I think we'll all agree that sponsors have played an important role in the development, growth, and continuation of stock car racing. Here in Charlotte, folks fork over more than $100 for a ticket to watch an NBA game by a terrible team with just 4 wins. Can you imagine what a ticket would cost today to attend a major NASCAR race if sponsors weren't underwriting many of the costs by sponsoring races and race teams?
Over the years there have been many memorable television commercials by companies who also sponsored races and race teams. I have laughed at the Budweiser frogs and felt a sense of peace when the Clydesdales marched through the snow during the holidays. I've found myself humming the Pontiac "Wide Tracking" tune and enjoying the antics of the Hamm's Beer bear in the Land of Sky Blue Waters . I've been ready with the answer when the commercial asked, "What'll you have?" (Pabst Blue Ribbon). I always knew when it was Miller Time and enjoyed the Gusto promised by Schlitz. I knew it was Black Label Mabel was supposed to bring.
I've seen the USA in my Chevrolet and tried out Ford's Better Idea. I wore Wrangler Jeans and smoked RJR cigarettes, cooked with Crisco and laundered with Tide to get out the grease stains. I poured STP in my crankcase and bought Goodyear tires. I've pumped Pure Firebird Racing gasoline and Sunoco Blue 360.
So many of the companies who have been around racing at one time or another have produced ads that were memorable and that I enjoyed tremendously. I do, however, have a personal favorite all-time television ad by a company/product who was also a racing sponsor.
In 1933 a young man from Nashville, Tennesse began a small meat packing company in Lynchburg, Virginia and three years later moved it to Salem, Virginia, next door to Roanoke. Valleydale Packing Company, proprietor of Valleydale Meats quickly gained a very good reputation and expanded.
From 1980-1991, a span of 12 seasons, Valleydale sponsored the Spring race at Bristol that had originally been called the Southeastern 500. 12 seasons is a long run in the world of race sponsorships and it only ended because the company was sold to Smithfield Meats in 1992 and now operates as a subsidiary of Smithfield's Gwaltney brand and division.
When Roanoke TV station WSLS signed on the air its first commercial was a Valleydale ad. I give you all this history because my favorite television commercial of all-time remains an early Valleydale ad that I watched in Richmond, Virginia as a kid. It always got our attention and stopped us in our tracks. Here's my favorite ad by a sponsor involved in racing. How about you? Do you have a favorite?
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"Any Day is Good for Stock Car Racing"
updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:02:07PM
