No Longer “Drink It, Smoke It or Put It in Your Car”

by Grandstand Bob

You’re about to see NASCAR step it up a notch in the change department. Witness the sport’s departure from long-time sponsor, RJ Reynolds. We all knew that it was coming, and that it was probably inevitable, but how many of us are looking down the road to see what other changes are coming?

The saying used to be: if you couldn’t drink it, smoke it or put it in your car, you probably weren’t going to see a product became a major sponsor of a stock car team, and that made sense. Until fairly recently, the core of NASCAR’s fan base was rural males from the Southeast. Those fans, as dedicated as they were, didn’t give much thought to laundry detergent or credit card companies. They were much more likely to dump a few quarts of Quaker State into their car while filling up with Texaco gasoline, before leaving to down a few Budweisers and stoke up a couple Winstons. Those fans are still around, but they’re surrounded by soccer moms and Yankees with money.

With this shift in the fan base came changes in sponsorship. Companies like Texaco and Citgo are throttling back on their sponsorship, while companies like Nextel and Pfizer are stepping forward with fistfuls of cash. Look for NASCAR to use this changing tide to fuel a series of changes.

We already learned that the Southern 500 will give up its traditional Labor Day date to California Speedway, while Rockingham will lose a race date, which will make this great track’s survival questionable at best. It won’t be long before Rockingham loses its remaining Winston Cup race as well, and Darlington will lose one or both of its races. You don’t schedule Winston Cup races during periods of traditional bad weather or even worse, deer season in the South, if you want to help a track attract fans.

These moves will free up dates for Kansas City, Chicago and the like, and leave enough room for NASCAR to give Bruton Smith his second Texas date, if they have to. A change in series sponsorship will also likely mean that the all-star event we know as The Winston will likely move to an ISC track. Why an ISC track? Go back to NASCAR 101, if you don’t know the answer to that one.

With the exception of fans living in the Carolinas, these changes mean little, and NASCAR knows this. You don’t build a billion-dollar empire without doing your homework.

NASCAR, and rightfully so, is focused on bringing as many new fans to the sport as possible, while losing as few old-time fans as possible. NASCAR and its sponsors look at the spending power of the mill worker who saves enough money throughout the year to drive his family to the Southern 500 versus the spending power of wealthy patrons who fly into several races per year and think nothing of coughing up more than $100 per ticket. These fans are a much more appealing demographic and will bring with them more money in sponsorship. Earning more money is one of the primary goals of any business, and NASCAR is no different.

More money will bring with it more changes. Look for higher ticket prices and tremendous changes in broadcast coverage, including pay-for-view for certain broadcast features, like in-car cameras. On track competition will also be affected, as we have already seen in the near demise of single-car teams and driver/owners. It will become even more financially difficult to field a team or to break into the sport. As a result, I look for legendary names like Petty and Wood to leave racing entirely.

Now, are these changes all bad? No, unless you are a traditionalist, a financially challenged potential competitor, a middle-class fan in the Carolinas, or a fan who likes to pull for the underdog. Most of us will still tune our television sets to the race on Sunday and buy the products sponsoring our favorite drivers. Hell, we’ll even pay hundreds of dollars to adorn our bodies with advertisements for sponsors. NASCAR and Nextel know this and will continue to reap huge profits for their efforts in putting on a show for us.

Grandstand Bob Profile and Past Columns

note: This opinions expressed in this column are those of writer and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of ARS Racing Outlet or its parent company, amI, Inc.