US Army Ends Sponsorship of NASCAR

[RADIOMAN015]

See:  http://aol.sportingnews.com/nascar/story/2012-07-10/ryan-newman-us-army-sponsorship-stewart-haas-racing-congresswoman

Apparently the US Army was spending up to $8.1 million a year on various car racing sponsorship.  Some members in congress weren't too happy so tried to pass thorough an amendment in the defense bill to prohibit the use of the funds, which is still stuck in congress somewhere.

Interestingly the article goes on to indicate that the National Guard is still spending $25 million this year on NASCAR support.  The USAF also sponsors one race car at a couple of NASCAR events.

Surely, the main reason someone shows up at a recruiters' offices is because they saw it advertised on a NASCAR racer, right :angel:

Didn't CAP sponsor a (or part of a) NASCAR race car many years ago
RM
     

[ol'fido]

Yep, I believe it was Ashton Lewis in the #32 CAP car a.k.a. The Flaming Wreck on Turn #3 a.k.a. The Back of the Pack.

[SarDragon]

Yep, I believe it was Ashton Lewis in the #32 CAP car a.k.a. The Flaming Wreck on Turn #3 a.k.a. The Back of the Pack.

He wasn't a great racer, but that's an unfair cheap shot. Did you ever actually look at his record? He was a steady middle of the pack racer, averaging 24th in '01. Most of the times he crashed out the same year (9 times in 32 races), it wasn't his fault. He got collected up by someone else.

[PHall]

See:  http://aol.sportingnews.com/nascar/story/2012-07-10/ryan-newman-us-army-sponsorship-stewart-haas-racing-congresswoman

Apparently the US Army was spending up to $8.1 million a year on various car racing sponsorship.  Some members in congress weren't too happy so tried to pass thorough an amendment in the defense bill to prohibit the use of the funds, which is still stuck in congress somewhere.

Interestingly the article goes on to indicate that the National Guard is still spending $25 million this year on NASCAR support.  The USAF also sponsors one race car at a couple of NASCAR events.

Surely, the main reason someone shows up at a recruiters' offices is because they saw it advertised on a NASCAR racer, right :angel:

Didn't CAP sponsor a (or part of a) NASCAR race car many years ago
RM
   

National Guard is a different budget. The NGB's recruiting budget is totally seperate from the other services.
The ANG is still sponsoring a hydroplane racing series, for now...

[ol'fido]

Yep, I believe it was Ashton Lewis in the #32 CAP car a.k.a. The Flaming Wreck on Turn #3 a.k.a. The Back of the Pack.

He wasn't a great racer, but that's an unfair cheap shot. Did you ever actually look at his record? He was a steady middle of the pack racer, averaging 24th in '01. Most of the times he crashed out the same year (9 times in 32 races), it wasn't his fault. He got collected up by someone else.

To be honest, Dave, I didn't pay that much attention. I find NASCAR as exciting as watching paint dry. To me, it's a bunch of guys making left turns for 4 or 5 hours. I was mostly going by anecdotal info I got from a friend of mine years ago.

Now, if they were making left turns and could shoot at each other, that might be fun.

"Coming around the far turn it's Jimmy Joe Billy Bob in the Heavy Prozac Chevy and it looks like he's going to cut inside and use that Penzoil Long Slide Glock on the #52 TY Care bear Dodge."

[rustyjeeper]

Yep, I believe it was Ashton Lewis in the #32 CAP car a.k.a. The Flaming Wreck on Turn #3 a.k.a. The Back of the Pack.

He wasn't a great racer, but that's an unfair cheap shot. Did you ever actually look at his record? He was a steady middle of the pack racer, averaging 24th in '01. Most of the times he crashed out the same year (9 times in 32 races), it wasn't his fault. He got collected up by someone else.

To be honest, Dave, I didn't pay that much attention. I find NASCAR as exciting as watching paint dry. To me, it's a bunch of guys making left turns for 4 or 5 hours. I was mostly going by anecdotal info I got from a friend of mine years ago.

Now, if they were making left turns and could shoot at each other, that might be fun.

"Coming around the far turn it's Jimmy Joe Billy Bob in the Heavy Prozac Chevy and it looks like he's going to cut inside and use that Penzoil Long Slide Glock on the #52 TY Care bear Dodge."

My guess is CAP safety concerns are why we at CAP ended our sponsorship of any NASCAR activities. It's way to dangerous to have the CAP name affiliated with anything like a car making lots of fast RH or LH turns
Incidentally I dont watch it either--however I do find it slightly more interesting than televised golf or bowling events

[ColonelJack]

I got in no small amount of trouble one evening on my newscast when I made a joke about NASCAR.  I said that if NASCAR - which involves driving in a circle at high rates of speed - is a sport, then all those people on Interstate 285 around Atlanta are athletes.  (For those who don't know, I-285 is a big circular highway around Atlanta.)

You should've seen the phones at the station light up ... it was funny!

Jack

[Garibaldi]

I got in no small amount of trouble one evening on my newscast when I made a joke about NASCAR.  I said that if NASCAR - which involves driving in a circle at high rates of speed - is a sport, then all those people on Interstate 285 around Atlanta are athletes.  (For those who don't know, I-285 is a big circular highway around Atlanta.)

You should've seen the phones at the station light up ... it was funny!

Jack

Didn't you know that NASCAR is the second official religion of the South? And yes, 285, or the Perimeter, is NASCAR's test track. I used to tool around 285 after I got out of the Army and CAP (All in a space of 3 months) in my '67 Mustang, challenging other drivers to races. I stopped after getting soundly whooped by a Porsche 911 one night. Really took the wind out of my sails.

And while we're on the subject: "Oooooh, they're making a left turn! Oooo, they're making another left turn! Ooooh they're making another left turn! I wonder what's gonna happen next? Go to commercial, come back in 10 minutes, you ain't gonna miss a &(^&*%@ thing!" /Jeff Dunham

[Flying Pig]

Yep, I believe it was Ashton Lewis in the #32 CAP car a.k.a. The Flaming Wreck on Turn #3 a.k.a. The Back of the Pack.

Now, if they were making left turns and could shoot at each other, that might be fun.

"Coming around the far turn it's Jimmy Joe Billy Bob in the Heavy Prozac Chevy and it looks like he's going to cut inside and use that Penzoil Long Slide Glock on the #52 TY Care bear Dodge."

Your in luck!  That is a sport in Compton!

[mikebank]

I got in no small amount of trouble one evening on my newscast when I made a joke about NASCAR.  I said that if NASCAR - which involves driving in a circle at high rates of speed - is a sport, then all those people on Interstate 285 around Atlanta are athletes.  (For those who don't know, I-285 is a big circular highway around Atlanta.)

You should've seen the phones at the station light up ... it was funny!

Jack

I missed my exit one time in Atlanta on I-285, onetime,...I just drove until it came up again......

[cap235629]

N - NOT
A - A
S - SPORT
C - CENTERED
A - AROUND
R - REDNECKS

[AngelWings]

N - NOISY
A - A**
S - SPEEDING
C - CARS
A - AROUSE
R - REDNECKS

FTFY 

[MSG Mac]

/quote]

My guess is CAP safety concerns are why we at CAP ended our sponsorship of any NASCAR activities. It's way to dangerous to have the CAP name affiliated with anything like a car making lots of fast RH or LH turns
Incidentally I dont watch it either--however I do find it slightly more interesting than televised golf or bowling events

The reason CAP got out of the NASCAR sponsership was that it sucked at least $3,000,000 dollars out of CAP's coffers. ( I have heard that the total could be as high as 6 MegaBucks).

[AngelWings]

/quote]

My guess is CAP safety concerns are why we at CAP ended our sponsorship of any NASCAR activities. It's way to dangerous to have the CAP name affiliated with anything like a car making lots of fast RH or LH turns
Incidentally I dont watch it either--however I do find it slightly more interesting than televised golf or bowling events

The reason CAP got out of the NASCAR sponsership was that it sucked at least $3,000,000 dollars out of CAP's coffers. ( I have heard that the total could be as high as 6 MegaBucks).

My jaw just dropped to the floor.

[Nolan Teel]

I wonder who did the ORM Form for the racecar?! :clap:

[Eclipse]

The reason CAP got out of the NASCAR sponsership was that it sucked at least $3,000,000 dollars out of CAP's coffers. ( I have heard that the total could be as high as 6 MegaBucks).

I'd want to see something cited before I believed it was more than $3m.  As I recall the annual costs were in the neighborhood of $300k, and it ran about
5 years, so $1.5-3M total.  I also recall that the money was not direct member funds or appropriate dollars, but some kind of foundation donation for the
purpose of the car.

I also still have mine!

[caphornbuckle]

Yep, I believe it was Ashton Lewis in the #32 CAP car a.k.a. The Flaming Wreck on Turn #3 a.k.a. The Back of the Pack.

#46 Team CAP Racing owned by Ashton Lewis Sr. and driven by Ashton Lewis Jr.  The team went out of business a year after CAP dropped its sponsorship.  They had a 3-year contract with CAP.  As for the amount CAP paid for it, I don't know but I do know it wasn't worth it.  It was also a Bush Series car and during this period, it wasn't very popular because of all of the "Bushwackers" that came in from the Cup Series and stole the show for the drivers who race the lesser series on a full-time basis.

But yes...CAP should have done better research on the team, driver, and series before they dumped a boat load of money into it.

FWIW, Ashton Lewis Jr. drove for the Marines after his dad's team shut down.

Didn't you know that NASCAR is the second official religion of the South?

"Our father who art Richard Petty, NASCAR be thy name."

[♠SARKID♠]

Formula 1 for the win.

[Critical AOA]

I am a NASCAR fan.  I am a fan of the US military. It was cool to see ARMY on the car.

However, I am glad to see this sponsorship end as I do not see it really providing any real return on the investment.  I am not a marketing expert nor do I know where all recruits get their motivation to enlist.  I am pretty certain that not too many young people see a race car in Army colors and say "I think I'll join up".   

[Al Sayre]

The branding might be a bit more effective if the were racing tanks...