Before Congress will vote on a bill that could eliminate racing sponsorships from the military budget, NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. "wants one of the bill’s sponsors, Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) to attend a Sprint Cup race to get a better understanding of why the National Guard and the U.S. Army are spending millions of dollars to sponsor his car and Ryan Newman’s this year,” according to Ron Green Jr. of the CHARLOTTE OBSERVER. Earnhardt on Friday said, “Just because he’s a Republican from Georgia, he should have seen a NASCAR race by now. ... Talk to the people that are at the particular races and see what the experience is like for them. See how the Guard utilizes their program and their marketing within the sport.” He added, “If he hasn’t been to a race, he’s not seen it firsthand. Then he can make his decision.” With racing’s “biggest weekend approaching,” the potential sponsorship cut “has drawn particular attention.” The National Guard reported that it will spend $26,539,294 in fiscal '12 for its NASCAR sponsorship, less than 10% of its recruiting budget. Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), a co-sponsor for the bill, on her website said that the National Guard has spent more than $136M "over five years to sponsor Earnhardt’s car." Earnhardt said, “I would encourage them to do more homework, get more facts, understand the situation a little more. I know just talking to the National Guard ... they can’t express to me enough about how much this program helps their recruiting.” Green noted the proposed change has “caught the attention of drivers whose cars don’t have military sponsorship.” NASCAR driver Jeff Burton said, “For the people in the government to get involved in something that they probably don’t know enough about really makes no sense” (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 5/19).
WEIGHING IN: NASCAR team Owner and driver Tony Stewart said that his team “will take a business-as-usual approach as far as plans for 2013, even though there is now a chance that the U.S. Army would not be able to sponsor Newman’s car.” The Army has sponsored Newman’s Stewart-Haas Racing car since ‘10. Stewart: “There’s a lot of Fortune 500 companies that realize the value of this sport and realize the marketing value to it. The U.S. Army and The National Guard have seen that value as well. They’re not in the habit of just spending money to spend money” (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 5/18). Sports Marketing Consultants Inc. Senior Marketing Partner Andrew Campagnone said, “I think it will have a negative impact on the sport as the big three -- Army, Air Force and National Guard -- won't be able to participate in the all-American sport, which is NASCAR. I believe there is a great deal of ignorance at the government level on how the sport does help promote the services and engage the 'influencer,' who is the aunt, teacher, grandpa or grandma of a possible recruit” (FOXSPORTS.com, 5/18).
