While the Army has the broadest, deepest and most expensive program, each of the services will spend at least $1.5 million and all will dispatch show cars to make stops at schools from Bangor to Bakersfield. The rundown: The Air Force will put about $2.25 million into an associate sponsorship with a Winston Cup team. That will buy placement on the rear corners of a car driven by popular veteran #21-Ricky Rudd throughout the 38-week season, along with a primary position for three races. The Marine Corps will spend about $2.25 million as primary sponsor of a team in the Busch Series [#25 Bobby Hamilton], where it has found fertile recruiting ground since 1999. The Navy will spend about $1.5 million as a primary sponsor of a Roush Racing team in NASCAR’s Craftsman Truck series [#50 Jon Wood]. Its sponsorship differs slightly from the others in that it is funded mostly from a retention budget, rather than a recruiting budget. The Army National Guard will sponsor a Winston Cup entry, putting its colors on a [#54] car driven by Todd Bodine. The Guard would not discuss its spending, but industry insiders estimated it was one of the lower team deals in Winston Cup, likely worth $5 million to $6 million for the season. Together, the armed forces will spend about $28 million in the sport this year. All have similar goals: raising awareness, generating recruiting leads and retaining those already in uniform. The resources allocated to achieve those goals are substantial. The service branches will spend about $600 million on advertising this year, with much of it paying for time during network sporting events and other programming that draws young male viewers. The four active branches together must sign up about 200,000 recruits this year, more hires than any U.S. industry. Together, the active and reserve branches of the armed forces will spend $1.4 billion on recruiting, advertising and examining this year, according to Defense Department budgets.(see full story at the Business Journal ). Also, not mentioned, the Civil Air Patrol sponsors the #46 BGN car of Ashton Lewis, no idea what they spend.(2-18-2003)
