While they aren’t new to the NASCAR scene, as they had a short stint as a primary sponsor for Rick Ware Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series back in 2019, DriveSmart, an ancillary auto dealer car warranty service company, is dipping its toe into the NASCAR Xfinity Series as a sponsor.
The company will serve as the primary sponsor for Kyle Weatherman and the No. 91 DGM Racing team for the September 23rd event at Texas Motor Speedway. Lexington Insurance and Newport will serve as associate sponsors for the entry.
While the sponsorship partnership is exciting, what makes this a true story is how DriveSmart is using the partnership to engage with fans. The company has created a paint scheme design contest, which will result in one fan getting their design on the No. 91 Chevrolet Camaro, and the fan and a guest will win an all-inclusive all-access trip to Texas Motor Speedway.
“When we decided to team up with Kyle [Weatherman] for Texas, we wanted to be more creative,” explained Chris Doyle, DriveSmart President of Sales. “It’s not our first trip to the rodeo, as we’ve sponsored a Cup car. We wanted to explore the opportunity in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Then we thought about it, and were like, ‘How do we get more engagement? How do we get fans involved in the process?’ We thought, ‘What do you have control of?’ It would be the wrap. So, we decided to create a contest where fans are able to create a wrap.
“We wanted to leave it up to some content creators, and the driver to pick a finalist. From there, the community is going to pick the ultimate grand prize winner. That person and a guest are going to get an all-inclusive trip to the Xfinity race in Texas. We’re paying for the hotel, the flight and the pit passes. I think it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I’ve never seen anything like it before. I think it’s going to leave memories that they’re never going to forget.”
Doyle says the contest is open to U.S. residents over the age of 18, or contestants under the age of 18 so long as a parent/guardian is willing to be the recipient of the prize package. The contest will remain open until Monday, August 14th at 12:01 AM PST.
Here is a video that explains the contest and states all of the official contest rules:
It’s a cool idea, but what sparked it?
“iRacing, to be honest with you,” Doyle said. “I’m an avid iRacer. I’m not the best, right, but the community is so engaged. They’re so diehard. I looked at some of the custom designs that these men and women were driving, and was like, ‘Wow, these are amazing.’ I was like, wouldn’t this be super cool if we could tie this all together and have the car that you would drive in an iRacing simulator actually become an Xfinity car that you get to go meet the driver and see it race around Texas Motor Speedway.”
Doyle says that while he’s still relatively new to competing on iRacing, he has become addicted. He states that he races at least every other day and would consider himself to be pretty avid.
Attempting to hone his on-track race craft is what led Doyle to find DJ Yee-J, the YouTuber that will be helping DriveSmart run the contest. In addition to tons of other content, DJ Yee-J provides track guides and has a full Discord community for aspiring iRacers, which Doyle joined.
With DriveSmart going all-out for its return to the NASCAR sponsorship space, naturally, you’d conclude that they have bigger plans in the near future. If so, Doyle isn’t tipping his hand just yet. He says DriveSmart is simply focused on Texas and will take whatever is next after that race is over.
“We really want to focus on Kyle and the team at Texas, and then who knows what can come from there.”
Head on over to tradingpaints, and make a design. Who knows? You may end up winning.
