Racing for Sponsors

摘要

Spending $20 million a year to slap your name on a 200-mile-per-hour billboard can pay off handsomely—unless your billboards not even in the race. That happened this March at the Day-tona 500, when Valvoline Evernham Racing's number 10 Dodge sputtered to a halt after a gear malfunctioned during the qualifying run. Then a pit crew member botched jacking up the car, eating up even more time. Number 10, sporting big Valvoline and Stanley Tools logos, didn't make the cut, and driver Scott Riggs watched the race from the stands. "We had faith that our car and driver could qualify on merit alone, but these things happen," says Ray D. Evernham, one of the team's owners.