Image-conscious NASCAR and some of its conservative fans "continue to assess the parlay of needed sponsorship dollars and the allure of a younger fan base with the trappings that come with an edgy brand," according to Brant James of USA TODAY. Monster Energy VP/Sports Marketing Mitch Covington has "espoused the company’s foundation is built on 'girls, parties and motorsports' from the beginning, but the transition from the staid corporate Sprint persona has been fitful, even if expectedly unconventional." Monster Energy Girls often have "been the focal point," but NASCAR did "interject into the activation this week, however, when Monster Energy and Bellator announced a deal to bring MMA fighting to four pre-race shows." After just six races, Covington said that he has "no empirical data to gauge progress in the sponsorship or to judge if the pre-race show is helping ... but he expects to expand the audience with the show in the East." Monster Energy’s unconventional approach to the show -- its exact format for this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway still was not decided last week -- "mirrors that of the sponsorship." Covington: "That’s more fun for me anyway, rather than being in a board room and planning something 12 months out. We’re learning this. And we didn’t go in with a lot of agency work where somebody who’s been doing it 30 years is suggesting what we do. To me that’s important because it brings in fresh ideas instead of ‘Hey this is how you do this.’" Former NASCAR driver Travis Pastrana thinks that Monster is in a "better position to thrive in NASCAR than his energy drink sponsor [Red Bull] did in owning a Cup team" from '06-11. He said, "Monster is a better fit for the NASCAR crowd in that it’s more of an open, public kind of feel" (USA TODAY, 4/7).
