Sponsors hold the keys in NASCAR
Like most other sports- related businesses, NASCAR is controlled by sponsors.
You cannot watch a race or listen to a driver without hearing a sponsor being tied into everything that is mentioned.
‘I’d like to thank Goodyear tires for helping me win the Goodies 500 in my No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet.’
When was the last time you heard a TV commentator mention that a car was running low on fuel? Almost never. It has to be: the No. 8 has to get a quick splash of Sunoco fuel.
It costs more than $15 million to run a successful program in Sprint Cup racing. Most of the money comes from sponsors, and they have to get mentioned continuously. With teams, drivers, car numbers and sponsors changing weekly, it is hard to keep track of them. Just last week, during the telecast of the Martinsville race, a commentator slipped up by saying: ‘Pennzoil pit strategy ‘ I’m sorry, Sunoco pit strategy.’
Try getting a business to buy your team’s bowling shirts or a little league baseball team’s uniforms without their name printed on them. It is just not happening.
In the Nationwide Series, Johnny Sauter was the driver for the Phoenix Racing No. 1 car until he was replaced by Ron Fellows for the April 20 road race in Mexico.
‘It was a sponsor request to take Johnny out of the car,’ explained general manager Mark Reno. ‘This is the first time that they’ve [Miccosukee Resort & Gaming] ever disapproved one of our drivers. That’s why we took Johnny out.’
Robby Gordon wears a logo on his race suit for Vanguard Integrity Professionals. The company wants Robby to take the logo off and has sued him for $1.15 million in sponsorship fees they want returned. It seems that following the cancellation of the Dakar Rally last January, Robby made some inflammatory remarks that did not sit well with the company.
Goodyear is the sole tire provider for NASCAR. Tony Stewart came down hard on Goodyear a few races ago and, as a result, Goodyear says that Tony is not welcomed to any more Goodyear tire tests in the future.
So, are drivers required to butter up their sponsors? You bet, if they want to keep their jobs.
There have been many successful partnerships between drivers and sponsors. How can you think of Richard Petty without associating STP with him? How about Dale Earnhardt and Goodwrench? Most racing fans today will associate drivers with their sponsors. If they don’t, then the driver will remind them.
We have just seen the end of one of the most successful driver/sponsor relationships in all of racing. UPS signed on with Dale Jarrett at the start of the 2001 racing season and for over seven years we have been entertained with one on-going theme ‘ Dale, drive the big brown truck. Dale’s dead-pan expressions are what made all those commercials so successful.
In one spot, Dale asks how he can race with the trucks top speed of 75 mph. A UPS rep explains that UPS has one of the largest fleet of airplanes in the country and then a UPS truck with jet engines attached, goes screaming by. This seems to satisfy a doubtful Jarrett. I loved the one about the pit stop practice where Jarrett has doubts of racing the truck when he learns there are 15 lugnuts on each wheel and there are duels in the rear. When Dale announced his retirement, UPS even had a spot honoring his accomplishments.
UPS must now find a suitable replacement for Jarrett, and it will not be easy. Greg Biffle seems to be the front-runner, but UPS says it will evaluate up to five teams over the next two months before making a formal announcement.