Smaller Indiana sponsorship

[Erik Deckers]

Now I'm not normally a racing fan, but I just finished reading Bob Kravitz's article about Sarah Fisher's money woes. She is currently being stiffed by two of her alleged sponsors. Things are so bad, fans have handed her $100 checks to support the team.

If you get a chance, read Kravitz's article, and contact the two companies who are not following through on their promise of sponsorship.

And then ruminate on this: what if Smaller Indiana kicked in some money. Not much -- maybe a few hundred dollars. But if everyone contributed, we could sponsor a race car. We may not get much out of it, but Sarah is a Hoosier, and this is what we do for each other (okay, she's originally a Buckeye, but we'll let that slide).

Is anyone up for that? Who's willing to kick in? Or am I just caught up in the moment?

[Erik Deckers]

You're probably right, but still, it would be kind of cool to have Smaller Indiana as a sponsor of a race car.

Plus, I'm just a sucker for hard luck stories like Sarah's.

[Nicki Laycoax]

Sounds like a fun idea!

[Stephen Howard]

First things first, What's wrong with originally being a Buckeye?

I like Steve Stuck's idea of the helmet sticker in view of the in car camera. I think the place to start is to figure out how much money is needed to accomplish this sponsorship. The next step is then to pitch SI members the benefits of making this sponsorship a reality.

If we want to do this maybe a committee should form to make it reality.

[Erik Deckers]

Because they weren't originally a Hoosier.

Of course, I can't talk, since I'm originally from Montana. We moved here when I was two.

[Nicki Laycoax]

I'm from Dixon, Illinois!

[Douglas Karr]

Cool idea... if everyone gave $2 in here, we could give her $5k! I dropped her a line through her website to see if it's something she would entertain. We could start up a 'goal widget' and have folks donate until we reach a specific goal.

[Erik Deckers]

Sounds like a plan. How easy is it to do?

I don't know if I really want this to be an official sponsorship, but maybe we can turn it into a little publicity for us, and for her. Doug, if you can get this going, I think we should throw it out to our blogosphere too.

What say you, Smoosiers?!

[Joyce Boadt]

Count me in! Maybe we could pass the hat tomorrow night at the 2000th member celebration. I think it would be a very creative way to get some publicity for Smaller Indiana.

[Christopher Bluto]

Sounds good to me. Always wanted to be part of a race team can I drive the car? Maybe that is asking too much. How about change the tire. Wait, that might be detrimental to my health. I could get run over by Danica!

Seriously, does anybody know what the going rate is for a small to mid level IRL team sponsorship. I would love to get a text number on her car. 300,000 fans with cell phones. What a hit that would be!

[Erik Deckers]

If you go to Sarah's website, there is a link for sponsors. Click on that and contact them.

[Dennis Mann]

Is there a SI collaboration going on? Are we pooling our scant resources in any way?

[Erik Deckers]

We're working on that. I'll post the information as it becomes available.