DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript

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There is no easy way to explain how dirt racing sponsorships work | Daily 1-21-2025

Today on the show we'll run you through USAC full timers for the sprint car and midget series, and we'll do a deep dive on sponsorships in dirt racing. Let's go!

It's Tuesday, January 21st, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.

Get ready, race fans! The motorsports event of the season is here—Racing Xtravaganza, happening Friday, January 31st, and Saturday, February 1st, at the York Expo Center in York, Pennsylvania. This is more than just an event—it's where the racing world comes together to Meet, Compete, and Evolve! Whether you're a driver, fan, or just love the thrill of motorsports, there's something for everyone. From 100s of race cars competing for the $1,000 Renewal by Andersen People's Choice Award, to the $12,000 BAPS Auto Paints Cornhole Challenge presented by Explore York. The stakes are high, and the excitement is real! And don't miss the Front Runner Construction 2025 Ms. Racing Xtravaganza Pageant, a fan-favorite highlight of the show. Plus, check out the MyRacePass Seminar Room for expert sessions, meet your favorite stars on the Sports Insurance Specialists Main Stage, and let the kids enjoy Free RC Racing. Bring the whole family—Kids 10 and under are FREE, parking is FREE, and military veterans, seniors, and students get discounts at the door. Don't wait! Save even more money by grabbing your discount tickets now at TicketHoss.com. Lock in your spot for Central PA's can't-miss racing tradition and be part of the action before the outdoor season kicks off! Racing Xtravaganza—January 31st and February 1st at the York Expo Center. Be there! You can find the Racing Xtravaganza Website and direct Ticket Hoss links below in the video description.

First up today, a little bit of news to cover. I wanted to go back through the USAC rosters for the sprint cars and midgets, because we've had some additions here recently. On the sprint car side, we already knew that Briggs Danner, CJ Leary, Logan Seavey, Hayden Reinbold, Mitchel Moles, Jake Swanson, and Kevin Thomas Jr. were in full time. We can also add Joey Amantea, Kyle Cummins, and Justin Grant to that list. Amantea is back for year two with his family owned car, picking up six top tens in 38 appearances a year ago. Kyle Cummins is sticking with Petty Performance Racing in 2025, where he won twice in 44 races, along with 14 top fives and 30 top tens. And Justin Grant is in for year eight with TOPP Motorsports, after winning nine races a year ago. That brings USAC to ten sprint car teams, and I'm going to assume Robert Ballou is back to bring them potentially to 11. The sprint car season starts February 10th at Volusia. He's not running full time, but Brady Bacon will race in Florida as well, driving the Dyson car. Remember Bacon is focusing on winged action in 2025. The USAC midget roster sits at seven drivers right now if I counted correctly. I've got Kevin Thomas Jr. with 4 Kings, Hayden Reinbold, Justin Grant moving to CB Industries alongside Drake Edwars, and Keith Kunz bringing three with Gavin Miller, Cannon McIntosh, and Jacob Denney. A lot could still happen on the midget side, as their season doesn't start until the end of April at Kokomo.

One of the stories over the last month or so that's surprised me with how much interest it's garnered, is this Jeff Hoker, Bobby Pierce situation. If you don't know, there was a bunch of social media drama back around the Gateway Dirt Nationals with Jeff Hoker deciding not to sponsor Bobby Pierce's car into the future. Hoker and his Hoker Trucking company shifted over to Ryan Gustin's car, and Pierce has since replaced Hoker on his car with Churchill Transport. I've been sent a lot of messages asking about the situation, and I commented about it on the show several weeks ago. In the midst of all of this though, there have been other questions about how sponsorships actually work in dirt racing, and it's something I want to dive into a bit today. Having spent my career across both the dirt side of racing and the paved side, I've seen all types of deals. I also have my own sponsorships and partners for DIRTRACKR, and my business degree was focused on marketing. Before I decided to go nuts and become a tire changer in NASCAR, I was initially setting myself up to work on the business side of sports. So while I'm not going to claim to be some sort of expert on sponsorships, I certainly have some experience on this topic. When I get these questions from folks asking how it all works, the only real and truthful answer is, it depends. Sponsor and partner deals are as varied as the stickers on any given race car. And yes, the easiest way to get involved is to write a check, or bring a briefcase full of cash, and have your logo placed on the car. That is a very common way for sponsorships to work. But even this can happen for a lot of different reasons. The easy thing to point at is advertising. You put your business on the side of a race car, and you hope it leads to more customers for your business. The old "win on Sunday, sell on Monday" idea. That is certainly what Lauren at NOS is hoping for. You see those NOS logos everywhere, and the next time you roll through the convenience store needing a pick-me-up, you grab a NOS instead of a Red Bull. Same with Casey's on Brian Brown's sprint car, or NAPA on Brandon Overton's late model and Brad Sweet's sprint car. The interesting one to look at is Greg Wilson with the Hercules Tires deal. Yes, Hercules is on his car, and that's great, but that company also uses Greg's car to get attention for tire stores. In between races over the last several years, you could often find the W20 parked in front of a local tire shop. It's certainly attention grabbing to drive through town and see a sprint car parked in front of the shop. That's a way for Hercules to support their network of dealers. If you're a NASCAR fan, you might remember the Con-Way Freight deal that Roush had for a time in the Truck Series and Xfinity Series. It was some nice brand recognition, but they also used it as a way to reward employees and bring their business customers out for experiences. Raise employee morale, and strengthen relationships. Most of us were never going to directly need Con-Way's services. You know what's another interesting one for race car logo placement? Ego. Some people just like seeing their name on things. It doesn't matter that it might not be generating revenue for their business. That is way more common than you might think. Sponsorships as well can be written off on taxes, which doesn't necessarily provide a one-to-one benefit, but there are savings to be had if someone wants to spend some marketing dollars and they like racing. Another thing that I know is big in other motorsports spaces like NASCAR and Formula 1, is using sponsorships to gain access to other businesses to create those business to business, or B2B relationships. For example, I remember a while back one of the boss people at Joe Gibbs Racing talking about Toyota road cars being built with rivets made by Stanley Black and Decker. That opportunity came together through the NASCAR deals with JGR. These sponsorships can be a way to get access to other company big wigs to make deals like that happen. Along this same line, sponsors are often businesses connected with the team owner's business. Maybe they do deals together, and the sponsorship is an added benefit. An example of this is Pennzoil and Team Penske. Pennzoil sponsors Joey Logano and Scotty McLaughlin, but Penske also uses Pennzoil lubricants in their car dealerships and truck and transportation divisions. Or maybe the sponsors are the team owner's businesses. Think about this... The owner's widget company sponsors the race team. Widget company gets advertising and a tax writeoff, the race team gets funding. That's a nice little way to handle some money and some paperwork. Beyond writing a check for a sponsorship, there are lots of other ways that companies and individuals can help. Maybe a guy doesn't have cash, but maybe he's got three engines sitting in his shop. He lets your team use those engines in exchange for logo placement. Or cars, or other equipment, or a truck and trailer. Housby Mack and the Pete Store come to mind as truck sponsors. They provide free, or significantly discounted trucks to teams instead of cash. Sponsors can also cover tire bills, fuel costs, pay for hotels and meals, or provide places to stay or keep race cars and equipment. Another common one are product deals. WIX, Wilwood, AutoMeter, Simpson, NGK, Smith TI, Winters, FastShafts, Keyser, and on and on... Those companies aren't giving race teams cash, but they are providing free product or discounts on product. You put a small sticker on your car, and you get 40% off on some racing oil. That's a big one at the PRI show. Teams wandering around and setting up their product deals for the upcoming season. We'll wrap this discussion up here, because I think 1000+ words on this topic is probably plenty, but this rundown should give you a good idea about just how varied some of these deals really are. So when someone asks how it all works, you can now say... It depends.

That's the show for today. If you don't already, head over to dirtrackr.com/theslider and sign up for our free email newsletter. I've been slacking hard on it, but I do have some fresh content to send out there. It's free to sign up and get those.

Hope you guys have a great Tuesday out there, we'll see you back here tomorrow!