Georgia on my mind.

Heading to Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend as the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series teams race under the lights Saturday and Sunday. Couldn't imagine a better way to spend a Labor Day weekend! I've been itching to get back to the track since May, and it's finally here! I'll be at the track all day Saturday, and will be Tweeting & updating as much as I can, with qualfying for both series, practice and the Degree V12 300 on the schedule, I'm counting on a day full of action!

But, if your idea of a great Labor Day weekend isn't quite as fastpaced as mine, if you'd rather hit the links, take a leisurely Sunday morning stroll, or ride your two wheeler instead of watching other people drive on four, Atlanta is still the place to be this weekend. You can do all of these things while helping some really great causes!

On Friday, join Reed Sorenson, Kasey Kahne, Elliott Sadler, Juan Pablo Montoya, Rutledge Wood,Bob Dilner and Larry McRenyolds and others at the Eagle's Landing Country Club in Stockbridge, GA for the Reed Sorenson Charity Golf Tournament.

The Reed Sorenson Charity Golf Tournament presented by AutoTrader.com will kick off the Pep Boys Auto 500 Sprint Cup race weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway and will also begin a weekend of charitable fundraising events benefiting Speedway Children’s Charities.

Registration begins at 10:00 a.m. and will be followed by a shotgun start at noon. Entry for individual players starts at $250.00 and foursomes begin at $800.00. Sponsorship opportunities are also available by contacting Birindelli at shaunb@atlantamotorspeedway.com.

A box lunch will be provided and a rewards reception, silent auction, dinner and entertainment will follow the conclusion of play.

Saturday morning, hop on your motorcycle and ride to the track with your fellow race fans:

Presented by Thunder Roads magazine and starting at Motorheads in McDonough, motorcycle enthusiasts can participate in a motorcycle ride benefitting Speedway Children’s Charities and get admission to the Degree V12 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. On Saturday, Sept. 5 at 11:00am/et. The event costs $40 for one rider or $60 for two riders and includes admission to Nationwide and Sprint Cup practice, Nationwide and Sprint Cup Qualifying and the Degree V12 300. More info at speedwaycharities.org.

and finally, Sunday morning, take a walk around the "Fastest Track in NASCAR" with Speedway Children's Charities, Motor Racing Outreach and NASCAR stars David Ragan, Joey Logano and Robbie Loomis.

This is your chance to experience racing from a whole new angle and help MRO and children's organizations throughout the Atlanta area. Pre-register at www.speedwaycharities.org through August 28th and save $10. At track registration is $35. Children under 16 are free!

Trackside registration begins Saturday, September 5th for $35 per person. All participants must sign a waiver to receive an armband to walk on the track. You do not have to have a ticket to the Pep Boys Auto 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race to participate in the track walk.

2009 Track Walk participants can pick up their wristbands, t-shirts and sign waivers during the following times at the yellow registration tent located next to the Speedway Children's Charities Rig located in souvenir row by Gate 13:
Saturday, Sep. 5 from 9:00 a.m. till 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, Sep. 6 from 9:00 a.m. till 11:00 a.m.

Please note: Participants must pick up wristbands, t-shirts and sign waivers before 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, September 6.

*Children 18 and under must have a legal guardian present to sign waiver form

This event will occur rain or shine. Cancellation will occur only due to extreme circumstances, in which case there will be no refunds. Starting time may be affected by inclement weather or other circumstances.

More info at atlanta.speedwaycharities.org

Great times for a great cause! Get out and participate!

Writer's Night At Victory Junction

What a cool opportunity to support the Victory Junction Gang Camp, and hear some incredibly talented people! An easy drive from Martinsville, VA, so head down after the truck race!

Making the Montreal Nationwide race more interesting..

Ladies, if you need a reason to tune into the NAPA Auto Parts 200 next weekend, here he..it is!

Stock-Car Montréal announced that Quebec driver Alex Tagliani will run in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race scheduled August 29-30 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Parc Jean-Drapeau. The veteran racer from Lachenaie, Quebec is entered in the NAPA Auto Parts 200 Presented by Dodge to drive the #81 Dodge owned by Canadian Randy MacDonald. The Quebec Dodge Dealer Association is sponsoring Tagliani for the Montreal race.

Sponsors, are you getting your dollar's worth?

I came across this release today, as I was considering where to start on my study of sponsorship effectiveness.

FanLab Wades Through the Clutter of NASCAR Sponsorship
Atlanta, GA (July 27, 2009)– The phrase “win on Sunday,
sell on Monday” has been associated with NASCAR for decades, with
high-profile brands spending millions of dollars to associate themselves
with the most successful drivers and teams on the track.

However, a new study by sponsorship measurement firm FanLab reveals that on-track success does not necessarily result in top-of-mind awareness among NASCAR fans.
“During the 2006-2008 seasons, the Lowe’s sponsored team won three straight championships and 22 out of the 108 races, yet our study shows that Home Depot has higher top-of-mind consumer awareness despite winning less than half the amount of races,” explains Brian Evans, co-founder of FanLab.Furthermore, FanLab’s study shows that several companies spending millions of dollars in NASCAR, including Dewalt, Toyota, Ford, 3M and Red Bull, struggle to connect with fans on basic,
top-of-mind awareness measures.
Among sponsoring manufacturers, only Chevrolet placed in
the top 25 mentions— four percent of fans mentioned Chevy
when prompted for NASCAR sponsors, compared to 11 percent for title sponsor Sprint and 23 percent for team sponsor Home Depot.“Our findings show that fans don’t view the auto manufacturers as ‘sponsors,’” continued Evans. “While fans know that they are involved in and contribute to the sport, they don’t think of manufacturers the same way as they think of team sponsors like Budweiser or M&M’s.” The sponsorship study was conducted in June 2009 and included a
national random sample of 1044 consumers.

Participants were recruited through an online panel, and were asked first about top-of-mind sponsors of NASCAR and then about their interest level in NASCAR and other professional sports. Time in the sport, personality of the driver, activation by the sponsor and other factors all play a role in a brand’s connection to NASCAR. For example, sponsors like Tide and Viagra that have been out of NASCAR for several
years were frequently referenced by fans.“Many sponsors rely on
media exposure and awareness metrics like these to evaluate the success of their sponsorship. But these metrics tell us little about whether the
sponsorship is changing the way fans think, feel and act toward the brand,” says Evans. “If you want to know what brand is king in NASCAR, do an awareness study. If you want to know whether your sponsorship is paying dividends, you must dig deeper. We have looked at sponsors with low awareness levels, but found significant returns on their investment.”

Find more at theFanlab.com

I think the idea that Tide and Viagra are still so entwined into the minds of even casual NASCAR fans says a lot about the quality of their efforts when it came to sponsorship activation. Will Extenze, Kevin Conway's sponsor that he promotes in numerous completely inappropriate commercials shown numerous times during most Nationwide Series broadcasts that most fans have tried hard to erase from their memories, be thought of as anything but the company that had the unfortunate commercials played over and over in years to come? Not likely.

Also noteable, I think, in the study is the success the Home Depot has found in propping themselves ahead of Lowes when their ontrack success hasn't merited the same results. Aside from economy, this alone should answer the question of why Lowes has chosen to opt out of their long-standing sponsorship of the Concord, NC track.

What do you think? Are you a brand-loyal NASCAR fan? What companies do you most closely relate to the sport? What companies should step up their efforts?

Think you've got what it takes to design a NASCAR race program?

Here's your chance!

Las Vegas Motor Speedway wants to give you the chance to show off what you've got! If only I had any creative ability at all, I'd be all over this! Get on it, my talented friends!

Las Vegas Motor Speedway is inviting all artists, designers, photographers and race fans to enter a contest to design the cover of the Las Vegas 350 NASCAR Camping World Truck Race souvenir program. The contest will run from Aug. 1-Sept. 1 and the winning entry will become the cover of the souvenir program for the Saturday, Sept. 26 event.
The winning contestant also will be a VIP guest of LVMS and will receive four suite and Neon Garage passes for the Las Vegas 350 and will be photographed with the race winner in victory lane.
Contestants must submit a high-resolution 8 ½" x 11" vertical (a.k.a. "portrait") color or black-and-white design by Sept. 1. Artwork must depict themes pertaining to Las Vegas and racing. Open to any medium, including, photography, drawings and paintings. If you incorporate photographic images in your design, you must certify they are yours or you have the photographer's rights to use them.
All entries will become property of Las Vegas Motor Speedway and cannot be returned. The winning entry will be used in the promotion of the event.

Please submit all electronic entries to: Aubrey Hall, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, 7000 Las Vegas Blvd., Las Vegas, NV 89115. Entries also may be e-mailed to ahall@lvms.com. Please include your name, address, telephone number and e-mail address.
Tickets for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Las Vegas 350 are on sale and may be purchased by calling (800) 644-4444 or online at www.lvms.com.

Think Pink for Marcy Scott!

I was so saddened to read this morning that Marcy Scott has been diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. Before moving on to become the current Marketing and PR Director at Atlanta Motor Speedway, she worked for Scott Wimmer at Bill Davis Racing, and she always has been so friendly, and such a joy to talk with!

A benefit will be held in her honor on August 8th and the organizers are seeking donations for the event.In addition to her daily responsibilities, Ms. Scott meticulously organizes media operations for two NASCAR races each season.

“Think Pink” is an event planned for Saturday, August 8th at Opera in Midtown Atlanta from 7:00pm-10:00pm. They will have a raffle, a “mini” fashion show for the best pink outfits, pink cocktails and pink hors d’oeuvres.The biggest portion of the fundraising efforts will be the silent auction.

They are currently seeking donations in that regard. For example, signed memorabilia would be a great auction item. The deadline for submitting auction items is Monday, August 3rd, 2009.This would be a great opportunity to give your organization exposure and help to raise money for a very worthy cause. They would like to make it clear that they are first raising money to help Ms. Scott offset her out-of-pocket medical expenses and any amount over and above that she is donating to a cancer-oriented non-profit organization.Please contact them with any questions or concerns you might have or if you would like invitations sent to your organizations.

Contact event organizers Corey Anderson or Michelle Dauble through their event email: thinkpinkformarcy@gmail.com.

Follow the event here:

http://thinkpinkformarcy.blogspot.com/ and

You can follow Marcy's story here:

http://marcyscott.blogspot.com/

This is such a great opportunity for such a great lady! Please get involved, if you can!

X marks the spot!

X Games 15 officially kick off today! You follow alll the action in (pretty close to)real time here..http://www.espn.go.com/action/xgames/xg15/index

Competition schedule is here: http://espn.go.com/action/news/story?id=4212508

TV schedule here: http://espn.go.com/action/news/story?id=4261259

And, if you're lucky enough to be in the LA area, there are still tickets available for nearly all the events!

http://www.ticketmaster.com/promo/njfg3b

The X games always fascinate me, because to be quite honest, they give a glimse into sports I usually don't follow (those of the non-motorized variety, at least).The dedication and passion these athletes show really can't be matched by any stick-and-ball sport around....and the competition is always intense! Love it!