Eyes on the prize: American ethanol and NASCAR put E15 in front of viewers

On Nov. 4, 2.27 million television viewers watched Kevin Harvick win the AAA Texas 500 at the Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth, with an additional 130,000 or so spectators in the stands.

NASCAR remains one of America’s favorite sports with just over 75 million fans. That’s one out of every three adult Americans. NASCAR is the second most-watched televised sporting event, just behind the NFL. While NASCAR has dropped slightly in viewership in the last year or so, its fans’ brand loyalty still attracts nearly $3 billion each year in sponsorships from names such as Coca-Cola, John Deere, Cummins, CRAFTSMAN and Smithfield.

So, what better place to promote American ethanol?

That’s what brought farmer members of Texas Corn Producers and the Texas Farm Bureau out on a bright fall Sunday to the Texas Motor Speedway to connect with those fans and educate them about farming and ethanol. Heath Hill and his young son, Tripp, took time from corn harvest on their farm near Gruver, Texas, to come out to speak to race fans. 

“Here we get people from the urban areas and people that aren’t in agriculture, who maybe don’t understand the importance of what we do on the farm,” Heath Hill said. 

As a young farmer, looking to the future when his son might farm, Hill knows building relationships with voters off the farm is going to help agriculture’s cause in the long run, he said. And a sponsorship investment at a NASCAR race is one way to build that relationship and spread some knowledge.

The National Corn Growers Association, with strong support of state corn checkoff programs like that of Texas Corn Producers, has a continued partnership with NASCAR and American Ethanol to promote ethanol in front of its loyal viewers through the 10-month season of 38 races. Including the Texas 500.

Jason Wonderly, vice president of sales for Texas Motor Speedway, said the 1,600-acre facility is the largest facility in the state of Texas. 

“Over three or four days of track activity, from qualifiers to truck races, the Xfinity Cup series and then the race on Sunday, there’s a lot of things for our fan base to participate in, and the No. 2 thing the fans most enjoy at the track is engaging with the brands that invest with us in the Fan Zone area,” he said. The Fan Zone has an atmosphere of a state fair, with sponsor booths offering driver photo opportunities and racing swag to take home.

At the Texas Corn Producers booth in the Fan Zone, fans lined up to meet two-time NASCAR champion driver Austin Dillon, who drives the No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing. While they waited, farmers like Hill and others spoke with fans about farming and ethanol.

“The thing that shocks most of these folks, when we talk to them, is that many didn’t realize that all of the drivers use American Ethanol,” Hill said. NASCAR has run on E15 ethanol since 2011 And while Texas fans are likely strongly pro-petroleum, Hill said it’s worth noting, many are receptive to the ethanol message that farmers like him try to convey.

“The fastest cars in America run on ethanol,” Hill said. 

Wonderly’s job is to understand NASCAR fans. He said the appeal of racing cuts across all demographics and all socioeconomic layers—it really is a mirror of America. 

But the one thing that they have in common is their brand loyalty that transcends a Sunday at the track. Marketers will tell you that it isn’t just about putting a message out there, but putting the message in front of the right people and repeating it until it sinks in. NASCAR races have that built in.

“We have a very loyal audience, that is very engaged with sponsors,” Wonderly said. “They are tuned in, turned on and loyal.” He said 90 percent of the fan base will watch NASCAR races and events live on television, and 60 percent of those fans watching live will watch throughout the whole race. 

“They aren’t turning the channel and they’re not walking away,” Wonderly said “They’re engaged over an extended period of time and that’s why I think Texas Corn has chosen to invest in that loyalty.” 

NASCAR viewers this season have seen the American Ethanol logo on every race’s green starter flag. The logo is also on every racecar’s gas tank, visible with every tight shot of a pit stop for American-grown E15 fuel. And with in-person engagement at racetracks around the country, bringing farmers to the consumer, Wonderly said the partnership is bringing the right people together for not just the ethanol message but consumer agricultural education as well.

“We are genuinely thankful for farmers, for not just this relationship and partnership but for what farmers do for this country,” Wonderly said. “What they do, it matters. They’re a very important component to the U.S. population and their economic impact is substantial.” 

Perhaps young Tripp Hill summed it up best. He and his dad Heath were lucky to be able to ride in the pace car before the start of the race—pretty much every young boy’s dream, including his. But the ride was even cooler knowing that some of his dad’s Texas corn might be in the very engines revving right behind them. Through the sponsorship of NASCAR by corn farmers, millions of people have the opportunity to learn more about how farmers, like Tripp’s dad, keep the fastest cars in America running.

Jennifer M. Latzke can be reached at 620-227-1807 or [email protected].