Notebook: Panther Racing Adds Army National Guard as Co-Primary Sponsor

Panther Racing driver Vitor Meira and the #4 Delphi National Guard car
Photo courtesy of Panther Racing

Panther Racing has announced that the Army National Guard will join Delphi as a co-primary sponsor of the team’s #4 car driven by Vitor Meira for the 2008 IndyCar Series season. I think this is great news for a whole variety of reasons.

First, perhaps I should disclose the fact that I was a member of the Army National Guard for about eleven years from 1985 - 1996. I served as an officer candidate in a specialized mountain infantry company and then had a few different assignments as a field artillery officer after obtaining a commission via Army ROTC at the University of Vermont. The majority of my service was performed in Vermont, with a couple of years in California when I lived there. While military service can certainly “have its moments”, I am very thankful to have had the opportunity to serve and I am very grateful for the things I learned and the experiences I shared with some outstanding people. So it makes sense that I’d be excited about two organizations I care about (the National Guard and the IndyCar Series) coming together with another great partner, Panther Racing.

Recruiting is a little different now than it was back in 1985 (a lot different, actually!). Times have changed, young people have changed, and the branches of the Armed Forces have had to change with them. Perhaps I wasn’t paying attention back then, but I certainly don’t recall seeing recruiting efforts made with high-profile sponsorships of race cars and other related activities. The memories are a bit fuzzy now, but it seems that cool military hardware, Reagan-led patriotism and the threat of the “Evil Empire” (remember them?) was enough. But like I said, things are different now.

Dale Earnhardt Jr / Hendrick Motorsports

The Army National Guard is building a portfolio of racing sponsorships, led by their sponsorship of the Hendrick Motorsports #88 AMP/National Guard NASCAR Sprint Cup car driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr. (talk about high-profile!). They also sponsor the Hendrick Motorsports #24 National Guard NASCAR Nationwide Series car driven by Landon Cassill. In addition, they are working together with the American Drag Racing League and sponsor import tuner events called “Hot Import Nights”. Now that I think about it, I’d like to see them sponsor an NHRA Top Fuel dragster… so they could lay the smackdown on that “Regular Army” car! But I digress…

What does all this mean for the IndyCar Series? Well let’s just say that cross-pollination is a good thing. I think it’s highly desirable for NASCAR fans to catch a glimpse of an IndyCar Series race and see familiar sponsors on the cars. I don’t expect it to translate into an instant following, but there’s no question that sponsor logos, colors, and other branding elements are the most visible and memorable images in NASCAR. Seeing familiar sponsors in another racing series lends a certain amount of comfort. It’s no longer just “Who or what is in this series?” It’s that followed by “Well hey, there’s the National Guard car, I recognize that…”

If we could get Lowe’s, Dupont, Home Depot and Budweiser we’d be all set!

At any rate, it’s great to see a team like Panther Racing, with their long history of success in the IndyCar Series, get a great sponsor like the Army National Guard. Along with the other changes that full funding can bring to the team, perhaps they can get up there and challenge the big three teams (Andretti Green, Penske, and Ganassi) for a win. Vitor Meira is a very good driver, a great personality for the sport (even if he doesn’t dance with the stars or pose in a bikini) and he’s way past due for that first IndyCar Series win. I haven’t heard yet whether he will be sporting a “high and tight” military-style haircut this season, but maybe that would help him stand out in what is now a more crowded IndyCar Series field.

Congratulations to Panther Racing and the Army National Guard on a great start to 2008, and good luck throughout the season!