| Now that Christmas is past, the New Year has | | | | would make a Madison Avenue executive wet his |
| begun and college football is over, it can | | | | pants with excitement. In fact, I'd go so |
| only mean one thing- the Daytona 500 and a | | | | far as to say the only way they could go |
| new season of NASCAR racing is right around | | | | beyond where they are now would be to hire |
| the corner. I love the smell of the exhaust, | | | | Billy Mays as a driver. These folks will, no |
| the thunder of the engines, the bits of | | | | doubt, plug sponsors and the list of sponsors |
| rubber flying off the track, the corporate | | | | grows ever lengthy. If you've never paid any |
| sponsorships. Uh, come again? That's right, | | | | attention to it, then make a conscious effort |
| corporate sponsorships. As much as I love | | | | to listen to any given driver interview |
| racing, the blatant and downright shameless | | | | during any given race and enjoy the show. |
| plugging of sponsors is so prevalent that it | | | | |
| has become its own form of entertainment. I | | | | "First of all I'd like to thank God and all |
| mean, they make fun of themselves, for crying | | | | my sponsors for giving me a fast race car |
| out loud, so you know it has to be bad. | | | | today. The GMC Auto manufacturers, Mopar, |
| | | | Quakerstate, Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookies |
| I know that the corporate buck makes the | | | | Chevrolet was just awesome. I think a |
| world go around and there is no dodging it, | | | | Loctite lugnut must have come off, causing us |
| so I don't even try to fight it anymore. I | | | | to loose a Goodyear Eagle tire. That sent us |
| was contemplating during this years college | | | | spinning like Hamilton Beach blender into the |
| football bowl season how you used to be able | | | | Quickcrete Fast Drying concrete retaining |
| to tell something about the region where a | | | | wall. Thank goodness for NASCARs dedication |
| bowl game was held merely by its name. The | | | | to safety and for the installation of those |
| Sugar Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Orange Bowl, Peach | | | | Dow Chemical Styrofoam and U.S Steel, Charmin |
| Bowl, and even the Mobile, Alabama bowl all | | | | soft walls. I pinched a hole in my Fruit of |
| conjure up some image. Some are maybe not so | | | | the Loom shorts and nearly stained my Simpson |
| grand images, but images nonetheless. Now | | | | driver suit. I'd have dumped a gallon of |
| you can't tell squat except for whose product | | | | sweat in the process if it weren't for this |
| is being marketed. It's not only college | | | | Right Guard antiperspirant. In fact, I'm |
| ball games, though. Stadiums far and wide, | | | | still hotter than Texas Pete hot sauce and my |
| for teams professional and non-professional | | | | mouth's as dry as Johnson and Johnson Baby |
| sport a name, product and/ or service which | | | | Powder so excuse me while I take a sip of |
| is representative of the ones who coughed up | | | | this Gatorade G2. There, that's better. |
| enough denarii in order to obtain the | | | | Other than that it was a good day for us at |
| opportunity to have their name flouted to all | | | | the Lowes Motor Speedway, but we'll be back |
| who dare look upon it. I know this to be | | | | next week at the Atlanta Coca-Cola Speedway |
| true and I accept it as being how it is. | | | | for sure. What was the question again?" |
| | | | |
| Let me just tell you, though, that the folks | | | | Awesome. Last year there were a series of |
| in NASCAR have taken it to a whole new level. | | | | commercials about using one of the driver's |
| There isn't a sport out there that can come | | | | armpits as advertising space. It was |
| close to touching them in the world of | | | | sponsored by Old Spice, of course. I can't |
| hawking products. During a ball game you may | | | | wait to see where that goes this year. Let's |
| see a sponsor's logo superimposed on the | | | | all hope, however, that the folks from |
| field or something innocuous like that. For | | | | Preparation-H don't take the idea and run |
| each NASCAR race, though, there are 43 teams | | | | with it. Ooh, baby, that could be a |
| each of which has a list of sponsors that | | | | disaster. |