Indy races on, despite cutbacks
When Graham Rahal starts 4th next weekend at the Indy 500, the big shiny Golden Arches of McDonald’s will ride along. He’s one of the lucky ones… Rahal has a major corporate sponsor and the financial backing that comes with.
Commercial Point’s Sarah Fisher has always hustled to find sponsorship and has done it again—she’ll race at Indy.
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 for the race—the most recent from Bobby Rahal and Hilliard’s Rahal-Letterman Racing. Veteran driver Oriol Servia will drive Rahal’s No. 17 car in a one-race deal.
Terry Angstadt, president of the Indy Racing League’s commercial division told the Associated Press “It’s still expensive, but overall, when you compare it to other sports, it is reasonably affordable and that makes us the value play.“
The Indy 500 of course is the premiere open-wheel race in the world, and many companies will sign up for a one-race deal just get their logo on a car for the tv audience. But those one-race deals rarely extend into full season rides. For example, Fisher’s team may run just 6 races this season.
“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.“
Rahal sure hopes so… he’s among the few teams who’ve suspended their operations until they can find steady sponsorship. But other major owners, such as Richard Penske, Michael Andretti and Newman-Haas are plowing ahead.
And consider this. Every IRL car is powered by Honda. Whereas in Nascar, many car bodies come from Ford or GM, and their future appears wobbly at best. Honda’s made cutbacks but continues, along with Toyota, to sell significant stock in America. If Indy can find the consistent sponsor dollars it can climb back up on Nascar and it’s share of the racing market. Exposure like the Indy 500 and some smart business alliances allow the IRL to run fast, even in slow times.
