Veteran PR guy Pete Webb asked me if I’d like to take a ride in an Indy racer.
He said the car, which was once driven in the Indianapolis 500, was stretched into a two-seater and was street legal. An Indy-certified driver could pick me up outside my office at 16th Street and Broadway.
Webb was hired to promote the Pikes Peak International Speedway and the Indy Racing League race Sunday. I thought this would be my chance to explore why companies pay millions of dollars to put their names on racing cars.
Companies spent $1.6 billion on auto- racing sponsorships in 2004, up slightly from 2003, said Shawn Bradley, chief operating officer of The Bonham Group, a Denver-based sports marketing agency.
These sponsorships have tremendous geographic reach since the cars move from region to region, the races are nationally televised and the popularity of motor sports keeps growing.
“Driving is something that everybody does,” Bradley said. “They can identify with it because they are always out there fighting traffic.”
So on Wednesday, I fought a little downtown traffic in an Indy car. Danica Patrick, 23, the way-too-sexy Indy Racing Leaguer, was not my driver. Nor was Indy champ Dan Wheldon. Instead, I got former Indy driver Davey Hamilton, 42.
Hamilton was in six Indianapolis 500 races. When he left racing in 2001, he was the only driver to start in all 48 IRL races since the league began in 1996. Now, I don’t follow racing, so I had to ask why he left the sport.
“I had an accident in Texas,” Hamilton said. “Broke my legs.”
According to news accounts of Hamilton’s 2001 accident, his car careened over a concrete retaining wall. It spun, flipped and slid, coming to a stop in the infield. Hamilton tried to climb out of the wreckage, unaware that his feet were hanging by strips of skin and bone. It took 21 surgeries and nearly 30 artificial parts to piece him together.
This was my driver. Good thing there’s a speed limit on city streets.
The sponsor on the car was Jim Beam and its “Drink Smart” program. I don’t know if there’s a smart way to drink whiskey, or whether alcohol should be associated with cars that go more than 200 miles per hour. But this was the message, and a lot of people got it.
There’s something about driving an Indy car down a city street that freaks people out. Heads turned, jaws dropped, hands waved. One woman stuck out her thumb to hitch a ride. A man snapped a photo with his cellphone. After the ride, I talked to Michael Andretti on the telephone. (Passengers in my car have been known to clutch the hand grip and cry, ‘Who do you think you are, Mario Andretti?’ So it was an honor to talk to his son.)
The junior Andretti runs Andretti Green Racing, based in Indianapolis. His team includes driver Wheldon and Tony Kanaan, the 2004 IndyCar Series Champion. His sponsors include Jim Beam, Honda, Motorola and 7-Eleven.
“Racing fans are very loyal,” Andretti said. “If you have a Tony Kanaan fan, I guarantee you they are shopping 7-Eleven.”
Sponsors pay millions to be on winning teams such as Andretti Green’s. And Andretti has one of the most famous names in racing. But even he says it’s tough signing deals. In an era of rampant corporate scandals, companies have to justify their expenses more than ever.
“They want value, and you have to show them value,” Andretti said. “You can’t snow anybody anymore.”
Centennial-based Centrix Financial is building a nationwide brand name via the Grand Prix of Denver, which it owns, and a NASCAR team it sponsors. The Grand Prix of Denver drew 148,511 spectators last weekend. The auto lender targets consumers with bad credit, which is about 36 percent of U.S. consumers, said chief executive Robert E. Sutton. “You look at all those people in the stands,” he said, “and it’s our market profile.”
My driver, Hamilton, said he’s aching to make a comeback. His hurdles now are not so much physical as financial. It takes about $7 million a year to run a competitive team.
“It’s all about funding,” he said. “It’s all about getting the sponsorships.”
Al Lewis’ column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Friday. Respond to Lewis at denverpostbloghouse.com/lewis, 303-820-1967, or alewis@denverpost.com.
