In an effort to bolster sponsorship revenue, Charlotte Motor Speedway this year increased its efforts in North Carolina and landed seven regional sponsors that combined to boost revenue by more than $1 million.
The speedway, which will host this weekend’s Sprint All-Star Race and next weekend’s Coca-Cola 600, closed deals with Snyder’s-Lance, a national snack-food company; Kangaroo Express, a regional convenience store company; Bayer Advanced, a weed killer developer; Brookwood Farms, a barbecue brand available at retail; Oskar Blues, a microbrewery; Highlands Hickory Market, a hot dog company; and the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
“The speedway hasn’t typically had a lot of local participation from sponsors, and typically that was because there weren’t a lot of big companies in the area,” said CMS President Marcus Smith. “But over the last 10 years, a lot of companies have grown or moved in, and there’s an opportunity for us.”
Snyder’s-Lance is a Charlotte-based company celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. The company, which has a market cap of $1.8 billion, chose to hold part of its birthday festivities during the All-Star Race. It is sponsoring a pre-race concert by Josh Turner, and the concert will begin with a rendition of “Happy Birthday” in honor of the company’s 100 years. Some 2,000 Snyder’s-Lance employees will be in the crowd during the concert and attending the race.
Kangaroo Express, which is a division of Cary, N.C.-based Pantry Inc., will build the first 24-hour convenience store inside the speedway, selling everything from hot dogs and propane to batteries and soda. The company will run a shuttle through the campground bringing race fans to and from the convenience store and sparing them from having to jump in their cars and drive to an off-site retailer.
The NASCAR Hall of Fame has sponsored CMS in the past, but this will represent its largest activation at the track, said CMS head of sales Dan Farrell. It will be the host of the NASCAR Hall of Fame Pit Road Party prior to the Coca-Cola 600.
Brookwood Farms, Oskar Blues and Highlands Hickory Market will all have their products sold at the track and be able to use CMS logos in their marketing. Bayer Advanced will have a display for its Brush Killer Plus product.
