Speedway Motorsports Helps Nascar Partners Activate Sponsorships

Josh Berry poses with fans after handing out Cracker Barrel delights during the 2025 NASACR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina on May 18, 2025. Photo by Adam Glanzman

Adam Glanzman/Speedway Motorsports

Speedway Motorsports, the organization that owns 11 motor sports facilities, is getting creative with its partners. As companies line up for Nascar, NHRA or NTT IndyCar Series partnerships, Speedway Motorsports is designing a program to enhance the exposure of sponsor during and leading up to race weekends.

Speedway Motorsports is a leading marketer, promoter and sponsor of motor sports and special event entertainment. The company hosts a variety of car shows, concerts, holiday light shows, driving schools and motorsports events, including 15 Nascar Cup Series event weekends annually. It has four Nascar weekends remaining in 2025, with the next coming at Bristol Motor Speedway to conclude the Round of 16 in the Nascar Cup Series playoffs.

“We want to always exceed expectations for every partner, stakeholder and fan,” Kevin Camper, Speedway Motorsports’ executive vice president and chief commercial officer, said. “Part of that process, whether it’s a prospect, new client, or longtime sponsor, is to talk about their needs. Most importantly, how we can work together to achieve and exceed their goals. We’ve got talented teammates in corporate sales, marketing and communications throughout our company, so supporting our partners with our resources and expertise is a very natural fit. Simply put, we want to help them get things done.”

Speedway Motorsports is essentially putting the “activate in activation,” as they are calling it. From commercial support to social media strategy, video production, graphic design, data analytics, organizing promotional giveaways and much more, Speedway Motorsports is going the extra mile for its existing – and potential – partners.

The organization’s 11 racetracks have a packed slate. Earlier this month, Bristol Motor Speedway held the first Speedway Classic, seeing two MLB teams compete inside the half-mile bullring. Besides major motor sports events, they also have weekly programs with up-and-coming racers. But with Nascar’s resurgence and the IndyCar Series’ growth thanks mostly due to a Fox partnership, Speedway Motorsports wants to optimize its partners’ reach.

“It’s an ever-changing landscape to help grow someone’s business and their brand,” Geoff Ulrich, Speedway Motorsports senior vice president of consumer engagement, said. “For EchoPark Automotive, it was about driving name recognition and digital traffic in a competitive pre-owned car market, and of course, getting potential customers to see their product. We put together plans to not only increase their social presence and web traffic with new campaigns around motorsports, but also used our expertise with on-site activation to create an experiential ‘go-to’ destination on race weekends with driver and celebrity appearances. Fans could see and touch the used cars and trucks at the Speedway Experience in a fun environment.”

A prime example of Speedway Motorsports’ newfound marketing strategy is the team’s work with Cracker Barrel. Via its Nascar partnership, the restaurant chain had an added boost of influencers, who are Nascar drivers themselves. So Speedway Motorsports stepped in and activated the brand in new, unique ways around its Nascar sponsorship for the Nashville Superspeedway race in early June, including unique activations with Josh Berry and Corey LaJoie. The company has also activated at other NASCAR races in the fan zones.

“These efforts are great examples of how sports marketing continues to evolve,” Camper said. “For some partners, it may still be just about the brand recognition, but for many, there may be other metrics they are trying to achieve, whether it’s in sales, web traffic, sampling or traditional and social media exposure.

“We can continue to grow these efforts based on those initial ‘what are your goals and how can we help to get you there?’ conversations. The value of each partnership may fluctuate depending on the need and execution for the client, but at the end of the day we’ll be judged on whether we exceeded their expectations to reach their goals.”

Speedway Motorsports is often bringing in new and unique partners to the sponsorship side of racing. It also capitalizes on long-lasting partnerships, with supermarket chain Food City having partnered with Bristol for more than three decades. The annual Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day Weekend is the longest partnership in all of sports at 40 years.