Congress has stripped funding for the Army National Guard’s sponsorship of motor sports following revelations that advertising on race cars did little to generate recruits. Lawmakers cut the Guard’s advertising budget by $13.8 million, the same amount the service had requested to sponsor race cars, said Maj. Earl Brown, a Guard spokesman. In August, the Guard announced that it was ending its sponsorships of Dale Earnhardt Jr. of NASCAR and Graham Rahal in the Indy Racing League. In 2014, the Guard spent $105 million on advertising aimed at attracting recruits and enhancing its image. That included sponsorships for NASCAR that cost $32 million and $12 million on IndyCar. The Guard has said it sponsorship of NASCAR was aimed at building ‘brand awareness’ for the service.(USA Today)(12-15-2014)
