Ruoff Home Mortage President & CEO Mark Music said that the Indiana-based lender, which was the primary sponsor of Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato's car last weekend, will have a "presence with Sato at this week's pair of races at Detroit and may look at doing something at the IndyCar event at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in late July," according to Justin Kenny of the Ft. Wayne NEWS-SENTINEL. Music: "We are going to have an associate sponsor arrangement at Detroit as a way to say thank you." This comes as Ruoff is "preparing to expand its reach significantly into Michigan and Ohio in the coming 12-18 months." Kenny notes Andretti Autosport Founder & CEO Michael Andretti and Music "had dialogue in the past, but Music earlier this year had decided to wait one more year to join the car sponsor game." But Andretti Autosport "decided to try one more time." Music: "They contacted us with a last-second opportunity with Takuma. I already knew his skill set and knew how dominating Andretti Autosport has been (at Indianapolis). Couple that with the discount of coming in late and it made sense." Music "believed that a lap or two at the front would give his company some great publicity." As it turned out, he "got that and much more." While Music and Andretti were in sponsorship talks for the "last few years," Music and others from Ruoff were "invited to a few races as guests of the team, further cultivating the relationship" (Ft. Wayne NEWS-SENTINEL, 5/31).
THE GOOD STUFF: The AP noted Sato yesterday "posed for photos atop the Empire State Building, rang the Nasdaq opening bell in Times Square, and continued to bare his soul as he pondered his accomplishment." Sato also "used his appearances to again raise awareness for the thousands of people in Japan who remain displaced" from the '11 earthquake and tsunami that killed more than 15,000 people. Sato: "There are still 250,000 people living in temporary housing, so this is definitely a great acceleration to support them." Sato "normally has worn a special helmet for the Indy 500 that he would later auction to raise money for relief funds in Japan" (AP, 5/30).
