Deepening its ties in NASCAR, LiftMaster today will announce that it has become the first pole sponsor in Kentucky Speedway history with a one-year deal that includes an option to extend and cost the company less than six figures. The garage-door opener, which is also a sponsor of Hendrick Motorsports driver Kasey Kahne’s No. 5 Chevrolet plus pole sponsor of the upcoming Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, will entitle the qualifying action that takes place at Kentucky on July 10, the day before the Sprint Cup Series Quaker State 400, which is now on its fifth running. On top of the naming rights, LiftMaster gets signage, hospitality, activation space and digital/social messaging. Other activation activities include a fantasy garage contest and “experiences” given out to fans to be on top of Kahne’s pitbox during the race. LiftMaster Corporate Sponsorship & Event Marketing Manager Lori Zinaich said that the company decided to sign up for this deal because it also is featured on the primary paint scheme for Kahne that weekend, so this helps considerably increase the amount of exposure the brand will get. “It’s a great added value to us having our paint scheme to really help increase our awareness,” she said. “Kentucky Speedway is a great partner and track to push our main message, which is safety, security and peace of mind with the LiftMaster brand.” Also enticing to LiftMaster was the fact that it has many dealers and customers in the region around Kentucky Speedway and is expected to host 100-150 of them that weekend. What finally cemented the deal was the fact that the company is a longtime supporter of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, which was already holding an event at the track that weekend, so LiftMaster will now essentially be the presenting sponsor of the event.
POLE POSITION: Kentucky Speedway Senior Dir of Business Development David Sponcil said that attaining a pole-night sponsor is the next step for the track from a business perspective. He said, “As it relates to Cup racing, we’re the newest kid on the block. I think we’ve had our hands full with getting our Truck and Xfinity sponsors renewed; we started ARCA racing in 2012, so there were a lot of different entitlements to try to put together (before finding a pole-night sponsor). We just didn’t have the right person. LiftMaster is the right fit and makes a lot of sense. They’ve got some strong and strategic dealers in our backyard, so it just came together.” Sponcil said that as all SMI tracks do, Kentucky Speedway will now evaluate how and whether to engage in B2B efforts with LiftMaster, be it using the company’s products at the track or making key introductions. LiftMaster has had success in the B2B field in NASCAR already with a deal with Hendrick Automotive Group, which is run by Hendrick Motorsports Owner Rick Hendrick. Zinaich said that LiftMaster is currently in talks with CMS about a few ways the track could use the company’s products, and it will now look to do the same with Kentucky. Zinaich said that LiftMaster, which also does some sports marketing in Canadian hockey, is going to be looking at hospitality and signage opportunities to support its third paint scheme this season, which will run at Kansas Speedway in October.
