Inside Indy: Sponsors Abound
First, the Super Bowl. Now, the Super Bowl of racing.
Legendary rock band Aerosmith follows up its appearance in January’s Super Bowl with a presence at Sunday’s Indianapolis 500.
Jeff Ward’s No. 35 car will feature Aerosmith sponsorship in the form of a caricature of lead singer Steven Tyler and the band’s new album, "Just Push Play."
"This is a great business decision for Heritage Motorsports to be associated with a high-profile band like Aerosmith," said Jim Rathmann Jr., co
-owner of Heritage Motorsports. "When we learned Steven Tyler would be singing the national anthem and found out they were interested in getting involved with a team, we jumped on the opportunity.
"There is going to be a tremendous amount of exposure generated by this program, and if things go well at Indy, we're hoping to make this a season-long deal."
Ward will start the Indy 500 from the eighth starting spot in the middle of Row 3. He qualified at 224.222 mph.
"The marketing possibilities of the Indy Racing League, coupled with the star-power of Aerosmith, will deliver vast opportunities for all parties involved in this dynamic deal," said Mark Roesler, chairman of CMG Worldwide, the company that helped create this program for Heritage Motorsports. "Music and motorsports are American passions, so bringing together rock 'n' roll fans with racing enthusiasts is a natural fit. CMG Worldwide is excited to be involved in such a complementary partnership."
At the Super Bowl, Aerosmith performed during the halftime show, which drew a record 86.5 million viewers. Lead singer Steven Tyler will sing the national anthem before the Indy 500 on Sunday.
Ward’s car has been painted silver with orange and yellow highlights this season, but Sunday it will sport a silver-and-pink theme, the colors on Aerosmith’s "Just Push Play" album, which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard album charts.
"What a year this new team is having," said John Mecom III, co-owner of Heritage Motorsports. "Each day we get stronger, and I think this team is going to go through the roof with this new partnership with Aerosmith. The deal brings new confidence and energy to the team, and people are going to go nuts over the car.
"We want marketing partnerships that are innovative and creative, and this deal will be attractive to a lot of major companies."
Buhl Coasts to New Look:
For two seasons, Robbie Buhl’s No. 24 car has featured basically the same paint scheme. On Thursday it changed.
Coast Soap will appear on the car for the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday and for the rest of the Indy Racing Northern Light Series season. Coast is now the major associate sponsor on the car, along with sister brand Purex Detergent, which is the primary sponsor.
Dreyer & Reinbold co-owner Dennis Reinbold credits his team’s hard work for landing Coast.
"We have worked very hard at developing an effective business model and platform for our sponsors to maximize their investments in Dreyer & Reinbold Racing and the Indy Racing League," Reinbold said. "Coast is a powerful brand, and we look forward to assisting them anyway we can to promote the brand and grow sales."
Buhl will start Sunday’s Indy 500 from the ninth starting position after turning in a four-lap qualifying run of 224.213 mph.
"Dreyer & Reinbold Racing and the Indy Racing League are great choices for the Coast brand," said Bill Puentes, director of marketing for the Coast brand. "We have watched the terrific momentum that our Purex brand has developed with Dreyer & Reinbold and the Indy Racing League as their business and marketing partners.
"Our partnership will increase Coast brand awareness with consumers and increase the brand’s presence with retailers. Purex and the Indy Racing League have proven this model to be successful, and we plan to build off of that success."
Coast and Purex are products of The Dial Corporation.
Nashville, Richmond Get Sponsors:
The inaugural IRNLS races at Nashville Speedway and Richmond International Raceway will be known as the Harrah’s Indy 200 and the SunTrust Indy Challenge respectively.
"The Indy Racing League has enjoyed a long-term relationship with Harrah's through team sponsorship," said Bob Reif, senior vice president of sales and marketing and chief marketing officer for the IRNLS. "We look forward to continuing that relationship through this extension of their involvement.
"Night races always have a special atmosphere, and we are confident the Harrah's Indy 200 will provide the Nashville-area fans with 200 miles of unforgettable open-wheel racing."
The Harrah's Indy 200, scheduled for July 21, takes place on the newly constructed 1.33-mile, D-shaped oval in Nashville, which opened in April.
Harrah’s sponsors A.J. Foyt’s No. 14 car driven by Eliseo Salazar.
Before heading to the night race in Nashville, the IRNLS will race under the lights at Richmond on June 30. It's also the first race in series history on a track shorter than 1 mile. RIR is a .375-mile oval.
"Richmond International Raceway is excited to begin a new partnership with a company as significant as SunTrust," said Doug Fritz, president of Richmond International Raceway. "We believe the Indy Racing Northern Light Series is a great series and that they will put on a tremendous show for all of the fans.
"The Extreme Speed, Extreme Excitement Weekend has been the talk of the town since we first announced it, and now with SunTrust joining as the Indy Racing League event sponsor, we will be able to make this weekend one of the premier open-wheel motorsports events in the country."
The SunTrust Indy Challenge will consist of 250 laps under the lights. During a test session in April, 2000 IRNLS champion Buddy Lazier lapped the .375-mile oval faster than 160 mph.
"The SunTrust Indy Challenge will, in fact, be a challenge due to the nature of the .75-mile facility," Robbie Buhl said. "This will be the tightest track on which Indy Racing cars have ever raced.
"With the speeds that we'll be running, it should be incredibly exciting racing. If I wasn't there competing, I would be there watching."
Just Say No:
The familiar red-and-white Penske cars crossed the first hurdle at Indy by making the field, but now another problem has presented itself. Roger Penske has been forced to remove the Marlboro name from his two cars for the 500 cars to avoid violating the 1998 tobacco settlement.
As a result, Penske drivers Gil de Ferran and Helio Castroneves will pilot two white Penske Racing machines when the green flag drops at the Brickyard on Sunday. Penske also agreed to remove the Marlboro name from uniforms worn by the drivers and crew.
Under the settlement, Penske's team is allowed to use the Marlboro name when it competes on the CART circuit.
CART opened a slot on its schedule to allow its teams to compete in the Indy 500. Penske thought that made it possible for his teams to retain the Marlboro name for Sunday's race.
"CART specifically sanctioned us running this race," Penske said. "They made a change to accommodate a team like us. To me, this is an international event, like the Masters, which is open to everyone."
Philip Morris has sponsored Team Penske for 11 years. Company spokesman Brendan McCormick said Philip Morris will continue to support Team Penske for the race even though it will not get any exposure.