Sunday marked the 52nd running of the Daytona 500. The first race of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is also the Super Bowl of the racing season, with nearly 30 million viewers tuning in to at least some portion of this year’s race, and in-person attendance upwards of 200,000. NASCAR fans are the most passionate fans around, and this passion extends [...]

Last Friday, Scott and I were in Atlanta for the 10th annual ride along event with the Coca-Cola Racing Family. Every year, members of the Coca-Cola Racing Family, a group of NASCAR’s top drivers, head to Atlanta Motor Speedway to give a few fans the ride of a lifetime: 160 MPH, in a REAL stock [...]

There is much speculation in garages – and much salivating in sports marketing and sponsorship departments around the country — now that IndyCar driver Danica Patrick’s contract is coming to an end later this year. Will Patrick make the leap from IndyCars to stock cars? All tongue wagging aside, the thought brings up a number of [...]

When I was 17, I was playing Riff, leader of the Jets, in the Fergus Falls High School production of “West Side Story.” I was also running cross-country, playing in the orchestra and painting houses in the summer for a little extra cash. I thought I was a high-achieving young man. But I had yet to win [...]

Memorial Day is often deemed the official kick-off of summer, and family get-togethers and food are two Memorial Day traditions. For race fans, the Coca-Cola 600 is yet another tradition and it’s a very special year, as this Sunday marks the 50th running of the Coca-Cola 600. Coca-Cola is kicking off summer and celebrating the [...]

As a marketer, how would you feel about attaching your brand to an athlete who is almost universally hated?  That’s exactly what M&Ms did when the talented, but mercurial, Kyle Busch joined Joe Gibbs Racing this season after being let go by Hendrick Motorsports, the most successful team in NASCAR.  I’m sure there were a [...]

In the 90-second clip above, Coca-Cola Racing Family drivers Jeff Burton (pictured), Jamie McMurray and Elliott Sadler promote “Taste of Victory,” a program we helped Coke develop and execute for last weekend’s inaugural Coke Zero 400 NASCAR race. It was a truly integrated campaign, which offered to give everyone in America over the age of [...]