Boosted by New Sponsors, Nascar Team Becomes First To Make Inc 5000
Front Row Motorsports, owners of the number 26, 34 and 38 entries in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was named to Inc. Magazine’s list of the 5,000 fastest growing privately held companies in the United States. Coming in at number 800 with annual revenue of $7.8 million, this marks the first time a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team has made the Inc. 5000 list.
The team generates its revenue almost entirely from sponsorships, which in a rebounding economy makes the feat all the more impressive. This season, Front Row Motorsports has welcomed twelve new primary sponsors including Glory Foods, ModSpace, Maximum Human Performance, Scorpion Coatings, Barrett-Jackson, House-Autry Mills, Big Machine Label Group, Classic Media (Where’s Waldo), Green1 Performance, Peanut Patch, 1-800LoanMart, and U.S. Shredder and Castings Group.
“We are selling sponsorship and raising corporate dollars in a time when very few teams are,” said CMO Robin Johnson. “It’s not a negative that companies are placing more scrutiny on their budgets. It just forces us to be smarter with how we go about building and executing our programs.” He continued.
With 52 employees and nearly $8 million in annual revenue, the firm has shown three year revenue growth of 427%, according to the latest rankings.
“Our programs are structured in a manner where a sponsor can justify the investment to determine if NASCAR is all we claim it be” commented Marketing Director, Mike Laheta. “We not only show companies how they can use NASCAR to accomplish their goals, we help them do so. Our team is nimble and has a lot of in-house capabilities. We do a good job at working with our partners to build successful programs. We focus not only on building those programs, but attaching the right metrics to them so that success is more easily measurable.”
“All of the headlines now seem to be focused on sponsorship woes,” continued Laheta “We are finding sponsorship dollars in a time when a lot of the garage area is struggling to. It takes a lot of hours on the phone and a lot of output, but we’re getting more meetings and calls each week. I think that is a positive sign, not only for our team, but for the rebounding sponsorship market of our entire sport. All we ask for is the chance to have someone hear us out. Our approach and dedication to our partners is working for us. We’ve been able to use NASCAR to sell everything from collard greens to modular buildings to supplements and country music CD’s” said Laheta.
