This Is An Update Of NASCAR Chairman Opens Up About Potential Loss Of Manufacturer Involvement
Imagine NASCAR without the great American automakers pushing and pulling it along. Imagine if the Chevy bow tie in front of Jimmie Johnson’s car vanished, if the blue Ford oval fell off Carl Edwards’ No. 99.
Imagine if Dodge disappeared.
NASCAR would survive, but it wouldn’t be easy.
“If we withdrew altogether, could a team survive?” asked Doug Hervey, North America Operations Manager for Ford Racing Technology. “If that’s the question, I think it would be very difficult, but I think they could survive, given the other sponsorships that they acquire. Engine-wise, engineering-wise, it would be a setback.”
On Sunday in Arizona, NASCAR CEO Brian France said the almost unspeakable. He said he wasn’t sure whether America’s “Big Three” automakers—Ford, GM and Chrysler—could remain a part of NASCAR.
U.S. auto sales have plummeted in recent months, and Ford and General Motors, along with Chrysler, are fighting for survival amid the crisis. The three Detroit manufacturers - along with recent addition Toyota - are the cornerstones of NASCAR.
On Friday, GM and Ford revealed multibillion-dollar losses for the third quarter of 2008, and GM warned it could run out of cash in 2009. It also suspended acquisition talks with Chrysler.
Still for those companies to remain viable, they need to sell cars and trucks - and NASCAR remains a key marketing tool for each of them.
“We actually operate with three core principals,” Dolan said. “We race to win; we want to make sure the audience that follows racing is relative to the products we sell, and we must get a return on investment. We’re working diligently to make sure we’ve got all three of those balanced.
“The plus is when you look at the NASCAR fan base. It really does align with the Chevy product portfolio and there’s some tremendous loyalty to our brand that’s helped us to sell vehicles to this audience for many, many years.”
Brian Wolfe, director of North America Motorsports for Ford, has a similar outlook.
“We’re doing what we can, both on and off the track, to try and support the company,” Wolfe said. “On the track, we’re winning races and contending for championships ... we’re creating a winning image for our products. Off the track, our drivers and teams in NASCAR and NHRA have been working hard to get the word out about our products.”
“We’ve been asked by our top management, as is the case for all of the departments within our corporate structure here in the United States, to look at our budgets, determine whether there are areas we can reduce,” said Les Unger, Toyota’s National Motorsports Marketing Manager.
So why spend money to be a part of NASCAR?
To manufacturers it’s another form of advertising and exposure. Being a part of NASCAR means associating your brand with the NASCAR brand and theoretically opens up a different market of consumers.
But now, more than ever, results are imperative.
“We are in NASCAR to sell vehicles,” Duerr said. “. . . Every dollar we spend at Ford Motor Company, especially today more than ever, we have to justify that it’s selling more vehicles.”
In exchange for that, teams get the benefit of a manufacturer’s engine program, technical support, help with testing and, in some cases, financial support.
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