Pocky's Paddock
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Speculation rampant concerning Army sponsorship
Jun
26
As part of silly season, there comes speculation of where sponsors will land. And every year that speculation includes the U.S. Army sponsorship because the government does only 1-year deals.
The U.S. Army currently has a deal with Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Mark Martin. It doesn’t look like that will continue – U.S. Army can either stay at DEI, possibly move with Martin if he goes to Hendrick or another team or decide on a totally new driver-team combination.
Both Bill Davis Racing and Red Bull Racing are possibly in the mix. But can anyone really see the U.S. Army sponsoring a team that fields Toyotas? The Army uses this as a recruiting tool and while many teenagers today might not have a passion about a car manufacturer, it’s likely that those who are part of military families would find this hard to stomach.
The Army hasn’t followed conventional wisdom in its decisions on sponsorship. One might think the Army would need to sponsor a young driver full time to help its recruiting efforts rather than having a guy such as the 49-year-old Martin running a majority of its races. But the Army does get significant merchandise revenue and the ability to run up front with a guy such as Martin behind the wheel is a bonus.
Still, a driver choice is one thing compared with sponsoring a team with a Japanese-based manufacturer. Whether the U.S. Army would be willing to take that risk certainly is questionable.
The U.S. Army currently has a deal with Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Mark Martin. It doesn’t look like that will continue – U.S. Army can either stay at DEI, possibly move with Martin if he goes to Hendrick or another team or decide on a totally new driver-team combination.
Both Bill Davis Racing and Red Bull Racing are possibly in the mix. But can anyone really see the U.S. Army sponsoring a team that fields Toyotas? The Army uses this as a recruiting tool and while many teenagers today might not have a passion about a car manufacturer, it’s likely that those who are part of military families would find this hard to stomach.
The Army hasn’t followed conventional wisdom in its decisions on sponsorship. One might think the Army would need to sponsor a young driver full time to help its recruiting efforts rather than having a guy such as the 49-year-old Martin running a majority of its races. But the Army does get significant merchandise revenue and the ability to run up front with a guy such as Martin behind the wheel is a bonus.
Still, a driver choice is one thing compared with sponsoring a team with a Japanese-based manufacturer. Whether the U.S. Army would be willing to take that risk certainly is questionable.
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