More Exciting Sponsorship News
Written by Jory Elliott · February 11, 2006
Hot on the heels of the opening race of the season on the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing circuit there is more exciting sponsor news to report. As the NHRA becomes more main stream the sponsors that represent those markets continue to trickle in to the sport as well.
There are five very obvious indications of this occurring within the NHRA. The first and perhaps most talked about being the signing of the United Parcel Service as the official express delivery company of not only the NHRA but Bob Vandergriff and his top fuel team for the next three seasons. According to many reports the UPS deal is one that has been in the making for several years now and is finally coming to fruition this season. Also the addition of the Sidney Frank Importing Co. bringing with them, Jagermeister liqueur branding to the pro stock category and Max Naylor Racing is an interesting partnership. This relationship once again solidifies the connection between motor sports and alcohol based products. Perhaps the most mainstream of all the new marketing partnerships is that of the Von Dutch colors being flown on the Frank Pedregon fuel funny car. Von Dutch is a contemporary clothing company that caters to the elite of Hollywood and targets teenagers and young adults as its major markets. The formation of the new Scott Griffin Motorsports top fuel team piloted by Andrew Cowin brought with it another unknown in drag racing sponsorship. The Serta bedding company signed on the dotted line to become the major marketing partner of Scott Griffin Motorsports and in doing so emblazoned their “counting sheep” advertising into motor sports history. The final piece to the puzzle comes from the wildly entertaining Tuttle family and their Orange County Choppers shop located in New York State. Paul Sr., Paul Jr., Mikey and the rest of the gang who have become famous due to their hit television series American Chopper, seen weekly on The Discovery Channel, have signed on as a major associate sponsor on the sides of 5 time IHRA World Champion and perennial NHRA contender Clay Millican’s Werner Enterprises, Nitro Fish Wear, Motel 6 top fuel dragster.
These five scenarios should help to create a broader, more commercial appearance for the NHRA and drag racing in general among the mainstream public. We can only hope that as time continues more companies that consider themselves a specialty brand within their industry may begin to view drag racing as exactly that in the motor sports industry. Drag Racing presents a unique platform from which to promote unique products and should only benefit from that persona into the foreseeable future.
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Great insight Jory. I will add that although these non-traditional sponsors are great for the sport, the impact could be greater if they activate their sponsorship outside of the NHRA. Using UPS as a prime example, they have demonstrated that they can use Dale Jarett outside of the NASCAR broadcasts and he has become a spokesman for the company in commercials. These commercials air on other sports broadcasts such as Monday Night Football and help further brand their product beyond the NASCAR fan. Serta could do this with Andrew Cowin and UPS could do this with Bob Vandergriff. If these companies choose to utilize their involvement with the NHRA more, this could be huge for the branding and the reach for all of drag racing. Whether they choose to do that remains to be seen.