SMI is touting the Shell Eco-marathon taking place at Sonoma Raceway as a solid win in its continued bid to land major events at its venues year-round. The Eco-marathon is a competition that Shell started putting on in recent years that sees students from around the world build and race energy-efficient vehicles. It is part of the company's transition to more of an energy company than simply fossil-fuel gas company. SMI has a pre-existing and wide-ranging relationship with Shell through deals including race entitlements of Shell brands at Kentucky Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and leveraged that to land this year’s event, which runs through Sunday. SMI VP/National Sales & Marketing Braun Smith: “They previously have been in Houston and Detroit and wanted to put a flag in Silicon Valley. The first venue they went to, they couldn’t get on the same page with accommodating all their needs, one of which is being able to house the 1,000 high school and college teams from around the world. With our speedway, we have all the infrastructure, so we foresee great execution this weekend and hopefully it will be a long-term partnership not just at Sonoma but as they consider whether moving it to other geographical areas.”
