54 Career starts; a new record for starts by a female, a career best 15th place finish, over $450,000 in winnings, and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Driver Kelly Sutton finds herself in a search for full time primary sponsorship for the 2008 . Oh, and by the way Kelly also has Multiple Scierosis. Drive, determination, skill, and pure guts should make this driver one of the most sought after females in the NASCAR circuit, but the harsh reality is without a full time sponsor the cost to compete at this level is overbearing.
I spoke with Kelly and asked what happened to her sponsor of 7 years, Copaxone®; the medicine that Kelly injects once a day to help beat her MS. “Copaxone® has been with me since 2000, and have been very supportive. They unfortunately had cut backs, so they can’t afford to continue with a full time primary sponsorship. They are still very supportive of me, and are willing to be a co-sponsor.” Copaxone® will still be primary sponsor in 2008 for 4 races, but with the cost of a primary sponsorship at above 2 million dollars, Kelly’s marketing team is hard at work looking to secure the funding needed to run full time in 2008.
“It is not beneficial to my career to only run 4 races” Kelly tells me, “I know I can be competitive and win races, but I need to have more seat time to get it done.” Kelly raced for Billy Ballew Motorsports out of Mooresville, NC in the No. 51 Team Copaxone® Chevrolet Silverado in 4 races in 2007, with a guarantee of 4 more in 2008. If Kelly can get the funding, then she can continue to race the No. 51 Chevy. “The better the team, the higher the cost to race” Kelly explained to me. Kelly has a vast amount of experience when it comes to funding a race team as she had a team of her own. “It’s hard to run the business side, and have to worry about all the expenses like hotels and meals and employees and then go out and try to focus as a driver. I find myself more relaxed behind the wheel now, because I don’t have to worry about all that. I can focus on my driving.”
The biggest selling point Kelly has to any potential sponsor is the fact that she is female. Forty percent of NASCAR fans are female (source: Racing One 2006). Forty Two percent of NASCAR fans earn $50,000 a year, and NASCAR fans are the most brand loyal consumers of any fan base in professional sports. “There are not that many choices in clothes for the female fans of NASCAR. Not that many women want to wear a male brand blazing on their chest. But Victoria Secret, Pro-Active, Procter & Gamble, those are brands that a woman can relate to. Those are the brands that I can bring more attention to, for the female fans.” which could bring a whole new market share from a huge demographic to any female brand that would sign up with Kelly. In my opinion, a successful female driver, with a successful female brand could be a huge win-win for both driver and product.
This is where my interview with Kelly ended. I thanked her for her time and ended the conversation. But this is not the end of the story. I had done some independent research to see if there was any way that the Drive for Diversity program, which is run by Access Marketing & Communication, could help Kelly. This program is a successful program which helps to further diversify NASCAR’s participant and audience base. In my interview, Kelly had mentioned that when she had her own team, she hired crew members from this program and was a huge supporter of it. Unfortunately, the program only supports drivers in the NASCAR Grand National Division and NASCAR Whelen All-American Series. But my question is what happens when these drivers do make it to the next level, and run in the higher levels of NASCAR and can not find a sponsor to run full time. Why would NASCAR spend so much time and money to continue to diversify if when these drivers made it, they could not afford to race? Would it not be beneficial to the sport, and to the sponsors of the sport who spend millions to advertise to the fans of NASCAR, to continue to help those that have made it…like Kelly Sutton? If forty percent of the fans of NASCAR are female, maybe another ten percent would surface if they had a female driver to cheer for. The potential in advertising could be enormous, not only for the brand, but for NASCAR as well.
Let’s go back and touch on the fact that Kelly Sutton is also an ambassador for MS. Not only is she battling her diagnosis, she is also showing everyone else who may have MS that all is not lost. That if one just keeps going and does not give up hope, that they too can regain the life they want to have. Kelly told me that she wants to be a role model to others with MS. And she is too. Kelly spends a lot time sharing her personal story and experiences in most cities she visits. Kelly uses the media exposure gained by her presence as a driver in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series to show anyone that it is possible to manage the challenges of everyday life after a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. This is yet another key selling point in Kelly, and another reason for NASCAR to help find a way to get this driver back on the track, full time.
So what can one person do to help Kelly Sutton? Lots!! If you are a fan of Kelly, or even just a fan of an awesome female driver who has battled adversity by not letting MS take away her dream of racing, you can write to NASCAR and tell them how much you want to see her run full time next year. There are two addresses’ you can write to:
NASCAR
1801 W. International Speedway Blvd.
Daytona Beach, Fl. 32120-2875
Or
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
Public Relations
1209 Hurricane Creek Court
Bakersfield, CA. 93311
There are no guarantees that by doing this we can change anything. But maybe, just maybe if enough people stand up and say something NASCAR will have to listen to the fans and take some kind of action. Remember folks, NASCAR is a business. And like any business, if you don’t take care of your customers, those customers (the fans in this case) will go some where else. Kelly Sutton is the perfect role model for females, for people faced with adversity, and NASCAR in general.
