Auto Owners Insurance made it to NASCAR’s victory lane once again last weekend as the primary sponsor of Furniture Row Racing’s No. 78 Toyota driven by Martin Truex Jr., and the Michigan-based company says it is continuing to see benefits from being on the sport’s most dominant car. The 101-year-old insurance firm sells its products through independent dealers in 26 states, and has leveraged the NASCAR program to increase its policy counts in NASCAR hotbeds, host its independent agents at tracks and increase brand recognition. Thanks to being with FRR over the last year as the No. 78 has started to dominate, it has racked up numerous wins including last year’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington, earlier this year at Kansas and last weekend at Charlotte, despite only being on the car for six out of the sport’s 38 annual races. This comes amid the company’s second sweepstakes it has held around the team this year, this one called “Win One, Give One Sweepstakes” in partnership with the Salvation Army, is set to expire this weekend. AOI VP/Marketing & Sales Drew Klasing in an email to THE DAILY wrote, “Martin won our first race on the No. 78 car at Kansas Speedway, so our season began as well as it possibly could have, and he also won the NASCAR regular season points championship, so he and the team have received a lot of attention from solid on-track performances. … We have received a tremendous response. The number of people who are engaging with us, and the passion they display has been terrific.” Financial terms of its deal are not known, but a source said the team typically asks $400,000-450,000 per race for primary sponsorship. AOI works with Charlotte-based Spire Sports & Entertainment for its NASCAR marketing.
