This is gonna be a long one, so bear with me.....
Alright guys, its pretty much like this! Sponsors are looking to sell their product. They could really care less about what you have accomplished. I know from a fact, because I started racing go karts at the age of 8. At the age of 18 I had no corporate sponsors only businesses owned by friends of the family, or people who wanted to see a smile on a little kids face! I was receiving somewhere in the neighborhood of $2500 a year! Let me tell you, this is a LONG way from truly being sponsored. My father(until the time I was 15 and could work) paid for everything for my racing from tires, engines, bodies ect.
At the age of 19, I had saved enough money to purchase the next step in my racing career. I bought a 4 yr old(which I might add was EXTREMELY out of date, as you could update a race car every 6 months) Larry Shaw IMCA.
At the time I could not afford an engine, so I found a local ex-racer who had a spare engine left over sitting in his garage! He was a very nice gentleman and even though the trade was not equal( I got the better end of the deal), I traded my 1981 Chevrolet K-5 Blazer with a rebuilt 350 for his race engine that was complete minus a carb, and the misc. parts needed to fab in into my chassis.
At the time this was the most help I had gotten towards racing, and It got me onto the track my first year, which otherwise wouldn't have happened due to lack of funds!
The only other help I received the first year was $100 off having a body hung on my car by another local racer here in town! Rays Auto Body and Collision Center
The only thing I was asked to do in return for their help was to bring my car out to their "Car Show Day", which was a day that all of their race cars were on display in front of their shop for customers, kids, and just general onlookers to stop by, ask questions, grab a free bite to eat, and generally promote their business! Without being asked, I detailed my car better than it had ever been before and took it upon myself to go to Walmart and buy some photo printing paper for my at home printer(cost me less than $20). I used up all of my ink printing pictures of my car(the one above) to hand out to kids! It was the hit of the car show and went a long way with my sponsor, as you will see. Shortly after I realized to be able to travel more and get my name out and represent my one sponsor better, I needed to get a larger truck to be on the road! A local auto lot had a very slightly used dually for sale so I tried my hand again! I struck a deal with the owner to trade in my current truck and sell me the dually (considerably more than my truck was worth) for the same money! In return I would run his add on the primo spot on my car and send anyone at the track looking to upgrade to him! I'm not sure if it was luck or fate, but 2 other drivers had truck problems that season and both purchased a vehicle from City Fleet Sales upon my suggestion!
Over the winter, I realized I needed to update my car, so with a little experience and a lot of determination, I sold myself, and what I could do for a couple more companies and picked up my first corporate sponsor, along with a couple others.
With new equipment comes heartbreak.... We couldn't get the new car to get around the track to save our lives, but having seasoned racers as a sponsor/friend helped! We quickly sold that car and built a brand new Shaw!
As you can see I picked up some corporate sponsors by this time in the form of a couple major liquor brands! I went on to race for touring series' as well as big money shows throughout the southern half of the United States! I had a blast, met a ton of great people, and have done things most people my age haven't!
I don't know if anything I have said here will help anyone to gain sponsorship, but I will add a few more points of help that are KEYS to your success:
* Always go above and beyond what is asked of you
* Never promise anything you cannot keep
* Never shoot yourself in the foot for the smallest of sponsors
* The key to maintaining a corporate sponsorship is having a good working relationship with the company, holding your end of the bargain, and then doing more
* I actually got a sponsor at one of the biggest races of the year...wanna know how! I had flipped completely totaling my primary car and a gentleman came up to me being very sarcastic asking how I was able to maintain such great sponsors when I can't even make it into the race. I shrugged it off as professionally as I could. Later that evening I was sitting in the pit stands and the same gentleman was close by! I heard him asking several people what the best part of the race night was , and 3 of the 4 people said something to the effect of "Man did you see that car go flipping down the back straightaway?" 2 of the 3 could name my 4 major sponsors because the track announcer had talked for some time about my great sponsors how I was going to need to call them up to get more money for a new car! That gentleman came down to my pit the next night and handed me $1000 and said, "Its not always the winner that gets the most attention is it? I wanna be recognized!" That was the coolest way I ever obtained a sponsor! The guy asked my to put his name on the bottom of my floorpan! HAHA. In other words he didn't want to be recognized, he wanted to help out in my efforts!
If anyone has any other questions about how I obtained my sponsors and kept them, feel free to ask or pm me! I no longer race and try to fish as much as I can to occupy my time! Here are some more pictures for your viewing pleasure!
Jeff a.k.a 00 mod (our cars are call modified for short)
The last year I raced was without sponsors as the economy had declined and it took all of the winnings I had saved up to finish the year and sadly I have sold everything I had for racing except my suit and helmet, just in case I get a call to drive for someone! ;D
