UPDATE: Roush Racing reportedly is trying to win approval from NASCAR to secure a hard-liquor company to sponsor South Boston’s Jeff Burton, whose #99 Ford has been competing without logos all season [actually has had some one-off deals and Round-Up for a few races]. NASCAR has a long-standing policy against allowing alcohol sponsorships involving distilled spirits, but President Mike Helton said changes were being considered. “It’s a complicated process,” Helton said. “We have a policy we’ve adhered to and said time and time before that the answer is, ‘No.’ It’s not as simple as saying, ‘It’s OK,’ this time. Why wasn’t it OK before and what kind of ripple effect do you create to all the people you said, ‘No,’ to before? But in fairness to industry, we’ll address our stances on sponsorships that in the past we haven’t allowed.”(Richmond Times Dispatch)(6-5-2004)
UPDATE 2: Roush Racing president, Geoff Smith, told www.teamfordracing.com that a potential sponsorship package for Jeff BurtonÃÂÃÂs #99 has been sitting in limbo for quite some time. At issue ÃÂÃÂ the offer comes from a hard alcohol company. NASCAR has a long-standing prohibition regarding hard liquor company sponsorship, which NASCAR believes violates the family atmosphere of an event. There have been cracks in that position through the course of time, with Roush RacingÃÂÃÂs Smirnoff Ice product making it to the approved list after successful argument that the product is on par with beer. Hard alcohol products, as a group, had been banned from television for years, but a change in that position earlier this year opened the doors for liquor ads on TV. Seeing an opening the International Race Of Champions Series, with tactile approval from NASCAR, inked a deal with Crown Royal as their series sponsor. NASCAR indicated in early April that it was reviewing its policy on hard liquor, but no decision has been forthcoming since those statements were made at Texas Motor Speedway. General objection to alcohol advertising was reported in a recent Wall Street Journal article, in which officials from Anheuser-Busch noted, ÃÂÃÂa drink is not a drinkÃÂÃÂ, working to maintain their marketplace share. Anheuser-Busch is not only one of the sportÃÂÃÂs biggest advertisers, but also one of the biggest over-all spenders of advertising dollars; and listed 38th in the 2003 Ad Age top-100 advertisers. ÃÂÃÂWe secured a commitment in late February for [liquor] sponsorship and asked NASCAR if it would review its prohibition,ÃÂÃÂ Smith told TFR. Smith went on to say that theyÃÂÃÂve been working with NASCAR to see if a resolution can be worked out, but so far have not received clearance for the sponsorship.(Team Ford Racing)(6-6-2004)
UPDATE 3: Team owner Jack Roush said after the race that he has a sponsor immediately ready to sign a deal to sponsor Burton’s #99 team, which has run unsponsored most of the year. That sponsor is for a hard liquor product, however, but NASCAR has not allowed sponsorship in that product category. Roush said he expects to hear as soon as this week if NASCAR will change that policy.(ThatsRacin.com)(6-7-2004)