INDIANAPOLIS — Sarah Fisher spent last May chasing for money.
This month, she can focus on racing because she already has the cash in hand and her No. 67 car provisionally qualified for the Indianapolis 500.
The 28-year-old Commercial Point, Ohio, native exemplifies how the series is surviving in the tough economic environment: Selling the race, selling the series and selling value.
“When you’re approaching new sponsors, it’s not as easy to justify spending the money because it has to immediately make sense,” Fisher said Tuesday while signing autographs at a local Firestone store. “Unless it makes business sense, they’re not interested.”
Perhaps.
But somehow the series seems to be navigating the recession better than expected.
Despite trimming costs by cutting jobs and revising the May schedule, the IndyCar series has started 22 or 23 cars in each of the season’s first three races.
It already has 34 announced driver-car combinations at Indy’s historic 2.5-mile oval, and speculation suggests there could be a few more announcements by the time qualifying resumes Saturday. The latest deal came Wednesday, when 1986 Indy winner Bobby Rahal said he completed a deal to put Spanish veteran Oriol Servia in the cockpit of his No. 17 car.
And most of the cars at Indianapolis already have major sponsors ranging from the familiar names like McDonald’s, Hewlett-Packard and Citgo to newcomers such as HER Energy drink and DAFAC, specialists in cyber security.
Series officials are even talking about adding first-time races in Brazil and China, and the growth is all part of a simple pitch.
“We are the value opportunity,” said Terry Angstadt, president of the Indy Racing League’s commercial division. “It’s still expensive, but overall, when you compare it to other sports, it is reasonably affordable and that makes us the value play.”
Value comes in many forms.
Sponsors want opportunities besides advertising on the cars and mingling with celebrities. Some are seeking other options for keeping their products, and their drivers, in the spotlight whether or not it coincides with a race weekend.
On May 1, Danica Patrick turned a usually nondescript event, donning the new paint job for her No. 7 car, into a publicity showcase by racing against an airplane at Indianapolis International Airport on a non-race week. Boost Mobile couldn’t have been happier.
Angstadt even recalled a conversation he had with Jimmy Vasser before the team, KV Racing, announced it had hired Paul Tracy, the long-time open-wheel star who lost the disputed finish of the 2002 Indy 500 in his last appearance here.
“He (Vasser) said ‘Can you make sure Paul Tracy gets some more interviews?’” Angstadt said. “So I called our guys and they said ‘Are you kidding? Paul is a great story, that won’t be a problem.’”
Other drivers have stuck to a more personal touch.
Fisher and Alex Lloyd went to Firestone, the series’ tire provider, on Tuesday to help raise money for Riley Hospital for Children. Pole winner Helio Castroneves, a two-time Indy winner, spent Monday in Texas promoting the upcoming June race there. Fan favorite Marco Andretti now has cutouts appearing in Meijer stores across the city, and there are dozens more driver appearances scheduled before this month.
One question remains: What happens after the cars leave Indianapolis?
The 500 has long been the series’ biggest event and has often attracted companies willing to make one-race deals.
Afterward, many of those sponsorships go away, shrinking the traditional field back to about two dozen cars. Fisher’s team, for instance, only has enough funding for six races this season, though she is trying, like Rahal, to find the money to run a full schedule.
And it’s not going to get any easier this year.
“Do we have challenges? Of course,” Angstadt said. “But I think what’s fun is to think of what we’ll have when the economy recovers because we’re doing OK with our marketing in the toughest economy we’ve ever had.”
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