NASCAR Brands and Sponsors

   Since NASCAR was founded 65 years ago, sponsors have been putting their brands and marketing promotions on the doors, hoods, roofs, and just about anywhere else on every race car on the track. Sponsors learned early on in NASCAR (and other forms of motorsports) that by putting their brands and logos on the cars they brought brand recognition to the fans in the stands and the millions of viewers at home watching on T.V. Just as it was in 1948, it still rings true today, the fans will develop a brand loyalty for the brands on the car of their favorite driver.
   Thirty years ago I became a fan of Dale Earnhardt Sr. when he moved up to the Winston Cup Series, now the present day, Sprint Cup Series. Back then, Dale Sr. had Wrangler Jeans as his primary sponsor, and they stayed with him even when he moved to Richard Childress Racing and Goodwrench became his primary sponsor. Wrangler became an associate sponsor and a primary sponsor of Dale Earnhardt Inc. with which he fielded Grand National, now Nationwide series cars and his own cars in Sprint Cup for his son Dale Jr. and Steve Park. In Dale's early career his car was blue and yellow with the Wrangler logo prominently displayed. Because of this I became brand insistent with Wrangler jeans and have worn them ever since. I find them much more comfortable than Levis and this fact is born out today in their commercials featuring Dale Jr. and other sports stars. Wranglers are cut in U shape which makes them more comfortable to wear than those jeans cut in V shape.

   Today the NASCAR fan base is over 40% women and advertising managers and their marketing mixes are targeting this segment of the market. Over the years many products, from beer to laundry detergent have been sponsors for NASCAR teams and this has helped to promote brand loyalty among the female fan base of NASCAR. So much so, that specific driver paraphernalia is marketed directly towards the female fan base.
   As the economy improves more companies will find that one of the best bang's for their marketing buck will be in NASCAR and the brand loyalty that will be garnered by sponsoring a car on the track.