GI Bill to Sponsor Car in NASCAR Race

August 27, 2010 - The Post-9/11 GI Bill will be sponsoring a car in a Sept. 11 NASCAR race in Richmond, Va. and will be co-sponsoring the race itself. The goal is to bring more attention to veterans' education benefits and the Post-9/11 GI Bill. The race itself will be called the Air Guard 400 and will be chiefly sponsored by the Air National Guard.

Landon Cassill, a 21-year-old driver with only 5 NASCAR Sprint Cup races under his belt this year, will be driving the Post-9/11 GI Bill car. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hopes to get the GI Bill painted on the side of a car so as to maximize the amount of times broadcasters mention the GI Bill. 

The VA has a $1 million advertising campaign in the works that will include advertising in college newspapers and online. The sponsorship for the race and the car alone will cost the VA almost $420,000. $200,000 will goes towards painting the car solely with GI Bill advertising, dressing the driver to match the car, and pre-race promotions. The VA will spend an additional $250,000 to serve as an official race sponsor.

NASCAR seems like a great opportunity to market to veterans. Market research determined 1/3 of NASCAR fans either are veterans or know a veteran. The Department of Defense (DoD) regularly advertises at NASCAR events for the same reason.

Because the GI Bill will be a sponsor of the race, they are essentially buying frequent mentions of the purpose of the GI Bill during the race. Although reaching those people who are considering going to school is a large part of the campaign, the DoD also hopes to reach those veterans who are unaware of the benefits they earned with their service.