Sponsorship in NASCAR How much does it cost?

The Basics There are three NASCAR series, and each of them has many, many sponsorship opportunities. As you'll discover when you read the list below, the name of each series is also subject to The series are named after a sponsor, too.

Series Sponsor Sprint Cup: These are NASCAR's big guns. Sprint Cup races are run on Sunday afternoons, 36 times a year by 40 or more teams and feature the names you're probably familiar with: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon. This series was formerly known as the Winston Cup Series. Nationwide Series: This series races on Saturday and is a step below Sprint Cup in popularity; however, it runs at the same tracks and usually on the same weekends as the Sprint Cup. As a matter of fact, a lot of Sprint Cup drivers got their big break in the Nationwide Series. Until recently, this was called the Busch Grand National Series. Camping World Truck Series: The often-forgotten, but still exciting, NASCAR truck races also run at the big tracks. This series also draws some big names, including Kyle Busch, among others.

Cost to Sponsor a Car Being a primary sponsor of a team costs $350,000 to $500,000 per race, Can usually cut a deal to sponsor a team for a full season. Sponsor gets to choose the paint scheme and put the logo all over it Use the driver's likeness in advertising for the product or service they want to promote. It is possible to be the primary sponsor for just one race, and for your half a million-dollar investment, the car will change its appearance for just that one venue.

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Cost for the Season $10-15 million to brand a car hood $2-3 million to have a "bumper sticker" type brand on sides

History of Sponsorship in NASCAR NASCAR has a long-standing relationship with sponsors. In the earliest races of the 1950s and 60s, what few sponsors there were didn't even put logos on the cars, and they were mostly auto-related businesses. But in 1972, R.J. Reynolds bought the rights to name the series, which became the Winston Cup Series. Soon after that, Richard Petty's light-blue #43 car was famously sponsored by STP, an oil additive. Over three decades, sponsorship has evolved past the alcohol, tobacco, and auto companies of the early years to include the likes of M&Ms and GoDaddy.com

Where does the money go? One of the biggest expenses any NASCAR team has these days is fuel. Every team has to get at least one car and one full pit crew to the race -- plus the driver, the owners, the management, and all the team's racing gear and tools. Just as an example, if diesel fuel is priced at $4 a gallon, the cost to fill a 300-gallon (1,135-liter) tank is $1,200

Race Day Sunoco, another NASCAR sponsor, supplies free gasoline for the race cars on race day; however, those cars get run a lot more often than just one day a week.

Drivers Income Like everything else in NASCAR, the driver's income is negotiable. His salary is generally paid for by the sponsor, which gets a certain number of scheduled appearances out of the driver in return. The driver will also split race-day winnings with the team, and there are usually incentives for winning big races – The Daytona 500, for example.

Drivers Income Cont. The driver can also bring in fees for additional appearances or even license his likeness to advertisers. The best drivers -- with the best agents -- can bring in millions each year, like 2008's top earner, Jeff Gordon. In 2008, Gordon garnered $17 million in endorsements and royalties, and $15 million in salary and race winnings, for a total of $32 million.­

Other Places The area called the C-pillar, which is next to the rear window on both sides of the car, is the next most expensive spot. A logo in that area costs about $500,000 a season. The B-pillar, which is probably easiest to describe as the area right next to the driver's shoulder, is the smallest associate sponsorship possible. Those little stickers cost $200,000 for a full season's placement.

Other Team Earnings Drivers are paid to swig non-alcoholic drinks (on camera) in the pits after a race, and crew chiefs are paid to mention sponsors' names in interviews.

Return on Investment The fanbase of over 50 million viewers a lot of potential advertising impressions to make When calculating the return on their investment, some companies will count the number of seconds their logo is clearly visible on the screen, and then multiply that time by the going ad rate to get an idea of how far their NASCAR dollars are getting them.

Other Ways But companies also take into account print, billboard, Internet, and other ways their NASCAR team gets in front of consumers. They track consumers' awareness and image of a brand, thanks to their sponsorship of a race team. They'll also do promotions linked to sponsorship to determine if it's getting the brand exposure they want. If more people try a product during a promotion, that's a good return on investment.

Employees Employee morale is another benefit if your company sponsored a winning car. Maybe, if you sold the most widgets or were voted employee of the year, you could get a couple of tickets to a race. Sponsorship is the kind of intangible perk that can attract and retain employees.

Track Sponsorship Sponsoring a race at the track level means the event is named after your company The Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway $500,000 to $2 million, depending on the venue

Perks Venue signage Sponsor logos on the tickets and race programs Skybox, VIP tickets, hospitality tent Pace car rides ­ Pit tours and passes Access to drivers' meetings and the Winner's Circle Being the Grand Marshal, waving the green flag, or giving the trophy to the winner Saying "Gentlemen, start your engines!" Unlimited corn dogs could be worked out -- for a price

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REMEMBER Remember facts are better than opinion; you will need to take a look at the target market for the company and see how that fits with NASCAR. Look at the products they sell and how that fits with NASCAR, and the location of the company and how that relates to NASCAR. Look at the competition for that company and see what they sponsor. Not all companies are a good fit for a sponsorship.