The answer to the first question is yes. I do support certain products due to their sponsorship in NASCAR. I drink Coca-Cola over Pepsi because Coca-Cola sponsoring Tony Stewart, and in the past had sponsored Dale Earnhardt, Dale Jarrett, and Kyle Petty among others. I try not to drink a lot of Pepsi products only because they sponsor Hendrick motorsports. I started using AT&T cell phone service in 2005, only because they were sponsoring Jeff Burton at that time. Because of this sponsorship, I have a hard time even considering Sprint service since they pushed AT&T and Verizon from sponsoring a car in Sprint Cup. For years I drank Maxwell House as they sponsored Bobby Labonte for two years. I have since switched to Eight O’clock Coffee because of better taste, but I still hold a special spot for Maxwell House in my heart. I also always have purchased a GM product up to this point in my life since my favorite drivers until recently were GM drivers.
Even today I can see how NASCAR sponsorship affects my buying purchases. I try to avoid Lowes since they sponsor Jimmie Johnson, along with any other sponsor that supports Hendrick Motorsports. I switched favorite drivers only because the sponsor on the car changed. I used to be a Kevin Harvick fan until 2011. Why do you ask why I changed my driver over a sponsor? Simply put, because of my personal beliefs, I could not with a clear conscious support a driver associated with an alcoholic product. When RCR announced the alcoholic sponsor for my favorite driver at the time, I started searching for a new driver. I found two actually. One drives for Jack Roush in Nationwide and the Wood Brothers in Cup, Trevor Bayne. I also found a Start and Park driver that is firm in his faith and is also sponsored by my favorite radio station in a few races a year. The radio station is K-Love, and the driver is Michael McDowell.
Other than the driver switch and the avoidance of anything related to Hendrick Motorsports, I have noticed that I have not based as many of my purchases off who sponsors who in racing. Maybe part of the reason is that most teams have two or more major sponsors to make it through the year these days. Maybe it could be due to the fact that the coverage of the sport has declined, causing less focus upon the sponsors, and the only way to know who was on the car at a particular race would to go to Jayski.com and look up the car design.
Switching gears to the second question. Whether I like or dislike a driver, there are some driver and sponsor connections that come to mind whenever I hear or see a sponsor’s name. This list will have Nationwide and Camping World Truck combinations in it as well. Some combinations for me are: Dale Earnhardt and Goodwrench, along with Wrangler, Davey Allison and Havoline, Alan Kulwicki and Zerex and Hooters, Bill Elliot and McDonalds, Kenny Irwin, Jr. and Raybestos, Tommy Houston and Roses. Other combinations are: Jeff Gordon and DuPont, Jimmie Johnson and Lowes, Tony Stewart and Home Depot, Mark Martin and Valvoline, and Viagra, Ernie Irvan and Kodak, along with Chad Little and John Deere, and Bayer, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Budweiser, along with Michael Waltrip with Pennzoil and NAPA. Notice how with some drivers, more than one sponsor comes to mind for me? It shows that some drivers given enough time can be remembered for more than one product.
The following combinations were not together long (less than two years) but still stand out to me to this day. These are Jimmy Spencer and Meineke from 1993, Ron Hornaday Jr. and Papa John’s Pizza from 1995, Blaise Alexander and TracFone, from 1998, Todd Bodine and Fiddle Faddle from 1993, among others that do not come to mind off the top of my head.
Overall part of the decline in racing can be attributed to sponsors not being represented by the fans. This means that fans are less likely to buy a product because they are associated with a particular driver today than they were ten or twenty years ago. I know for me that it’s hard to buy all of a driver’s products when they have more than one product represented, combined with that product being out of my price range.
Please share below your thoughts on this subject. I also would like to know of the Driver/Sponsor combinations that always come to mind for you.
I can be found on Twitter @kevdogg329
