A look at NASCAR's most exclusive club
Simply put — money in the bank.
Generally, these luminaries are instantly recognizable by just one name, starting with the King. Not only did Richard Petty fit the NASCAR template, he set the mold with seven Cup championships. Off the track he stood 10-feet tall — or at least gave that impression.
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Then there was Earnhardt.
Dale Earnhardt was a megastar at a time when R.J. Reynolds was at the top of the game activating the Winston Brand — and Earnhardt just rode the wave. On and off the track he epitomized what the John Wayne of stock car racers should be.
One of the people instrumental in building the Earnhardt brand was former Dale Earnhardt Inc. president Don Hawk, who currently works for Speedway Motorsports as VP of Special Projects. Hawk is a firm believer that the rock star recipe must begin with P's — performance and personality.
"The popularity can't come without the performance," Hawk said. "A rock star has to have the ability to move beyond the track and transcend to the off-track world. Everything else makes the driver vanilla."
Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards top NASCAR's elite list. Their fans know the drivers simply by Junior, Jeff, Smoke, J.J. and The Carl. While some are reminiscent of racing heroes from earlier eras, each has a distinctive driving style and personality that draws the masses.
Certainly, the sport's rising star without a doubt is Kyle Busch. Combine a winning driver with chutzpah and a sponsor like M&Ms and watch his status rise. Busch's numbers on the track and at the souvenir rigs have risen meteorically since joining Joe Gibbs Racing.
Kyle Petty had one of the best examples of superstardom under his own roof. Even Petty refers to his own father as "The King." Although the younger Petty never reached dear ol' dad's chart-topping stats, he remains one of the sports more popular drivers.
Kyle grew up in Cup competition at a time with a handful of potential superstars, who for one reason or another, had their careers cut short. Even before NASCAR gained the exposure it has earned today, Tim Richmond and Davey Allison were budding idols that died young. But a few standouts emerged — Rusty Wallace, Darrell Waltrip, Bill Elliott and Terry Labonte — to race Petty through his golden years.
Still, the son of The King still embodies a very marketable mystique. He believes more could be done to increase NASCAR stars' pop, if they're open to the possibilities.
"I think you've gotta have somebody with personality," Petty said. "It's fully because you've gotta have somebody with some personality, but has the talent and has that charisma. It's a package of a multitude of things. Richmond had it. If you go back to Tim Richmond, he had it, 20 years before his time. If he was here now, he would be a superstar.
"Then you've gotta have somebody that wants to be that person. You've got drivers that could be, but that's not part of what they want. They kind of shun that part of it. Even Jeff. Jeff Gordon does a great job of putting himself in situations where it enhances his image, but he could do so much more and go so much over the top. Junior could do so much more and go so much over the top. I think you've got 'em out there, but they just don't look at it that way. I don't know if you'll ever find one. There'll be somebody that comes along that wants to be that, but right now there's nobody that wants to be."
That doesn't stop NASCAR, the sponsors or marketing teams from attempting to manufacture stars.
Zak Brown, CEO of Just Marketing International, believes the desire must be there. On a recent episode of "Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain," Brown mentioned he was searching for a "rock star" driver to replace Dale Jarrett as the driver representative for UPS.
"By my definition, a "Rock Star" driver represents the total package from a sponsor perspective," Brown said. "Has the necessary talent to win races and compete for championships. Is devoid of personal controversy, and with a personality that makes him or her a fan favorite. Media and sponsor savvy, is willing and knows how to service sponsors. Finally, has shelf-life to the extent that potential for long-term sponsor relationships is there.
"DJ fit all the criteria but he wasn't winning races at the end of his career. When you have a relationship with a hall-of-famer, you don't walk out the door the first year you stop winning if you can't shift to your likeability, you won't last long."
UPS followed Jarrett from Robert Yates Racing to Michael Waltrip Racing two years after his last win and eight years after his only championship. That didn't matter to UPS. The company continued to capitalize on Jarrett's popularity, even when he was failing to win races.
"Once you've won a championship, that never goes away," Brown said. "People love winners. You can mold drivers. People hated DW at first, but it's easier to mold a driver than to make a slow driver fast."
Many drivers have entered NASCAR without the necessary training to sell themselves, their teams or their sponsors. Understandably, the driver's first concern is competition, but as horizons expand, it's not unusual for manufacturers or agents to resort to charm schooling and training in politically correct speech.
How a driver evolves from there is generally up to his own adaptability, but the help of a top-notch public relations representative can make all the difference.
"Some are very good and some just want to be the driver's buddy," Brown said. "They forget that the client is the sponsor. In the end, it's the responsibility of the driver. They have to decide how important it is for their image. If you're winning races that can mask things for a while but the minute you stop winning it can change. You can't shift to your likeability."
Meshing a driver with the right sponsor can be a challenge in itself. Brown notes that "different sponsors have different personalities." Sponsors must have a sense of what a driver will look like selling that product. On the surface, Home Depot and Lowe's might appear as just two home improvement stores, but the target demographics are different. Home Depot is more masculine, geared to commercial handymen, while Lowe's attracts women and the weekend repair warriors.
"Tony wouldn't make as good a Lowe's driver as Jimmie, and Jimmie wouldn't make as good a Home Depot driver as Tony Stewart," Brown adds. "It's what the sponsors do for them and how the sponsors drive the marketing."
Mindy Kramer, director of public relations for Office Depot, feels fortunate that her company was able to get in on the ground floor with Carl Edwards when he graduated to the Sprint Cup Series. In the same vein as primary sponsors such as DuPont with Gordon, Home Depot with Stewart and Lowe's with Johnson, Kramer has enjoyed the ride with Edwards as his stature has risen.
"Four years ago, Office Depot took a chance on a relatively unknown driver when we signed with Roush Racing in 2005," Kramer said. "We were looking for a personality that would connect with our core small business customer. Today, that driver, Carl Edwards has become one of the most marketable and exciting personalities in the sport and we are proud that Carl is part of the Office Depot team.
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"But, Office Depot's sponsorship is multi-faceted and we work very hard to create and execute a program that is not dependent solely on a driver or on-track performance."
Still, Kramer has flipped over Office Depot's results. NASCAR named Office Depot its "Marketer of the Year" in 2005. The company continues to activate campaigns that showcase Edwards and its relationship with NASCAR throughout its 1,200 retail stores as well as online.
With Office Depot's investment in its driver, it's not surprising that with its contract and Edwards' expiring at year's end, talks are progressing with Roush Fenway Racing. According to sources, the renewal must be agreed on within the next month or Office Depot can shop its sponsorship.
"We certainly hope to be able to continue the great partnership that Office Depot has built with Carl," Kramer added. "Just to clarify, if Carl were to sign with a race team other than Roush, Office Depot can still be his primary sponsor. We would just sign a contract with the new race team."
Last year, Earnhardt flexed his muscles in the marketplace as he set off to leave the DEI nest. Since February, Stewart has tested the waters as well. Earnhardt wanted ownership of his father's company. Denied in that desire, he formed a solid partnership for JR Motorsports with team owner Rick Hendrick. Stewart's strongest option would offer him Cup ownership as well as a contract to drive. Franchise drivers can not only request perks of this scale, it's becoming commonplace.
Still, several insiders say that Edward's future will determine how the other free-agent driver dominos tumble.
"The market dynamics of Carl are such that he's commanding a premium in the marketplace, and the sponsors are willing to pay that premium," said Geoff Smith, president of Roush Fenway Racing. "I'm sure they'd be less likely to offer that premium for almost anybody else in the garage."
Roush Fenway Racing has been accused in the past of not maximizing driver exposure to the fullest. Mark Martin was beloved among most race fans but RFR never optimized its flagship driver's brand. With a driver of Edwards' caliber, his potential earning power can't be ignored. There are few drivers that can bounce from the cover of Men's Health to a cameo in FOX's 24. And at 28, he's the only driver among NASCAR's top five that still qualifies as a young gun. As Edwards matures, his image will evolve just as Gordon's and Johnson's have.
In the case of NASCAR's ultimate rainmaker, Earnhardt Jr., developing and maintaining his image have been simple tasks for the team at JR Motorsports. What you see with Junior is what you get.
"For Dale it's real easy, because it's just him being authentic," said Kelley Earnhardt Elledge, president of JRM. "He stands out from the other drivers because that's what he's always wanted. He wanted to stand outside of the shadow of our Dad. But he's still in that position where he relates to the fan.
"He's never had to flip a switch, and that's magnetic to the fans and the sponsors."
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