the NFL scheduling {insert favorite music group here} for a halftime Super Bowl show and the stadium not letting them in. A very stupid and greedy move on the part of the speedway<<<

aw, good to hear there is some clarification as of late. Hmm, it seems like Nascar woul dstill be able to wield there weight or clout to have allowed them on, or *gasp* for the commentators to make mention of the 2th annv and other Muppet related stuff.

[Sunshineboz]

I know I'm posting late but I just had to say....
I'll admit, I'm a huge NASCAR fan. The drivers and NASCAR fully support the Muppets and found it very ridiculous at how the press and the Chicagoland Speedway totally downplayed the representation of the Muppet Show and the Muppets.

Having those two things together are awesome to me and NASCAR is trying to gather and support the "family" atmosphere (despite the missing teeth) with help from The Muppet Show for example, however tracks that are just too uppity or really can't come up with a good reason for preventing family entertainment from happening just don't deserve NASCAR and especially not The MUPPETS!!!

I'm sorry to all of you fans of the Muppets because as a fan of both, it made NASCAR look incredibly bad, even though they do support it. Too much red tape and higher ups = nothing good. :(
Thanks for reading.

[Phillip Chapman]

Hi Sunshineboz,

Welcome to Muppet Central. Great to get to know you.

Have you ever seen anything like this happen before? Is there any kind of precedent for tracks preventing NASCAR promotions from happening?

[Sunshineboz]

"Have you ever seen anything like this happen before? Is there any kind of precedent for tracks preventing NASCAR promotions from happening?"
___________________________________________
I haven't seen any scandal like this happen before to my knowledge. There was a bit of a problem with the "Hooters" organization having their "chicks" appear at Hooters sponsored races but this is a family deal.

Racers, Race Car owners and Nascar all must agree to have done this because of all the money involved and guidelines of being a sponsor and for the race cars. Warner Bros. had to do this too and they had their life size suited animals (Bugs, Daffy, whatnot) in the trucks with the drivers greeting the fans.

I believe that the Chicagoland created all this ruckus for nothing.
I have no idea why they chose to do this for this race, it makes them and NBC look very unorganized and slightly biased.

Sponsors are sponsors, you take them seriously. Without them, there would be no NASCAR or NBC so they shouldn't trivialize The Muppets or any other reputable sponsor.

This incident was the first of its kind that I know of that was of this level.

Oh and thanks for the welcome!! :D

[Zack the Dog]

Racers, Race Car owners and Nascar all must agree to have done this because of all the money involved and guidelines of being a sponsor and for the race cars. Warner Bros. had to do this too and they had their life size suited animals (Bugs, Daffy, whatnot) in the trucks with the drivers greeting the fans.

Hello Sunshineboz! that's pretty interesting, i mean the muppets would have been more of a hit in my eyes then just people in suits of characters that can't talk and can be found in any six flags theme park like bugs, daffy, and taz, the muppet 's would have actulay been there, boy! "some" people at Nascar really blew it!

it was nice that the muppets DID get a chance to be with the cars months before the race thought, in May i think? With the video of it on the nascar muppet page website.

I think this would have been one of the muppets biggest permotions, but was just left in the dust of the nascars.

wonder what Luke thinks of the Hooters girls;-) if they couldn't show up i bet there would have been a lot more anger nascar fans then the muppets not being able to show up!

[Sunshineboz]

Here's an idea of how much is involved with the muppets and the cars:
http://www.nascar.com/2002/news/headlines/wc/06/12/muppets_chicago/index.html

Just a note, Nascar didn't screw up apparently. I just called Jimhenson.com and they said that the muppets did make their appearance...on the cars.

There was a scheduled appearance the drivers were to make with the Muppets, in Hollywood (see the web page attached: http://action-performance.com/muppets/ ).

Apparently no live Muppets were to appear at the raceway. Only the validation of their relationship with NASCAR by being on the cars which in turn places value on the die casts.

I also double checked the local area newspapers, Nascar.com, Chicagoland raceway and Henson.com and none of them reported any "scandal" or mis-representation of the scheduled Muppets event. So the deception was the media saying "The Muppets will be there" when they should have said, "The Muppets will be on the cars".

I hope that helps and sorry for all the confusion / frustration.

[Phillip Chapman]

Seen this? Similar stories were on ESPN and Fox as well.

http://www.muppetcentral.com/news/2002/071802.shtml

[Sunshineboz]

That is soooo weird and the sad part is...I have read that. Why would Jimhenson.com say that everything was ok and that it was all legitimate?

[Jackie]

WE NEED TICKETS? LOL!!!!

[Zack the Dog]

yes we know that the muppets were at least able to be with the cars and parts of the video can be watched on line, i saw some clips of that on tv as well with a about 10 seconds of lines from fozzie bear.

also i found it nice that RIZZO "was" planed to be at the race even though he didn't get painted on a nascar or was at the reviling of the cars with all the other muppets, as he can be seen with pepe and animal in that photo.

[Sunshineboz]

Except for the Muppets being painted on the cars...
The whole thing is a scandal. Shhhhh
**lurks through the bushes**

then

**hides under a lampshade from Miss Piggy**