5% More

Chapter 4Make 5 Percent More Money

I have been very fortunate to have been able to sponsor a car in the Sprint Cup Series of NASCAR. As a result of my sponsorship I have become close to the owner, Archie St. Hilaire, of Go FAS Racing, a small team based in Maine. I wasn't a NASCAR fan until my company began sponsoring cars with Archie and his team. I was, however, always fascinated with the marketing involved with NASCAR. NASCAR fans are the most loyal fans you will ever meet. NASCAR fans buy clothing with sponsors' names and logos all over them and wear them with pride. Not only are the cars 200-mile-an-hour billboards, but the spectators also become walking advertisements. I have had many conversations with Archie and some of his drivers about what it takes to win a NASCAR event. When I first sponsored a car in the Daytona 500, I wanted us to win. Boy, was I naïve! Then several other sponsorships later, I still wanted to win, but Go FAS is a small team with a small budget. One day at an event we were holding at a local restaurant for the number 32 car, I was talking with the driver, Eddie MacDonald, about winning. Eddie MacDonald has had a lot of success in a lower series but was also driving a car I sponsored in the Sprint Cup, essentially the Major League of racing. I was discussing 5 Percent More and how the speeds of the cars are very close to each other, how the weight of the cars has to be the same, and how the field was, in my view, pretty level. Eddie corrected me ...