Thread: Sponsorships for New Racers?

Originally Posted by getpalmd

Interesting topic, and sort of sad I'm not living in US - guess there would be more opportunities available there compared to Europe, the race industry is a lot larger there!

May I ask how do people contact the companies? Email, letters, phone calls..?

This is a dream of mine and obviously if you want something enough, you'll make it happen somehow. If you have to go the hard way and invest in your own car, pay for all the costs involved and that way be a part of the racing industry.. then that's sadly the way to go if you want to live that dream.

But now out of pure interest, is there a more budget friendly option for us without the rich parents, haha? Any chance you COULD get someone to sponsor you with a car or if you buy the car then help you with the maintenance / developing costs, or do you always need to buy your own and pay for all the expenses yourself? Are sponsors only interested in people with past competing experience, or have anyone gotten sponsorship with just a good proposal, a genuine interest, and strong will / potential to become really good?

I had to invest alot in the company first. I spent alot on tuning my car and sent them a letter stating my intentions aswell as all the mods i did using their parts. Then again, my sponsorship with them was not for racing; it was for shows and such. They helped covering my car entree fee aswell as my personal pass and i had to place decals on my car (no problem there) representing them. I am unaware of how it works in the pro racing circuit. You could always try my methods but it takes alot of patiance...... As for my tire sponsor for local drift events, it was the same. A rep from yokohama happened to be there and see me using their tires and approached me. Just sayin, sometimes being in the right place helps too. network yourself. Sponsors will jump on someone with an audience and popularity. That's what makes them money in return. They get publicity

Originally Posted by MMR

From racing against people who had mom and dad pay for everything their whole lives, what you just said is a load of crap. Most of them are the best drivers, because they have been at it their whole lives and have the money to practice and train as much as they want. A lot of them are nice as hell to. Of course they are real drivers.

I never said they were bad drivers, we're talking about racing, 95% of every driver had their parents help. lol Most of my driver friends has parental support and there is nothing wrong with it. However from a unique rough road point of view in the sense of story telling the broke kids have the best stories.

Broke kids don't necessarily have any less seat time, they just have to work extra hard to get it and in my opinion can have a better understanding of the business aspect of the sport a lot more easier than someone who didn't necessarily have to worry about it in the beginning.

Like I said though, there is no right or wrong, in the end we're all after the same thing.

"Broke kids" ALWAYS have less seat time. If you're running on a club level (I'm assuming) maybe your story may hold some weight but in the pro world you're WAY off.

I'd quote MMR here, but he already said it best the first time.

Originally Posted by Tibbett Racing

I never said they were bad drivers, we're talking about racing, 95% of every driver had their parents help. lol Most of my driver friends has parental support and there is nothing wrong with it. However from a unique rough road point of view in the sense of story telling the broke kids have the best stories.

Broke kids don't necessarily have any less seat time, they just have to work extra hard to get it and in my opinion can have a better understanding of the business aspect of the sport a lot more easier than someone who didn't necessarily have to worry about it in the beginning.

Like I said though, there is no right or wrong, in the end we're all after the same thing.

I'd say about 95% didn't start off racing cars either. Many transitioned from go-carts to miniture series and kept moving up. Pro world is diff than those who wait until they have a license to take it on.

good luck to you guys...I used to hate trying to find sponsorship when i was racing bikes (wera, cmra, some ama)
I hear its gotten a lot worse: the purse strings seem to have gotten a lot tighter.

one thing i do remember is that contingency money was the best bet.

you wanna talk business and sales in racing? look at BFGoodwrench and Shawn white.. christ... he cant drive a stick, and he got the biggest sponsorship out there, but you gotta give it to them, it all about the bottom line. they r gonna make so much money off of him and the events he competes in. which in some case could increase the sports main stream audience. Everyone knows he face(hair) and what he has done for snowboarding. Smart but still sucks to see the red carpet rolled out for sales when 100 other drivers could be the next vettel or loeb get passed over
just an opinion

side note to the thread we put on the 3rd biggest auto show in Colorado for free and sponsorship is a year round fight even though the show is one freaking day, and going on a corporate level is a whole different level of red tape..

Originally Posted by Low&Slow

you wanna talk business and sales in racing? look at BFGoodwrench and Shawn white.. christ... he cant drive a stick, and he got the biggest sponsorship out there, but you gotta give it to them, it all about the bottom line. they r gonna make so much money off of him and the events he competes in. which in some case could increase the sports main stream audience. Everyone knows he face(hair) and what he has done for snowboarding. Smart but still sucks to see the red carpet rolled out for sales when 100 other drivers could be the next vettel or loeb get passed over
just an opinion

side note to the thread we put on the 3rd biggest auto show in Colorado for free and sponsorship is a year round fight even though the show is one freaking day, and going on a corporate level is a whole different level of red tape..

You're absolutely right about this... I know for a fact, unfortunately. Luckily his cars have paddles and V12's

Originally Posted by PMAZ7

"Broke kids" ALWAYS have less seat time. If you're running on a club level (I'm assuming) maybe your story may hold some weight but in the pro world you're WAY off.

I'd quote MMR here, but he already said it best the first time.

I mean that doesn't really make sense, obviously someone at a pro level has more seat time... The point wasn't saying anyone is better than anyone.

It's cool, you're just not getting it.

Originally Posted by PMAZ7

It's cool, you're just not getting it.

I mean, he was banned like 2 months ago...