Sponsor Woes

House committee vote squashes military NASCAR sponsorships
By Dustin Long, Special for USA TODAY
Updated 9m ago

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The House Appropriations Committee passed a $608 billion defense bill Thursday that includes an amendment to prohibit Pentagon spending on NASCAR, professional fishing and professional wrestling events.

The hood of Ryan Newman's No. 39 Chevrolet often displays primary sponsorship from the U.S. Army.

By Chris Graythen, Getty Images

The hood of Ryan Newman's No. 39 Chevrolet often displays primary sponsorship from the U.S. Army.

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By Chris Graythen, Getty Images

The hood of Ryan Newman's No. 39 Chevrolet often displays primary sponsorship from the U.S. Army.
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Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., proposed the legislation last year but it failed.

This time, she received support from Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga. The legislation would prohibit military funding of semi-professional and professional sporting events.

"You've got to lead by example," Kingston told USA TODAY Sports. "I think that if Southern, pro-NASCAR people say, 'You know what, I love NASCAR. But this is not a good recruiting tool.' We've got to make some serious decisions in the name of the (USA). I think NASCAR fans would appreciate that."

Kingston said he's never been to a NASCAR race but added, "I don't believe for a second that NASCAR will suffer without these millions of dollars being pumped in by the taxpayer."

McCollum wrote on Twitter that the amendment would save $80 million. She wrote on a Twitter posting earlier this month that the National Guard's sponsorship on NASCAR was $103 million over three years.

The National Guard sponsors Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR's most popular driver, in the Sprint Cup Series; the U.S. Army sponsors Ryan Newman in Cup.

McCollum said eliminating wasteful spending was her goal, pointing to the Air Guard 400 race at Richmond International Raceway in September 2010.

"The Air National Guard spent $650,000. One night, one race, … 439 recruitment leads. Six of those — only six — qualified as potential recruits and then they got zero out of it.

"The military needs to be present in our communities. There's nothing to prevent them … from having recruiters at these events. We're paying for recruiters to be at these events. It's the above and beyond that is just ridiculous."

NASCAR had not responded to multiple requests seeking comment as of Thursday afternoon.

The next step is a full vote in the House of Representatives, where Republicans hold a majority of seats. The Democrat-controlled Senate would vote on passing its own version of the bill, which may or may not have the NASCAR funding ban.

The issue is a divisive topic. In a 2011 interview with The Virginian-Pilot, McCollum's chief of staff, Bill Harper, said he doubted the impact sponsorships had on military recruiting.

"I would challenge the Pentagon to give me one example of someone today in Iraq or Afghanistan who saw the Go Army car going around the race track and that's why they joined the Army," Harper said last February. "It may be the reason why they go to Home Depot but not necessarily Afghanistan."

The ban also would resonate in the Izod IndyCar Series (Panther Racing's J.R. Hildebrand is sponsored by the National Guard) and the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racng Series (seven-time Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher is sponsored by the U.S. Army).

think its funny, how they can spend 12 trillion dollars farting around Iraq lookig for something that wasnt even there, then turn around & talk crap about wasting tax payer dollars.

kinda seen this coming, when the army first signed with SHR, it was for 22-24 races, and each year it has gone down, this year it is just 12.

I guess this is why Ryan's been told he is free to look around the market...

But not to worry for people who watched School House Rock.

I have mixed feelings fiscally about this. I have always thought it was strange that a military branch that basically is a governmental entity sponsors a racecar but I think it's actually a good idea for several reasons. It promotes patriotism and it might be a marketing tool attracting our young men and women to enlist in the Army.

I still have mixed feelings on the whole thing but I hope Ryan gets a few new sponsorships ASAP.

They spend trillions in Iraq. The money that they spend is like 1% of their budget.

It's all just B.S.

They spend trillions in Iraq. The money that they spend is like 1% of their budget.

It's all just B.S.

I totally agree!! All so a couple of politicians can get re-elected.

one thing that would save this country millions and millions of dollars is the easter, summer and xmas vacation that the congress takes every year, were not talking a couple days, were talking months, plus the free healthcare they get after they leave office, both parties are guilty of it and have been abusing this for decades.

one thing that would save this country millions and millions of dollars is the easter, summer and xmas vacation that the congress takes every year, were not talking a couple days, were talking months, plus the free healthcare they get after they leave office, both parties are guilty of it and have been abusing this for decades.

when I was a teenager (a time long long ago) I remember hearing how Congress voted themselves a 300% raise. I thought....... Man that would be awesome to vote myself a raise, all while talking about how to cut down spending.

So I guess this means they wont do fly overs anymore for sporting events. I am sure that costs money. Sponosrships keeps a name out there. Not hey we had a race on Sunday how many recruits did we get in that area? So is the military gonna stop having commercials all year long now too?

I remember the 1st time the congress chick tried this. The military were the ones to defend the spending.
Fire a couple less rockets & you make up a lot of the price for sponsorships.

one thing that would save this country millions and millions of dollars is the easter, summer and xmas vacation that the congress takes every year, were not talking a couple days, were talking months, plus the free healthcare they get after they leave office, both parties are guilty of it and have been abusing this for decades.

Do you really want to get me started? Why do they need the breaks? The Founding Fathers never meant for Congressional and Senate seats to be full-time occupations, but that is what they have made for themselves. Imagine the savings if they had to actually get work done in a timely fashion and were not getting paid to sit around and let their staffs do all the work for them.
The witch who started this whole thing(I've met her so I feel justified in saying so, she used to be my parents rep before they moved) has not a lick of sense but it looks great to say that few recruits sign up because of the Army car or National Guard car. Apparently she doesn't quite get how marketing works but unfortunately you cannot fix stupid.
Once again instead of looking at the places that truly need to have the budgets cut(I know how much money I could save just by gutting the dept of education - former teacher who knows it's a worthless group) they go for the ones that will make headlines and make them look good in election ad's not realizing how much good they really do.

and I now jump off my soap box

one thing that would save this country millions and millions of dollars is the easter, summer and xmas vacation that the congress takes every year, were not talking a couple days, were talking months, plus the free healthcare they get after they leave office, both parties are guilty of it and have been abusing this for decades.

when I was a teenager (a time long long ago) I remember hearing how Congress voted themselves a 300% raise. I thought....... Man that would be awesome to vote myself a raise, all while talking about how to cut down spending.

So I guess this means they wont do fly overs anymore for sporting events. I am sure that costs money. Sponosrships keeps a name out there. Not hey we had a race on Sunday how many recruits did we get in that area? So is the military gonna stop having commercials all year long now too?

I remember the 1st time the congress chick tried this. The military were the ones to defend the spending.
Fire a couple less rockets & you make up a lot of the price for sponsorships.

I think they have reduced the number of flyovers and such at sporting events, I know I read somewhere that the Jags used to have flyovers at every game but it was reduced in the last couple of years.
Thing is many flyovers are used as training for the precision it takes to make sure they hit right at the end of the national anthem.

[/quote] I think they have reduced the number of flyovers and such at sporting events, I know I read somewhere that the Jags used to have flyovers at every game but it was reduced in the last couple of years.
Thing is many flyovers are used as training for the precision it takes to make sure they hit right at the end of the national anthem.[/quote]


Having lived in the Air Force all my life, all flyovers are training missions. Something necessary to train our troops. As for this Congresswoman, she should talk to young soldiers serving in the military in Afghanistan and Iraq and then she would find out how much Nascar does for them. Their return on the government investment is ten fold. After talking to my nephew who flew drones out of Faluja, Iraq, NASCAR gave them a chance to escape every weekend when they could watch a race or when the drivers would come to visit them. Then she needs to go to Walter Reed hospital and talk to our wounded soldiers about what NASCAR has done for them.

Betty McCollum should start with the GSA! First eliminate the whole agency and then have these people (and I use that term loosely)spend a week in a fox hole in Afghanistan, instead of the Las
Vegas junkets they were on.

I think they have reduced the number of flyovers and such at sporting events, I know I read somewhere that the Jags used to have flyovers at every game but it was reduced in the last couple of years.
Thing is many flyovers are used as training for the precision it takes to make sure they hit right at the end of the national anthem.[/quote]


Having lived in the Air Force all my life, all flyovers are training missions. Something necessary to train our troops. As for this Congresswoman, she should talk to young soldiers serving in the military in Afghanistan and Iraq and then she would find out how much Nascar does for them. Their return on the government investment is ten fold. After talking to my nephew who flew drones out of Faluja, Iraq, NASCAR gave them a chance to escape every weekend when they could watch a race or when the drivers would come to visit them. Then she needs to go to Walter Reed hospital and talk to our wounded soldiers about what NASCAR has done for them.

Betty McCollum should start with the GSA! First eliminate the whole agency and then have these people (and I use that term loosely)spend a week in a fox hole in Afghanistan, instead of the Las
Vegas junkets they were on.[/quote]
I whole heartily agree!!!

So I wonder if Biffle having the American Red Cross on his hood, would that be on the chopping block too? All of their funding is NOT from donations by concerned citizens/corporations/organizations, there's a good amount of federal dollars sent their way...

got this from Jayski

Dale Jr. talks about a bill that could ban military spending in sports: #88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. met with members of the media at Charlotte Motor Speedway and discussed many things including Military sponsorships in the sport, the transcript in part:
Q) THERE'S A BILL THAT JUST PASSED THE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE IN THE HOUSE THAT INCLUDES AN AMENDMENT TO BAN MILITARY SPENDING FOR SPORTS SPONSORSHIPS. AS SOMEBODY THAT REPRESENTS A MILITARY BRAND, WHAT WOULD YOU TELL THOSE IN CONGRESS THEY SHOULD BE LOOKING AT OR THINKING ABOUT AS OPPOSED TO BOTTOM-LINE ISSUES?
Earnhardt Jr.: "I think the Republican from Georgia that is heading the bill hasn't even been to a NASCAR race. At least it states that in the article today. I would encourage them to do more homework, get more facts, understand the situation a little more. I know just talking to the (National) Guard, and we went through this before, and talking to them, they can't express to me enough about how much this program helps their recruiting. They are committed to the belief it has a profound effect on their recruiting and their ability to recruit. It's important for them to be visible and to push their brand, and work on their brand giving people an opportunity to learn more about how to get involved in the military. I think their NASCAR sponsorship is a great way to reach a lot of people. We are one of the biggest sports. We've got more people attending races and attending our sport than a lot of other avenues they could be going. I think it's good and healthy for them to be here. I think it works for them or they wouldn't be a part of it."
Q) WOULD YOU INVITE THAT REPUBLICAN FROM GEORGIA TO A RACE?
Earnhardt Jr.: "Yeah, just because he's a Republican from Georgia he should have seen a NASCAR race by now (laughter)."
Q) WHAT WOULD YOU WANT HIM TO SEE?
Earnhardt Jr.: "He could come along and visit with the Guard and talk with the Guard. Talk to the people that are at the particular races and see what the experience is like for them. See how the guard utilizes their program and they're marketing within the sport. If he hasn't been to a race, he's not seen it firsthand. Then he can make his decision."(Team Chevy)(5-19-2012)