Nascar. I heard they will now sponsor the #27 car, not sure who that is, now that their relationship with Lance et. al, has ended. Maybe this is old news, if so, sorry. I do under the economic dynamics regarding sponsors, however, found it rather interesting considering the focus from a highly active and aerobically beneficial sport that promotes physical fitness to a rather sedentary “quasi-sport” in light of our recent awareness regarding our overall national health . . . but those concerns have little to do with the bottom line.
not to mention that it cost much more to run a racin’ team than a bike team.
Lance is going to be the driver!
Lets see those nascar guys get around the blue train!
da Bum
NASCAR has very high visibility and no doubt more broad base appeal with your average Joe six pack than would cycling.
It’s a shame because I wonder what will happen to American cycling in the post Lance era.
As a practiced car driver and racer, I can assure you that racing a car is anything but sedentary. . .It requires endurance and strength, as well as coordination and quick reflexes. . .Its a hell of a lot more involved RACING a few hundred miles than any vacation trip. . .That said. . .you are correct in that NASCAR doesn’t promote the fitness. By and large, fans tend toward being overweight, beer drinking, if not smokers to boot. But not all. . . This coming from a fan of nearly all forms of racing. . .motor. . .bicycle. . .foot. . .swim. . .etc.
While not a practiced race car driver, I’ve ran a few street cars down the 1/8 and 1/4, and would classify that activity as very close to sedentary per the Department of Labor’s physical requirement rating of jobs. Sitting at a desk and typing 100 words per minutes requires excellent coordination and advanced reflexes, still sedentary though. Maybe driving around the oval is different, but since I grew up around racing, primarily dirt tracks, seem to remember that most of the guys driving are not practicing what many of us would consider health life styles and probably would not have high coordination or advanced reflexes ratings relative to the population in general on a standardized test either.
As far as the family vacation, I find it much more taxing to drive a thousand miles with my wife and kids in the car then driving a car down the 1/4 in 10 or 11 seconds . . . maybe the oval is worse.
Oval or road course, 25 other cars inches away, 100-150mph or greater. . .your heart rate is pegged, your legs get a serious workout from the clutching and braking. Your core gets totally torqued holding your body against the g’s. And your arms get a total workout, especially on a road course. 1/4 or 1/8 mile is sedentary. . .more like going outside and sprinting to the mailbox once a day. Local 8 lap dirt track premiers are like the warmup to a good track workout. . .not enough to call it a workout in itself. . .But a good 100+ mile event in a serious race car. . .now that takes some serious stamina. And the guys at the top of those games are more and more having to do serious training to stay there. I’d venture that any of the current F1 drivers would hold their own in a 10k or in the gym. But again. . .none of that really carries over into the fan base lifestyles. . .But it sells a lot of BMWs, Mercedes and Ferraris.
Fair enough, but we know that USPS isn’t hitting the F1 base by sponsoring NASCAR. They probably hit more or the F1 market by sponsoring Lance in Europe. Asked the average NASCAR fan about our Trans Am series and you would probably get more references to Burt Reynolds and Sally Fields . . .
While you mention that F1 drivers might hold their own in the gym or 10K, I sure bet everyone reading this board right now could put the smack down on Jimmy Spencer in a 10K and I can think of several big old fat dudes who fare well on dirt tracks (main events, 50-100 laps even) in both stock car and open wheel as well.
Michael Waltrip’s a 4:10 marathoner. Not the fastest guy out there, but he’s planning on running the Las Vegas marathon next year with a stated goal of raising some money for charity, and cracking the elusive four hour mark. He also ran Boston a while back on a sponsor’s invite and finished around 4:30.
Let’s look on the bright side, now those jerks from Postalwatch that have torpedoed the cycling sponsorship will have to go after USPS for wasting money on Nascar since they are against all sponsorships. Hopefully NASCAR is their favorite “sport”. I’d like to see how they pull that off.
So, do Lance and the boys have a new sponsor to replace USPS?
This probably won’t be a very popular move among cyclists, but from a marketing perspective this is a great move. Lets face it, at best, cycling is a fringe sport in the US. (my own father, who has been watching me race bikes and tris for more than a decade, this weekend was poking fun at me as I rode up to their house. He said “hey there Neil Armstrong, how was the ride?”…“it’s Lance Armstrong dad”…“oh, yeah.”
)
Anyway, with a NASCAR sponsorship the USPS gets:
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35 events (assuming the car qualifies or is a provisional in every field), all with national television exposure on Fox and NBC (they split the season).
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35 events that sell out at 100,000+ spectators. Bristol is harder to get a ticket for than a Pearl Jam concert in 1993.
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Fans who are so rabidly loyal that they will spend hundreds of dollars to dress head to toe in their favorite drivers uniforms/sponsors clothing/gear, and everybody does it. (what do we do when we see someone on a trek 5500 dressed in head-to-toe lance gear - we make fun of them!)
NASCAR is a marketing machine! Having said this, why in the hell is the USPS doing this much advertising? Who do they compete against (and remember UPS and FedEX don’t do ANYTHING for $.37). The USPS should be cutting costs and improving efficiency, not spending money on advertising. IMHO.
But don’t knock this move. This is a much more effective waste of money than a sport that the vast majority of Americans could care less about.
Chris
I coached high school wrestling for many years. I would have a summer lifting/ running program for the team. Some of my wrestlers would ride motorcross instead. I always tried to get them to drop it to train with us. I didn’t see how using a motorcycle could get you in shape. But every year they would come back with more strength, very thin and in great shape. I changed my mind about theirt racing. I still don’t understand the dynamics but it seems to be a great workout.
Absolutely, Gerard. I think that’s the most ironic piece of this. . .Of course, that will mean that those folks won’t dry up and blow away. . . Let’s hear it for the 45cent stamp that’s just around the turnpike! I mean, really. . .who uses the postal service for regular mail traffic anymore? I do 100% of my bill paying over the web. Only birthday and holiday cards go regular mail. . .Not enough that I’m going to get up in arms over a few cents. . .
I didn’t see how using a motorcycle could get you in shape.
Oh man. Motocross racing is a crazy, seriously difficult whole-body workout. Takes incredible core and upper body strength, grip/forearm, as well as glutes, quads, calves. Also extraordinarily dangerous, but that’s beside the point. Also doesn’t really work the hamstrings and shins. Hmm. Sucks for cyclists and runners. 
My question about USPS+NASCAR. The NASCAR fanbase… bigtime letter writers? Corporate moguls who can steer whole companies to ditch another parcel carrier and go with USPS? I don’t get it. Actually I didn’t much get the cycling sponsorship, (despite my love for the team and the sport) but it DID look pretty good for the USA as a whole, on the world/european stage at least. Nascar on the other hand… is a little embarrasing, distinctly American, like Apple Pie and Pro Wrestling…
-Zo
You hit the nail on the head. Why is the USPS advertising? Best case, they are targeting consumers who might switch (ie. send a package by USPS rather than FedEX or UPS). But this kind of advertising has virtually no effect on b-to-b transactions, which is where all the money is in this industry. Sponsorship as an advertising vehicle just doesn’t make sense for the USPS.
As for the US vs. European exposure issue, there are probably more Europeans familiar with the USPS cycling team than there are Americans, but how many of them use the USPS. Not a very effective use of advertising dollars…high brand awareness among non-using consumers. IMO, the USPS needs to stop screwing around and focus on getting the mail delivered without having to raise stamp prices every 6-months.
Chris
I don’t recall the specifics but I remember reading an article late last year about a number of NASCAR drivers (or was it F1 / CART?) that went to Colorado Springs to spend a week training at the Olympic training facility there with a number of pro triathletes. The end result was that the drivers were actually quite fit and in very good physical form. Obviously they would not be able to beat someone who is dedicated to triathlons as their profession, but if I recall correctly they held their own quite well.
FWIW…
Santiago
I’m gonna guess it was the CART or IRL guys. . .As someone pointed out. . .NASCAR still has a few of the Jimmy Spencer mold who have far more in common with their fan base than they do triathletes. . . It is the “good 'ol boy” sport, after all. . .but that is rapidly changing.
I can tell most of you guys have never been to a big time auto race. There are a lot of beer drinking slobs in the infield and watching on TV but that is not the whole story. If you want to understand the full sponsorship picture you need to keep your eyes on endless waves of helicopters landing in the infield before a race or check out the jets parked at the local airport. There are some serious people attending these races too. Its all a big party.
While there are many consumer companies in NASCAR appealing to the masses through TV and tie-ins, USPS could care less if joe 6 pack sends a few more letters. It’s all about being able to have their marking director hanging out in the hospitality tent with the guy in charge of shipping at from Amazon and other big time shippers. Heck - how much does GM spend on package shipments a year? I’m sure their guy would like a nice party to go to. Just getting increased business from the business that are already sponsoring cars and already have executives at the races would be worth the sponsorship cost.
Right now, all these big time shippers are doing all their partying over at the UPS tent (they sponsor a car). Can’t have that!