TRACKMAN2

any of you guys ever think of sponsoring hpde drivers?? racers get sponsorship all the time but racers are already usually in bed with there supliers why not try to get buisness fron the new guys that havent already spent all of their kids colledge funds?

Aardwolf

I go to sleep every night dreaming about a sponsor.

Lancer033

what can you offer a sponsor as a student driver that's not even competing?

TRACKMAN2

some of us are as good as racers, and we can offer exposure and product pitches to a wider aray of customers ..expanding you customer base is what advertizing is all about.. ive spent tons of cash on the stuff i see fast guys using and hpde participants have a thurst for products that can make them better...bein that there are more hpde drivers than racers, they are the people who will be moding the crap out of there cars, as we get more experienced we usually make up our minds on what works best. suppliers should get those customers that still have an open mind !! compition is not the goal of most drivers just fun...besides i dont think most hpde drivers watch club racing. people who watch racing usually dont drive or race..

TRACKMAN2

wow how do you get that car to go so fast?? well,, i use (insert your product here) and thats my secret. wow, where can i get them. you can call ( insert your phone # here )... ther the best!!! i always get my stuff from "your websight here" they are knoladgable and can help you with all your driving needs..... a vendor at watkins said he sold nothing during the races but the hpde guys just about bougt him out!! i got shoes from him. all the racer already had shoes and the spectators didnt need them......

robvuk

Not a bad idea. I'd put sponsor stickers on my car for the events I instruct at. Instructors have a degree of credibility with those who are new to the sport.

TRACKMAN2

bingo!!!

96GS#007

Student: "Gee Mr. Instructor, that's a nice 20' aluminum trailer you have there. Who'd you buy that from?"

Mr. Instructor: "Well, lemme tell you about this trailer and where I got it..."

TRACKMAN2

racer 1 where did you buy that 20' aluminum trailer? racer 2 i got mine from some where else..

tmak26b

You need to do time trials to backup your times. What looks fast doesnt mean it is fast.

Exit Speed

George, you are right about companies redirecting some of their ad funds. I have been beating the bush for the last 3-4 months and have been getting nowhere. Recently, however, I was able to schedule a meeting with a fortune 500 company. The meeting went well enough that a second meeting has been scheduled. Wish me luck! Peace.

AU N EGL

Sponsorship is not always about winning. Sponsorship is about partnership and exposure for the sponsor.

So sponsorship of a HPDE student, instructor, (CHIEF INSTRUCTOR - whistling here - Naww I tell it like it is) is not a bad thing.

If a student / instructor can show he does 15-20 events a year, works with lots of ppl, ppl come to him for advice, then there might be a possibility.

Remember many of the racing sponsors are contingency sponsors. You BUY their product, YOU put THEIR stick on your car, and IF you WIN you get $100 in Sponsor Bucks.

astock165

I'm a member of a local Corvette Club and the club just got a new dealer sponsor. The dealer wishes to really push Corvette sales and claims to be one of the top 15 dealers in the Eastern US.

I recently made a pitch to the dealer for sponsorship for my a/x and TT program. Exposure is what I pitched: I tow on an open trailer, compete at events all over New England and hope to expand my range, and might be able to with their help. I can provide digital photos and in car video of my car on track for print and web advertising. I'd also agree to bring the car to the dealership for events and maybe even bring it to key Corvette shows during the summer (shudder) for advertising.

I told them that since my car is no longer streeted I'd let them wrap the whole thing for the right deal. Still waiting to hear back.

73-84 IMSA Widebody

We'll volunteer to do a market trial for you......We'll take the 30 ft enclosed aluminum trailer....just tell me where you want the sticker

Actually for many of the instructing members this may make some sense.....drop a line to Arron Pfadt....he's always looking for good marketing.

Wicked Weasel

First Crazy George maybe you are not so Crazy and Second Tom you hit it on the nail.

Sponsorship is not all about winning. Sure that helps on the national level, but many vette owners are never going to race. Instead they are going to do 5 HPDEs per year or maybe 10. Those are the people that will come to a performance shop and get mods done that anyone else can have done.

So do you have to win races no, do you have to be fast - well yes somewhat - you just need to be faster than others on the track. You also need to be approachable. That means you take a second to stop and listen to people before running your mouth off.

Chris@ECS approached me with the sponsoring idea. At the time ECS had limited RR cars and limited customers doing RR. I was doing it no matter what so why not promote ECS. The more and more I went to the track the more people that became interested in ECS. Many thought that ECS only did FI setups and seeing my car was NA they started to think of ECS as more than just FI.

As the word got out more and more people I came in contact with wanted to try RR. Remember I came from 1/4 mile area so I had all of those people asking me why I gave up 1/4 mile and what RR was all about. I also was involved with alot of the events run in the Northeast so those people were interested in HPDEs instead of running like nuts on the street.

Eventually it got big enough to start ECSRacing and now there is anywhere from 5 to 10 cars going to each HPDE that ECSRacing says they are going to.

When Thunderbolt starts up ECS wants that to be their home track. Some of us will be instructors which does bring more creditability to the table. Others will be just promoters of ECS. Figure you go to a track and see 10 or more ECS cars on the track you are going to ask questions.

So is sponsorship a good thing - Personally I believe so and I am glad that ECS had the insight to look beyond actual racing for their sponsorship.

Remember I was once a customer of ECS...

John Shiels

Yea LGM, DRM, and Vette Doctors told me the check is in the mail

Bill Hetzel

Hummm.....I'm sponsered by VISA.

Cobra4B

Sound concept... would be a good marketing tool for performance shops and parts suppliers.

John Shiels

If you have no company which most don't doing HPDE how do they pay you? They will want to write a check and if it is not to a company it is then to an individual. This complicates it and may make it wages subject to labor burden (taxes) or even a liability situation. Your not getting any media attention or press and most stay with in a certain geographic area so you are limited. The cars are all so differnt how do you compare what I have on my car to yours?

Best you can hope for is some favorable attention / knowledge from a vendor or / or a few bucks off.

With that said Bob, ECS shouldn't charge you a dime for that engine.

robvuk

They don't even have to go that far. If I was a manufacturer of a product I think it would be cheap advertising to have my product sticker on 50 instructor cars for $10 each for two days. Even if my product was not used on those cars. Name recognition is what it's all about. And support of the drivers/events encourages reciprocal support.

And Tom, I would think some would also contribute to the event to be an "Official" sponsor of the event. Almost all the HPDE drivers mod their cars in some capacity. It's the perfect marketing demographic. They're the ones more likely to buy tires, brake pads, fluids, rotors, calipers, headers, exhausts, etc. etc.