Rick Ware explains 'bullish' sponsorship market in NASCAR

When it comes to recognizable consumer brands in NASCAR, Rick Ware recently added one of the most notable in Arby’s. This partnership began last year with the NHRA and has now expanded to 12 Cup Series races with Cody Ware and the 51 team.

In the last few seasons, Rick Ware Racing has punched above its weight in sponsorship. You have to credit Ware and his marketing team. So, is this a sign of a broader trend in NASCAR?

After all, McDonald’s and Wendy’s both have major partnerships in the Cup Series. You see brands like Sunny D, BodyArmor, Cheddar’s, Dollar Tree/Family Dollar, Aaron’s Rent to Own, and other relatively household names on the track each week.

Rick Ware believes the sponsorship market is pretty hot right now. He talked about it in Atlanta this past weekend.

“I’d say the marketing side of it is very bullish right now,” Ware said to media at Atlanta. “We’re obviously one of the smaller teams and we’re having dramatically more conversations than we typically have had in the past. That doesn’t mean that we close them all, but the interest is there. I think that’s what’s important across the board.

“I think there’s so much competition out there in media and marketing opportunities that the dollar figures aren’t quite what they used to be. I think we’ve all seen that. So, I think you see even some of the cornerstone cars that it’s tough to see primary sponsors all year anymore, so you see people doing blocks of sponsorships.”

So how does a small, one-charter team pull in sponsors like Arby’s? Well, it isn’t all about NASCAR.

How Rick Ware lands big sponsors for his race teams

For those who don’t know, the Rick Ware Racing brand is more than the Cup Series. While NASCAR is the foundation of RWR, there is so much more to it. Ware has had his hands in IndyCar, NHRA, flat track motorcycle racing, and Supercross for years.

That multifaceted approach gives Ware an edge over other teams. Even if those teams are bigger in NASCAR, he has other options for his sponsors.

“I’ve been able to survive based on the platform, our motorsports platform,” Ware continued. “It allows me to do a value add and Arby’s was a perfect example. We put together a test market with our global Supercross program, our flat track program, our top fuel program, and the NASCAR program to weigh out the benefits. My opinion is that every sport has benefits that some other sports don’t.

“Obviously, the Cup Series is the 800-pound-gorilla. That’s the cornerstone of motorsports, especially in this country, and I think we’re gonna expand that globally here in the years to come, but as a sponsor they have different needs at different times and some forms of motorsports are more user-friendly than others for different kinds of things, so that’s what has allowed us to keep growing.”

Motorsports as a whole is on an upswing. People are tuning into dirt bikes, stock cars, sprint cars, and everything in between. Rick Ware is using that to his advantage.