NASCAR wins equal sales for auto dealers – Miami Herald

The competition on the asphalt isn’t the only battle going on at Homestead-Miami Speedway this weekend.

Beneath the roar of the race cars on the track, there is a quiet, subtle competition for car sales going on.

In the business, it is called, “Win on Sunday, sell on Monday.”

Whether they know it or not, car purchases by fans can be influenced by which brand of car they see win a NASCAR race.

Of course, the average fan should be properly informed that the shiny car they are looking at in the showroom is not the same car that is whirring around the track at Homestead. Sorry, didn’t mean to dash someone’s dream of cruising down Florida’s Turnpike at 200 mph, but that’s just a fact. The cars on the racetrack can go somewhere around 100 mph faster than your average four-door sedan.

The most-represented manufacturers competing in the races at Homestead are Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota, and they are competing for your car-buying money by trying to win NASCAR races. On Saturday, representatives from those three manufacturers addressed their relationship with racing and NASCAR.

▪ Jim Campbell of Chevrolet: “First of all, we’re a car company. So, being in a sport where the cars and the drivers are the stars is straight right on the money for us. For sure, it’s a strong platform. Our history is long in NASCAR and it’s long in racing. We have stayed strong in investing in motorsports.”

▪ Dave Pericak of Ford: “It’s no secret there is a heck of an investment we all make in this sport. We wouldn’t be doing that if we weren’t getting a return on our investment. We’re extremely committed to racing in just not NASCAR but across the board.”

▪ Ed Laukes of Toyota: “Just getting our brand on the shopping list with NASCAR fans has been our goal. Our chairman, Akio Toyoda, said his main goal — not only with NASCAR but all around the world — is to make sure that cars don’t turn into appliances. He doesn’t want it to be a toaster, an oven or a mixer. I don’t think there is any better platform than racing to do that.”

YOUNG SENSATION

One of the most amazing performances this NASCAR season has been turned in by rookie William Byron, at age 18 winning seven titles in a Toyota on the Truck tour. The season was capped off by his victory in the Camping World Ford EcoBoost 200 on Friday night.

Byron’s season was so good that team owner Kyle Busch said: “It’s kind of scary to be teaching him all the things I’m teaching him, but I was done about three weeks ago telling him anymore. It has been a truly remarkable performance by William this entire season. Seven wins for a rookie is remarkable and to come out here and to win this race on the stage that was set with everybody else out there was a lot of fun to watch.”

▪ Sunday’s Fort EcoBoost 400 will be broadcast on live TV to 185 countries in 24 languages.