Dale Earnhardt Jr. with a Navy-sponsored car he will drive at a future race during a ceremony at the Talladega Superspeedway. (Photo by Mark Almond)
Posted on 04/29/2008 9:41:49 AM PDT by Incorrigible
Dale Earnhardt Jr. with a Navy-sponsored car he will drive at a future race during a ceremony at the Talladega Superspeedway. (Photo by Mark Almond) |
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TALLADEGA, Ala. — NASCAR racing is a sport built around loyalty to the product brands that sponsor racing teams.
It's a loyalty stronger than in most other major sports. Fans of driver Tony Stewart are more likely to eat at Subway than New York Yankees fans are to wear Adidas shoes.
The idea of a company brand becoming an athletic logo has also attracted branches of the military to become NASCAR sponsors.
The Army and National Guard each sponsor a car in the top Sprint Cup Series, and the Navy sponsors a car in the Nationwide Series.
Recently, the Navy announced that well-known driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. will drive a Navy-themed car in a Sprint Cup race next month to call attention to registration for a new Navy boot camp.
"It's not just a car going around the track," Navy representative Andrea Ross said. "People who follow NASCAR are more likely to use a product. If Jeff Gordon drinks Pepsi, (his fans are) more likely to drink Pepsi. There's a lot of sponsorship loyalty."
Along with the immediate brand recognition of having a logo painted all over a race car, the armed forces see recruiting opportunities when they set up interactive sponsor displays at a track. Displays are staffed by members of the military branches and offer a casual environment that a recruiting office could never supply.
Chief Tem Frierson was working at the Navy booth at Talladega Superspeedway over the weekend in conjunction with the Aaron's 499 Spring Cup race. The most common question, Frierson said, is, "Are you actually in the Navy?"
"They have this idea of the Navy SEAL or that we're only involved in warfare and they have this picture and it seems like something untouchable," Frierson said. "It's a lot more relaxed environment (at a track). It's not overbearing. They're just here to investigate and hopefully through talking to me or someone in my team they are able to put to rest some of the misconceptions."
Many NASCAR fans fall into the armed forces' target demographic of someone who either might sign up or be an "influencer" — a family member or teacher who could suggest the armed forces as an option to someone in the desired age range.
"We're talking to grandparents, the mothers, the fathers," said Navy Chief Angel Torres. "When they come in, they hear about our life experiences. Maybe we can share that and they say, 'Wow, I would really like that for my son.'"
Of the 10,000 people who pass through a display on a typical race weekend, the Navy anticipates developing approximately 300 leads for recruits.
Financially, the race sponsorships are a boon for the services, as well. The Navy spends about $6.5 million from its publicly funded general advertising budget to sponsor Brad Keslowski's No. 88 JR Motorsports car and to set up the interactive displays. Ross estimates the Navy has already received nearly $6 million worth of advertising exposure after eight races.
"What we're looking for in this program is brand awareness, recruiting and retention," Ross said. "At the end of the day, we look at all these metrics to decide if our participation in the sport is worthwhile. Where we are right now with our partnership with JR Motorsports, we feel it is."
Earnhardt, the owner of JR Motorsports who drives the National Guard car in 17 races a year on the Sprint Cup circuit, announced Friday a new initiative to help recruitment for the Navy with the formation of an 88-person boot camp in Illinois.
Earnhardt will drive a specially designed Navy car at the Carquest Auto Parts 300 on May 24 in Charlotte, N.C., where the first-come, first-served registration for the camp will begin.
"It's the first time we've ever partnered with a celebrity industry leader in a call to action service," said Capt. Jack Hanzlik, chief of naval personnel.
The partnerships between the armed forces and NASCAR allow the various branches of the military to tap into a fan base that is highly patriotic.
And it's large.
"The venue itself offers a huge crowd," said Maj. Anton Alston of the Army, which sets up its Strength in Action zone at 25 races. "That opportunity allows us to connect with the American public. And they're patriotic. It's a great educational tool for us."
(Daniel Blank is a staff writer for the Birmingham (Ala.) News. He can be contacted at dblank(at)bhamnews.com.)
Not for commercial use. For educational and discussion purposes only.
Won't find any bicycle riders at a NASCAR race willing to throw firecrackers at the booth like in New York's Times Square!
Well good for NASCAR for doing this.
I still say F1 is better racing though.....
Accelerate Your Life.
What is F1 racing?
Good for the military and for NASCAR. Maybe there can be an equivalent of the Army-Navy game during one of the race weekends but with all the services represented in the race. Woo hoo!
Wow, this journalist is on to something new. Imagine, the armed services sponsoring cup cars. I think the Army’s only been doing this as a full time sponsor for five years and the National Guard for at least four.
Those guys were insane. I can’t even imagine racing in those ‘60s F1 cars...no fire prevention or fire suits, lap belts only, wooden steering wheels, aluminum fuel tanks, tires so hard they lasted two or three entire races? Incredibly dangerous. They were amazingly brave men.
}:-)4
Jim Clark was the greatest auto racer of all time. He even won at the Indy 500.
In F1, rubbing ain't racing, it's suicide. The car is designed to turn left and right harder and faster than any car, accelerate from 0-220 mph faster than any car and brake from 220-0 faster than any car. F1 racing has more to do modern automobile development than any other race on Earth.
I loved the sound of those 1.5L engines screaming like they would explode at any time. To build a 1.5L with 8 to 12 cylinders was amazing.
Of course I know what F1 is, but I was razzin that other feller.
That's Sprint Cup racing. But what about Nationwide? You got Border Patrol, Navy and National Guard again. Probably the most airtime is going to the Navy car.
First thing I thought, too. ;)
All five branches were on Winston Cup cars in the mid 1980’s.
Dave Marcis had the Coast Guard car. I remember that one since I served in the USCG during the early 1970’s.
F1? Aren’t they still talking about the pass Michael Schumacker made back in 1994?
Tony Schumachers Top Fuel US Army car will hit
200 mph in about 2 seconds.Can do 321 mph in 1/4 mile.
Got second in Atlanta this weekend.
Agree F-1 has advanced automobile technology greatly
I always forget that funny cars are cars. But you're not talking about a funny car, you're talking about a dragster, a rail, not a car. How does it handle that first corner? I guess I should have specified my description as closed track race cars.
“F1? Aren’t they still talking about the pass Michael Schumacker made back in 1994?”
Not any longer. Kimi Räikkönen made a hell of a late pass in the Belgian Grand Prix last year........we now talk about that one instead. :-)
You came along a couple of years before me - I was a major F1 fan in 1965-70, before aerodynamics came in and ruint the looks of the cars (sports racers too - now they all look like the boxes they came in).
Jack Brabham when he was beating the big money teams in his home-brewed Repco's was always my fave.
Bet you read all the race reports by Henry Manney in Road & Track too......
I went to visit my mother several years ago and she told me she had something of mine she wanted to get out of her basement. It was a bundle of Road & Track magazines from that era, about 20-25 of them.
Ping the gang?
"Earnhardt, the owner of JR Motorsports who drives the National Guard car in 17 races a year on the Sprint Cup circuit, announced Friday a new initiative to help recruitment for the Navy with the formation of an 88-person boot camp in Illinois.Earnhardt will drive a specially designed Navy car at the Carquest Auto Parts 300 on May 24 in Charlotte, N.C., where the first-come, first-served registration for the camp will begin.
"It's the first time we've ever partnered with a celebrity industry leader in a call to action service," said Capt. Jack Hanzlik, chief of naval personnel.
The partnerships between the armed forces and NASCAR allow the various branches of the military to tap into a fan base that is highly patriotic."
Cool.
Very Cool!
I think they have already gotten their (our) money's worth!
maybe Jr's forming a small BUD/S team that'll train by carrying engine blocks and trannies instead of logs. Hell week will no doubt be during the race to the chase.
Yeah I know, shows I read the article.
LMAO perfect. He’s good.
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What?
No flag pin?
Oh, there’s the flag. ;-)
Good job!!!
Boot camp. Uggh..(flashback) I mean , cool.
Go Navy, National Guard, Army, Coast Guard, Air Force, and Marines!!!
How was the flyover last night anyway?
.
Thanks -
Obama/Ol’Bomber - 2008
That will get the NASCAR voters!
I didn’t see one... so we made our own :o)
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