Fast cars with slick paint jobs has not always been the norm for NASCAR. In the early years, the race cars were worked on by the driver and a small crew with many expenses that were paid for out of pocket. As the popularity of the sport grew so did the need for sponsorship money. Not only did the teams need money to build competitive cars but NASCAR needed to offer larger prize money to attract more attention and help to legitimize the sport. One of biggest turning points in NASCAR sponsorship was the addition of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company at the start of the 1972 season. NASCAR's top series was renamed the Winston Cup series; the sponsorship would remain in place for 32 years. The 1980s brought in larger corporate team sponsors. The sponsors were now becoming major players on the race team.
The influx of money from the sponsor not only allowed for better equipped teams and larger prize money, it also added new responsibilities for the driver. Now drivers were looked at as salesmen for their sponsors. Race teams not only had to deal with the car setup but with managing sponsorship from securing deals with companies to the placement and size of logos on the car. Sponsorship would play an increasing role in the years to come.
References:
Website: Scout.com: Brought To You By........... : http://nascar.scout.com/2/676538.html
Photos: NASCAR: http://www.nascar.com
NASCAR is an interesting sport to watch. It's amazing how much the sport has evolved since it was first introduced. It seems as if the idea of NASCAR probably started when people started street racing on the streets. People like to watch those types of races and it progressed into an actual sport.
ReplyDeleteLike any sport, sponsorship was needed in order to make it a huge success. With the help of the Tobacco Company, NASCAR became more popular. The prizes became bigger and drew drivers' attention allowing for more people to participate in the race. As these cars became faster, NASCAR drew more people in to watch. More fans also allowed for more profit. Basically it seems as if like most huge sports, for the "participators" its not about the game so much as for the money now these days.