NASCAR WCUP: Home Depot Named Official Home Improvement Store
5 November 1998
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing and The Home Depot today announced a marketing partnership that designates the world*s largest home improvement retailer The Official Home Improvement Warehouse of NASCAR.The NASCAR partnership follows last month*s announcement that The Home Depot and Joe Gibbs Racing signed a multi-year agreement to sponsor the No. 20 Pontiac beginning with the 1999 Daytona 500.
"We look forward to a great partnership with The Home Depot and the exposure that Home Depot can give NASCAR through its more than 700 stores," said George Pyne, vice president of marketing for NASCAR. "The combination of NASCAR with The Home Depot, one of the top retailers in the world, is a win-win-win for our sport, The Home Depot and our fans.
"This comprehensive alliance is another example of the type of marketing agreements that NASCAR's New York office continues to execute that benefit the sport*s drivers, teams and tracks."
As part of a comprehensive, multi-year agreement, The Home Depot will combine its NASCAR and Joe Gibbs Racing relationships to create marketing activities at its more than 700 retail stores and NASCAR-themed television commercials that will run nationally. The Home Depot also will support additional NASCAR marketing and media platforms.
In addition, The Home Depot will develop print, radio and television creative dedicated to promoting its NASCAR Official Status designation.
"Our partnership with NASCAR complements our decision to go racing for the first time in our 20-year history," said Dick Sullivan, The Home Depot's senior vice president of advertising. "As a result, our customers will be seeing The Home Depot car on display at many of our stores, and the NASCAR logo and racing themes will appear in our advertising."
Founded in 1978, The Home Depot has been ranked as America's Most Admired Retailer by Fortune magazine for five consecutive years. Its stock is publicly traded and is included in Standard & Poor*s 500 Index.
NASCAR is the most competitive form of motorsports in the world. Close, side-by-side competition is the foundation for NASCAR-style racing as it strives to continue to make stock car racing in the United States highly competitive, affordable and entertaining. NASCAR sanctions approximately 2,000 events in 13 racing series at more than 100 tracks throughout the United States each year.
In 1997, more than 10.5 million people attended NASCAR events around the country and an additional 150 million people watched NASCAR events on television.