It takes a lot of money to run a race team and that cannot be overstated if it’s in the NASCAR Cup Series. Without the support of several sponsors pumping in millions every year, it would be impossible to go racing. In today’s world where the costs reach new highs every year, a team must have their sponsor situation sorted long before a season starts. So how does the process of finding and signing a deal with a company work out? Joe Gibbs Racing recently explained it in a recently released video.
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The process isn’t much different from a regular sales call. Each team has its own sales department that has a list of companies that might not be in NASCAR. Cold calls go out to the desired companies in the hope of getting an audience. The job then is to figure out if they’re having any issues with their business and how being associated with racing can help fix those issues. Teams also need to come up with a lucrative marketing plan because there usually is competition from other race teams as well.
Today, Joe Gibbs Racing has some of the biggest brands in the world as its sponsors. The likes of Coca-Cola, FedEx, Monster Energy, and Bass Pro Shops to name a few are among the biggest partners. These brands can collaborate with other teams as well. For example, Coca-Cola sponsored Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott in the Richmond Race last weekend.
Sponsors also have a role in deciding how a car looks on a race weekend. Teams assign specific races in which different companies are the primary sponsor and have their logo bigger than the rest on the car. They also get to decide the paint scheme for that event. Either the company’s graphics team will send a design to a race team or the race team’s designers will send one to the company for approval. The last word always rests with the company.
Without sponsors, racing would not have been possible. A great example of that is what happened to Stewart-Haas Racing after losing eminent partners like Anheuser-Busch, Go Bowling, Hunt Brothers Pizza, and several others at the end of 2023. No team would want to suffer a similar fate.
