With the Indianapolis 500 fast approaching, speed is the name of the game. It appears Indy Racing League
drivers—some of them anyway—are gaining speed with corporate America.
If you haven’t seen Marco Andretti’s Gillette Fusion TV ad, you can check it out by clicking here. True, little Andretti doesn’t appear to have much facial hair to shave, but the spot is airing on the networks during prime time this month, and that is certainly revving the IRL marketing department’s engine.
Sarah Fisher’s fledgling race team seems to be getting stronger by the day. Remember last year at this time, Fisher was jilted by her primary sponsor, ResQ Pure Power Energy Drink, and was panhandling for donations to keep her team afloat for Indy. This year, she has a solid primary sponsor, Dollar General, that will put her on the track for at least six races, and she has one of the few teams that seems to be regularly adding sponsors, even if they’re secondary sponsors.
In her most recent deal, Fisher inked a deal with Indiana Members Credit Union. Notably, the sponsorship is another one that will put Fisher front and center of a media campaign. Fisher filmed a commercial for IMCU last week. It will begin airing this month. Fisher also will appear in print ads for IMCU throughout May. Even if Fisher never reaches the winner’s circle, she’s made herself one of the most recognized open-wheel racers in the U.S., and has likely secured herself a healthy annual income for many years to come. That’s a lot more than most open-wheelers can say, even some that have enjoyed more on-track success. Her approach with sponsors should also secure her future as a team owner if she so desires to continue that endeavor.
One of the few drivers Fisher trails in the recognition department is Danica Patrick. Take it easy everyone. I’ve lifted my self-imposed moratorium on Danica news for at least the month of May, and probably until the end of the open-wheel season. Sorry to the burnt-out-on Danica crowd. She still has legions of fans. My own blog stats tell me so. The term Danica Patrick is seven times more searched than any other term on The Score. Yes, that includes Indianapolis Colts, Peyton Manning, Sarah Fisher, Indianapolis 500, you name it.
Anyway, GoDaddy is always quick to capitalize on Danicamania. So, it’s not surprising they’ve released another censored ad. Actually, GoDaddy has produced two new Danica ads; one for TV and one for Web viewing only. Whether or not you’re tired of the Danica-GoDaddy shtick, you have to admit they generate a lot of publicity. To state the obvious, that’s good for the IRL. To see the latest GoDaddy ad, click here, and tell me what you think. To get to the Danica portion of this video, fast foward to the 3:45 mark.
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That being said... I'm glad to see some good luck come Sarah's way. She's been running well. And while she may not have the most competitive car out there just yet, I'm glad to see her on the track.
And while I know there are others, she's a good story for the fans and for the legions of young girls interested in racing.
In all, I too am pleased with the increasing coverage of IndyCar racers and the sport in general.
It seems that Sarah is doing a pretty good job.
:lol:
The IRL: They have to pay people to run there.
Prove it. Wow, I like this new way of blogging. No need to know what I am writing about, just keep saying the same thing over and over and ignoring facts as they are presented. You guys have had it easy.
Maybe I have expected too much from Rahal and Letterman.
Has Sarah been in a race this year? Did I miss something? To recap, Sarah is in her first race of the year with a few associate) sponsors (hope that works out better thean ResQ) and that is impressive but RLR in their first race of the year is some type of dissapointment?
Anyone got the pole day ratings yet? :lol:
Found this on another forum, no reason to believe it's inaccurate:
Here are the 2008 ratings:
05.10.08 Pole Day 12-2PM ESPN2 Rating: 0.47
05.10.08 Pole Day 3-6PM ABC Rating: 0.9 1,329,000 viewers
05.10.08 Pole Day (Wrap Up) 6-7PM ESPN2 Rating: 0.12
05.11.08 Indy Second Day Time Trials ESPN2 Rating: 0.30
05.18.08 Bump Day ABC Rating: 1.1 1,278,000 households 1,460,000 viewers
05.25.08 Indy 500 Pre-Race ABC Rating: 2.2 2,505,000 households 3,159,000 viewers
05.10.08 Indy 500 Race ABC Rating: 4.6 5,167,00 households 7,245,000 viewers
RLR is entered in their first Indy Car race of the season, and is running a limited engine lease. It is expected that Servia will be the driver, and there have been no mentions of sponsorship. Rahal Letterman Racing is in its 18th year of existence, and is owned by former 500 and Championship winner Bobby Rahal, and television icon David Letterman.
Being that this is a business publication, and this blog is about sports business news, I would say that what her small team has put together is more impressive than what RLR has put together.
You're right. RLR has had a string of sponsors leave for various reasons. And I think that it's impressive that SFR's small team has been able to put together sponsorship for six races.
I was hoping that RLR would be able to put together a better package for Indianapolis. They have dissapointed.
Rahal Letterman Racing has finalized its deal to field a car for Oriol Servia at the Indianapolis 500.
As we reported last week, the team – which sat out the opening races of the 2009 season after losing its Ethanol sponsorship – had entered a car for this year’s race but the car, painted in a color scheme that commemorates Dan Gurney’s Eagles of the 1960s, remained in the garage while the team sought to finalize sponsorship arrangements. Today, RLR announced that the car would be sponsored by DAFCA, a micro-electronics counterfeiting protection systems company.