Tracking The Impact: Nextel Cup Brand Exposure

One need look no farther than the cars' hoods in NASCAR to find many of the industry segment leaders. Chevrolet saw the biggest share of the $151.5M in sponsor exposure on the hoods with $29.0M for the season, according to research from Kansas-based Image Impact. In the beer segment, Budweiser garnered the most exposure value at $45.5M, while leading all brands in exposure from the interior of the car ($3.5M in value). Lowe's beat out official NASCAR sponsor The Home Depot in the home improvement category, earning $42.6M in exposure value, which included exposure from the rear quarter panel of the cars ($4.7M) and the uniform backs of the pit crews ($1.1M). The following lists exposure for the top two brands by industry segment. Also see this week's issue of SportsBusiness Journal for exclusive research examining brand exposure through the '07 Nextel Cup season (Image Impact).

NOTES: * = Official sponsor of NASCAR. ^ = AFLAC, the official supplemental insurance of NASCAR, had 232 detections valued at $3.46M. ** = Checkers/Rally’s, the official drive-through and official burger of NASCAR, had four detections valued at $70,131.. ^^ = Craftsman detections averaged more than 50 seconds, one of the longest averages of any of the 386 brands measured. *** = Pepsi had more than twice the number of detections, but Coca-Cola’s title-sponsored race on Fox received far more on-screen placement than Pepsi received on TNT with its title-sponsored race.

SO LONG: Last night ESPN2 aired the “NASCAR Busch Series Award Ceremony,” hosted by ESPN’s Allen Bestwick from Orlando. Anheuser-Busch Busch Brand Dir Jim Gorczyca addressed the audience, saying, “It really has been an honor to serve as title sponsor for the series as long as we have. It’s produced a lot of great racing over the years. ... On behalf of Anheuser-Busch and the entire Anheuser-Busch family, we thank you for 26 wonderful years and the best of luck next season and beyond.” With Nationwide taking over as the title sponsor next season, NASCAR Chair & CEO Brian France presented Gorczyca an oil painting of all the Busch Series champions. France: “We hope you take it back to St. Louis, hang it in a very prominent place with a lot pride. They’ve been a great partner” (ESPN2, 12/11).

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