Sponsor-driver relationships

By DAVID GREEN

All race fans know how important sponsorship is, from the local dirt track right up to the major leagues. My pal Shirley Buttacavoli, in her most recent post on The Infield, stimulated my memory and imagination on the subject of compatibility of sponsorships.

At the grassroots level, you don't agonize so much over those things. If your brother-in-law's septic tank service is a potential sponsor, and he's willing to give you a couple hundred bucks, you don't mind painting his slogan -- "We're No. 1 in the No. 2 business" -- on your racecar. Hey, that racing gas costs about $7 a gallon these days!

The higher you go, though, the more important the match between sponsor and driver. Image, as Andre Agassi famously told us, is everything.

Perfect fits:

Dale Earnhardt and Wrangler: The jeans company said it all with the "One Tough Customer" slogan. Driver and product were rugged, rough and ready, unpretentious, no frills and no nonsense.

Bobby Hamilton and Country Time Lemonade: You wonder, sometimes, if Mario Andretti and Richard Petty really put STP in their cars, but there was no suspension of disbelief required to imagine the pride of Mt. Juliet sitting in a folding lawn chair and chugging Country Time from a big glass dripping condensation on a hot Tennessee afternoon.

Kyle Petty and Mello Yello: Yeah, I know this was a "life imitating art" deal as Kyle followed in the tire tracks of the fictional Cole Trickle. But it just worked. It was cosmic, man. The over-the-top press conference in which the black car with neon colors was introduced set the tone and Kyle had his greatest success in that car. Also, according to my own informal survey of women race fans, Kyle looked better in the Simpson Nomex than Tom Cruise did.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Budweiser: As discussed in the aforementioned blog by Shirley, this is one of those rare pairings that just merge perfectly. It's kind of a shock to imagine that driver and sponsor will be parting company when Earnhardt moves to Hendrick Motorsports at the end of this season.

Imperfect fits that worked:

Harry Gant and Skoal: Gant, a tough competitor, was much too nice a guy to be seriously considered a fit for the "Skoal Bandit" image. That worked much better for the Hollywood duo of Burt Reynolds and Hal Needham, who owned the No. 33 car. But the green-and-white machine quickly became synonymous with Gant, anyway.

Dale Earnhardt and GM Goodwrench: Sure, looking back on it, the black car and grim visage of the Intimidator were perfect. But when the sponsorship began, there was some curiosity about it. If you were a car company, did you really want customers linking a tough-guy, Darth Vader-like image with your service and parts department? You may enjoy watching this guy race, but do you want to haggle with him over questions about warranty repairs on your Lumina? As it turned out, yeah -- you did.

Worst mismatches:

Bill Elliott and Budweiser: After so many years in that Coors Thunderbird, this one just wasn't going to work. Elliott is a north Georgia mountain boy, not a Colorado lad, but his immense success in those red, white and gold No. 9 cars just made the combination with Coors iconic. Even though Elliott fared rather well in Junior Johnson's No. 11 cars, and in fact almost won a championship, the combination of Bill and Bud just never seemed right.

Sterling Marlin and Underalls: Yes, nouveau NASCAR fans, a pantyhose brand was once a sponsor of ol' Sterling. Need we say more about why we include this under the "worst mismatches" heading?

Sterling Marlin and Sunoco: Not to pick on Sterling, but when he was driving Billy Hagan's No. 94, every time Sterling alluded to the Sunoco Oldsmobile, that thick Tennessee accent made it sound as if he were saying, "Snow Cone Oldsmobile."

Alan Kulwicki and Hooters: No offense to Bob Brooks' "delightfully tacky, yet refined" restaurant chain, or to Kulwicki. But Alan just wasn't the guy you imagined hanging out in such places -- except during promotional or press events, representing his sponsor. He did a fine job in that respect, and both driver and sponsor enjoyed the thrill of the 1992 Cup championship before the tragedy that claimed Kulwicki, Brooks' son Mark, and two others. The combination of joy and sorrow will forever link Kulwicki and Hooters. But Alan was the first NASCAR driver I ever saw walk into the garage area carrying a briefcase. He'd have been perfect for a sponsorship deal with IBM or Dell or Microsoft.

Geoff Bodine and Levi Garrett: I could be wrong about this, but I just don't see Geoffrey needing a spittoon.

Miscellaneous:

Perfect situational irony: Coca-Cola pitchman Jeff Gordon drinking a Coke in Pepsi 400 victory lane; Pepsi-Cola pitchman Jeff Gordon drinking a Pepsi in Coca-Cola 600 victory lane.

Society wasn't ready for this: Mark Martin -- or any other driver, for that matter -- and Viagra. Pfizer made a good try, but that one just never was going to be OK with a lot of people.