Matt Ferguson was watching a Sprint Cup race in March when he turned to his wife with what at first seemed like another one of his crazy ideas. He wanted to sponsor a car. Well, not just him. He wanted to devise a plan where all fans would have an opportunity to sponsor a car. So he began researching, hired an agent and developed a program. It’s called FanCar, and you can learn more about it at FanCar.com. It’s really simple. For $20, fans who sign up will get their name on the car of an established team owner with a driver already in place. The plan is to debut the FanCar in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The owner and driver will be announced on Monday, so fans will know whom they’re backing. “This is not some start-up team,” said Ferguson, a 32-year-old businessman from College Station, Texas. “This isn’t their first race, and they’re not a start-and-park team. We’re not going to have somebody who doesn’t know what they’re doing or isn’t respected by other drivers.” He is a familiar name and is guaranteed to be in the field. But if this works, Ferguson plans to have another FanCar in the 2010 Daytona 500 and as many races as he can next season. If it works really well, he’ll try to sponsor two cars.(full story at ESPN.com)
DRIVER? TEAM? hearing the the driver will be Terry Labonte for Carter/Simo Racing in the #08 Toyota at Homestead in the season finale. BUT Terry Labonte will not be guaranteed to make the race. His brother, Bobby Labonte, is scheduled to run the #71 TRG Chevy at Homestead. The #71 as is the #08 teams, are both not in the top-35 in owners points, so each Labonte has to race their way in or fall back on the past champions provisional. If both need it, Bobby would get to use it first as he won the Sprint Cup Championship in 2000 and Terry last won it in 1996.(10-30-2009)
UPDATE 2: FanCar announced it will sponsor two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Terry Labonte and Carter/Simo Racing at the Ford 400 on Nov. 22 in Miami. More information at www.fancar.com and invest $20 to be a sponsor of Terry Labonte’s #08 Toyota Camry at Homestead-Miami Speedway. “We started FanCar to support drivers like Terry Labonte, a former Cup champion and an old-school, no-nonsense competitor,” said Matt Ferguson, founder of FanCar. “Now it’s up to the fans to get behind Terry and Carter/Simo Racing at Miami and join the FanCar team.”
After becoming a sponsor, fans will be able to vote on the paint scheme as well as the overall message that Labonte’s #08 Camry will carry during the Miami race. Participating fans will receive a certificate of sponsorship as well as a digital photo of the car. If the sponsorship is chosen as a gift, FanCar will send along an electronic gift card to the person selected. All funds raised by FanCar will go directly to the funding of the #08 Camry driven by Terry Labonte in Miami-no development costs or transaction fees subtracted.
“It’s a great honor and a privilege to be the first driver of the FanCar,” said Terry Labonte, driver of the #08 Carter/Simo Toyota Camry. “NASCAR fans have given me so much in my career, but FanCar takes that fan support to a whole new level.”(Verve Sponsorship Group)(11-2-2009)
