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Tag: Sponsors

  • Wallace earns his job on and off the track

    Wallace earns his job on and off the track

    [media-credit name=”theautochannel.com” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]Kenny Wallace has had a roller coaster of a career, highlighted by pushing Dale Earhardt Sr. to his final victory at Talladega over a decade ago. The 48 year old from St. Louis, Missouri, is in a fight to keep himself behind the wheel for one final season in the Nationwide Series.

    It is well documented that Wallace doesn’t get paid. He drives for the underfunded RAB Racing with Brack Maggard in the No. 09 Toyota Camry.

    Throughout his time at RAB Racing, Wallace has done it all.

    Performing on the track gave the veteran driver a chance to do it all over again in 2012. Unfortunately, the sponsorship he originally obtained, backed out the last second just before the Nationwide Series race at Phoenix.

    Rumors swirled around as his job was and still is in jeopardy. Reports across numerous media panels believed Wallace had finished his career. But, he did not give up.
    With the use of his widely spread Twitter and Facebook pages, Wallace was on a mission.

    As the past two weeks progressed, so did Wallace’s on-track performance. He qualified third at Phoenix, the best qualifying effort in RAB Racing’s history. Though he was unable to finish the race due to an accident, Wallace raised many eyebrows.

    This past weekend at Las Vegas, Wallace contended for a top ten position throughout the day. Ultimately, he finished 11th, an impressive bounce back for Wallace as he continued to search for a sponsor.

    How does this help Wallace’s case though? Sponsors didn’t want him when he was running in the top ten every week, why would they want him now?
    I’ll tell you why.

    Kenny Wallace is a man like no other. His beyond extraordinary personality is thrilling for races fans. If one was to go onto Twitter and see what Kenny Wallace was up to, you wouldn’t just see what he’s doing, you would see him respond to numerous fans on a daily basis.

    Over the past few seasons, Wallace has become more interactive with the fans. Well, at least more than he already was.

    A fan favorite for years, Wallace can spread the word of a company to thousands of people in the matter of seconds. One company has already taken a pledge to help out Wallace as well as expand their branding.

    MAC Tools, an often used tool supplier throughout the NASCAR garage area, will sponsor Wallace for the Nationwide Series race this weekend at the Bristol Motor Speedway.
    Wallace and team owner Robby Benton collaborated to break the news to fans as they posted it on their respective Twitter accounts.

    “@Mac_Tools:……I am SO Thankful….. @Mac_Tools is proud to be teaming with @Kenny_Wallace and @RobbyBenton at Bristol on Saturday!” tweeted Wallace in an enthusiastic way.

    Wallace got fans involved as well. In a matter of several hours of the announcement, fans across the nation wrote about MAC Tools and how great it is for them to sponsor a driver that doesn’t even get paid.

    Few drivers can be compared to Wallace. His determination to find a sponsor via social media propelled him to achieve his goal.

    A race car driver that advertises himself on Twitter could seem crazy to numerous people, but for Kenny Wallace, a man hunting for victory in his possible final year as a NASCAR driver, it is one more opportunity to show his great talents.

  • Notes From The NASCAR Nation: Is Danica Patrick The Secret Sauce?

    Notes From The NASCAR Nation: Is Danica Patrick The Secret Sauce?

    Is Danica Patrick the “secret sauce” in a highly successful marketing concept. It recently became apparent that the answer is a resounding yes.

    Over the years it has been very well known that “Go Daddy.Com” has been the primary sponsor for Danica Patrick’s racing career both in the Indy Racing League and her proposed transition to NASCAR. Let’s face it, the fact that this very attractive race driver has been the face, and in all honesty the body, of the Internet domain company’s advertising campaign has become a marketing marriage made in heaven.

    [media-credit id=22 align=”alignright” width=”258″][/media-credit]However there was some brief speculation regarding the future of this marketing relationship, following a report initiated by “The Wall Street Journal”, that said “Go Daddy.Com” had been sold. The story confirmed the fact that the company’s founder and CEO, Bob Parsons, had indeed sold his company to a trio of investors that included KKT and Company, Silver Lake Partners and Technology Crossover Ventures. The sale price of the ultra successful company was a whopping $2.25 billion.

    It turns out that Danica Patrick fans have no reason for concern here. First off no has a stronger belief in her future in motorsports than Bob Parsons. While he will no longer be the “Go Daddy” owner, he has to agreed to stay on as the company’s CEO. He’s also made it crystal clear that the sale of the company he founded will not have any impact on “Go Daddy’s” relationship with his favorite race driver.

    In a comment made to “ESPN” following the announcement that “Go Daddy” had been sold, Elizabeth Driscoll, the company Vice President of Public Relations, said: ” I can tell you that Bob’s been very vocal about how well Danica Patrick has fit into “Go Daddy’s” marketing efforts. The new investors have specifically said they don’t want to mess with “Go Daddy’s” secret sauce.”

    If you’re like me then you probably found yourself wondering why Patrick was being referred to as “secret sauce?” Driscoll’s statement became just a little bit more clear when it was revealed that she meant Patrick was the magic ingredient in the company’s customer service and marketing and they were “very much looking forward to the future on the Internet and the race track.”

    At least we’re now sure that Danica Patrick is going to have full sponsorship for her future racing endeavors. We’re just not exactly sure at the moment where these endeavors will take place.

    But seriously, secret sauce? Isn’t that something they put on hamburgers at fast food restaurants?

  • CROWN ROYAL LEAVING NASCAR AFTER 2011 SEASON

    *OFFICIAL STATEMENT FROM CROWN ROYAL: *

    * *

    In evaluation of our NASCAR programming and after much consideration, we have made the decision to make a strategic shift to focus our resources against our annual Crown Royal “Your Name Here” program which awards race naming rights to an adult fan. The Your Name Here program has provided NASCAR fans with an experience that is unrivaled in sports and in recent years has shed light on some of the remarkable military servicemen and servicewomen who proudly serve our country. We look forward to elevating this program as well as continuing our presence in the sport through an experience that our fans have grown to love. The specific details regarding how we will honor these heroes at next year’s entitlement will be announced at a later date.

    In shifting our strategy, we will end our sponsorships with Roush Fenway Racing and NASCAR upon the conclusion of the 2011 season. We have developed strong relationships with the people at both organizations – they have not only been fantastic business partners, but have also become our friends. We thank them for working with us throughout the years to showcase the importance of our social responsibility initiatives. We look forward to a strong finish to the 2011 season and like the many fans we’ve gained along the way, we’ll never stop rooting for the No. 17 car on its way to Victory Lane.

    – Yvonne Briese, VP Marketing, DIAGEO NA Whisky