NASCAR drivers offer their insights for our Web site

04/15/2003

By STANTON BARRETT / NASCAR Driver

Starting your own company is nothing particularly new in motorsports. Frankly, starting a company like Car Sponsor is nothing new either. In a sport as corporate-sponsor driven as motorsports is, there are companies out there who try to handle sponsorship issues.

We think our new company is something a little bit different. Car Sponsor – which can be found at www.carsponsor.com - is the first totally turn-key company in the sport.

I have spent most of my adult life working in Hollywood as a stunt man, appearing in a lot of films and on television. But the bulk of my time has been spent in working towards a full-time top ride in NASCAR racing. Right now I feel pretty fortunate to be behind the wheel of the #60 OdoBan Ford Taurus in the Busch Series, and riding in a Jack Roush-owned car behind a Jack Roush-built engine.

But knowing what I have seen, and what a lot of potential sponsors go through, we thought a company like Car Sponsor would be a natural.

We start from the very beginning, helping companies determine their goals and needs in motorsports, and helping them to market that way. It’s more than just placing them on a car, though that is part of the process. It is putting together an entire plan for them, and then administering it for them.

We do everything from public relations to marketing to business-to-business concepts. I have a lot of good tie-ins with Hollywood, and there are a lot of opportunities there. We can put their television and radio commercials together for them, and help get them placed for maximum exposure. Basically, those are the things a corporate sponsor needs to flourish in the sport.

A little bit more than just painting your name on the side of a race car, huh?

We sponsored our own car in the Nashville Busch race this past weekend. Jeff Fuller drove my Red Racing Pontiac. The sponsor? Carsponsor.com How else would you promote a company that is showing the power of motorsports sponsorship?

With 16 years of professional experience and alliances in auto racing, business and television, we can provide resources to educate, create, advise, produce and develop any marketing-related need. Our goal is to provide teams and corporate sponsors with old-fashioned ethics and personal relations, while bringing the cutting edge marketing resources to the table – things like good cross-promotions, co-op marketing, business-to-business opportunities, celebrity endorsements and cost-efficient strategic alliances.

No sport markets corporate sponsors like auto racing. Large and small corporations nationwide utilize the sport to not only expose their products to the public, but also as business-to-business venues. Barrett’s experience in television and films, and his contacts with top-name celebrities in acting and music, enable his company to bring more to the table.

Our company is turn-key. Everything you need is right here with us. A company can start with budgets and a goal, and we can put everything together for them from that standpoint in motorsports. From determining which team to hospitality to cross-promotions to business-to-business opportunities to marketing to public relations to even television commercials, we have everything somebody needs to make it work.

The motorsports industry can be complicated, so you can’t go into it alone. That’s where we come in. We can make it a tremendously positive experience for a corporate sponsor.

Sponsoring cars or races or series is a lot more than just exposure. It’s a lot of work, in front of the camera and behind the scenes.