How to Get a Product Sponsor

It does hurt to ask.

If you have to ask for product, you’re as likely to get it as you are to win the World 100 in a pavement car. If, however, you follow the advice presented here, you’ll be swimming in crankshafts and using titanium valves as toothpicks.

The current method of securing sponsorship is to contact someone as unprofessionally as possible. Jaz Products’ Russ Smith receives e-mailed product sponsor proposals, “I got one this morning,” he says. “It read ‘I race a car, help me?’”

The concept would be laughable if it weren’t so frequent. Worse, think about what we’re asking. Can you imagine walking into Sears and saying, ‘If you’ll give me a few thousand dollars worth of Craftsman tools, I’ll tell my friends that I use them. I’ll even write your name on the side of my passenger car, it’s like a rolling billboard.’ Racers do it everyday. And they often get mad when the person trying to make a living isn’t willing to pay for their hobby.

“It’s tough to tell them no because everyone has dreams and hopes,” says Coleman’s Glenn Myers. “But what they don’t understand is most of the people in this industry came into it with a racing background. We know what it’s about, we know what you’re up against, but we also know it’s a hobby you chose and you have to have the money to do it.”

Even so, requests are a part of each manufacturer’s day. Aero Race Wheel’s Wayne Redmond is a former Knoxville Speedway sprint car racer and he receives lots of requests. “The worst sponsorship pitch I ever heard is the one I hear on the telephone all the time, ‘I can sell a lot of wheels for you if you give me some.’ That one turns me off right away.”

And simply mailing a proposal doesn’t make it the hot ticket. “It’s a waste of a stamp,” says Longacre’s Jeff Butcher. “I actually feel badly because some that I open are very nice. And very well put together, but it doesn’t increase their chances one bit of getting a penny, even if one was available.”

So how come racers see racecars running around ovals with significant product support? Those teams have built winning relationships.

Certain products and their manufacturers can benefit from exposure generated by short track teams, but there are specific parameters that racers must meet before getting considered.

First, you have to finish first. Sometimes. At least be competitive. “If you’re running last and trying to get free product, honestly, that’s not the best use of your time,” says Butcher.

You also should not be an idiot. “I’ll listen to people and watch how they act in the pits,” says Redmond. “A lot of guys are standing around after the races, drinking a twelve-pack, cussing and hollering and wanting to fight, they don’t get any help.”

But the biggest mistake racers make is they tend to cut to the chase. “They focus on the product, when they really need to focus on building the relationship,” says Butcher. “When I raced, we had a professional program, we ran well, and we were articulate and organized. With those tools, we were able to build relationships.”

First, you should be a real customer; that means willing to buy. Also, listen to the advice given by their tech staff. Do what they say. Call with feedback. And, see if there’s a time when you can meet the guy who has been helping you. It’s amazing how many races and tradeshows these guys attend. Pick up the tab for lunch or dinner to say thanks, even though you’ve purchased everything that’s on your car. One day they’ll have a new product that needs to be tested in your class, they’ll be thinking of good customers who’ve provided legitimate feedback.

And that takes time. “Everybody is so short-termed,” says Speedway Motors’ Jim Stannard. “Nobody wants to build a relationship anymore, but having a relationship with the manufacturer means more than winning. Do things so a sponsor wants to be around you. Hookers work for me.”

Providing a comfortable and enjoyable (and legal) atmosphere for sponsors is also important. “John Logue does an excellent job of representing the products. And he has a sponsorship party at the race shop. They have an excellent, full-catered meal. John gets up and gives a speech about every sponsor and gives each one a souvenir or a prize from the race season, it might be a quarter panel or a door. Those are reasons why more manufacturers want to be part of their team.

“There’s networking, too,” says Redmond. “Lots of manufacturers talk with other manufacturers. If you’re doing a good job for someone that’s helping you out, it will probably get passed around the industry.” And when they call, you won’t even have to ask.

People frown at the Jets and John Logues, but they do excellent jobs of representing the products. That’s what has gotten them where they are today. That’s why more manufacturers want to be part of their team.

Racers are also up against other racers, and not just the ones who win. There are some that lie, cheat, and steal from their sponsors.

It happens because we see racing product company names on the sides of cars. There’s a reason.

Buy now, free later. Maybe. Try stuff, converse like an adult, maybe treat the manufacturer to dinner to say thanks for your time. Then, maybe, you’ll be a guy they choose to try a new part.

 

 

Jeff Butcher

There’s so many people doing that, the best way is to know people. Build a relationship first. Many racers make the mistake of saying, ‘Hey, I run good, so maybe that product would be neat for me to have.’ The reality of it is everything in life is quid pro quo. The manufacturers of the world that are willing to give something out need good, quality feedback.

For companies that deal with products that directly enhance the performance of the car, like a shock company, they want to deal with the guys winning all the races.

Then, once we established the relationships, then we maintained them with regular phone calls.

Manufacturers want to hear how you ran, how the product did.

Lots of guys get stuff for free, bolt it on their car and then they forget the payback part.

 

 

Wayne Redmond

I’ll surprise the people who come to buy stuff sometimes.

Also up against people who’ve abused the privilege. A guy will demand 60 wheels and he sells 40 of them. Deals like that go on and that’s not good, thankfully, I’m not involved.

I deal with guys who might ask for eight wheels. I have some that will say to me, “Will you take a look at these wheels. Do they look good enough or are they banged-up enough that I should put something better looking on there?”

[Saathoff’s big rig for hosting people. Towed all the way from across Beatrice, but says he uses the rig so guests, often existing or potential sponsors can get there early, have an air conditioned place to relax and have some refreshments.]

 

 

Russ Smith

Jaz Products

I get a lot of novels in here.

The only reason we sponsor cars is for the brand recognition. I’ll work closely with somebody who is buying my products or is a car builder and has a house car.

Be specific, don’t be vague.

We review all of them at the end of the year and they are first in line for consideration. But, we review all of them. If the program was good, they’ll be the first to be renewed. You need to be professional.

I have stuff e-mailed to me.

We caught a guy who was taking the stuff we provided and building cars to sell.

We participate with a guy who I can tell races for free, I can assure you that. It’s not just us, lots of companies are involved and it’s because he gives back more than he takes.

 

 

Jim Stannard

Speedway Motors

Relationships mean more than winning.

 

 

Glenn Myers

Coleman

We don’t do a lot of sponsorships because we sell to speed shops that sell to racers. Speed shops got mad when we provided equipment to their potential customers.

Racers are better off finding local businesses to help them.

[Use trade-outs, build relationships.]

I get that stuff everyday.

One guy wouldn’t take no for an answer. I finally told him nobody pays for my hobbies. If I choose to spend $3,000 hunting, Remington isn’t going to pay me to go.

You gotta pick a level within your means.

[I want to be the voice of reality to the guys. By the time they call you, they’ve been dreaming about you saying yes for two weeks and they can picture the car with Coleman written all over it. Then they call and you have to say no, well, that shouldn’t cost you a customer.] [People think it’s news to the manufacturers that NASCAR is a fast-growing sport. They also think it has something to do with racing at the local speedway.]

They get delusions of grandeur. They

Everybody has goals, but they should be realistic.

 

 

Jeff Butcher

There’s so many people doing that, the best way is to know people. Build a relationship first. Many racers make the mistake of saying, ‘Hey, I run good, so maybe that product would be neat for me to have.’ The reality of it is everything in life is quid pro quo. The manufacturers of the world that are willing to give something out need good, quality feedback.

Many racers focus on the product, when they really need to focus on the relationship.

For companies that deal with products that directly enhance the performance of the car, like a shock company, they want to deal with the guys winning all the races.

There isn’t enough money in this whole deal to be giving bunches and bunches of product away. Our product doesn’t really lend itself to that. When I raced, the key to the relationships that we built was we had a professional program, we ran well, and we were articulate and organized. With those tools, we were able to build relationships. Then, once we established the relationships, then we maintained them with regular phone calls.

Manufacturers want to hear how you ran, how the product did.

Lots of guys get stuff for free, bolt it on their car and then they forget the payback part.

If you’re running last and trying to get free product, honestly, that’s not the best use of your time.

The delusion of sending a proposal blindly to a company and that you’re going to get something, that’s not going to happen. It’s a waste of a stamp.

The proposals are all the same. And, I actually feel badly because some that I open are very nice. And very well put together, it doesn’t increase their chances one bit of getting a penny, even if one was available.

The margins around what we do are quite depressed. We don’t have an extra ten percent built in like IBM or Microsoft.

 

 

Wayne Redmond

There are all different types of programs that people can buy about how to get sponsored. And they make all these little fancy brochures and send them out. I’m not sure those are as helpful as much as it is who you know and how they represent themselves.

I’ll listen to people and watch how they act in the pits. I’ll help someone who I recognize can help me sell wheels.

There’s networking, too. Lots of manufacturers talk with other manufacturers. If you’re doing a good job for someone that’s helping you out, it will probably get passed around the industry.

People frown at the Jets and John Logues, but they do excellent jobs of representing the products. That’s what has gotten them where they are today. That’s why more manufacturers want to be part of their team. A lot of local guys are standing around after the races, drinking a twelve-pack, cussing and hollering and wanting to fight, they don’t get any help.

I’ll surprise the people who come to buy stuff sometimes.

Logue has a sponsorship party at the race shop. They have an excellent, full-catered meal. John gets up and gives a speech about every sponsor and gives each one a souvenir or a prize of some sort. It’s something from the race season, it might be a quarter panel or a door.

Also up against people who’ve abused the privilege. A guy will demand 60 wheels and he sells 40 of them. Deals like that go on and that’s not good, thankfully, I’m not involved.

I deal with guys who might ask for eight wheels. I have some that will say to me, “Will you take a look at these wheels. Do they look good enough or are they banged-up enough that I should put something better looking on there?”

[Saathoff’s big rig for hosting people. Towed all the way from across Beatrice, but says he uses the rig so guests, often existing or potential sponsors can get there early, have an air conditioned place to relax and have some refreshments.]

The worst sponsorship pitch I ever heard is the one I hear on the telephone all the time, “I can sell a lot of wheels for you if you give me some.” That’s the one that turns me off right away. The guy is running a pony stock in Timbuktu. “You don’t think Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon don’t sell a lot of wheels for us? And they pay for theirs.” “Yeah, but they are not in my market area.”

 

 

Russ Smith

Jaz Products

I get a lot of novels in here.

The only reason we sponsor cars is for the brand recognition. I’ll work closely with somebody who is buying my products or is a car builder and has a house car.

Be specific, don’t be vague.

We review all of them at the end of the year and they are first in line for consideration. But, we review all of them. If the program was good, they’ll be the first to be renewed. You need to be professional.

I have stuff e-mailed to me. I got one this morning, “I race a car, help me.”

We caught a guy who was taking the stuff we provided and building cars to sell.

We participate with a guy who I can tell races for free, I can assure you that. It’s not just us, lots of companies are involved and it’s because he gives back more than he takes.

 

 

Jim Stannard

Speedway Motors

Relationships mean more than winning.

Everybody is so short-termed. And they don’t just need a little, they need a lot. Nobody wants to build a relationship anymore. They want to come in and if they don’t get three complete motors, they are gone because in their mind, they are convinced there is somebody out there that’s going to give that shit to them.

[Daydream about engines arriving?]

I haven’t seen many that get into the specifics of what they want. The guy wins the street stock division at Bumfuck Speedway. I don’t see them asking for the moon.

And how to maintain the sponsors you do have. Kyle Berck plays the game perfectly. Every Monday morning there’s a fax on Bill’s desk about what happened over the weekend.

[Might have a customer, it’s hard to blow him out of the water.] [Next time: How to pick a division you can afford.]

Sponsorships are a system of leasing a buddy. You need to find somebody who wants to hang around you. What a short track car can do for any business is really quite limited. You need to sell yourself and the rest will follow.

[Saathoff hauler]

To a certain extent anyone can do that sort of stuff. It’s about making a sponsor want to be around you. Hookers work for me.

 

 

Glenn Myers

Coleman

We don’t do a lot of sponsorships because we sell to speed shops that sell to racers. Speed shops got mad when we provided equipment to their potential customers.

Racers are better off finding local businesses to help them.

[Use trade-outs, build relationships.]

I get that stuff everyday.

One guy wouldn’t take no for an answer. I finally told him nobody pays for my hobbies. If I choose to spend $3,000 hunting, Remington isn’t going to pay me to go.

You gotta pick a level within your means. Don’t expect to pick up enough sponsors to pay for your racing. That shouldn’t happen. You gotta look at it as a hobby. Everybody wants to run a late model, but not everybody can.

It’s tough to tell them no because everyone has dreams and hopes, but what they don’t understand is most of the people in the racing industry came into it with a racing background. We know what it’s about, we know what you’re up against, but we also know it’s a hobby you chose and you have to have the money to do it.

[I want to be the voice of reality to the guys. By the time they call you, they’ve been dreaming about you saying yes for two weeks and they can picture the car with Coleman written all over it. Then they call and you have to say no, well, that shouldn’t cost you a customer.] [People think it’s news to the manufacturers that NASCAR is a fast-growing sport. They also think it has something to do with racing at the local speedway.]

Everybody has goals, but they should be realistic.