Sports have always had a dark side. But the hands-down Bad Boy of professional athletics -- NASCAR -- is clearly in a league of its own.

NRANASCAR provided the National Rifle Association a public relations coup by agreeing to upgrade the gun lobby sponsorship by renaming a Sprint Cup race on April 13.

Formerly the Texas 500, the race, part of NASCAR'S major division, is now the NRA 500. The race is sure to attract a large audience on Fox because it is the first Saturday prime-time event of the season. 

NASCAR has already received much criticism from gun-control advocates because of the NRA sponsorship upgrade and renaming the race only a few months after the Newtown massacre.

Businesses in need of a public relations boost have always had a best friend in NASCAR, which has always lent a PR helping hand to companies and organizations in their time of need:

When the tobacco companies were restricted by Congress from advertising on radio and TV in 1969, the industry found in NASCAR an engine to reach audiences by sponsorship of teams.  The relationship permitted team sponsorships to be talked about on radio and TV and having their logos on the moving billboards, thus circumventing the restrictions. The bond lasted until 2010, when the Federal Food and Drug Administration prohibited cigarette and smokeless tobacco products from advertising on sporting events.

NASCAR also has a history of being a willing cohort for alcoholic sponsorships. For years, beers have found a willing partner; distilled sprits also have had a relationship with NASCAR.

Given NASCAR'S associations with sponsors whose products are known to cause countless avoidable deaths, it is keeping with tradition that it has a pro-gun legacy.

What has raised eye brows is that NASCAR injected itself into a heated political situation that is still in its infancy, which is contrary to good public relations practice. It can now be labeled an active ally of pro-gun groups and, as such, has made itself vulnerable to criticism from gun control advocates, politicians and the media. 

NASCAR, for the most part, has been spared from media and government criticism, which has dogged other sports such as boxing and football. Its lower-level alliance with the NRA has largely been ignored. But the NRA 500 has vaulted NASCAR into an on-going controversial media spotlight. If NASCAR doesn't have a crisis communication plan, now is a good time for them to create one; if they do have a plan on the shelve, it probably will need continual updating to make it relevant to the current situations. 

Political beliefs aside, from a strict public relations view, the NRA 500 is a disaster for NASCAR. NASCAR has long looked for ways to be accepted as an on-going Americana story by the public and national media, instead of being considered a "red neck" sport that achieved major media coverage only for certain races or when a race care accident occurred.  The emergence of Danica Patrick as a NASCAR media superstar was helping achieve that goal, highlighted by her involvement in a program promoting health and wellness for kids at the White House during Easter weekend. But the NRA 500 is now in the spotlight.

Gun sponsorships are certainly not a recent addition for the motor sports organization.  Manufacturers of firearms like Remington and Smith & Wesson have been sponsors.

Andto demonstrate its fidelity with gun manufacturers, the winner of the NRA 500 is penciled in to fire a gun as part of the victory celebration unless other sponsors of the victorious driver and car complain because their logos might appear in victory gun celebration photos or on TV, not exactly like pouring champagne over athletes after a championship, but equally in bad taste.  

What would be ironic is if the winner of the NRA 500 is anti-gun and refuses to participate in the ceremony.  But given the pro-gun culture in the areas that most support NASCAR that is highly unlikely.

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Arthur Solomon was a senior VP/senior counselor at Burson-Marsteller, He now is a frequent contributor to public relations and sports business publications, consults on public relations projects and is on the Seoul Peace Prize nominating committee. He can be reached at [email protected].